Kanishka


Kanishka I, also known as Kanishka the Great, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign 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 in Gandhara, with another major capital at Mathura. Coins of Kanishka were found in Tripuri.
Although he never converted to the religion, 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.

Genealogy

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 Kushan kings of Kashmir gave Kanishka's name as the third of a sequence, along with the names of Hushka and Jushka. Finally, testimony of Kanishka's activity in Kashmir in favor of the Buddhist faith suggests that he favored the region above others and that he founded Peshawar as his capital to be close to Kashmir.
He was of Yuezhi ethnicity and his native language was probably Tocharian. Kanishka was the successor of Vima Kadphises, as demonstrated by an impressive genealogy of the Kushan kings, known as the Rabatak inscription. The connection of Kanishka with other Kushan rulers is described in the Rabatak inscription as Kanishka makes the list of the kings who ruled up to his time: Kujula Kadphises as his great-grandfather, Vima Taktu as his grandfather, Vima Kadphises as his father, and himself Kanishka: "for King Kujula Kadphises great grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu grandfather, and for King Vima Kadphises father, and *also for himself, King Kanishka".

Conquests in India and Central Asia

Kanishka's empire was certainly vast. It extended from southern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, north of the Amu Darya in the north west to Northern India, as far as Mathura in the south east, and his territory also included Kashmir, where there was a town Kanishkapur, named after him not far from the Baramulla Pass and which still contains the base of a large stupa. The Buddhist text Śrīdharmapiṭakanidānasūtra—known via a Chinese translation made in AD 472—refers to the conquest of Pataliputra by Kanishka.
Knowledge of his hold over Central Asia is less well established. The Hou Hanshu, states that general Ban Chao fought battles near Khotan with a Kushan army of 70,000 men led by an otherwise unknown Kushan viceroy named Xie in 90 AD. Ban Chao claimed to be victorious, forcing the Kushans to retreat by use of a scorched-earth policy. The territories of Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkand were Chinese dependencies in the Tarim Basin, modern Xinjiang. Several coins of Kanishka have been found in the Tarim Basin.
Kanishka possibly fought off an invasion by the Parthian Empire in his reign. The war is attested in a single source, a Chinese translation of a lost Sanskrit original, A History of the Buddha's Successors.

Kanishka's coins

Kanishka's coins portray images of Indian, Greek, Iranian and even Sumero-Elamite divinities, demonstrating the religious syncretism in his beliefs. Kanishka's coins from the beginning of his reign bear legends in Greek language and script and depict Greek divinities. Later coins bear legends in Bactrian, the Iranian language that the Kushans evidently spoke, and Greek divinities were replaced by corresponding Iranian ones. All of Kanishka's coins – even ones with a legend in the Bactrian language – were written in a modified Greek script that had one additional glyph to represent /š/, as in the word 'Kushan' and 'Kanishka'.
On his coins, the king is typically depicted as a bearded man in a long coat and trousers gathered at the ankle, with flames emanating from his shoulders. He wears large rounded boots, and is armed with a long sword as well as a lance. He is frequently seen to be making a sacrifice on a small altar. The lower half of a lifesize limestone relief of Kanishka similarly attired, with a stiff embroidered surplice beneath his coat and spurs attached to his boots under the light gathered folds of his trousers, survived in the Kabul Museum until it was destroyed by the Taliban.

Hellenistic phase

A few coins at the beginning of his reign have a legend in the Greek language and script: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΚΑΝΗϷΚΟΥ, " of Kanishka, king of kings."

Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on these early coins:
  • ΗΛΙΟΣ, ΗΦΑΗΣΤΟΣ, ΣΑΛΗΝΗ, ΑΝΗΜΟΣ
The inscriptions in Greek are full of spelling and syntactical errors.

Iranian / Indic phase

Following the transition to the Bactrian language on coins, Iranian and Indic divinities replace the Greek ones:
  • ΑΡΔΟΧϷΟ
  • ΛΡΟΟΑΣΠΟ
  • ΑΘϷΟ
  • ΦΑΡΡΟ
  • ΜΑΟ
  • ΜΙΘΡΟ, ΜΙΙΡΟ, ΜΙΟΡΟ, ΜΙΥΡΟ
  • ΜΟΖΔΟΟΑΝΟ
  • ΝΑΝΑ, ΝΑΝΑΙΑ, ΝΑΝΑϷΑΟ
  • ΜΑΝΑΟΒΑΓΟ
  • ΟΑΔΟ
  • ΟΡΑΛΑΓΝΟ
Only a few Buddhist divinities were used as well:
  • ΒΟΔΔΟ,
  • ϷΑΚΑΜΑΝΟ ΒΟΔΔΟ
  • ΜΕΤΡΑΓΟ ΒΟΔΔΟ
Only a few Hindu divinities were used as well:
  • ΟΗϷΟ. A recent study indicate that oesho may be Avestan Vayu conflated with Shiva.

    Kanishka and Buddhism

In Buddhist tradition Kanishka is regarded as of utmost importance. Although he never converted to Buddhism, he encouraged its teachings and provided royal sponsorship. Notably, he administered the 4th Buddhist Council in Kashmir as the head of the council. It was presided by Vasumitra and Ashwaghosha. Images of the Buddha based on 32 physical signs were made during his time.
He encouraged both the Gandhara school of Greco-Buddhist Art and the Mathura school of art. Kanishka personally seems to have embraced both Buddhism and the Persian attributes but he favored Buddhism, proven by his devotion to Buddhist teachings and prayer styles depicted in various books related to kushan empire.
His greatest contribution to Buddhist architecture was the Kanishka stupa at Purushapura, modern day Peshawar. Archaeologists who rediscovered the base of it in 1908–1909 estimated that this stupa had a diameter of 286 feet. Reports of Chinese pilgrims such as Xuanzang indicate that its height was 600 to 700 "feet" and it was covered with jewels.
Kanishka is said to have been particularly close to the Buddhist scholar Ashvaghosha, who became his religious advisor in his later years.

Buddhist coinage

The Buddhist coins of Kanishka are comparatively rare. Several show Kanishka on the obverse and the Buddha standing on the reverse. A few also show the Shakyamuni Buddha and Maitreya. Like all coins of Kanishka, the design is rather rough and proportions tend to be imprecise; the image of the Buddha is often slightly overdone, with oversize ears and feet spread apart in the same fashion as the Kushan king.
Three types of Kanishka's Buddhist coins are known:

Standing Buddha

Only six Kushan coins of the Buddha are known in gold. All these coins were minted in gold under Kanishka I, and are in two different denominations: a dinar of about 8 gm, roughly similar to a Roman aureus, and a quarter dinar of about 2 gm..
The Buddha is represented wearing the monastic robe, the antaravasaka, the uttarasanga, and the overcoat sanghati.
The ears are extremely large and long, a symbolic exaggeration possibly rendered necessary by the small size of the coins, but otherwise visible in some later Gandharan statues of the Buddha typically dated to the 3rd–4th century CE. He has an abundant topknot covering the usnisha, often highly stylised in a curly or often globular manner, also visible on later Buddha statues of Gandhara.
In general, the representation of the Buddha on these coins is already highly symbolic, and quite distinct from the more naturalistic and Hellenistic images seen in early Gandhara sculptures. On several designs a mustache is apparent. The palm of his right hand bears the Chakra mark, and his brow bear the urna. An aureola, formed by one, two or three lines, surrounds him.
The full gown worn by the Buddha on the coins, covering both shoulders, suggests a Gandharan model rather than a Mathuran one.

"Shakyamuni Buddha"

The Shakyamuni Buddha, standing to front, with left hand on hip and forming the abhaya mudra with the right hand. All these coins are in copper only, and usually rather worn.
The gown of the Shakyamuni Buddha is quite light compared to that on the coins in the name of Buddha, clearly showing the outline of the body, in a nearly transparent way. These are probably the first two layers of monastic clothing the antaravasaka and the uttarasanga. Also, his gown is folded over the left arm, a feature only otherwise known in the Bimaran casket and suggestive of a scarf-like uttariya. He has an abundant topknot covering the ushnisha, and a simple or double halo, sometimes radiating, surrounds his head.