Kushan

Kushan Empire

Kushana (कुषाण) Kushan (कुशान)/Kushan (कुशन)/Kushwan (कुशवान)/ Kuswa (कुसवा) is Gotra of Jats.

Origin

They are descendants of Suryavanshi King Kusha (कुश), the son of Rama. In this dynasty there was a King called Kushana (कुषण), from whom started the Kushana vansha.

Kushana Empire

A gold coin of Kushan Empire

The Kushan (कुषाण) Empire (c. 1st–3rd centuries) was a state that at its height, about 105–250, stretched from Tajikistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and down into the Ganges river valley in northern India. The empire was created by the Kushan tribe of the Yuezhi confederation, a people from the eastern Tarim Basin and Gansu, China, possibly related to the Tocharians. They had diplomatic contacts with Rome, Persia and China, and for several centuries were at the center of exchange between the East and the West.

Kushans are Kaswan Jats

Kushan was a group of Yuezhi people in China. They are considered to be Kaswan Jats of India by various authors.

The clan of Kanishka, Kushan, has been identified to be the present Kaswan clan of Jats. Jat historian Thakur Deshraj writes that Kushans were the people from Krishnavanshi who moved with Pandavas in the great migration after Mahabharata. There is no doubt that Kushan word is derived from sanskrit word karshneya and karshnik. The word is not 'Kushan' but Kaswan clan found in Jats. The Taxila Ladle Copper inscription bears this as 'Kaswin' word. In Mahabharata there is a word Khawakasha which becomes 'Kashwa' when 'Kh' is changed to 'x' and tellies with the word 'kasuwa' of "Panchtar inscription". The word 'Kaswan' is in fact 'XWN' word of Tokharian language which means 'King'. In Mahabharata also there is mention of a country named 'Kuswan' which was situated in the north of Mansarovar lake.

Raja Kharwel in Orissa has mentioned in an article about the rule of Kaswan in 2nd century of Vikram samvat - ‘Hathi Gumpha and three other inscriptions’ (page 24) in Sanskrit as under: “Kusawanam Kshetriyanam cha Sahayyatavatan prapt masik nagaram”. This means that the city of 'Masik' was obtained with the help of 'Kuswa' Kshatriyas

According to historian Bhim Singh Dahiya the correct name for Kushans in India is Kasuan, the present Kaswan clan of Jats of Rajasthan and Haryana. This title remains in use by Jat clan indicates their possibility of ancestral lineage from Kushans.

James Legge mentions in chapter XII about the rule of Kanishka in foot note-4 that “Kanishka appeared, and began to reign, early in our first century, about A.D. 10. He was the last of three brothers, whose original seat was in Yueh-she, immediately mentioned, or Tukhara.”

James Legge further mentions in footnote-6 (chapter XII) that

“This king was perhaps Kanishka himself, Fa-hien mixing up, in an inartistic way, different legends about him. Eitel suggests that a relic of the old name of the country may still exist in that of the Jats or Juts of the present day. A more common name for it is Tukhara, and he observes that the people were the Indo-Scythians of the Greeks, and the Tartars of Chinese writers, who, driven on by the Huns (180B.C.), conquered Transoxiana, destroyed the Bactrian kingdom (126 B.C.), and finally conquered the Punjab, Cashmere, and great part of India, their greatest king being Kanishak (E. H., p. 152).”

According to Thakur Deshraj Yuezhi people lived in north-west China. in 165 BCE there was a war of these people with with Hignu people in which Yuezhi were defeated and they moved to west in search of new lands. One of the groups of Yuezhi people was Kushan. Kadphises united all the five branches of Yuezhi and hence forth they were called Kushan. Thakur Deshraj says that Kushans were the people from Krishnavanshi, who moved with Pandavas in the great migration to north. The word Kushan has been derived from the sanskrit word 'Karshney' or 'Karshnik'. Kushan is nothing but Kaswan gotra found in Jats.

Dr Naval Viyogi considers Kushanas as progenitors of Jats.

Jat clans linked with Kushan

डॉ धर्मचंद विद्यालंकार लिखते हैं कि कुषाणों का साम्राज्य मध्य-एशिया स्थित काश्गर-खोतान, चीनी, तुर्किस्तान (सिकियांग प्रान्त) से लेकर रूस में ताशकंद और समरकंद-बुखारा से लेकर भारत के कपिशा और काम्बोज से लेकर बैक्ट्रिया से पेशावर औए मद्र (स्यालकोट) से मथुरा और बनारस तक फैला हुआ था. उस समय मथुरा का कुषाण क्षत्रप हगमाश था. जिसके वंशज हगा या अग्रे जाट लोग, जो कि कभी चीन की हूगाँ नदी तट से चलकर इधर आये थे, आज तक मथुरा और हाथरस जिलों में आबाद हैं. आज भी हाथरस या महामाया नगर की सादाबाद तहसील में इनके 80 गाँव आबाद हैं. (पृ.19 )

कुषाणों अथवा युचियों से रक्त सम्बन्ध रखने वाले ब्रज के जाटों में आज तक हगा (अग्रे), चाहर, सिनसिनवार, कुंतल, गांधरे (गांधार) और सिकरवार जैसे गोत्र मौजूद हैं. मथुरा मेमोयर्स के लेखक कुक साहब ने लिखा है कि मथुरा जिले के कुछ जाटों ने अपना निकास गढ़-गजनी या रावलपिंडी से बताया है. कुषाण साम्राज्य के अधिकांश क्षेत्र में जाटों की सघन जन संख्या उनको कुषाण वंसज होना सिद्ध करती है.(पृ.20)

Kushan Rulers

Heraios (1-30)

Heraios was probably the first of the Kushan kings. He may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios was probably the father of Kujula Kadphises.

Kujula Kadphises (30-80)

According to the Hou Hanshu: "the prince (xihou) of Guishuang (Badakhshan and the adjoining territories north of the Oxus), named Kujula Kadphises attacked and exterminated the four other princes (xihou). He set himself up as king of a kingdom called Guishuang. He invaded Anxi (Parthia) and took the Gaofu (Kabul) region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda, and Jibin (Kapisha-Gandhara). Qiujiuque (Kujula Kadphises) was more than eighty years old when he died."

These conquests probably took place sometime between 45 and 60, and laid the basis for the Kushan Empire which was rapidly expanded by his descendants.

Kujula issued an extensive series of coins and fathered at least two sons, Sadaṣkaṇa (who is known from only one inscription, and may never have ruled), and Vima Taktu.

Kadphizes = king of Kadphis (Kapisa) country. The title Kadphizes is similar to titles Taxiles and Abhisares under which the kings of Taxila and Abhisara were respectively famous in the history of Alexander.

Vima Taktu (80-105)

Bronze coin of Vima Takto. Corrupted Greek legend ΒΑ&ΣΙΛЄΥ ΒΑΣΙΛЄΥΩΝ ΣΩΤΗΡ ΜΕΓΑΣ "Basileu[s] Basileon Sotēr Megas": "The King of Kings, Great Saviour".Vima Takt[u] (or Tak[to]) is mentioned in the Rabatak inscription (see the reference to Sims-william's article below), which states that he was the father of Vima Kadphises, and the grandfather of Kanishka I. He expanded the Kushan Empire into the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. The Hou Hanshu says:

"His [Kujula Kadphises'] son, Yangaozhen (Vima Taktu), became king in his place. He conquered Tianzhu (Northwestern India) and installed a General to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang (Kushan) king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi."

Vima Kadphises (105-127)

Coin of Vima Kadphises

Vima Kadphises was the son of Vima Taktu and the father of Kanishka I. He issued an extensive series of coins and inscriptions.

Kanishka I (127-147)

Gold coin of Kanishka I (c.120 CE).The rule of Kanishka I, the second great Kushan emperor, fifth Kushan king, who flourished for at least 28 years from c. 127, was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar in northern Pakistan) and Mathura, in northern India. The Kushans also had a summer capital in Bagram (then known as Kapisa), where the "Begram Treasure", comprising works of art from Greece to China, has been found. According to the Rabatak inscription, Kanishka was the son of Vima Kadphises, the grandson of Vima Taktu, and the great-grandson of Kujula Kadphises. Kanishka's era is now generally accepted to have begun in 127 on the basis of Harry Falk's ground-breaking research (see Reference section below).

जाट इतिहास:ठाकुर देशराज

Thakur Deshraj writes -

A Coin of King Huvishka

वासिष्क के पश्चात्, कनिष्क का राज्य उससे छोटे पुत्र हुविष्क को मिला। इसने काश्मीर में अपने नाम से हुष्कपुर नामक नगर बसाया जो कि आज कल उस्कपुर कहलाता है। जब ह्नानचांग काश्मीर गया था, तब इसी हुष्कपुर के बिहार में ठहरा था। मथुरा में एक और भी बिहार था। उसके सिक्के कनिष्क के सिक्कों से भी अधिक संख्या में और विविध प्रकार के पाए जाते हैं। उन सिक्कों में यूनानी, ईरानी और भारतीय, तीनों प्रकार के सिक्कों के चित्र हैं। इसने 120 ई. से 140 ई. सन् तक राज्य किया । कुछ लोग कहते हैं कि इसका शासन-काल 162 ई. से 182 ई. तक था। काबुल, काश्मीर और मथुरा के प्रदेश इसके राज्य में शामिल थे। इसके सोने चांदी के सिक्के मिलते हैं। जिन पर ‘हूएरकस’ लिखा रहता है। (जाट इतिहास:ठाकुर देशराज - पृष्ठ 207)

कुषाण जाट

दलीप सिंह अहलावत लिखते हैं:

कुषाण' - जाट इतिहास लेखक ठाकुर देशराज ने पृ० 168 पर लिखा है कि “पाण्डवों के महाप्रस्थान के समय उनके साथ अनेकों यादव साइबेरिया तक पहुंचे और वहां यादवों ने वज्रपुर बसाया। ये लोग चीनी भाषा में यूची अथवा कुशान कहलाये।” यही लेखक आगे पृ० 197-198 पर लिखते हैं कि “राजतरंगिणी का लेखक इन्हें तुरुष्क और आधुनिक विद्वान् यूहूची व यूचियों की एक शाखा मानते हैं। चीनी इतिहासकारों की एक राय यह भी है कि कुशान लोग ‘हिगनू’ लोग हैं। ये लोग हर हालत में जाट हैं। चौ० रामलाल हाला ने भी कुषाणों को जाट लिखा है। कुषाण वे लोग हैं जो पाण्डवों के साथ महाप्रस्थान में कृष्णवंशियों में से गये थे। कृष्णवंशियों को संस्कृत में कार्ष्णेय तथा कार्ष्णिक कहा है जिसका अपभ्रंश शब्द कुशन बन गया जो जाटों के अन्तर्गत पाये जाने वाले कुशवान या कुशान गोत्र हैं।” आगे यही लेखक पृ० 199 पर लिखते हैं कि “भारतवर्ष में जाट राज्य के लिए ‘जाटशाही’ का प्रयोग किया जाता है और कुशानवंशी राजाओं के लिए भी ‘शाही’ अथवा ‘शहनशाही’ का प्रयोग किया जाता था। देवसंहिता में जाटों को देव या देवताओं के समान लिखा है। कुशानवंशी राजाओं के लेखों में इनकी उपाधि देवपुत्र लिखी हुई मिलती है।”

“मध्य एशिया तथा चीन में भारतीय संस्कृति”, लेखक सत्यकेतु विद्यालंकार ने पृ० 164 पर लिखा है कि “कुषाणवंशी राजा युइशि (जाट) थे।”

“(जाट्स दी ऐनशन्ट रूलर्ज” में बी० एस० दहिया ने पृ० XI पर लिखा है कि “कुषाण लोगों का शुद्ध नाम कसवांन है तथा इस गोत्र के जाट आज भी हरयाणा व राजस्थान प्रान्तों में विद्यमान हैं।” आगे इसी लेखक ने पृ० 32 पर लिखा है कि वी. वाई. जेजन्कोव (Y.V. Zezenkova) ने ‘कुषाण स्टड्डीज इन यू. एस. एस. आर.’ के पृ० 150-151 पर लिखा है कि “कुषाण लोग आर्यवंशज हैं।” इन उदाहरणों से सिद्ध हो जाता है कि कुषाण लोग जाट थे।

The last of the great Kushan emperors

• Kanishka II (c. 226 – 240)
• Vashishka (c. 240 – 250)
• Kanishka III (c. 255 – 275)
• Vasudeva II (c. 290 – 310)

From the 3rd century the Kushan empire began to fragment.

Around 225 Vasudeva I died and the Kushan empire was divided into western and eastern halves. Around 224–240, the Sassanids invaded Bactria and Northern India, where they are known as the Indo-Sassanians.

Around 270, the Kushans lost their territories on the Gangetic plain, where the Gupta Empire was established around 320.

References

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