Репост из: Vajrarāṣṭra
The Kushan Empire was an empire formed by one of the five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, an Indo-European nomadic people who migrated from northwestern China and settled in ancient Bactria, ruling over most of the northern Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan, and parts of Central Asia from the early 1st Century CE to the late 4th century CE.
The Kushans inherited the Greco-Buddhist traditions of the Indo-Greek Kingdoms they replaced, as well as the Indo-Parthian and Indo-Scythian influences in the area. This would create a unique religious landscape, with different traditions active in the empire. Buddhism would become the most prominent religion, with Hellenic and Iranian polytheism, Hinduism, and, to some extent, Zoroastrianism present, with syncretism between the different religions occurring in various degrees.
The Emperor Vima Kadphises would embrace Shaivism, his son, Kanishka the Great, the most renowned Kushan emperor, would become a Buddhist devotee, followed by his son, Huvishka, as well as several subsequent emperors. As a patron of Buddhism, Kanishka is chiefly noted for having convened the fourth great Buddhist council in Kashmir, which marked the beginnings of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Between the mid-1st century and the mid-3rd century, Buddhism, patronized by the Kushans, extended to China and other Central and East Asian countries through the Silk Road, making the Kushan Empire an instrumental part of the dissemination of Buddhism, and of the development of Mahāyāna Buddhism and the Gandhāra and Mathura schools of art. The Kushans became affluent through trade, particularly with the Roman Empire and the Chinese Dynasties, acting as a bridge between east and west.
After the rise of the Sāsānian dynasty in Iran and of local powers in northern India, Kushan rule declined. The Kushan Empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, which fell to the Sasanians invading from the west, establishing the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom in the areas of Sogdiana, Bactria, and Gandhara. 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 Hephthalites.
The Kushans inherited the Greco-Buddhist traditions of the Indo-Greek Kingdoms they replaced, as well as the Indo-Parthian and Indo-Scythian influences in the area. This would create a unique religious landscape, with different traditions active in the empire. Buddhism would become the most prominent religion, with Hellenic and Iranian polytheism, Hinduism, and, to some extent, Zoroastrianism present, with syncretism between the different religions occurring in various degrees.
The Emperor Vima Kadphises would embrace Shaivism, his son, Kanishka the Great, the most renowned Kushan emperor, would become a Buddhist devotee, followed by his son, Huvishka, as well as several subsequent emperors. As a patron of Buddhism, Kanishka is chiefly noted for having convened the fourth great Buddhist council in Kashmir, which marked the beginnings of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Between the mid-1st century and the mid-3rd century, Buddhism, patronized by the Kushans, extended to China and other Central and East Asian countries through the Silk Road, making the Kushan Empire an instrumental part of the dissemination of Buddhism, and of the development of Mahāyāna Buddhism and the Gandhāra and Mathura schools of art. The Kushans became affluent through trade, particularly with the Roman Empire and the Chinese Dynasties, acting as a bridge between east and west.
After the rise of the Sāsānian dynasty in Iran and of local powers in northern India, Kushan rule declined. The Kushan Empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, which fell to the Sasanians invading from the west, establishing the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom in the areas of Sogdiana, Bactria, and Gandhara. 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 Hephthalites.