Fall of the Parthians and the Kushan Conquest
Long before the final catastrophe that ultimately 
overtook the satrapal line of Chashtana, theKujula kadphises Saka-Pahlava emperors of the north-west had passed through vicissitudes of another kind. Gondophernes, who had probably succeeded Azes II on the imperial throne of the north-west, had a chequered career. Numismatic evidence points to the wide extent of his sway and his leaning towards Indian culture. Tradition associates his name with that of the Christian apostle St. Thomas. He does not seem to have left to his successors a stable government. We are told by a contemporary Greek mariner that Parthian princes in the latter half of the first century AD were constantly driving each other out. The Yue-chi nomads of Central Asia, who had been driven from their ancestral abode on the Chinese frontier about 165 BC and had settled in the Oxus valley, were not slow to take advantage of Parthian Kujula kadphises coinage.JPG (22230 bytes)disunion. 
The five principalities into which the Yue-chi were divided in their new home were consolidated into a powerful monarchy by Kieu-tsieu-k’io, identified with Kujula Kasa, Kadphises or Kadphises I, head of the Kushan (Kusana) section of the horde. Kadphises attacked the Parthians, took possession of Ki-pin and Kabul and became complete master of the Indian borderland. Copper coins of Kujula bearing a remarkable resemblance to Roman denarii, particularly to the Constantia type of the emperor Claudius (AD 41-54), prove that he ruled not earlier than the middle of the first century A.D. A terminus ad quem is probably fixed by the Chinese reference to the Yue-chi occupation of Kabul or some territory in its neighbourbood before AD 92.
The successor of Kieu-tsieu-k’io or Kujula Kadphises was Yen-kao-chen or Vima Kadphises (II) of the coins. The new king is credited by Chinese annalists with the conquest of the Indian interior, where he set up a governor to rule in his name. He became a convert to Saivism and proclaimed himself as Mahisvara on his coins. The wealth and prosperity of his dominions are illustrated by the fine gold coins that were issued under his orders. Ambassadors from India presented their credentials to the Roman emperor Trajan (AD 98-117). They may have arrived from the Kushan court, but it is uncertain whether they were sent by Kadphises II or a later king, Kanishka.
Kanishka I
Kanishka is usually regarded as a successor of Vima Kadphises (Kadphises II). To him is attributed by many scholars the foundation of the Saka era of AD 78. This era, is the only Indian reckoningkanishka traditionally ascribed to a Saka potentate, and Kanishka is the only Scythian king known to have established an era, that is to say, his regional reckoning was continued by his successors for several generations, and was thus transformed into an era. Kanishka was no doubt a Kushan and not strictly speaking a Saka, but the latter designation was used in India in a wide sense to include, all kindred tribes. Chinese historians refer to a famous conflict between a Kushan king and the great general Pan-chao in the last quarter of the first century AD. The view held by certain scholars is that the Kushan antagonist of Pan- chao wag Kadphises II. No such event is, however, associated with Yen-kao-chen or Kadphises II by Chinese annalists. On the other hand Kanishka, whose name was not known to the official historians of China, certainly came into conflict with that country, and Hiuen Tsang speaks of one or more Chinese hostages detained at his court. If Kanishka was the contemporary of Pan-chao the ascription to him of the Saka era cannot be regarded as untenable. But it is not possible to come to a definite conclusion on the origin of the era of AD 78.
Kanishka rule mapAccording to Hiuen Tsang the great empire over which Kanishka exercised his sway had its capital at Purushapura or Peshawar. Epigraphic evidence points to the inclusion within his dominions of the wide expanse of territory from Gandhara and Sue Vihar to Oudh and Benares. The inclusion of Kashmir is testified to by Kalhana, and clashes with the rulers of Saketa and Pataliputra are vouched for by other writers. As already stated, the pilgrim Hiuen Tsang refers to a war with China in the course of which the Kushan king obtained some initial successes in eastern Turkestan. But he was unable to make much impression on his mighty northern neighbour. The north alone, according to tradition, remained unsubdued.
But it is not as a conqueror that Kanishka is chiefly remembered by posterity. His chief title to fame rests on his monuments and on the patronage he extended to the religion of Sakya-muni. The celebrated chaitya that he constructed at Peshawar excited the wonder and admiration of travellers down to a late period, and the famous sculptures executed under his orders include a life-size statue of the king himself. In Buddhist ecclesiastical history his name is honoured as that of the prince who summoned a great council to examine the Buddhist scriptures and prepare commentaries on them. Inscriptions and coins bear eloquent testimony to the king’s zeal for the religion of the Buddha. That his association with it dated from the beginning of his reign is possibly proved by the Peshawar Casket Inscriptions. Among the celebrities who graced his court the most eminent was perhaps Asvaghosha, philosopher, poet, and dramatist, who wrote the Buddha Charita and other books.
