From Xiongnu Empire to Kushan Empire

209 BCE -260 CE

Origins of Kushan Empire (ca. 50-260 CE)

*Yuezhi

Gansu (Hexi)

Agro-Pastoralists

Xiongnu Chanyu, Modun , was hostage

Yuezhi migrations

Xiongnu conquest, ca. 209 BCE

Tianshan Mountains

Xiongnu-Wusun attack on Yuezhi, 162 BCE

Zhang Qian’s mission to Yuezhi, 138-128 BCE

*Kushan Empire (50-260 CE)

Kujula Kadphises (ca. 50 –90)

Wima Takto (ca. 90–113)

Wima Kadphises (ca. 113 –127)

Kanishka I (ca. 127 –151)

Huvishka (ca. 151 –190)

Vasudeva I (ca. 190 –230)

Discussion: Whitfield, “A Hoard of Kushan Coins,” pp. 57-80

1. What is numismatics?

2. What can the coins teach us about Kushan political history?

In addition to coins, how does Whitfield use Chinese sources to reconstruct Kushan history?

3. What can the coins teach us about Kushan cultural history?

What do the coins show us about the religions and languages of the Kushan Empire?

4. What do the discovery of the Kushan hoard in the Monastery at Dabra Damo in Ethiopia tell us about cultural contacts in this period?

How does Whitfield attempt to explain the arrival of coins in Ethiopia? Is her explanation plausible?