The Kushanas were a tribe who gradually exercised their power on the northwest region of the ancient India. Vima Kadphises was said to be the founder of the Kushan empire, under whom grew the Kushana Empire reached its prosperous heights.Their empire extended till the Ganges river valley in northern India. The Kushans have a lot of greek influences in their culture as well as language.

The Origin and Early history of the Kushanas
The name Kushan derives from the Chinese term Guishang, which was used in historical writings to describe one branch of the Yuezhi. The Yuezhi was a loose confederation of Indo-European people who had been living in northwestern China until they were driven out in 176-160 B.C. The Kushans built a strong territory encompassing huge tracts of land in the foreign region as well. Especially under Kanishka, there was an extensive cultural exchange with foreign countries, not only language, culture but also religious developments. Myths have it that the Kushana Empire represented a `dystopian` demonic empire.

The Kushana Emperors
Kujala kadphises: Kujula Kadphises (30-80 AD) established the Kushan dynasty in 78 AD by taking advantage of the feud existing between Pahalava (Parthian) and Scytho-Parthians. His origins are pretty obscure, though it is considered that he was a descendant of the Kushan ruler Heraios. He shares his name with some of the last Indo-Scythian rulers, such as Liaka Kusulaka or his son Patika Kusulaka. A family connection might be possible. During Kujula`s reign coins with hellenistic tendencies have been discovered. Representations of Greek demi-god Heracles along with the name of Kujala are pretty common. In the later years, he had been referred to as "Maharajasa", or "Great King" in the coins. Some of the Kujala coins can also be traced to the roman origins.

Kanishka: There is uncertainty about Kanishka`s rising to power, or accession to the throne. His reign is believed to have lasted 23 years in the Kushana Empire. Kanishka`s kingdom consisted of inheritance and some his own conquests, that extensively covered an area extending from Bukhara in the west to Patna in the Ganges Valley in the east, and from the Pamirs in the north to central India in the south. Kanishka set up his capital at Purusapura. Might be considered that he had crossed the Pamirs and subdued the kings of the city-states of Khotan, Kashgar, and Yarkand who had previously been tributaries of the Han emperors of China. This exchange with the foreign lands precipitated the tranference of Buddhism for the first time in China in 2nd century under Kanishka. Kanishka was a devotee and a follower of Buddha and he convened the fourth great Buddhist council in Kashmir that marked the beginnings of Mahayana Buddhism. Here the commentaries on the Buddhist canon were prepared and engraved on copper plates. The coins discovered show the prevalence of Zoroastrian, Greek, and Brahmanic deities along with the Buddha. The Saka era that was a system of dating, is believed to have been initiated by Kanishka.

Economy, religion and art
Economic developments were at its heights during the Kushana rule. Trade along the silk route brought immense wealth and prosperity to India and helped in socio-cultural exchanges in the Kushana Empire. The Kushans were believed to have been Zoroastrian in the beginning but Buddhism took them over later on. This is evident from the Buddhist influence on Kanishka who was one of the great Kushan Emperors. There are even undertones of associations of earliest Kushan Kings with Saivism. During the Kushaera, contacts with the Roman Empire led to a significant increase in trade and the exchange of ideas, which is evident in the Gandhara school of art, which is replete with Greco-Roman classical lines in images of the Buddha.

More on Kushan Empire
The Decline of the Kushana Empire
Ancient Sculptures of the Kushan Empire
Coins of Kushana Empire
Society and Civilization of the Kushana Empire
The Later Kushanas