Kujula Kadphises history
Kujula Kadphises was a Yuezhi chief who conquered northern India in the 1st century CE. He laid the foundation of the Kushan Empire. The empire, at its peak, spread to encompass much of modern-day territory of Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India, at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi, where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan Emperor Kanishka the Great.
Kujula Kadphises was succeeded by his son Vima, after whom came Kanishka. Kanishka is argued to be the most powerful among the Kushan kings, as the dynasty came to be called. The date of Kanishka’s accession to the throne is disputed at best and ranges from 78 to 248. The year 78 is the generally accepted and is also the basis for an era started by the Shakas and used in addition to the Gregorian calendar by the Indian government; the era, commemorating Kanishka’s accession, was widely used in Malava, Ujjain, Nepal, and Central Asia.
Read More :
The kingdom was essentially oriented to the north, with its capital at Purusapura, although it extended southward as far as Sanchi and into the Ganges valley as far as Varanasi. Mathura was the most important city in the southern part of the kingdom. Kanishka’s ambitions included control of Central Asia, which, if not directly under the Kushans, did come under their influence. Inscriptions fairly recently discovered in the Gilgit area further attest such Central Asian connections.
Those who succeeded Kanishka, failed to maintain Kushan power. The southern areas of the kindom were the first to break away. By the middle of the 3rd century, the Kushans empire was left virtually with only Kashmir and Gandhara. By the end of the century the king of the Persian Sasanian dynasty them reduced to vassalage.
Read More : Kapilendra Deva Routray: The Legendary Odia King and founder of Suryavamsa Routray Gajapati Dynasty
