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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Asian Coins| ▸ |Kushan Empire||View Options:  |  |  | 

Coins of the Kushan Empire, 30 - 375 A.D.

The Kushans descended from the Guishuang branch of the nomadic Yueh-Chi tribe. The Kushans first ruled in Bactria. They gradually expanded until, at the height of the Empire, the Kushans loosely ruled a territory that extended north to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, south into northern India, and east as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkant, in the Tarim Basin of modern-day Xinjiang, China. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than a century. The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese silks to Rome, and created flourishing urban centers. The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, the Aksumite Empire and Han Dynasty of China. While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record of the empire's history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly Chinese. In the 3rd century, the Kushan empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms which fell to the Sasanians invading from the west. In the 4th century, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by invaders from the north, known as the Kidarites, and then the Hepthalites.Map of the Kushan Empire

Kushan Kingdom, Taxila Region, Kanishka III, 267 - 270 A.D.

|Kushan| |Empire|, |Kushan| |Kingdom,| |Taxila| |Region,| |Kanishka| |III,| |267| |-| |270| |A.D.||dinara|
In an inscription discovered in Punjab, Kanishka III is titled Maharaja rajadhiraja Devaputra Kaisara Kanishka ("Great King, King of Kings, Son of God, Caesar, Kanishka), suggesting some awareness of the Roman Empire as Kaisara seems to stand for "Caesar", and names himself as the son of Vajheshka, identified as Kushan ruler Vashishka.

Oesho was represented on the coins of several Kushan kings, one of the titular deities of the dynasty. Nearly all of the images of Oesho are on coins, suggesting his worship was a royal cult, not widely followed by the kings' subjects. The bull, water-pot, and trident became key attributes of Shiva in later Hindu art.
SH98717. Gold dinara, ANS Kushan 1645, Göbl Kushan 635, Choice EF, well centered, double struck, weight 7.705 g, maximum diameter 21.5 mm, die axis 0o, probably Taxila mint, 267 - 270 A.D.; obverse Bactrian legend: şAONANOşAOKA NHşKO KOşANO (King of kings, Kanishka Kushan), king standing left, nimbate, wearing diadem, jeweled helmet with earflaps, armor, and sword, sacrificing over small flaming altar to left, trident in left hand, filleted trident to left, Brahmi letters: ga lower left, gho between feet, and hu right; reverse Bactrian legend downward on right: OHşO (Oesho), god Oesho (resembles Shiva) standing facing, one nimbate head, two arms, diadem in right hand, trident in left hand, bull Nandi standing left behind, tamgha upper left; SOLD


Kushan Empire, Vasudeva I, c. 190 - 230 A.D.

|Kushan| |Empire|, |Kushan| |Empire,| |Vasudeva| |I,| |c.| |190| |-| |230| |A.D.||dinara|
Vasudeva I was king when the empire was at it's height of splendor, prosperity and opulence, but he was the last of the "Great Kushans." His rule coincided with the invasion of the Sasanians into northwestern India, and the establishment of the Indo-Sasanians or Kushanshahs in what is today Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India. His capital was probably Mathura in northern India. He was a patron of art and the Mathura school of art prospered under his patronage. By the time of Vasudeva I, the Kushan dynasty had been totally assimilated in Indian culture. He was a Hindu, named after Vasudeva, the father of the Hindu god Krishna. Never again did a Kushan ruler depict a Greek or Zoroastrian deity on coinage, all depicted Oesho-Shiva or Ardoxsho-Laxmi. Most of Vasideva's coins depict Oesho with his bull, Nandi, on reverse. His coinage include a series of gold coins depicting four-armed, three headed Oesho-Shiva with finely engraved details demonstrating the superb die-engraving skills of Kushan period.
SP92334. Gold dinara, ANS Kushan 1092, Göbl Kushan 640A, Mitchiner ACW 3395 (Peshawar), VF, light marks, minor flan flaw lower half of reverse, reverses double strike, light earthen deposits, weight 7.890 g, maximum diameter 23.5 mm, die axis 0o, main mint, Bactria (probably Balkh) mint, late phase; obverse Bactrian inscription: şAONANOşAO BAZOΔHO KOşANO (king of kings, Vasudeva Kushan), king standing facing, head left, helmeted, nimbate, armored knee length tunic, trousers, and boots, sword in sheath on belt, sacrificing over altar from right hand, trident over altar, trident in left hand, nandipada in right field; reverse god Oesho (resembles Shiva) standing facing, leaning on bull Nandi standing left, one head, two arms, radiate nimbus, wearing ankle length dhoti, erect lingam, diadem in right hand, trident in raised left hand, tamga upper left, Bactrian legend OHşO upward on right; ex Artemission, London (2005); SOLD


Kushan Kingdom, Vasudeva II, 267 - 300 A.D.

|Kushan| |Empire|, |Kushan| |Kingdom,| |Vasudeva| |II,| |267| |-| |300| |A.D.||dinara|
Vasudeva II was a Kushan emperor who ruled c. 267 - 300 A.D. He was probably the successor of Kanishka III and may have been succeeded by a king named Shaka Kushan.

Oesho was represented on the coins of several Kushan kings, one of the titular deities of the dynasty. Nearly all of the images of Oesho are on coins, suggesting his worship was a royal cult, not widely followed by the kings' subjects. The bull, water-pot, and trident became key attributes of Shiva in later Hindu art.
SH91975. Gold dinara, ANS Kushan 1650, Göbl Kushan 630, Donum Burns 715, Choice gVF, weight 7.822 g, maximum diameter 22.8 mm, die axis 0o, Mathura/Gandhara, main mint, 267 - 300 A.D.; obverse Bactrian inscription: şAONANOşAO BAZOΔHO KOşANO (King of Kings Vasudeva Kushan), Vasudeva standing left, sacrificing over altar, filleted staff in left hand, filleted trident to left; Brahmi rju right of altar, Brahmi gho between Vasudeva's feet, Brahmi tra to right of Vasudeva's leg, Brahmi rda to right; reverse god Oesho (resembles Shiva) standing facing before the bull Nandi standing left, nimbate head facing, diadem in right hand, trident in left hand, tamgha upper left, Bactrian legend OHşO downward on right; ex Artemission (London), 2006; SOLD







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REFERENCES

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