(i) The Kushanas, originally belonged to western China. They are also called Yueh-chis. The Kushanas after defeating Shakas and Pahlavas created a big empire in Pakistan. The first prominent ruler of the Kushana dynasty was Kujula Kadphises. He was succeeded by his son Wema Kadphises. The next ruler was Kanishka.
(ii) He was the most famous ruler of the Kushanas. Kanishka probably ascended the throne in AD 78, and started a new era, now known as the Shaka era. It was under Kanishka that the Kushan empire reached its maximum territorial limits. His empire extended from Central Asia to north India and included Varanasi, Kaushambi and Sravasti in Uttar Pradesh. The political significance of Kanishka’s rule lies in the fact that he integrated central Asia with north India as part of a single empire. It resulted in the intermingling of different cultures and increase in inter regional trading activities.
(iii) Kanishka is famous in history as a great patron of Buddhism. During his period the fourth Buddhist council was convened at Kundalavana (present day Harwan near Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir). A large number of Buddhist scholars took part in it. It was in this council that Buddhism got split into two schools — Hinayana and Mahayana.
(iv) Kanishka also patronised the Gandhara and Mathura schools of sculptural art. He built in the city of Purushapura (present day Peshawar), his capital, a giant stupa to house the Buddha's relics. The building was still intact with all its magnificence when the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hsien visited the area later in the early fifth century AD.
(v) Nothing much is known about the administrative machinery of the Kushanas.
(vi) Perhaps the whole empire was divided into provinces, each ruled by a mahakshatriya (a military governor), who was assisted by a kshatrapa; but how many provinces were there in the empire is not known.
(vii) It is concluded from sources that Kushana horsemen wore trousers while riding. A headless statue of Kanishka found at Mathura reflects the same.
(viii) A prominent feature of Kushana polity was the title of devaputra, i.e., son of God, used by the Kushana kings. It indicates the claim to divinity by the Kushana kings.
