Kanishka Rules the Kushan Empire

Around 127 CE, the Kushan monarch Kanishka ascended the throne of an empire that linked Central Asia to the northern plains of the Indian subcontinent. Originating from the Yuezhi people, Kanishka inherited a state founded by his great-grandfather Kujula Kadphises and consolidated by his predecessors Vima Taktu and Vima Kadphises, as recorded in the Rabatak inscription. Although older scholarly theories placed his accession in 78 CE, modern estimates associate the start of his reign with roughly 127 CE. Under his authority, Kushan power stretched from lands north of the Oxus River through Kashmir and down to Mathura, establishing primary seats of government at Purusapura, modern Peshawar, and at Mathura.

Early in his rule, Kanishka made a significant administrative shift by replacing Greek with Bactrian, an Iranian tongue written in an adapted Greek script, as the official language of imperial governance. His coinage illuminates this linguistic transition and reveals an eclectic imperial ideology. The earliest issues bore Greek inscriptions and depicted Hellenistic deities such as Helios and Selene. Subsequent mintages substituted these with Iranian and Indic divinities, including Mithra, Nana, and the god Oesho. The sovereign himself was frequently portrayed with flames rising from his shoulders, dressed in heavy boots, trousers, and a tunic, and sacrificing at a fire altar.