Kushan Empire
(1st B.C.-3/5th c. A.D.)

Bactria

Kushan Buddist fresco, Bamiyan, Afghanistan (Bactria) 1. Kushan Buddhist fresco from caves at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. The iconography shows Persian influences. The final flowering of the Kushan civilization was in remote regions of Central Asia.

Taxila

Copper incense burner, Sirkap, Taxila, Kushan Empire 1. Copper incense burner. Sirkap, Taxila. Kushan Empire.
Silver goblet, Sirkap, Taxila, Kushana 2. Silver goblet with carinated and fluted body. Sirkap, Taxila.
Copper inkpot, Sirkap, Taxila, Kushan 3. Copper inkpot. Sirkap, Taxila.

Gandhara

Buddhist scroll, Gandhara, Kushan 1. Birch bark scroll fragment of Buddhist writings placed in pottery jars. 1st c. A.D. Gandhara, Kushan Empire. Possibly in the Gandhari language. These are the oldest Buddhist writings known.
Sakyamuni benediction, Ghandara, Kushan 2. Schist sculpture. Sakyamuni offering benediction at Deer Park. From Gandhara, late Kushan Empire. (Washington: Freer Gallery of Art).
Bodhisattva Maitreya sculpture, Gandhara, Kushan 3. Stone sculpture. Bodhisattva Maitreya. Gandhara style. The Fourth Buddhist Council, called by Kanishka, re-defined Ancient Buddhism as a universal religion with a sophisticated philosophical foundation.

Mathura

Wima Kadphises statue, Mathura, Kushan 1. Wima Kadphises seated on his throne. Mat, Mathura. His father, Kajula Kadphises, Yabgu (prince) of the Kuei-Shuang, beat the other four Yabgu to create a unified and enlarged realm by 25 B.C., with the title of Yavuga. His son, Wima, expanded into Gandhara, but also developed the political and economic institutions, and so is considered the real founder of the Kushan Empire.
Statue of Kanishka, Mathura, Kushan 2. Sculpture of Kanishka, standing. The regnal dates of this greatest of the Kushan kings have been hotly debated, and the traditional 78-144 A.D. dating is no longer accepted.
Stone sculpture of woman, Mathura, Kushan 3. Red Sikri stone sculture. Woman after her bath. Early 2nd c. A.D. Kushana. (Mathura Museum).
Stone sculpture of woman and family, Mathura, Kushan 4. Red Sikri stone sculpture of a drunken woman with her family. Ca. 2nd c. A.D. Kushana (Mathura Museum).
Sculpture of Bodhisattva in Padmasana, Katri, Mathura, Kushan 5. Red Sikri sandstone sculpture. Bodhisattva in Padmasana. From Katri, Mathura. (Mathura Museum). Ca. 2nd c. A.D. One of earliest works in the Mathura tradition.
Sculpture of Yaksi or Vriksaka, Sonkh, Mathura, Kushan 6. Spotted red sandstone sculpture. Yaksi or Vriksaka. From Sonkh, Mathura (Mathura Museum). Ca. 2nd c. A.D.
Frieze, Mathura, Kushan 7. Frieze. Religious procession outside city gate. Mathura.
Sculpture of dancing woman, Mathura, Kushan 8. Sculpture. Dancing women. Mathura. Kushan.