It is believed that the founders of the Kushan Kingdom were nomadic peoples who came to Bactria from the north. The first capital cities and royal residences of the new dynasty were located in the territory of such ancient settlements as Khalchayan and Dalverzintepa (now Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan). In the I century AD, the Kushans crossed the Hindu Kush ridge (in the central part of Afghanistan) and invaded the lands of North-Western India. Using ancient mountain routes in different parts of the ridge leading from North to South, they further strengthened cultural ties throughout this vast territory. One of the transport hubs that played an important role on the ways of these contacts was Gandhara.
Gandhara is the northwestern region of the Greater India (now Northern Pakistan) with Peshawar basin in the center. Gandhara has achieved significant economic prosperity due to the fact that it became a place of concentration of people and goods for exchange from such regions as Central Asia, India, Persia, and geographically more distant countries such as China and the Roman Empire. This area became a new stronghold in strengthening its political power of the Kushan dynasty.
Buddhism played a special role in the culture of Gandhara. Buddhist teachings found their way into this area even earlier, in the III century BC, during the reign of King Ashoka. In the Kushan period, this religion experienced its most vivid flourishing. Adherents of Buddhism were both the aristocracy and the middle class, particularly merchants. The latter, while visiting remote areas, spread the ideas of Buddhism far from the center of their origin.
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "Cultural legacy of Central Asia in Japanese Museums" (volume XX) in the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".
The general sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.
