Kushan Empire
Kushan Empire | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30–375 | |||||||||||||||||||
![A map of India in the 2nd century AD showing the extent of the Kushan Empire (in yellow) during the reign of Kanishka. Most historians consider the empire to have variously extended as far east as the middle Ganges plain,[1] to Varanasi on the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna,[2][3] or probably even Pataliputra.[4][5]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Kushan_Empire_%28highlighted%29.jpg/270px-Kushan_Empire_%28highlighted%29.jpg) A map of India in the 2nd century AD showing the extent of the Kushan Empire (in yellow) during the reign of Kanishka. Most historians consider the empire to have variously extended as far east as the middle Ganges plain,[1] to Varanasi on the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna,[2][3] or probably even Pataliputra.[4][5] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Nomadic empire | ||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Bagram (Kapiśi) Peshawar (Puruṣapura) Taxila (Takṣaśilā) Mathura (Mathurā) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Greek (official until ca. 127)[note 1] Bactrian[note 1] (official from ca. 127) Sanskrit[note 2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Buddhism[8] Hinduism[9] Zoroastrianism[10] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||||||||||||
• 30–80 | Kujula Kadphises | ||||||||||||||||||
• 350–375 | Kipunada | ||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Classical Antiquity | ||||||||||||||||||
• Kujula Kadphises unites Yuezhi tribes into a confederation | 30 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 375 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||
| 200 est.[12] | 2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 200 est.[13] | 2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Kushan drachma | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Kushan Empire (Ancient Greek: Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; Bactrian: Κυϸανο, Kushano; Late Brahmi Sanskrit: 
, Ku-ṣā-ṇa, Kuṣāṇa; Devanagari Sanskrit: कुषाण राजवंश, Kuṣāṇa Rājavaṃśa; BHS: Guṣāṇa-vaṃśa; Parthian: