Originating in the first century AD, the Kushan Empire emerged on either sides of Bactria along the course of Amu Darai. Presently the territory falls in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and south Tajikistan. The Kushans spread rapidly as far as Sarnath and Saketa. Kaniska was the prominent Kushan ruler and his inscriptions are still well preserved. Branching possibly from the Yuezhi confederation, the Kushans had links with the Persian, roman and Han kingdom in China. The Kushan rule was full of achievements in art, literature, science, drama and other forms of education. Most of the sources are the inscriptions and few textual records. Origin of Kushans Guishuang, one of the ancient Chinese texts described Kushans to be the emigrants from one of the Yuezhi aristocrat tribe. There language is primarily Indo-European and their former location point to central parts of Asia. With the arrival of the Xiongnu, they got driven westward into the Indian borders. Some historians suggest the development of Kushan Empire as a result of mass immigrations. It all happened during the construction of the Great Wall of China as marauding tribes had nowhere else to go. The Parthian and Bactrian Greeks had been displaced by the Shakas from the east dominating near the Aral Sea. In comfortable circumstances, the Kushans would never have entered India but the constant pressure from the attacking Shakas made them do so. Art and Culture Known as Yuezhi in China, the Kushans gained prominence over other migrating tribes. Gradually and finally they reached Gandhara and established Peshawar and Kabul as their capitals. They modified the Greek alphabets for their own use and began imitating the coins. Combined with Pali, the inscriptions on the coins gave rise to the Kharoshriti script. The Kushans had many aspects of the Egyptian Zoroastrian and Buddhist culture in their preaching and texts. Saivism, a sect of Hinduism gained ground among the Kushans. Trade flourished bringing in the first seeds of silk into India. The Gandhara culture and art influenced the western civilizations a lot. Lord Buddha features in most Kushan tunics, trousers and belts. Their architecture was sharp and revealed the crafty tools that they used. King Kanishka Kaniska was the fifth Kushan king and ruled for about 13 years. He inherited a huge territory extending from Kundina in the east, Ujjain in the south and beyond Patliputra. He had two capitals by the name of Peshawar and Mathura. Qila Mubarakh is Punjab is credited to his rule. The regime of Kaniska was referred by the Kushans as their calendar. The stone cutting of the beheaded Kaniska still is a popular architecture in history. Fall of Kushan Dynasty Vasudeva I died in 225 BC and with him died the Kushan Empire. The Persian Sassanid subjugated the later weak rulers and replaced the Kussanshas. Approximately 270 territories in the Ganga plains got themselves independent and later taken over by the Gupta rulers. Kidara overthrew the rest part and the Kidarite Empire came up. What was left was later totally wiped out by the Huns and later Islamic rulers.
