Indo-Sasanians
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Obv: King Varhran I with characteristic Indus Valley head-dress.
Rev: Iranian bull (and also at times a Zoroastrian fire altar.
The Indo-Sassanids, Kushano-Sassanids or Kushanshas (also Indo-Sassanians) were a branch of the Sassanid Persians who established their rule in the northwestern South Asia during the third and fourth centuries at the expense of the declining Kushans. They were in turn displaced in 410 by the invasions of the Huna people. They were able to re-establish some authority after the Sassanids destroyed the Hephthalites in 565, but their rule collapsed under Arab attacks in the mid 7th century.
Contents
History[edit]
First Indo-Sassanid period[edit]
The Sassanids, shortly after victory over the Parthians, extended their dominion into Bactria during the reign of Ardashir I around 230 CE, then further to the eastern parts of their empire in western Pakistan during the reign of his son Shapur I (240–270). Thus the Kushans lost their western territory (including Bactria and Gandhara) to the rule of Sassanid nobles named Kushanshahs or "Kings of the Kushans".
Around 325, Shapur II was directly in charge of the southern part of the territory, while in the north the Kushanshahs maintained their rule until the rise of the Kidarites.
The decline of the Kushans and their defeat by the Sassanids led to the rise of an indigenous Indian dynasty, the Guptas, in the 4th century. In 410, the Hephthalites or Indo-Hephthalites conquered Bactria and Gandhara, thus temporarily replacing the Indo-Sassanids.
Second Indo-Sassanid period[edit]
The Hephthalites dominated the area until they were defeated in 565 AD by an alliance between the Gokturks and Sassanids, and some Indo-Sassanid authority was re-established. The Kushano-Hephthalites were able to set up rival states in Kapisa, Bamiyan, and Kabul. The 2nd Indo-Sassanid period ended with the collapse of Sassanids to the Rashidun Caliphate in the mid 7th century. Sind remained independent until the Arab invasions of India in the early 8th century. The Kushano-Hephthalites or Turkshahis were replaced by the Shahi in the mid 8th century.
Religious influences[edit]
The prophet Mani (210–276), founder of Manichaeism, followed the Sassanids' expansion to the east, which exposed him to the thriving Buddhist culture of Gandhara. He is said to have visited Bamiyan, where several religious painting are attributed to him, and is believed to have lived and taught for some time. He is also related to have sailed to the Indus valley area of Pakistan in 240 or 241, and to have converted a Buddhist King, the Turan Shah of India.
On that occasion, various Buddhist influences seem to have permeated Manichaeism: "Buddhist influences were significant in the formation of Mani's religious thought. The transmigration of souls became a Manichaean belief, and the quadripartite structure of the Manichaean community, divided between male and female monks (the 'elect') and lay follower (the 'hearers') who supported them, appears to be based on that of the Buddhist sangha" (Richard Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).
Artistic influences[edit]
The Indo-Sassanids traded goods such as silverware and textiles depicting the Sassanid emperors engaged in hunting or administering justice. The example of Sassanid art was influential on Kushan art, and this influence remained active for several centuries in the northwest South Asia.
Coinage[edit]
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The Indo-Sassanids created an extensive coinage with legend in Brahmi, Pahlavi or Bactrian, sometimes inspired from Kushan coinage, and sometimes more clearly Sassanid.
The obverse of the coin usually depicts the ruler with elaborate headdress and on the reverse either a Zoroastrian fire altar.
Main Indo-Sassanid rulers[edit]
- Ardashir I, Sassanid king and "Kushanshah" (c. 230 – 250)
- Peroz I, "Kushanshah" (c. 250 – 265)
- Hormizd I, "Kushanshah" (c. 265 – 295)
- Hormizd II, "Kushanshah" (c. 295 – 300)
- Peroz II, "Kushanshah" (c. 300 – 325)
- Shapur II Sassanid king and "Sakanshah" (c. 325)
- Varhran I, Varhran II, Varhran III "Kushanshahs" (c. 325 – 350; lasted until the Hephthalites invasion)
- Peroz III "Kushanshah" (c. 350 – 360; in Gandhara)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
Middle kingdoms of India | ||||||
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Timeline and
cultural period |
Northwestern India | Indo-Gangetic Plain | Central India | Southern India | ||
Western Gangetic Plain | Northern India
(Central Gangetic Plain) |
Northeastern India | ||||
IRON AGE | ||||||
Culture | Late Vedic Period | Late Vedic Period
(Brahmin ideology)[a] |
Late Vedic Period
(Kshatriya/Shramanic culture)[b] |
Pre-history | ||
6th century BC | Gandhara | Kuru-Panchala | Magadha | Adivasi (tribes) | ||
Culture | Persian-Greek influences | "Second Urbanisation"
Rise of Shramana movements |
Pre-history | |||
5th century BC | (Persian rule) | Shishunaga dynasty | Adivasi (tribes) | |||
4th century BC | (Greek conquests) | |||||
HISTORICAL AGE | ||||||
Culture | Spread of Buddhism | Pre-history | Sangam period (300 BC – 200 AD) |
|||
3rd century BC | Maurya Empire | Early Cholas
46 other small kingdoms in Ancient Thamizhagam |
||||
Culture | Preclassical Hinduism[c] - "Hindu Synthesis"[d] (ca. 200 BC - 300 AD)[e][f] Epics - Puranas - Ramayana - Mahabharata - Bhagavad Gita - Brahma Sutras - Smarta Tradition Mahayana Buddhism |
Sangam period
(continued) |
||||
2nd century BC | Indo-Greek Kingdom | Shunga Empire | Adivasi (tribes) | Early Cholas
46 other small kingdoms in Ancient Thamizhagam |
||
1st century BC | Yona | Maha-Meghavahana Dynasty | ||||
1st century AD | Kuninda Kingdom | |||||
2nd century | Pahlava | Varman dynasty | ||||
3rd century | Kushan Empire | Western Satraps | Kamarupa kingdom | Kalabhra dynasty | ||
Culture | "Golden Age of Hinduism"(ca. AD 320-650)[g] Puranas Co-existence of Hinduism and Buddhism |
|||||
4th century | Gupta Empire | Kalabhra dynasty | ||||
5th century | Maitraka | Adivasi (tribes) | Kalabhra dynasty | |||
6th century | Kalabhra dynasty | |||||
Culture | Late-Classical Hinduism (ca. AD 650-1100)[h] Advaita Vedanta - Tantra Decline of Buddhism in India |
|||||
7th century | Indo-Sassanids | Vakataka dynasty Empire of Harsha |
Mlechchha dynasty | Adivasi (tribes) | Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras) | |
8th century | Kidarite Kingdom | Pandyan Kingdom | ||||
9th century | Indo-Hephthalites (Huna) | Gurjara-Pratihara | Pandyan Kingdom | |||
10th century | Pala dynasty | Medieval Cholas | ||||
References and sources for table
References Sources
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