Eastern Expansion of the Kusana Empire

Summary

Adya Banerji’s article ‘Eastern Expansion of the Kusana Empire’ investigates the eastward growth of the Kushan polity and attempts to determine its eastern frontier. The Kushans, originally a branch of the Yuezhi who moved from Central Asia into Bactria, succeeded Greek authority in the region. The first emperor, Kujula Kadphises, consolidated territories stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Pamir region. His successors Vima Taktu and Vima Kadphises extended the empire to the Indus and into the Gangetic basin. Banerji discusses numismatic evidence, such as Kushan coins found in Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India, to trace the movement of their power. Inscriptions and red sandstone images, particularly from Mathura, reveal that by the time of Kanishka, the Kusanas were firmly established in the heartland of northern Indiafile:///home/oai/share/563027_compressed-291-387.pdf. The paper analyses the Rabatak inscription, which lists cities under Kanishka’s control, and notes references to governors like Ghoshargupta, indicating a level of administrative integration in the Ganges valley. Banerji also examines Chinese sources describing Kanishka’s rule over Pataliputra and the presence of Kushan missions in that city. He compares the architectural styles of Kushan-era stupas and temples with those of earlier Mauryan and Shunga periods to illustrate cultural assimilation. The author argues that the eastern expansion was driven by economic motivations—control of trade routes linking the Silk Road with the Ganges plain—and by religious patronage, as evidenced by the spread of Mahayana Buddhism under Kanishka. By the late second century CE, the Kusanas had extended their influence as far east as Pundravardhana (in Bengal) and Orissa. However, Banerji notes that their authority in eastern India was not permanent; after Kanishka, local powers reasserted themselves, and the Kushan presence retreated to western and central India. The article concludes that while the Kusanas briefly created a transcontinental empire linking Central Asia to the eastern subcontinent, their political control in the east was thin and often mediated through local vassalsfile:///home/oai/share/563027_compressed-291-387.pdf.