Question

who were kushanas ? why did they come

Answer 1

The Kushan Empire (Ancient Greek: Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; Bactrian: Κυϸανο, Kushano;Sanskrit: कुषाण साम्राज्य Kuṣāṇa Samrajya; BHS:Guṣāṇa-vaṃśa; Chinese: 貴霜帝國; Parthian:Kušan-xšaθr[8]) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, in the Bactrianterritories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of Afghanistan,[9] present-day Pakistan and then the northern parts ofIndia at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath nearVaranasi (Benares), where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan Emperor Kanishka the Great.[10] Kanishka was a great patron of Buddhism; however, as Kushans expanded southward toward theIndian subcontinent the deities of their later coinage came to reflect its new Hindumajority.[11][12]The Kushans were one of five branches of theYuezhi confederation,[13][14] a possiblyIranic[15][16] or Tocharian,[17][18][19][20][21][22]Indo-European[21][23][24][25] nomadic people who migrated from Gansu and settled in ancient Bactria.[14] The Kushans possibly used the Greek language initially for administrative purposes, but soon began to use Bactrian language.[3] Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains, capturing territories as far as Kashgar, Khotan andYarkant, in the Tarim Basin of modern-dayXinjiang, China. A direct road from Gandharato China remained under Kushan control for more than a century, encouraging travel across the Karakoram and facilitating thespread of Mahayana Buddhism to China.The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, theAksumite Empire and Han Dynasty of China. While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record of the empire's history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly Chinese.[26]The Kushan empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, which fell to the Sasanians invading from the west, establishing the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom in the areas of Sogdiana, Bactria andGandhara. In the 4th century, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by invaders from the north, known as theKidarites, and then the Hepthalites.[7]