The princes of the Kushan dynasty ruled a vast empire which, in the first three centuries of the Christian Era, stretched from the Ganges River Valley into the oases of Central Asia. This empire, here called the Kushanshahr, was created by nation of former nomads whose language and culture were probably Iranian. The Kushan princes themselves seem to have been cast in much the same mold of Iranian heroic princely ideals as Darius and Xerxes, or Timur and Akbar-creator of great polyglot empires from a welter of semi-nomadic tribes, conquered kingdoms, and allied states. Through the Kushanshahr the Buddhist faith began its triumphal spread into Afghanistan, central Asia, and China. The Kushan nobility became its ardent patrons and builders of vast sanctuaries. The period of Kushan supremacy paralleled that of the Roman Empire in its prime; men, ideas and artistic motifs moved freely along the trade routes linking the Kushans, the Parthians, China and the Roman West, creating an atmosphere of extraordinary cosmopolitanism and prosperity. Yet the record of this dynasty virtually faded from history until a hundred year ago, when scholars became increasingly aware of the in the development of the art, religion, and statecraft of the time.
This book brings together the major forms of evidence for the cultural role of the Kushans - their goldcoinage and imperial portraits in stone, their appearance as donors and devotees in religious carvings, the inscription written during their reign. It gives the general outline of the history of the dynasty with an account of its major princes, princes whose portraits are found in India and Afghanistan as traces of a cult of deified kings, and demonstrates that the strong affiliation between the dynasty itself and Parthian civilization had a profound impact upon the development of Buddhist art both in India and the Far East.
About The Author:
John M. Rosenfiled is Professor of Fine Arts at the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard Universtiy, Cambridge, Masssachusetts.
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
I. THE CREATION OF THE EMPIRE    THE NAME AND LANGUAGE OF THE KUSHANS / 7    THE KUSHANS BEFORE THEIR ENTRY INTO INDIA / 9         THE NOMADIC PERIOD         SETTLEMENT IN THE OXUS REGION         CREATION OF THE KUSHAN EMPIRE     KUJULA KADPHISES / 11         KUJULA'S COINAGE         EPIGRAPHIC EVIDENCE         HERAOS, HYRKODES, PHSEIGACHARIS     VIMA KADPHISES /17        SOTER MEGAS        VIMA'S GOLD COINAGE        EPIGRAPHIC REFERENCES        VIMA'S COIN TYPES | 7 |
II. KANISHKA LEGENDS AND IMPERIUM     THE KANISHKA LEGENDS / 28         KANISHKA'S SUPER NATURAL POWERS         KANISHKA AS A BUDDHIST         KANISHKA AND THE KASHMIRI ARHAT         THE COUNCIL IN KASHMIR         KANISHKA AND ASVAGHOSHA         KANISHKA AND THE JAINA STUPA         KANISHKA AND THE IMAGES OF DEVAS         THE LETTER TO KANISHKA FROM MATRICETA         THE KANISHKA STUPA AND VIHARA AT PESHAWAR         KANISHKA PASSION AND HIS PHYSICIAN         THE CHINESE HOSTAGES         KANISHKA'S WARS, PENITENCE, AND DEATH         KANISHKA'S AFTERLIFE     DYNASTIC MATTERS / 39         KANISHKA'S NAME         KANISHKA'S ORIGIN     THE EXTENSION OF THE KUSHAN EMPIRE / 41         TARIM BASIN         SOGDIANA         BACTRIA AND BACTRA         TUKHARISTAN ACCORDING TO HSUAN-TSANG         KHWAREZM         KHURASAN         KAPISA         KABUL         JELALABAD DISTRICT         ARACHOSIA AND SEISTAN         GANDHARA AND UDDIYANA         TAXILA AND THE WESTERN PANJAB         KASHMIR         THE UPPER GANGETIC PLAIN         THE LOWER GANGETIC PLAIN         MURUNDAS         MALWA AND GUJARADESA     KANISHKA'S COINAGE / 54     VASISHKA / 57     KANISHKA II / 58 | 27 |
III. HUVISHKA AND THE KUSHAN PANTHEON     THE TWO-HUVISHKAS THEORY /60     THE HUVISHKA COINAGE / 60         FIRST GROUP         SECOND GROUP         THIRD GROUP         HUVISHKA'S OBVERSE TYPES ON COPPER COINS     HEADDRESS FOUND IN KUSHAN COINS ONLY / 66         THE KUSHAN CREST ORNAMENT     DEITIES ON THE COIN OF KANISHKA AND HUVISHKA / 69         ARDOXHO         ASHAEIXSHO         ATHSHO         BODDO         SAKAMANOBOSDO         BAGOBOSDO         ELIOS         EPHAISTOS         ERAKILO         LROOASPO         MAASENO         MANAOBAGO         MAO         MAO-MIIRO         MIIRO         MOZDOOANO         OORMAZDO         NANA (VARIANTS NANO, NANAO)         NANASHAO         SHAONANA         NANAIA         OADO         OANINDO         OAXSHO         OESHO         OESHO-NAN         OESHO-OMMO         ORLANGNO         PHARRO         RISHNO OR RION         SALENE         SARAPO         SHAOREORO         SKANDO-KOMARO         (MAASENA) BIZAGO     BLUNDERED OR UNIDENTIFIED TYPES / 100     KUSHAN SEALS / 101 | 60 |
IV. VASUDEVA I AND HIS SUCCESSORS    THE HISTORICAL SITUATION / 105    COINS OF VASUDEVA I AND HIS IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS /106         THE VASUDEVA COINS         COINAGE OF KANISHKA III         ASSIGNMENT OF THE VASUDEVA TYPES    SUCCESSION TO KANISHKA III IN INDIA / 112         THE ERJHUNA YASAGA         THE END OF KUSHAN DOMINION IN GANGETIC INDIA    THE SASANIAN INTRUSION / 116         EVIDENCE FROM IRAN         KUSHANO-SASANIAN COINAGE /117         VAHARAM TYPES | 104 |
V. SAKAS AND PARTHIANS    ORIGINS OF THE SAKAS / 122    THE NORTHERN GROUP OF SAKAS / 124         MAUES         AZES I         AZILISES         AZES II         GONDOPHARES    THE SOUTHWESTERN GROUP SAKAS / 130         THE DYNASTY OF NAHAPANA         THE DYNASTY OF CASTANA    THE MATHURA SATRAPS / 133         RAJUVULA AND THE LION CAPITAL         THE MAHAKSHATRAPA SODASA         SODASA'S SUCCESSORS AT MATHURA | 121 |
VI. THE MATHURA PORTRAITS     THE MAT SHRINE / 140         THE EXCAVATION     THE GOKARNESVARA SITE 142     OTHER SOURCES OF KUSHAN PORTRAITS / 143     IDENTIFICATIN AND RELATIVE DATING OF THE PORTRAITS / 144         THE PORTRAIT OF KANISHKA         THE PORTRAIT OF VIMA         THE CASTANA STATUE         A PORTRAIT OF HUVISHKA         THE PORTRAIT HEAD         THE GOKARNESVARA COLOSSUS         TWO TORSOS     THE NATURE OF THE MAT SHRINE/149         THE MORA SANCTUARY     NANAGHAT | 138 |
VII. OTHER ROYAL PORTRAITS, KUSHAN AND IRANIAN     THE TEMPLE AT SURKH KOTAL /154         THE PORTRAIT STATUES AND THEIR PLACEMENT         THE INSCRIPTIONS         THE STUCCO FIGURES         THE "INVESTITURE" SCENE         CHRONOLOGY         RITUALS     SHAMI/163     FURTHER EXAMPLES OF ROYAL PORTRAITURE IN THE IRANIAN     MANNER/164         NIMRUD DAGH         KUH-KHWAJA         TOPRAK KALA IN KHWAREZM         HATRA | 154 |
VIII. STYLISTIC AND ICONOGRAPHIC ASPECTS OF THE MATHURA IMPERIAL PORTRAITS     ROYAL PORTRAITURE IN INDIAN ART / 174         THE CAKRAVARTIN     CLOTHING AND ARMAMENT / 176         CLOTHING PLAQUES         KANISHKA'S SWORD         KANISHKA'S MACE         CASTANA'S PLAQUE BELT     THE LION THRONE / 183         THE "EUROPEAN" POSITION         THE TALL KUSHAN CROWN     SOLAR SYMBOLISM / 189         PRE-KUSHAN SOLAR DEITIES IN INDIAN ART         OTHER EVIDENCE OF THE SOLAR CULT         WESTERN PARALLELS OF INDIAN HELIOLATRY     HALOS AND FLAMING SHOULDERS / 197         KHVARENO         FLAMES AND THE BUDDHA PRINCIPLE     A SUMMIT OF ROCKS OR CLOUDS /201     THE DEIFICATION OF KUSHAN KINGS / 202         THE KING AS A DIVINE EPIPHANY         RITUALS AND CEREMONIES         RELIGIOUS CONTENT OF THE ROYAL CULTS     FRONTALITY IN KUSHAN PORTRAITS / 208 | 173 |
IX. KUSHAN FIGURES AS DONORS AND DEVOTEES IN BUDDHIST SCULPTURE     EXAMPLE OF INDO-SCYTHIAN DONOR FIGURES / 216         THE BUNER RELIEFS         THE SAHRI-BAHLOL PORTRAITS         OTHER DONOR PORTRAITS     BUDDHIST NARRATIVE SCULPTURE / 220         TRAPUSA AND BHALLIKA         WORSHIP OF THE BUDDHA'S         ALMS BOWL (PATRA)         THE GREAT DEPARTURE         GUARDS         OTHER EXAMPLES     THE CULT OF THE BODHISATIVAS / 227         MAITREYA         MAITREYA AND SAKYAMUNI COMBINED         THE TEACHING MAITREYA         OTHER PARADISE SCENES         BODHISATTVA MAHASATTVA     KUBERA-PANCIKA / 245         PHARRO AND ARDOXSHO         HSUAN-TSANG'S REPORT | 215 |
    Appendix I. The Era of Kanishka         THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 78         THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 128         THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 144         THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 110-115 | 253 |
    Appendix II. The Kanishka Reliquary         THE FINDING OF THE RELIQUARY         THE COSTUME OF THE KING         OTHER STYLISTIC AND SYMBOLIC DETAILS | 260 |
   Appendix III. Inscription Pertaining to the Indo-Scythian Dynasties at Mathura | 263 |
NOTES | 276 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY 317 | |
INDEX | 350 |
The princes of the Kushan dynasty ruled a vast empire which, in the first three centuries of the Christian Era, stretched from the Ganges River Valley into the oases of Central Asia. This empire, here called the Kushanshahr, was created by nation of former nomads whose language and culture were probably Iranian. The Kushan princes themselves seem to have been cast in much the same mold of Iranian heroic princely ideals as Darius and Xerxes, or Timur and Akbar-creator of great polyglot empires from a welter of semi-nomadic tribes, conquered kingdoms, and allied states. Through the Kushanshahr the Buddhist faith began its triumphal spread into Afghanistan, central Asia, and China. The Kushan nobility became its ardent patrons and builders of vast sanctuaries. The period of Kushan supremacy paralleled that of the Roman Empire in its prime; men, ideas and artistic motifs moved freely along the trade routes linking the Kushans, the Parthians, China and the Roman West, creating an atmosphere of extraordinary cosmopolitanism and prosperity. Yet the record of this dynasty virtually faded from history until a hundred year ago, when scholars became increasingly aware of the in the development of the art, religion, and statecraft of the time.
This book brings together the major forms of evidence for the cultural role of the Kushans - their goldcoinage and imperial portraits in stone, their appearance as donors and devotees in religious carvings, the inscription written during their reign. It gives the general outline of the history of the dynasty with an account of its major princes, princes whose portraits are found in India and Afghanistan as traces of a cult of deified kings, and demonstrates that the strong affiliation between the dynasty itself and Parthian civilization had a profound impact upon the development of Buddhist art both in India and the Far East.
About The Author:
John M. Rosenfiled is Professor of Fine Arts at the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard Universtiy, Cambridge, Masssachusetts.
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
I. THE CREATION OF THE EMPIRE    THE NAME AND LANGUAGE OF THE KUSHANS / 7    THE KUSHANS BEFORE THEIR ENTRY INTO INDIA / 9         THE NOMADIC PERIOD         SETTLEMENT IN THE OXUS REGION         CREATION OF THE KUSHAN EMPIRE     KUJULA KADPHISES / 11         KUJULA'S COINAGE         EPIGRAPHIC EVIDENCE         HERAOS, HYRKODES, PHSEIGACHARIS     VIMA KADPHISES /17        SOTER MEGAS        VIMA'S GOLD COINAGE        EPIGRAPHIC REFERENCES        VIMA'S COIN TYPES | 7 |
II. KANISHKA LEGENDS AND IMPERIUM     THE KANISHKA LEGENDS / 28         KANISHKA'S SUPER NATURAL POWERS         KANISHKA AS A BUDDHIST         KANISHKA AND THE KASHMIRI ARHAT         THE COUNCIL IN KASHMIR         KANISHKA AND ASVAGHOSHA         KANISHKA AND THE JAINA STUPA         KANISHKA AND THE IMAGES OF DEVAS         THE LETTER TO KANISHKA FROM MATRICETA         THE KANISHKA STUPA AND VIHARA AT PESHAWAR         KANISHKA PASSION AND HIS PHYSICIAN         THE CHINESE HOSTAGES         KANISHKA'S WARS, PENITENCE, AND DEATH         KANISHKA'S AFTERLIFE     DYNASTIC MATTERS / 39         KANISHKA'S NAME         KANISHKA'S ORIGIN     THE EXTENSION OF THE KUSHAN EMPIRE / 41         TARIM BASIN         SOGDIANA         BACTRIA AND BACTRA         TUKHARISTAN ACCORDING TO HSUAN-TSANG         KHWAREZM         KHURASAN         KAPISA         KABUL         JELALABAD DISTRICT         ARACHOSIA AND SEISTAN         GANDHARA AND UDDIYANA         TAXILA AND THE WESTERN PANJAB         KASHMIR         THE UPPER GANGETIC PLAIN         THE LOWER GANGETIC PLAIN         MURUNDAS         MALWA AND GUJARADESA     KANISHKA'S COINAGE / 54     VASISHKA / 57     KANISHKA II / 58 | 27 |
III. HUVISHKA AND THE KUSHAN PANTHEON     THE TWO-HUVISHKAS THEORY /60     THE HUVISHKA COINAGE / 60         FIRST GROUP         SECOND GROUP         THIRD GROUP         HUVISHKA'S OBVERSE TYPES ON COPPER COINS     HEADDRESS FOUND IN KUSHAN COINS ONLY / 66         THE KUSHAN CREST ORNAMENT     DEITIES ON THE COIN OF KANISHKA AND HUVISHKA / 69         ARDOXHO         ASHAEIXSHO         ATHSHO         BODDO         SAKAMANOBOSDO         BAGOBOSDO         ELIOS         EPHAISTOS         ERAKILO         LROOASPO         MAASENO         MANAOBAGO         MAO         MAO-MIIRO         MIIRO         MOZDOOANO         OORMAZDO         NANA (VARIANTS NANO, NANAO)         NANASHAO         SHAONANA         NANAIA         OADO         OANINDO         OAXSHO         OESHO         OESHO-NAN         OESHO-OMMO         ORLANGNO         PHARRO         RISHNO OR RION         SALENE         SARAPO         SHAOREORO         SKANDO-KOMARO         (MAASENA) BIZAGO     BLUNDERED OR UNIDENTIFIED TYPES / 100     KUSHAN SEALS / 101 | 60 |
IV. VASUDEVA I AND HIS SUCCESSORS    THE HISTORICAL SITUATION / 105    COINS OF VASUDEVA I AND HIS IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS /106         THE VASUDEVA COINS         COINAGE OF KANISHKA III         ASSIGNMENT OF THE VASUDEVA TYPES    SUCCESSION TO KANISHKA III IN INDIA / 112         THE ERJHUNA YASAGA         THE END OF KUSHAN DOMINION IN GANGETIC INDIA    THE SASANIAN INTRUSION / 116         EVIDENCE FROM IRAN         KUSHANO-SASANIAN COINAGE /117         VAHARAM TYPES | 104 |
V. SAKAS AND PARTHIANS    ORIGINS OF THE SAKAS / 122    THE NORTHERN GROUP OF SAKAS / 124         MAUES         AZES I         AZILISES         AZES II         GONDOPHARES    THE SOUTHWESTERN GROUP SAKAS / 130         THE DYNASTY OF NAHAPANA         THE DYNASTY OF CASTANA    THE MATHURA SATRAPS / 133         RAJUVULA AND THE LION CAPITAL         THE MAHAKSHATRAPA SODASA         SODASA'S SUCCESSORS AT MATHURA | 121 |
VI. THE MATHURA PORTRAITS     THE MAT SHRINE / 140         THE EXCAVATION     THE GOKARNESVARA SITE 142     OTHER SOURCES OF KUSHAN PORTRAITS / 143     IDENTIFICATIN AND RELATIVE DATING OF THE PORTRAITS / 144         THE PORTRAIT OF KANISHKA         THE PORTRAIT OF VIMA         THE CASTANA STATUE         A PORTRAIT OF HUVISHKA         THE PORTRAIT HEAD         THE GOKARNESVARA COLOSSUS         TWO TORSOS     THE NATURE OF THE MAT SHRINE/149         THE MORA SANCTUARY     NANAGHAT | 138 |
VII. OTHER ROYAL PORTRAITS, KUSHAN AND IRANIAN     THE TEMPLE AT SURKH KOTAL /154         THE PORTRAIT STATUES AND THEIR PLACEMENT         THE INSCRIPTIONS         THE STUCCO FIGURES         THE "INVESTITURE" SCENE         CHRONOLOGY         RITUALS     SHAMI/163     FURTHER EXAMPLES OF ROYAL PORTRAITURE IN THE IRANIAN     MANNER/164         NIMRUD DAGH         KUH-KHWAJA         TOPRAK KALA IN KHWAREZM         HATRA | 154 |
VIII. STYLISTIC AND ICONOGRAPHIC ASPECTS OF THE MATHURA IMPERIAL PORTRAITS     ROYAL PORTRAITURE IN INDIAN ART / 174         THE CAKRAVARTIN     CLOTHING AND ARMAMENT / 176         CLOTHING PLAQUES         KANISHKA'S SWORD         KANISHKA'S MACE         CASTANA'S PLAQUE BELT     THE LION THRONE / 183         THE "EUROPEAN" POSITION         THE TALL KUSHAN CROWN     SOLAR SYMBOLISM / 189         PRE-KUSHAN SOLAR DEITIES IN INDIAN ART         OTHER EVIDENCE OF THE SOLAR CULT         WESTERN PARALLELS OF INDIAN HELIOLATRY     HALOS AND FLAMING SHOULDERS / 197         KHVARENO         FLAMES AND THE BUDDHA PRINCIPLE     A SUMMIT OF ROCKS OR CLOUDS /201     THE DEIFICATION OF KUSHAN KINGS / 202         THE KING AS A DIVINE EPIPHANY         RITUALS AND CEREMONIES         RELIGIOUS CONTENT OF THE ROYAL CULTS     FRONTALITY IN KUSHAN PORTRAITS / 208 | 173 |
IX. KUSHAN FIGURES AS DONORS AND DEVOTEES IN BUDDHIST SCULPTURE     EXAMPLE OF INDO-SCYTHIAN DONOR FIGURES / 216         THE BUNER RELIEFS         THE SAHRI-BAHLOL PORTRAITS         OTHER DONOR PORTRAITS     BUDDHIST NARRATIVE SCULPTURE / 220         TRAPUSA AND BHALLIKA         WORSHIP OF THE BUDDHA'S         ALMS BOWL (PATRA)         THE GREAT DEPARTURE         GUARDS         OTHER EXAMPLES     THE CULT OF THE BODHISATIVAS / 227         MAITREYA         MAITREYA AND SAKYAMUNI COMBINED         THE TEACHING MAITREYA         OTHER PARADISE SCENES         BODHISATTVA MAHASATTVA     KUBERA-PANCIKA / 245         PHARRO AND ARDOXSHO         HSUAN-TSANG'S REPORT | 215 |
    Appendix I. The Era of Kanishka         THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 78         THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 128         THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 144         THE ARGUMENT FOR A.D. 110-115 | 253 |
    Appendix II. The Kanishka Reliquary         THE FINDING OF THE RELIQUARY         THE COSTUME OF THE KING         OTHER STYLISTIC AND SYMBOLIC DETAILS | 260 |
   Appendix III. Inscription Pertaining to the Indo-Scythian Dynasties at Mathura | 263 |
NOTES | 276 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY 317 | |
INDEX | 350 |