Kanishka | EPFL Graph Search

Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?

Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.

Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क, ; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε Kanēške; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 ; Brahmi: ), Kanishka or Kanishka the Great, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (127–150 CE) the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadphises, founder of the Kushan empire, Kanishka came to rule an empire extending from Central Asia and Gandhara to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain. The main capital of his empire was located at Puruṣapura (Peshawar) in Gandhara, with another major capital at Mathura. Coins of Kanishka were found in Tripuri (present-day Jabalpur). His conquests and patronage of Buddhism played an important role in the development of the Silk Road, and in the transmission of Mahayana Buddhism from Gandhara across the Karakoram range to China. Around 127 CE, he replaced Greek with Bactrian as the official language of administration in the empire. Earlier scholars believed that Kanishka ascended the Kushan throne in 78 CE, and that this date was used as the beginning of the Saka calendar era. However, historians no longer regard this date as that of Kanishka's accession. Falk estimates that Kanishka came to the throne in 127 CE. There are two theories about Kanisha's origins, both based on the supposition of a separate Kanishka dynasty. The earlier Sten Konow's is that Kanishka came from Khotan, having been summoned as an ethnic ally at the time of troubles after Vima's reign. Konow supports this theory by citing a Tibetan tradition that a Khotanese expedition to India of about A.D. 120 was commanded by a King Vijayakirti along with a King Kanika and the king of Guzan. Roman Ghirshman's similar theory is that Kanishka was originally king of Kashmir before becoming suzerain of the dynasty as a whole. He cites the above mentioned Khalatse epigraph, which may allude to Kushan power reaching the northeast corner of Kashmir, and also the Rajatarangini, in which the list of Turushka kings of Kashmir gave Kanishka's name as the third of a sequence, along with the names of Hushka and Jushka.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts (22)

Gandhara

Gandhāra was an ancient Indo-Aryan civilization centered in the present-day north-west Pakistan and including parts of north-east Afghanistan, roughly in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley and Swat valley, though the cultural influence of "Greater Gandhara" extended across the Indus river to the Taxila region in Potohar Plateau and westwards into the Kabul valley in Afghanistan, and northwards up to the Karakoram range.

Mahayana

Mahāyāna (महायान, ˌmɑːhəˈjɑːnə ; Great Vehicle) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in ancient India (1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism, the other being Theravāda and Vajrayāna. Mahāyāna accepts the main scriptures and teachings of early Buddhism but also recognizes various doctrines and texts that are not accepted by Theravada Buddhism as original.

Mathura

Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. In ancient times, Mathura was an economic hub, located at the junction of important caravan routes. The 2011 Census of India estimated the population of Mathura at 441,894. In Hinduism, Mathura is the birthplace of Krishna, which is located at the Krishna Janmasthan Temple Complex.