two the

Greeks that, the cause of ir mutual

centuries during this later remained
period.
in India as
their mutual learning
homeland for nearly
2. The Sakas
In the (Scvthians) and the Parthians
second century B.C. the Hunas (Pahlavas)
from western China. The turned out the uch-chi
the Sakas. The Sakas, in Yueh-chimoved towards the West and putnomadic race
their turn, moved towards the pressure
Hellenistic monarchy of Bactria. South and
Later on, they proceeded south destroyed the
after capturing Sakastan (Seistan) entered and east and
India in various bands through
 187 BC. to 300 AD
/ndiafrom 175

dflerentroutes. The Sakas, before their cntry into Ind1a, Iived for a
considerable
pernodofttimcin Bactria and Iranian Sakastan and, primarily, it werc the Sakas
ofcasternIranand Bactria who occupicd the western part of Northern India. The
Sakas,first of all, settled down in the lower valley of the river Indus, the area
which was called|the Saka-dwipa at that time. Afterwards they penetrated into
d1ferent parts of India.
one of the carliest Saka rulers mentioned in Indian
C) He occupiedlargc parts of north-western India. inscription is Maues (20
re certainly under his rule while towards the East, Gandhara and west Punjab
the territories, as far as
Mathura, were occupicd by him. He was succeeded by Azes
AD)whoconquered the rest of the territories of the Punjab. Azes(Aya: 5 B.C.-30
was succeeded
hAzlises and Azes II respectively.
Afterwards, place of the Sakas was taken
the
by the Parthians (Saka-Pahlavas).
The Sakas and the Parthians cannot be distinctly
oher. They have been treated as people of the same race distinguished from each
However, it seems that the Parthians were those Sakas who inhadIndian lived
literature.
Parhian rulers for a long time in Parthia and rose to power only under the
bv that time they had received a good deal of afterwards. But
proceeded towards India and were able to capture admixture of blood. Afterwards, they
Thus, originally the Parthians were also the Sakas,Indian territories of the Sakas.
stay in Parthia and mixure of blood with the though because of their long
local inhabitants they were
preferably called the Parthians.
The first Parthian
(Saka-Pahlava) ruler was
independent kingdom in East Iran after MithradateVonones who established an
II, the ruler of Parthia. His
empire extended upto south Afghanistan and he entered
relations with the Saka-dynasty of Maues. There greatest into matrimonial
Gondaphernes who extended his empire in East as far asIndo-Parthian ruler was
Punjab. But while the
Indo-Parthians succeeded in eliminating the power of the Sakas in India they, in
turn, were eliminated by the invading
As the Sakas and the Parthians Kushanas litte later.
a
people of the same stock in Indian(Saka-Pahlavas)
literature, has
it
have been regarded as the
aistinguish the rulers and the kingdoms of the two. The been found difficult to
Indians treated them as
One for all purposes. These Sakas and the
nerent kingdoms in India. The rulers ofSaka-Pahlavas established manv
these kingdoms were called
AMatrapas. Among these Kshatrapas,the Kshatrapas ofTaxila Mathura, Nasik
Ojayini became the most renowned. The existence of their
erent parts of NoTh-west India proves that they kingdoms in
had not only succeeded in
plctely climinating the kingdoms of the Greeks in India but also
heir territories farther than that. They had had exten
conquered the entire North-West
Frontier of India, Punjab, Sindh. Saurastra, Kathiawar,
, Maharashtra, North Konkan, Western UtarRajputana, Central India,
Pradesh and probbly
KashmirThe Sakas fought against the Satavahanas also and, later on, entered
latrimonial alliances with them. Inthe first century A.D.,the Sakas and the
 History of.
176
Ancient India
Parthians were overpowered by another invading race, the
Kushanas captured most of thecir territories, however, their western Kushanas.The
in Malwa and Kathiawar Peninsula who owed allegiance to the
continued to rule for along time even after the fall of the Kushanas.
clear that thongh the Kushanas had snatched away the overlordship of
KsThus,Kuhasthraapnaass
itis
west India from the hands of the Sakas and the Partbians they had
not Norh.
uprooted their nunmerous principalities under subordinatu chiefs After
he
total y
downfall of the Kushanas, the western Kshatrapas of the Sakas again
power, particularty under the rule of king Nahapana and king rOSe to
Rudradaman
successfully waged wars against the Satvahanas of the south. They were who
finished onty by the rulers of the Gupta dynasty. finaly
The Sakas and the Parthians did not affect Indian culture in any way, Ratk
after the extinction of their political power, they were completely merged into th
Indian socicty

3. The Kushanas and Emperor Kanishka

The Kushanas proved to be the most important invader of this time md
amongst the Kushanas emperor Kanishka ruled as the greatest ruler.
The Yueh-chi tribe was turned out of China by the Hunas near about 165 B.c
After being defcated when it moved towards the South-West, it came in conflig
with the Sakas. It defeated the Sakas and established itself in Bactria and the
vallev of the tiver Oxus. There the Yueh-chis left their nomadic habits and lived
there for long years though they divided themselves into five principaliies ar
branches The Kushanas were one of those branches. Thus, the Kushanas were
a branch of the Yueh-chi tribe. Eastern scholars have
Kushanas were a branch of the Sakas. However, it is maintained
that the
not
certainly, there was mixture of blood of the Yueh-chi and the accepted though
Sakas in them
Kujula Kadphises or Kadphises I, the firSt well-known ulerof the Kushanas
united the five Yueh-chi principalities under him. He conguered Gandhara a
southern Afghanistan. He was the first king to strike
Hindukush He was succeeded by his son Kadphises II orcoins to the soun
extended his authority to the Indian interior. His Vema Kadphises w
Indian empire inc
Punjab and part of Uttar Pradesh. He was a great ruler whose territories touched
the boundaries of the empires of Rome and
China.His
the images of Lord Siva and Nandi which proves that hecoins
had bear the imp
accepted Hinduisn
However, amongst the Kushana rulers who occupieda placeamongIndianruers
the greatest one was emperor
Kanishka.
() Bmperor Kanishka (78-10l or 102 A.D.). Kanishka has been accepted
an Indian ruler His capital was Purushapura (Peshawar), well within th
frontiers of fndia. Kanishka was the Kshatrapa (Governor) of the eastern India
empire of Vema Kadphises. When Vema Kadphises died, there ensued strugglk
between Kshatrapas of his different Kanishks
provinces in which, ultimately Soilfrot
succeeded. Thus, Kanishka was intimately
connected
with the Indian
 177
187
BCI
to 300 A.D.
fom
Nginningof his rise to power and started his
career of conguest from Uttar
by that time, the Kushanas were completety Indianised and so
Paiesh Besides,
Kanishka. Therefore, he has bcen rightly
accepted as an Indian King.
tonqueror and succeeded in establishinga vast empire
Kanishka was a great
extended far beyond the frontiers of India. There is adifference
houndariess According to Dr R.C Majumdar,
period of his rule
nion with regard to the
dopinion while Dr Bhandarkar has opined that
throne in 248 A.D.
Sanishkaascended the

\Khotan

Gandhara,

Taxila,

Kushan+Epire
[R. Sir.cnu.
Meerut
ndraprastha
\Ma:hura
Patl:putra

"arternSatraps

Ujja.nSancii

Kalinga

Andhra

Kingdom
 History of
Ancient
it wasthe vear 28 AD Both the opinions have been rejected by the India
opimajnedority
mien histonans Mr Marshall, DI VA Smith and Mr Cono have
sat on the throne cither in 125 AD or 144 AD But after that
Indhan nlers mmdcm scholars have rejectcd their ofconsulting
Chincse and the Tibtan sounces and revicwing the dates of accessions the
opinions
Fergusson. Rakbaldas Banerice Mr Rapson and Mr Oldenburg, howeve
Dr as well.othM.er
have descnbed that Kanishka ascended the throne in 78
of sholars have acccptaithat his regime began in the A.D. And the
the Saka Era which commenced from the first year 78 A.D. and he stanea
year of his regime, ie.,78 AD
majority
Details of the conqucsts of Kanishka are not available but it is
empire extended from Uttar Pradesh or probably Bihar in the believed that hi.
Rhorasana in the West and from Kashmir in the North to Konkan East to Khotan and
Thus it included Bihar, U.P., Malwa, in the South
Maharashtra Rajputana, Saurastra, part of norh
Sind, Punjab, Kashmir, the entire
and part of Central Asia. Its
boundaries in the
north-west of India, Afghanistan
of the empires of Iran and China.
Most
North-West touched the boundaries
of it was
because it is believed that when he ascended the conquered by Kanishka himself
of Central Asia, throne he possessed only a part
Afghanistan and a part of Sindh as territories
However, probably, his army was once defeated by a of his kingdom
Some vears later he Chinese general Pan-Chao
to avenge his former himself
defeat.
led another expedition across
He the plateau of Pamir
by his owm soldiers and was successful against the Chinese but was killed
commanders
become tired of constant fighting andduring this very expedition. His soldiers had
military sUccesses prove that he was atherefore,
great
revolted and killed him. Yet his
Kanishka was a capable commander and conquero.
his life-time. He himself administrator. kept his vast empire intact during
He
ruled the territories around his
Peshawar) while his Kshatrapas
his directions. These
capital, Purushpura
(governors) ruled over distant provinces under
provincial governors enjoyed vast powers in relation to their
territories, ye there is no evidence of any revolt
governors were posted at Mathura, Banaras, against the Emperor. Provincial
Western Province of India during the
time
Kausambi, Ayodhya and North
of
prevailed in the vast empire of Kanishka. Kanishka. Peace and order.
Kanishka issued coin The script
as had been the casegood inscribed on them was not Kharoshth
with the coins of earlier
was
sometimnes a corrupt form of Greek and foreign rulers. The scripr on theh
were similar to the coins sometimes Persian. His
inscribed on the right sideissued by Roman emperorS on which his own gold coins
was inscribed. while on the reverse side image of image was
Although Kanishka is regarded as a some god or
coin types represents Greek, Buddhist, the reversegodae
of s
deities, which appears topointSumerian, Persian, Elamite and
the different parts of his vast out the various forms of religion different
that
Indiau
sacrifice t0 agoddess. empire. Some copper coins depict him prevalled
Sanskrit language and literature oferins
flourishedunder the patronage of Kanisnka
 187 B.C. to 300 A.D.
179
HisCOurtwasthecentreof learning and grcat scholars of that time gatheredthere.
491ghosha Parsva, Vasumitra and
athis
timeTrere court. Nagarjuna,Sangharaksha who were great scholars of
the great exponent of
ikecelebratedIphysician of his age., Charaka also flourished at hisMahayantsm and
court. Mathara
wasashrewd politician of his age was his minister and the Greek engineer
4geslaus lookedafter his construction works. The religious texts of
were mostly prepared by his court scholars. AsvaghoshaMahayanism wrote the
mdrmanda-Kaya,the Buddha-Charita and the
Sariputra-Prakrana.
kngKanishka held the fourth Buddhist council, commentaries Whenon
were written
Trpitakas.and were compiled in a text called the Mahavibhasa which has
the regarded as the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism. Nagarjuna wrote his texts
hen
Aamedthe Prajan-Pramit-Sutra-Shastra and the Mahavibhasa-Shastra. The
nt way writings of Vasumitra and Sanghraksha have been regarded scholarty
ArItings of this age. As all of them were written in the Sanskrit language, it
wined in the progress of language and literature of Sanskrit.
The empire of Kanishka extended up to Central Asiain the west. Therefore,
t heped in maintaining mutual political, cultural and trade relations between
india andits western neighbours as far as China and the Roman empire. India
maintained brisk trade with western states both by sea and land. The Indians
exported luxury articles to the Roman empire and brought back so much gold to
thetr country that the Roman scholar, Pliny expressed regrets at the plunder of
pld of his country by the Indians. This favourable foreign trade and peace and
order within the country resulted in increased prosperity to Indians.
Kanishka was a patron of arts. The stupa and the monastery built by him at
Peshawar excited the admiration of Chinese and Muslim travellers many
centuries after his death. He built a town near Taxila and probably, the town of
Kanishkapura in Kashmir was also established by him.
Buddhist literary tradition affirms that Kanishka became a convert to
buddhism at the beginning of his reign. In Peshawar he erected a monastery and
1Supa. He summoned the fourth and the last General Council of the Buddhists
HIch was held in Kashmir or Jalandhar. Its deliberations were guided by
Vasumitra and Asvaghosha, In this very Council the great split of Buddhism took
Pace which divided it into major sects, the Hinayana and the Mahayana. The
N Sect was called the Mahavana and it was this sect which was accepted by
his religion. Kanishka helped in the propagation of this new sect
Kaniwithsinhkaand asoutside the borders of India. He sent missionaries to distant lands for
propagat ion of Mahayanism. It raised the status of Buddhismin India and it also
spread into distant lands as far as Central Asia, Tibet, China and Japan. It was
foremost religion of Asia at one tine and
Mahayanism
it was Kanishkawhich: helpedBuddhism
who made thethis process, that is whyit has been rightly
in starting
bserved that what Asoka was to Hinayanism, Kanishka was to Mahayanism.
Yet, Kanishka and other Kushana rulers were very much tolerant in religious
affairs. Kadphises L, probably, was a Buddhist. Vema Kadphises or Kadphises II
 History of
180
while after him Vasudcva
Ancient Indi, Indiafrom
187,B.. to 300 A.D. 181

This proves
Saiva. liberalaccepted
Kanishka
the
Buddhism
religious tradition ofl Kushana kings. All of themwas provides
aSaiva wasalsoa periodof religious ferment and missionary activity. It witnessedthe
was a
Buddhism, Jainism and developmentof.Savism and the allied cults of Kartrikeya, of the Mahayana form
Buddhism andthe cults of Mihira and Vasudeva Krishna, and it saw the
protection to all religions including reverse part of the coins of
irespective of their personal
religions. The
goddesses ofFvarious
HiKanduinisshmka of
introduction of.Bddhism into China by Kasyapa Matanga ( 61-67 A.D.). The
boreimpint of
inhabited bv
different
Persian
people of
images
gods.
different
of godsand
Kanishka
faiths
had
and
established
he and other
a vast
Kushana
Indian,
empire
nulers
Grcek
which
had the
dynasty
Eastern Asia.
Kanislka opened the way for Indian civilization to Central and
Sumerian and And, there is no doubt that Kanishka had contributed a lot to this progress.
wisdom to respect each of these religions so as to command faith of all theit
Therefore, herightly deserves an honoured place not only amongst the Kushana
inthe field of
one basic feature of the age of Kanishka religion nulers but also mong the great rulers of India.
been theThe
subjects. cstablishment and propagation of Mahayanism but equally importanm
had been the increasing popularity of the Bhagvatism sect of Hinduism. And, The Sucessors of Kanishka. Kanishka was succeeded by Vasishka who,
probably, was his son. But his rule was short-lived. He Tuled only for four years,
both encouraged the Bhakti-marg of traditional Hindu philosophy t0 attain
102-106 A.D. He was then succeeded by Huvishka (106-138 A.D.) His
salvation of the soul.
during the net relationship wiéh Kanishka or Vasishka is not clear. Probably he was a great
Architecture, painting and the art of sculpture progressed
stupas, rock-edicts and rot
grandson of Kadphises I. Huvishka was a capable uler but, probably he lost his
orthe Kushanas. Kanishka built many monasteries, of Ajanta-Cau
hold over the lower Indus valley which seems to have been occupied by the great
pillars for the propagation of Buddhism, The mural paintings
success was achievei i
Saka Satrap Rodradaman. He was a patron of Buddhism and built a splendid
began to take shape during this period. But the greatest monastery at Mathura. During his period, another ruler named Kanishka II
the field of sculpture. The Gandhara school of sculpture greW and progressed seemed to have ruled jointly with him for some time. Kanishka II, probably, was
during this period. For the first time the images ofBuddha and Bodhisattvas wer the son of Vasishka. The next and the last important Kushana king in India was
built in India. The Gandhara school was very much influenced by the Greek or Vasudeva I who ruled between 145-176 A.D. But by his time the power of the
Hellenistic art of sculpture. Therefore, the images of Buddha were built so Kushanas had declined. Though nothing is known about the extent of his empire,
beautifully that these could be favourably compared with the images of Apoll, probably, in India, it was limited onty to Uttar Pradesh and North Western
his
the Greek god of beauty. Besides, the Mathura and the Amravati schools a provinces. Most of the coins of Vasudeva exhibit the figure of Siva with
Sculpture also grew up during this age and beautiful pieces of sculpture were buit Nandin. Therefore, it has been suggested that he was a Saiva.
By
at different places under these different schools. It was a novel experiment in The Kushana power declined in India shortly after the reign of Vasudeva.
India in the field of sculpture. Of course, the entire credit for the progress in the the middle of the third century A.D. the Kushana power was left limited only to
field of sculpture and other arts does not go to Kushana rulers. Further, it also Their history after Vasudeva is also
the Punjab, N.W.FP. and Afghanistan. ninth
cannot be maintained that the progress in different fields of arts reached is obscure. Though there were Kushana rulers up to fourth, fifth and even small
perfection during their period. But, certainly a good beginning was made and century A.D., they were not mighty kings of an empire but rulers of
success achieved in many fields and it could be possible because the Kushana Kushana rulers
kingdoms who owed their allegiance to other overlords. The later
rulers established a vast and prosperous empire, maintained order and peac* failed to maintain the unity of the empire. The different
within its boundaries, provided facilities of contacts with foreign countnes, proved incapable and
supremacy and
provincial governors and local dynasties threw ofY their India, the
pursued a policy of religious toleration and, thus, created those circumstances established independent kingdoms. The Sakas in Western and Centralof the river
which helped in the growth of fine arts and literature. valley
Therefore, the period of Kushana rulers occupies an important place inthe Nagas in Mathura and its nearby regions, Daudheyas in the in the Noth-West
Sutlej in Punjab, the Malavas in Rajputana and the Siladas
history of India and amongst the Kushana rulers kingdoms and the mighty Kushana
Kanishka
of primary importance. He built a strong and vast empire certainly has a placei
and administered Succeeded in establishing their independent from the
powerful neighbours also drew advantage
well. The close contacts with the western empire broke into pieces. The extending
world helped in
economic and cultural progress in India. He createdduring his period helpedin Weakness of the Kushanas. The Sassanian Emperors of Persia started
century A.D. and
their power towards the East near about the middle of the third
religionconditions
the progress of various fine arts, literature and which in Central Asia
that achieved perfection succeeded in conquering the central part of the Kushana empire
in the age of the Guptas. Describing the cultural
of the periodof and Afghanistan. The Kushana rulers ofthe North-West seemed to have accepted
the Kushanas it has been commented that the achievements
literary activity. It is proved by the works of Kushana age was a period ofothers
greal the suzerainty of the Sassanian emperors. However, in the fourth century A.D.
the sunremacy of the Sassanians was replaced by that of the Gupta rulers. But the
Asvaghosha, Nagarjuna and
 Histy of Ancient 1hald
182

rulers existed and they were regarded as notable pwers in the North
Kushana
the middle of the fourth centuryA.D. They coninued to exist even
West even in
on. But the
afterwards and fought against the Hunas and the Muslim: later was finally
rule
mightyempire of the Kushanas was lost for ever. The Kushara's of
exterminated even from the North-West by the Hindshahi dynasty
Afghanistan and the Punjab in the ninth century A.D.

THEART OFSCULPTURE: ITS DIFFERENT SCHØOLS

The periodunder study witnessed remarkable progress in the art cf sculpture. The
three important schools of Indian sculpture, i.e., (1) The Gandhara school: (2)