Huvishka

Huvishka
Kushan emperor
Coin of Huvishka. Legend in Kushan language and Greek script (with the Kushan letter Ϸ "sh"): ϷΑΟΝΑΝΟϷΑΟ ΟΟΗϷΚΙ ΚΟϷΑΝΟ ("Shaonanoshao Ooishki Koshano"): "King of kings, Huvishka the Kushan".
Reign 140–180 CE
Predecessor Kanishka
Successor Vasudeva I
Burial Peshawar, Pakistan
Dynasty Kushan

Huvishka (Kushan: Οοηϸκι, "Ooishki") was the emperor of the Kushan Empire from the death of Kanishka (assumed on the best evidence available to be in 140 CE) until the succession of Vasudeva I about forty years later. His rule was a period of retrenchment and consolidation for the Empire.

Religion

Huvishka was the son of Kanishka. His reign is also known as the golden age of Kushan rule. The reign of Huvishka corresponds to the first known epigraphic evidence of the Buddha Amitabha, on the bottom part of a 2nd-century statue which has been found in Govindo-Nagar, and now at the Mathura Museum. The statue is dated to "the 28th year of the reign of Huvishka", and dedicated to "Amitabha Buddha" by a family of merchants. There is also some evidence that Huvishka himself was a follower of Mahāyāna Buddhism. A Sanskrit manuscript fragment in the Schøyen Collection describes Huvishka as one who has "set forth in the Mahāyāna."[1]

Compared to his predecessor Kanishka, Huvishka was worshipper of Shiva.

Coin of Kushan ruler Huvishka (152-192 CE), featuring Maaseno, the incarnation of the Karttikeya of the Yaudheyas.

He also incorporates in his coins for the first and unique time in Kushan coinage the Hellenistic-Egyptian Serapis (under the name Σαραπο, "Sarapo"[2]), and the Goddess Roma (thought to represent "Roma aeterna"), under the name "Riom" (Greek: ΡΙΟΜ).[3]

Some of the coins of Huvishka also featured Maaseno on his coins, the Kushan incarnation of the Hindu god Karttikeya, or Skanda, whose epithet was "Mahasena". This god being particularly important to the Yaudheyas, it may have been incorporated into Kushan coinage when the Kushans expanded into Yaudheya territory in order to establish control of the Mathura area. It may also have been adopted as a way to appease the warlike Yaudheyas. In effect, the Kushans became the suzerains of the Yaudheyas in the area.[4][5][5]

Coinage

One of the great remaining puzzles of Huvishka's reign is the devaluation of his coinage. Early in his reign the copper coinage plunged in weight from a standard of 16g to about 10-11g. The quality and weight then continued to decline throughout the reign until at the start of the reign of Vasudeva the standard coin (a tetradrachm) weighed only 9g. The devaluation led to a massive production of imitations, and an economic demand for the older, pre-devaluation coins in the Gangetic valley. However, the motivation (and even some of the details) of this devaluation are still unknown.

Huvishka

Notes

  1. ↑ Neelis, Jason. Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks. 2010. p. 141
  2. ↑ Serapis coin
  3. ↑ Mario Bussagli, "L'Art du Gandhara", 225
  4. ↑ Classical Numismatics Group
  5. 1 2 Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 B.C.-A.D. 700, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pratapaditya Pal, University of California Press, 1986, p.78
Preceded by
Kanishka		 Kushan Ruler
140–183 CE		 Succeeded by
Vasudeva I
Kushan Empire
Emperors, territories and chronology
Territories/
dates		Western IndiaWestern Pakistan
Balochistan		Paropamisadae
Arachosia
BajaurGandharaWestern PunjabEastern PunjabMathuraPataliputra
INDO-SCYTHIAN KINGDOM INDO-GREEK KINGDOM Indo-Scythian Northern Satraps
25 BCE – 10 CE Indo-Scythian dynasty of the
APRACHARAJAS
Vijayamitra
(ruled 12 BCE - 15 CE)[1]		 Liaka Kusulaka
Patika Kusulaka
Zeionises		 Kharahostes
(ruled 10 BCE– 10 CE)[2]
Mujatria		 Strato II and Strato III Hagana
10-20CE INDO-PARTHIAN KINGDOM
Gondophares		 Indravasu INDO-PARTHIAN KINGDOM
Gondophares		 Rajuvula
20-30 CE Ubouzanes
Pakores		 Vispavarma
(ruled c.0-20 CE)[3]		 Sarpedones Bhadayasa Sodasa
30-40 CE KUSHAN EMPIRE
Kujula Kadphises		 Indravarma Abdagases ... ...
40-45 CE Aspavarma Gadana ... ...
45-50 CE Sasan Sases ... ...
50-75 CE ... ...
75-100 CE Indo-Scythian dynasty of the
WESTERN SATRAPS
Chastana		 Vima Takto ... ...
100-120 CE Abhiraka Vima Kadphises ... ...
120 CE Bhumaka
Nahapana		 PARATARAJAS
Yolamira		 Kanishka I Great Satrap Kharapallana
and Satrap Vanaspara
for
Kanishka I
130-230 CE

Jayadaman
Rudradaman I
Damajadasri I
Jivadaman
Rudrasimha I
Isvaradatta
Rudrasimha I
Jivadaman
Rudrasena I

Bagamira
Arjuna
Hvaramira
Mirahvara

Vāsishka (c. 140 – c. 160)
Huvishka (c. 160 – c. 190)
Vasudeva I (c. 190 – to at least 230)

230-280 CE

Samghadaman
Damasena
Damajadasri II
Viradaman
Yasodaman I
Vijayasena
Damajadasri III
Rudrasena II
Visvasimha

Miratakhma
Kozana
Bhimarjuna
Koziya
Datarvharna
Datarvharna

INDO-SASANIANS
Ardashir I, Sassanid king and "Kushanshah" (c. 230 – 250)
Peroz I, "Kushanshah" (c. 250 – 265)
Hormizd I, "Kushanshah" (c. 265 – 295)

Kanishka II (c. 230 – 240)
Vashishka (c. 240 – 250)
Kanishka III (c. 250 – 275)
280-300 Bhratadarman Datayola II

Hormizd II, "Kushanshah" (c. 295 – 300)

 Vasudeva II (c. 275 – 310)
300-320 CE

Visvasena
Rudrasimha II
Jivadaman

Peroz II, "Kushanshah" (c. 300 – 325)

Vasudeva III
Vasudeva IV
Vasudeva V
Chhu (c. 310? – 325)
320-388 CE

Yasodaman II
Rudradaman II
Rudrasena III
Simhasena
Rudrasena IV

Shapur II Sassanid king and "Kushanshah" (c. 325)
Varhran I, Varhran II, Varhran III "Kushanshahs" (c. 325 – 350)
Peroz III "Kushanshah" (c. 350 –360)
HEPHTHALITE/ HUNAS invasions

Shaka I (c. 325 – 345)
Kipunada (c. 345 – 375)

GUPTA EMPIRE
Chandragupta I
Samudragupta

388-396 CE Rudrasimha III Chandragupta II
  1. ↑ From the dated inscription on the Rukhana reliquary
  2. ↑ An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Richard Salomon, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 442
  3. ↑ A Kharosthī Reliquary Inscription of the Time of the Apraca Prince Visnuvarma, by Richard Salomon, South Asian Studies 11 1995, Pages 27-32, Published online: 09 Aug 2010
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