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 |
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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 |
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