Kanishka II | |
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Kushan emperor | |
Reign | 200–222 CE |
Predecessor | Vasudeva I |
Successor | Vasishka |
Kushan emperors 30 CE–350 CE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kanishka II ( Brahmi: Kā-ṇi-ṣka) was one of the emperors of the Kushan Empire from around 225–245 CE. He succeeded Vasudeva I who is considered to be the last great Kushan emperor. [1]
While he upheld Kushan rule in northern India, it is likely that Kanishka II lost the western part of his empire, namely Bactria/ Tokharistan to the Sasanian Shapur I (240-272 CE), whose conquests would be consolidated by the Kushano-Sassanians. [1] In his inscriptions at Naqsh-e Rostam Shapur now claimed that he controlled the realm of the Kushans (Kūšān šahr) "up to Purushapura" ( Peshawar), suggesting that he may have expanding even beyond the Hindu-Kush at the expense of the Kushans. [1] The rock inscription at Rag-i-Bibi further support this view. [1]
Several overstrikes by the Kushano-Sasanian Peroz I Kushanshah over coins of Kanishka II are known, and it is from the time of Peroz that the first Kushano-Sasanian coins were issued south of the Hindu-Kush. [2]
Kanishka II may have retaken control of Gandhara at one point, as well as Kapiśa, and there are suggestions that following these successes he may have created a second Era of Kanishka in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the original one. [1]