Group D: Who was Kushana? Describe about Kanishka?
The Kushana were a nomadic tribe who had split from the Yueh-chi tribes. (The Yueh-chi originally lived in Mongolia before they established themselves in Bactria.)
KANISHKA fl. in 2nd Century AD King of India . Kanishka was the greatest king of the Kushanadynasty. Kanishka enlarged the Kushana empire into Turkestan, Kashmir and North-east India. Although he honoured the Zoroastrian, Greek and Brahmanic deities, Kanishka is mostly remembered for convening the fourth great Buddhist council in Kashmir, which marked the beginning of pantheistic Mahayana Buddhism.
His conquests and patronage of Buddhism played an important role in the development of the Silk Road, and the transmission of Mahayana Buddhismfrom Gandhara across the Karakoram range to China.
Kanishka's date of accession was later used as a calendar era, the so-called Saka era, corresponding to AD 78. However, this date is not now regarded as the historical date of Kanishka's accession. Kanishka is estimated to have accessed to the throne in AD 127 by Falk (2001)