Dashly Archaeological Sites (c. 2500-1700 BC)

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DAŠLĪ (Dashly), oasis situated south of the Āmū Daryā (q.v.), on the desert plain of northern Afghanistan, ancient Bactria (q.v.), now in the province of Jūzjān ca 35 km northeast of Āqča....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dasli

"The Dashly archaeological sites are located south of the Amu Darya River in Northern Afghanistan's Jozjan Province about 38 km north-east of Aqcha and 65 km northwest of Balkh, just to the east of the Aqcha-Kilift road. In ancient times, the cities and settlements of Dashly would have come within the orbit of the Ancient Aryan nation of Bakhdhi (later Balkh) otherwise known to the West as Bactria. The layout of the sites is comparable to those found north of the Amu Darya River as well as in the Murgab delta state of Mouru (Merv/Margiana)....http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/balkh/dashly.htm

Old Motifs: The Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex as a Possible Source by Christoph Huber......."During the last twenty years a hitherto unknown culture in Central Asia has been uncovered by archaeologists. This civilization of the Bronze Age is called Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) and is situated, as the name indicates, in Bactria on both sides of the Amu Darya and in Margiana, the Merv-Oasis. It can roughly be dated to the first quarter of the second millennium BC and has been considered to be a fifth center of Old World civilization (with Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China). The BMAC had strong connections not only to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites of the piedmont region of Southwest Turkmenistan, but also with Mesopotamia and Elam, Syria, Anatolia, Eastern and Northern Iran, Baluchistan, the Indus-Valley and even China.".....http://www.turkotek.com/salon_00040/salon.html

"Dashly consists of forty-one archaeological sites spread over 100 sq. km., and whose occupation have been dated from the Bronze Age (c. 2500-1700 BCE) to the Kushan period (c. 3rd cent. CE). The two principal Bronze Age sites are Dashly 1 and the older Dashly 3....Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi excavated the ruins in the 1970s....http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/balkh/dashly.htm

Dashly 1 consists of the ruins of a100 x 90 m. mud-brick square citadel with 2 m. high walls overlooking a settlement covering an area some 150 x 120 m in size. It occupation is dated to the late 2nd millennium BCE and after the destruction of the citadel, its ruins appear to have been used as a Bronze Age cemetery. Finds have included bronze weapons and jewellery."...http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/balkh/dashly.htm

Dashly 3 site consists of two complexes and its occupation is dated to the late Bronze Age, (2300-1700 BCE) and the Iron Age (1700-800 BCE). Pottery, stone vessels and jewellery found at the site are comparable to those found in Turkmenistan and north-eastern Iran. ....The older of the two Dashly 3 complexes, sometimes identified as a palace, is a fortified rectangular 88 x 84 m compound. It is the shape of this complex's outer defences that have attracted attention and comment. The square building had massive double outer walls and in the middle of each wall was a protruding salient composed of a T-shaped corridor flanked by two L-shaped corridors. Within the walls were several house-like buildings and a relatively large storehouse with long, parallel corridors ostensibly used for housing jars while with grain or other supplies. This complex was later replaced by a fortress, which appears to have been rebuilt several times."...http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/balkh/dashly.htm

The "younger" second Dashly 3 complex, incorrectly labelled a temple complex, consists of an inner citadel-like structure surrounded by closely packed residence-like structures. The citadel (a fortified palace) consists of what appears to be a relatively modest residence and a storehouse surrounded by a circular double wall buttressed by square towers. The circular defensive walls are approximately 45 m in diameter. Surrounding the citadel's walls are the closely packed house-like structures themselves surrounded and protected by two rings of was and finally a rectangular outer wall measuring about 130 x 150 m.....Surrounding tombs and graves have been looted and the artefacts are said to have been sold in the bazaar at Kabul (P. Amiet in Bactriane Proto-Historique, Syria 54, 1977, pp. 89-121). These artefacts show common elements with artefacts from other settlements in Central Asia and the perimeter of the Indus Valley linking the settlements and regions culturally in the 3rd millennium BCE. For instance the Dashly artefacts have common elements with those found at Sapalli Tepe located north of the Amu Darya; from Togolok to the west of Dashly in the Murgab delta now in Turkmenistan, and from site south of the Hindu Kush near Quetta and Sibri. Some authors believe the artefacts also show affinities with those from Elam (in the south-west of the Iranian plateau) dated to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE."...http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/balkh/dashly.htm

"....the shape of the older Dashly 3 building (2300-1700 BCE), a shape that is fairly unique and a similar shape found in Yantra and carpet designs from the region. The Yantra is a geometrical motif sometimes used as a meditation aid. In Sanskrit, Yantra means "instrument" or "machine". Mandala loosely means circle. Our interest in the Yantra is the similarity of some of its representations such as the Mahakali Yantra found in tantric mandalas with the ground-plan drawing of the older Dashly 3 building. ....The tantric mandala embodies the Yantra as a design of the sanctum at Mr. Meru in Shambhala. Yantra, Mantra and Tantra (the text) are similar sounding words and the Yantra has spiritual, astrological and magical associations in the tantric traditions of some Indian religions. According to the L. B. Lama Thanka Arts Gallery, the "Kalachakra Mandala thangka is surrounded by a ring of fire. Fire in Tantrism means knowledge. The Kalachakra mandala thangka has at its center Mount Meru (in Shambala) with the four corners of the world around it." The four protrusions at the side are four entrances / doors / gates. ....Mount Meru (in Aryana) of Buddhist and Hindu beliefs is likely the same as the high peak of the Hara mountains of Airyana Vaeja" ...http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/balkh/dashly.htm

"The remains of a highly important Late Bronze Age building from North Afghanistan, the palace of Dashly-III shows strong similarities with the discussed group of seals. Ignoring the area of the entrance, we get the picture of a well planned 'mandala'......Many of the BMAC compartment seals, which are sometimes well traveled, are based on a square or a cross inscribed in a lobed form....Another interesting motif from a BMAC seal which can be followed through the centuries is the endless knot (Knot of Eternity)."....http://www.turkotek.com/salon_00040/salon.html

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2013

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Aybak Cave Dwellings & The Hazār Som Valley (100 BC)

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"AYBAK (Uzbek “cave dweller”), now called Samangān, capital of Samangān province, associated with several important archeological sites (N. H. Dupree, The Road to Balk; see also AFGHANISTAN VIII: ARCHEOLOGY).......http://www.iranicaonline.org

Hazār Som Valley.......(Hazār Som....Thousand caves) area, about 16 km north of Aybak......Puglisi has identified an “urban complex” of more than 200 multi-roomed, multi-storied cave dwellings in Hazār Som Valley. Many exhibit painted designs, bas reliefs, and petroglyphs. Possibly the oldest dwellings date about the first century A.D., with the climax period between the second to third centuries A.D. The erosion of Kūšān power from the third century A.D. may account for the apparent decline of this presumably important caravan way station. Early Islam may have precipitated another peak period between the seventh and thirteenth centuries A.D., when the area seems to have been abandoned and only sporadically occupied by passing nomads.....C. S. Coon, The Seven Caves, New York, 1957.

Hazar Som (Hazār Som) is a populated place (class P - Populated Place) in Wilayat-e Samangan (Samangan), Afghanistan (Asia) with the region font code of Russia/ Central Asia. It is located at an elevation of 1,960 meters above sea level. Hazār Som is also known as Hazar Som, Hazar-Sum, Hazarsum, Hazār Som, Hazārsum, هزارسم......Its coordinates are 35°43'25" N and 67°48'53" E in DMS (Degrees Minutes Seconds) or 35.7236 and 67.8147

The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, Hsuan-Tsang (ca. A.D. 630) mentions Sih-min-Kien (Samangān), as do early Islamic geographers (S. Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World, London, 1884)....Hl-LU-SIH-MIN-KIEJI [Rui-SAMANGAN] ....Ten Buddhist Temples....Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan By Ludwig W. Adamec

A Buddhist site, Taḵt-e Rostam, (Throne of Rustam) a large stupa hewn in solid rock, is located two km southeast of Aybak. Dating about the fourth to fifth centuries A.D., the site consists of a rock-cut cave monastery complex and an adjacent stupa cut out of limestone, a unique edifice in Afghanistan (N. H. Dupree, The Road to Balkh, pp. 23-25

"Rostam or Rustam (Persian: رُستَم‎, pronounced [ɾostæm, ɾʊstæm]) is the epic hero of the story, Rostam and Sohrab, part of the Persian epic of Shahnameh in Persian mythology and son of Zal and Rudaba. In some ways, the position of Rostam in the historical tradition is parallel to that of Surena, the hero of the Battle of Carrhae. His figure was endowed with many features of the historical personality of Rostam. The latter was always represented as the mightiest of Iranian paladins, and the atmosphere of the episodes in which he features is strongly reminiscent of the Arsacid period. He was immortalized by the 10th-century poet Ferdowsi of Tus in the Shahnameh or Epic of Kings, which contain pre-Islamic folklore and history."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rostam

Kara/Qara Kamar Cave, Samangan..... situated in the Hindu Kush foothills about 1000 m above sea level and about 150 m above the valley plain below. It is located about 20 km north-north-west Aybak/Samangan and above village of Sar Kiar or Sarqia-ye Uzbek (Uzbek Sar Kiar). One report places the cave a few kilometres further north near Hazrat Soltan. The cave or rock shelter faces south and commands a view of three valleys for a considerable distance. It has been used as a shelter by herdsmen (sometimes called nomads) for generations. Its roof is covered in soot and its floor in dung. ....Kara/Qara Kamar is one of the seven caves listed by C. Coon in his book Seven Caves (New York, 1957) and is the first Paleolithic site excavated in Afghanistan. The carbon-14 dating of the Kara Kamar stone tools is over 34,000 years BP (Aurignacian-Paleolithic period) and the type of tools found are similar to those found in contemporaneous cultures in Greater Aryana such as Shanidar. The artifacts found include 82 flint implements, animal bones and mollusk remains."....http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/prehistoricsites/dawn.htm

Caves near Aybak/Samangan city, Samangan Province. Image credit: Abdul Raqib at Panoramio.....http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/prehistoricsites/dawn.htm

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2013

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Kashmir Smast & The Mardan Valley (400 AD)

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"The Kashmir Smast caves, also called Kashmir Smats, are a series of natural limestone caves, artificially expanded from the Kushan to the Shahi periods, situated in the Babozai and Pirsai mountains in the Mardan Valley in Northern Pakistan. According to recent scholarship based on a rare series of bronze coins and artifacts found in the region, the caves and their adjacent valley probably comprised a sovereign kingdom in Gandhara which maintained at least partial independence for almost 500 years, from c. 4th century AD to the 9th century AD. For most of its history, it was ruled by White Hun (or Hephthalite) governors or princes."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_Smast

Kashmir Smast is now a well known site in the Mardan valley......Much of the Mardan material is numismatic, from the late to Kushanas through to Hephalites, and is interesting because it includes a substantial number of previously unknown types, many of which seem to have circulated only in the immediate vicinity (they may even have been minted and circulated purely for ritual purposes at Kashmiri Smast). It also outlines some of the other important discoveries; sculpture, inscriptions (on reliquary caskets of a type generally known from Gandhara), and even a birch bark scroll, apparently ritually interred."...http://kushan.org/news/news6.htm

"The Gandhāran Buddhist texts are the oldest Buddhist manuscripts yet discovered, dating from about the 1st century CE. They are written in Gāndhārī, and are possibly the oldest extant Bactrian and Pakistani texts altogether.....The Gandharan Buddhist texts are both the earliest Buddhist as well as Asian manuscripts discovered so far. Most are written on birch bark and were found in labelled clay pots. Panini has mentioned both the Vedic form of Sanskrit as well as what seems to be Gandhari, a later form of Sanskrit, in his Ashtadhyayi.....Gandhara's language was a Prakrit or "Middle Indo-Aryan" dialect, usually called Gāndhārī. Texts are written right-to-left in the Kharoṣṭhī script, which had been adapted for Indo-Aryan languages..."....Salomon, Richard. Ancient Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhāra, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1999, ISBN 0-295-97769-8.

"Mardan valley was part of the ancient Gandhara civilization but at that time the name Mardan and Mardan City was not constructed, instead Gandhara civilization consisted of small sub-kingdoms at the hill tops of Jamal Garhi, Shahbaz Garhi and Thakhat Bahi. The ruins of these cities still exist.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardan

Takht-i Bahi, Buddhist Monastery......Looking North with Hindu Kush in Background...."The most striking Buddhist site I visited was Tahkt-i Bahi near Mardan. This site was a large monastery located on a hilltop, occupied from the 1st to 7th century A.D. Much of the friezes and statuary was removed between 1907 and 1913, some of which can be seen on site and in museums in Pakistan. Around this site are many smaller stupas and monasteries, but the amazing views from Takht-i Bahi make this monastery worth the long hike up.".....http://www.mango.itgo.com/buddhist.htm

"...Alexander the Great reached this beautiful valley of Mardan through Kunar Afghanistan and Swat in 326 BC.This was followed by Buddhism till the 7th century AD.....the brave, cultureful people that they earned the name "MARDAN" for themselves. It means MEN with charisma and courage. Hence the area is called Mardan.....

The Mount of Takht-i-Bahi

""Smast" is a mistranscription of the Pashto word for 'cave,' which is actually smats (Pashto: سمڅ‎).....As for "Kashmir", the Gazetteer of the Peshawar district 1897-1898 describes that “the name [Kashmir Smast] may be derived from the fact that the gorge here is fairly and picturesquely wooded, and this may have suggested Kashmir.” Another explanation is that according to legend, the network caves was so vast that it stretched from Gandhara to the kingdom of Kashmir......A number of the cells have wooden interiors, carved with elaborate Hindu and Buddhist iconography. Remarkably, excavations at the Kashmir Smast site have not only brought forth artifacts of extreme historical importance but have also uncovered one of the most well organized town planning systems in ancient Gandhara.....Cunningham associated the Kashmir Smast with the cave of Prince Sudana in Mount Dantalok, described by the contemporary Chinese traveler Hsuan-tsang......There are well built stone castles dating back to Buddhist times all along the northern hills."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_Smast

" As we study the varieties of coins found in the Kashmir Smast, it becomes apparent that during the period of the Kidara, the Alxon, the Nazek, the Turk Shahis, and the Hindu Shahis, a minor kingdom based in this region maintained some level of autonomy from the greater Hunnic hordes (mongols) which ruled Gandhara. This is evidenced by the use of hithertofore unrecorded images, stylistic peculiarities, and tamghas (royal symbols)......Scholars contend that the bronze currency found in the region were issued by local semi-independent governors, or Tegins, in the Kashmir Smast valley, paying allegiance to the greater Hunnic Tegins of Gandhara and Bactria. The feudal and tribal nature of the ancient Central Asian' states allowed for substantial independence to be exercised by local governors.....Waleed Ziad (2006), "Treasures of Kashmir Smast, followed by interview with Ijaz Khan" in Oriental Numismatic Society Journal- Volume 187

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2013

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Bactrian Kushan Deities & Religious Pantheon

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The Kushan religious pantheon is extremely varied, as revealed by their coins and their seals, on which more than 30 different gods appear, belonging mainly to their own Iranian world, and to a lesser extent, the Greek and Indian worlds as well. Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on early coins. During Kanishka's reign, the language of the coinage changes to Bactrian (though it remained in Greek script for all kings). After Huvishka, only two divinities appear on the coins: Ardoxsho and Oesho (see details below).

"The Kushans are believed to have been predominantly Zoroastrian....However, from the time of Vima Takto, many Kushans started adopting aspects of Buddhist culture. Like the Egyptians, they absorbed the strong remnants of the Greek Culture of the Hellenistic Kingdoms, becoming at least partly Hellenised. The great Kushan emperor Vima Kadphises may have embraced Saivism, as surmised by coins minted during the period. The Kushan emperors represented a wide variety of faiths including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Tantric Saivism ."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empire#cite_note-23

The Iranian entities depicted on coinage include:

Αρδοχþο (ardoxsho, Ashi Vanghuhi)....In the younger Avesta, divinified Ashi (feminine) is also referred to Ashi Vanuhi or Ashi Vanghuhi (Aši vaηuhī, nominative Ašiš vaηuhī "Good Reward")

Aþαειχþo (ashaeixsho, Asha Vahishta)....also the proper name of the divinity Asha, the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or "genius"

Αθþο (athsho, Atar)....Sacred Fire.....Zoroastrians revere fire in any form. In the Zoroastrian religion, fire (see Atar), together with clean water (see Aban), are agents of ritual purity. ...Shams-i-Balkh, a Bactrian sun temple....

Φαρρο (pharro, Khwarenah)... khwarenah (xᵛarənah) is an Avestan language word for a Zoroastrian concept literally denoting "glory" or "splendour" but understood as a divine mystical force or power projected upon and aiding the appointed. The neuter noun thus also connotes "(divine) royal glory," reflecting the perceived divine empowerment of kings. The term also carries a secondary meaning of "(good) fortune";

Λροοασπο (lrooaspa, Drvaspa)....Drvaspa (druuāspā, drvāspā, drwāspā) is the Avestan language name of an "enigmatic" and "strangely discreet" Zoroastrian divinity, whose name literally means "with solid horses" and which she is then nominally the hypostasis of.....The word drvaspa is grammatically feminine. Proceeding from an observation in James Darmesteter's Avesta (1875), "it has been customary to compare her to the Celtic Epona, protector of horses...

Μαναοβαγο, (manaobago, Vohu Manah)....Vohu Manah is the Avestan language term for a Zoroastrian concept, generally translated as "Good Purpose" or "Good Mind" (cognate with Sanskrit su-manas...सुमनस्).....

Μαο (mao, Mah).... Mao (cf. Av. Mah 'Moon')....

Μιθρο, Μιιρο, Μιορο, Μιυρο (mithro and variants, Mithra).....Miiro 'Mithra'...Solar deity Mithra

Μοζδοοανο (mozdooano, Mazda *vana "Mazda the victorious?")...Ahura Mazda (Phl. Ohrmazd), meaning "Wise Lord." Ahura Mazda is all good.....

Νανα, Ναναια, Ναναϸαο (variations of pan-Asiatic Nana, Sogdian nny, in a Zoroastrian context Aredvi Sura Anahita)....The inscription NANAIA is used on some of the coins of Kanishka to indicate the goddess Nana. Rosenfield suggested that the shorter version NANA was common in the eastern parts of the Kushan Empire and the longer version NANAIA in the west, the region ruled by the Sapadbians.....On the coins of Kanishka Nana appears as a human figure. However, on the coins of Huvishka & Kanishka II/III she appears seated on a lion.

Οαδο (oado Vata)....Oado was a wind god, the name probably deriving from the Avestan Vata, the strong Mazdah-created wind, similar to the element vata in the Rig Veda

Oαxþo (oaxsho later Oxus in Greek?).....

Ooρoμoζδο (ooromozdo from Ahromazda, i.e. Ahura Mazda)...Ahura Mazda, (also known as Athura Mazda, Athuramazda, Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hourmazd, Hormazd, Hurmuz, and Azzandara) is the Avestan name for a divinity of the Old Iranian religion who was proclaimed the uncreated God by Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism.

Οραλαγνο (orlagno from Verethragna)....the divinity Verethragna, who is the hypostasis of "victory", and "as a giver of victory

Τιερο (tiero from Tir).....Tir (god) - God of wisdom, culture, science and studies, he also was an interpreter of dreams. He was the messenger of the gods and was associated with Apollo. Tir's temple was located near Artashat.....Armenian_mythology

Representation of entities from Greek mythology and Hellenistic syncretism are:
Ηλιος (Helios).....Helios (Ancient Greek: Ἥλιος Hēlios; Latinized as Helius; Ἠέλιος in Homeric Greek) was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him Titan or Hyperion,
Ηφαηστος (Hephaistos)..... the Greek god of metalworking
Σαληνη (Selene).....goddess of the moon, and sister of the sun-god Helios
Ανημος (Anemos)...Ancient Greek: Ἄνεμοι, "Winds") were Greek wind gods
The coins of Huvishka also portray the demi-god erakilo Heracles..., Heracles (Ancient Greek: Ἡρακλῆς, Hēraklēs, from Hēra, "Hera", and kleos, "glory".... a divine hero in Greek mythology, the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae (Ἡρακλεῖδαι) .... In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules..
and the Egyptian god sarapo Sarapis....Serapis (Σέραπις, Attic/Ionian Greek) or Sarapis (Σάραπις, Dorian Greek) is a Graeco-Egyptian god. Serapis was devised during the 3rd century BC on the orders of Ptolemy I of Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his realm. The god was depicted as Greek in appearance, but with Egyptian trappings, and combined iconography from a great many cults, signifying both abundance and resurrection. A serapeum (Greek serapeion) was any temple or religious precinct devoted to Serapis.

The Indic entities represented on coinage include:
Βοδδο (boddo, Buddha)....Kanishka's reputation in Buddhist tradition is based mainly that he convened the 4th Buddhist Council in Kashmir.
Μετραγο Βοδδο (metrago boddo, bodhisattava Maitreya)
Mαασηνo (maaseno, Mahasena)...A Hindu deity known from Kushana and other coins and inscriptions
Σκανδo koμαρo (skando komaro, Skanda Kumara)......Like most Hindu deities, Murugan is known by many other names... Kumāra (meaning 'prince or child or young one'), Skanda (meaning 'seed' in Sanskrit)...Murugan also known as Karttikeya (Sanskrit: कार्त्तिकेय), is the Hindu god of war and victory
þακαμανο Βοδδο (shakamano boddho, Shakyamuni Buddha)....Only a few Buddhist divinities were used as well:....ϷΑΚΑΜΑΝΟ ΒΟΔΔΟ (shakamano boddho, Shakyamuni Buddha)

Additionally.....
Οηϸο (oesho), long considered to represent Indic Shiva,but more recently identified as Avestan Vayu conflated with Shiva....Oesho was a deity represented on the coins of several Kushan kings, and was apparently one of the titular deities of the dynasty. The deity is often though to be identical with Shiva (I'sha), and "Oesho" would just be the pronunciation of Shiva's name in the Bactrian language of the Kushans....... recent studies indicate that Oesho was Zoroastrian Vayu with admittedly many of the attributes of Shiva ....... again the coins of Vasudeva I, who converted to Hinduism, continue to depict, the deity, has left open the discussion, weather Oesho is Shiva or Vata-Vayu.

Two copper coins of Huvishka bear a 'Ganesa' legend, but instead of depicting the typical theriomorphic figure of Ganesha, have a figure of an archer holding a full-length bow with string inwards and an arrow. This is typically a depiction of Rudra, but in the case of these two coins is generally assumed to represent Shiva....Ganesha (also spelled Ganesa, also known as Pillaiyar, Ganapati and Vinayaka, is a widely worshiped deity in the Hindu pantheon.Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India....Ganesha's elephant head makes him particularly easy to identify.Ganesha is widely revered as the Remover of Obstacles

"Of the numerous divinities depicted on the coins of Kanishka I and Huvishka, most are given Iranian names, e.g., ardoxšo (Av. ašiš vaŋuhi), aθšo “fire,” farro (Av. xᵛarənah-), lrooaspo (masc.; cf. Av. drvāspā-), mao “moon,” miiro (in many spellings; Av. miθra-), nana (Sogd. nny), oado “wind,” oaxšo “Oxus,” oēšo (Av. vayuš, conflated with the Indian Śiva, see H. Humbach in Monumentum H. S. Nyberg I, Acta Iranica 4, Tehran and Liège, 1975, pp. 402-08), ōoromozdo (Av. ahurō mazdǡ), orlagno (Av. vərəθraγna-), and teiro (Mid. Pers. tīr). See further F. Grenet, “Notes sur le panthéon iranien des Kouchans,” Studia Iranica 13, 1984, pp. 253-62. The coinage of Kanishka includes issues portraying boddo “Buddha,” sakamano boudo “Śākyamuni,” and mētrago boudo “Maitreya” (see J. Cribb, “A Re-examination of the Buddha Images on the Coins of King Kaniska. . .” in Studies in Buddhist Art of South Asia, Delhi, 1985, pp. 59-87), while that of Huvishka attests foreign gods and demigods such as ērakilo “Heracles,” sarapo “Sarapis,” maasēno “Mahāsena,” and skando komaro “Skanda Kumāra.” After Huvishka the repertoire of reverse types contracts sharply, the only deities named on the coins of the last Kushans being ardoxšo and oēšo.".......http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bactrian-language

"The pantheon of Armenian gods (ditsov) formed during the nucleation of the Proto-Armenian tribes that, at the initial stage of their existence, inherited the essential elements of paganism from the Proto-Indo-European tribes that inhabited the Armenian Plateau. Historians distinguish a significant body of Indo-European language used by Armenian pagans as sacred. Original cult worship is a kind of unfathomable higher power or intelligence called Ara, called the physical embodiment of the sun (Arev) worshiped by the ancient Armenians, who called themselves "the children of the sun". Since ancient times, the cult of sun worship occupied a special place in Armenian mythology. Also among the most ancient types of worship of Indo-European roots are the cults of eagles and lions, and the worship of heaven. Over time, the Armenian pantheon was updated, and new deities of Armenian and not Aryan origins appeared. Furthermore, the supreme god of the Armenian pantheon, Vanatur, was later replaced by Aramazd. The latter, though, has appeared under the influence of Zoroastrianism (see Ahura Mazda), but with partially preserved traditional Armenian features. Similarly, the traditional Armenian goddess of fertility, Nar, was replaced by Anahit. In the Hellenistic age (3rd to 1st centuries BC), ancient Armenian deities identified with the ancient Greek deities: Aramazd with Zeus, Anahit with Artemis, Vahagn with Hercules, Astghik with Aphrodite, Nane with Athena, Mihr with Hephaestus, Tir with Apollo."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_mythology

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John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2013

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Bactrian Kushan Kings (30 - 375 AD)

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The Kushan Empire was an empire in Central Asia originally formed in the early 1st century CE under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria around the Oxus River (Amu Darya), and later based near Kabul, Afghanistan.

King Kujula Kadphises (ca. 30 – ca. 80)....the prince [elavoor] of Guishuang, named thilac [Kujula Kadphises]

King Vima Taktu or Sadashkana (ca. 80 – ca. 95)......Sadashkana or Sadaṣkaṇa according to the gold plate inscription of Senavarman, mentions Sadashkana as the Devaputra (son of god), son of maharaja rayatiraya Kujula Kataphsa (Kujula Kadphises):"Maharaja rayatiraya Kuyula Kataphsaputra Sadashkano devaputra""The son of god Sadashkano, son of the Great king and king of kings, Kujula Kaphises......Vima Takto (Ancient Chinese: 閻膏珍 Yangaozhen) is mentioned in the Rabatak inscription"

King Vima Kadphises (ca. 95 – ca. 127)...Vima Kadphises added to the Kushan territory by his conquests in Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan.

Kanishka, King of Kings...Buddhist emperor Kanishka (127–151 BCE)....The Kushans also had a summer capital in Bagram (then known as Kapisa), where the "Begram Treasure", comprising works of art from Greece to China, has been found.

King Huvishka (ca. 160 – ca. 190
King Vasudeva I (ca. 190 – ca. 230)
King Kanishka II
King Vasishka
King Kanishka III
King Vasudeva II
King Shaka
King Kipunada

"The coins of Kujula and his immediate successors give the king’s name and titulature in Greek, often with a Kharoṣṭhī version on the reverse. The earliest issues of Kanishka likewise bear on the obverse his name and title in Greek (basileus basileōn kanēškou “[coin] of Kanishka, king of kings”), while the reverses portray divinities named in Greek as Hēphaistos, Hēlios, Nanaia, and Selēnē. Later issues follow the same pattern, but the legends are henceforward in Bactrian rather than Greek. Kanishka’s titulature appears (in its fullest form) as šaonano šao kanēški košano “of Kanishka, king of kings, the Kushan,” that of his successor Huvishka as šaonano šao ooēški košano. The forms kanēški and ooēški (also ouoēški, ooēške) are in the oblique case, cf. the Greek gen. kanēškou; a few coins of Huvishka have the nom. form (ooēško), as do those of the succeeding rulers, (bazodēo), Kanishka II (kanēško), Vasishka (bazēško, cf. R. Göbl, Dokumente zur Geschichte der iranischen Hunnen in Baktrien und Indien, Wiesbaden, 1967, III, pl. 8), etc.

Surkh Kotal (Persian: سرخ‌کوتل‎), also called Chashma-i Shir or Sar-i Chashma, is an ancient archaeological site located in the southern part of the region of Bactria, about 18 km north of the city of Puli Khumri, the capital of Baghlan Province of Afghanistan.....It is the location of monumental constructions made during the rule of the Kushans. Huge temples, statues of Kushan rulers and the Surkh Kotal inscription, which revealed part of the chronology (another fragment of that chronology was found on the Rabatak inscription found nearby) of early Kushan emperors (also called Great Kushans) were all found there.... The most famous artifacts of this site are the Surkh Kotal inscriptions, the statue of King Kanishka and the fire altar.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surkh_Kotal

" translations of the inscriptions from Surkh Kotal by J. Harmatta. They were originally in the Bactrian language and written in Greek script.....'Era-year 299, on the 9th [day] of [month] Dios, King of Kings Ooëmo Takpiso, the majesty, the Kuṣāṇa, had the canal d[ug here]."......Languages and literature of the Kushan Empire" János Harmatta. (1994). In: History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II, pp. 427-432. UNESCO Publishing. Paris. ISBN 92-3-102846-4.

"The Rabatak inscription is an inscription written on a rock in the Bactrian language and the Greek script, which was found in 1993 at the site of Rabatak, near Surkh Kotal in Afghanistan. The inscription relates to the rule of the Kushan emperor Kanishka, and gives remarkable clues on the genealogy of the Kushan dynasty."

"The Rabatak inscription.....(Translation by Nicholas Sims-Williams) [1] . . . of the great salvation, Kanishka the Kushan, the righteous, the just, the autocrat, the god [2] worthy of worship, who has obtained the kingship from Nana and from all the gods, who has inaugurated the year one [3] as the gods pleased. And he *issued a Greek *edict (and) then he put it into Aryan. [4] In the year one it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the *whole of the realm of the *kshatriyas, that (as for) [5] them - both the (city of) . . . and the (city of) Saketa, and the (city of) Kausambi, and the (city of) Pataliputra, as far as the (city of) Sri-Campa [6] - whatever rulers and other *important persons (they might have) he had submitted to (his) will, and he had submitted all [7] India to (his) will. Then King Kanishka gave orders to Shafar the karalrang [8] *at this . . . to make the sanctuary which is called B . . . ab, in the *plain of Ka . . ., for these [9] gods, (of) whom the . . . *glorious Umma leads the *service here, (namely:) the *lady Nana and the [10] lady Umma, Aurmuzd, the gracious one, Sroshard, Narasa, (and) Mihr. [interlinear text: . . . and he is called Maaseno, and he is called Bizago] And he likewise [11] gave orders to make images of these gods who are written above, and [12] he gave orders to make (them) for these kings: for King Kujula Kadphises (his) great [13] grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu, (his) grandfather, and for King Vima Kadphises [14] (his) father, and *also for himself, King Kanishka. Then, as the king of kings, the devaputra [15] . . . had given orders to do, Shafar the karalrang made this sanctuary. [16] [Then . . .] the karalrang, and Shafar the karalrang, and Nukunzuk [led] the worship [17] [according to] the (king's) command. (As for) *these gods who are written here - may they [keep] the [18] king of kings, Kanishka the Kushan, for ever healthy, *secure, (and) victorious. [19] And [when] the devaputra, the *ruler of all India from the year one to the year *one *thousand, [20] had *founded the sanctuary in the year one, then *also to the . . . year. . . [21] according to the king's command . . . (and) it was given also to the . . ., (and) it was given also to the . . ., (and) also to [22] . . . the king gave an *endowment to the gods, and . . ."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabatak_inscription

The Rabatak site, again visited by Robert Kluijver in March 2002, has been looted and destroyed (the looting was performed with bulldozers), reportedly by the local commander at Rabatak.

Gandhāra (Pashto: ګندارا‎, Urdu: گندھارا‎) was an ancient Buddhist kingdom in the Swat and Kabul river valleys and the Pothohar Plateau, in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Its main cities were Purushapura (modern Peshawar), and Takshashila (modern Taxila). The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from the early 1st millennium BC to the 11th century AD. It attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century under the Kushan Kings.

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2013

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Rabatak Inscription & the Bactrian Language (127 AD)

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Surkh Kotal (Persian: سرخ‌کوتل‎), also called Chashma-i Shir or Sar-i Chashma, is an ancient archaeological site located in the southern part of the region of Bactria, about 18 km north of the city of Puli Khumri, the capital of Baghlan Province of Afghanistan.....It is the location of monumental constructions made during the rule of the Kushans. Huge temples, statues of Kushan rulers and the Surkh Kotal inscription, which revealed part of the chronology (another fragment of that chronology was found on the Rabatak inscription found nearby) of early Kushan emperors (also called Great Kushans) were all found there.... The most famous artifacts of this site are the Surkh Kotal inscriptions, the statue of King Kanishka and the fire altar.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surkh_Kotal

" translations of the inscriptions from Surkh Kotal by J. Harmatta. They were originally in the Bactrian language and written in Greek script.....'Era-year 299, on the 9th [day] of [month] Dios, King of Kings Ooëmo Takpiso, the majesty, the Kuṣāṇa, had the canal d[ug here]."......Languages and literature of the Kushan Empire" János Harmatta. (1994). In: History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II, pp. 427-432. UNESCO Publishing. Paris. ISBN 92-3-102846-4.

"The Kushan Empire (Sanskrit: कुषाण राजवंश, Kuṣāṇ Rājavaṃśa; BHS: Guṣāṇa-vaṃśa; Parthian: Kušanxšaθr) was an empire in South Asia originally formed in the early 1st century CE under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria around the Oxus River (Amu Darya), and later based near Kabul, Afghanistan. The Kushans spread from the Kabul River Valley to defeat other Central Asian tribes that had previously conquered parts of the northern central Iranian Plateau once ruled by the Parthians, and reached their peak under the Buddhist emperor Kanishka (127–151), whose realm stretched from Turfan in the Tarim Basin to Pataliputra on the Gangetic Plain."....".....Afghanistan: Central Asian and Sassanian Rule, ca. 150 B.C.-700 A.D.". United States: Library of Congress Country Studies. 1997

"The Rabatak inscription is an inscription written on a rock in the Bactrian language and the Greek script, which was found in 1993 at the site of Rabatak, near Surkh Kotal in Afghanistan. The inscription relates to the rule of the Kushan emperor Kanishka, and gives remarkable clues on the genealogy of the Kushan dynasty."

"The Rabatak inscription.....(Translation by Nicholas Sims-Williams) [1] . . . of the great salvation, Kanishka the Kushan, the righteous, the just, the autocrat, the god [2] worthy of worship, who has obtained the kingship from Nana and from all the gods, who has inaugurated the year one [3] as the gods pleased. And he *issued a Greek *edict (and) then he put it into Aryan. [4] In the year one it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the *whole of the realm of the *kshatriyas, that (as for) [5] them - both the (city of) . . . and the (city of) Saketa, and the (city of) Kausambi, and the (city of) Pataliputra, as far as the (city of) Sri-Campa [6] - whatever rulers and other *important persons (they might have) he had submitted to (his) will, and he had submitted all [7] India to (his) will. Then King Kanishka gave orders to Shafar the karalrang [8] *at this . . . to make the sanctuary which is called B . . . ab, in the *plain of Ka . . ., for these [9] gods, (of) whom the . . . *glorious Umma leads the *service here, (namely:) the *lady Nana and the [10] lady Umma, Aurmuzd, the gracious one, Sroshard, Narasa, (and) Mihr. [interlinear text: . . . and he is called Maaseno, and he is called Bizago] And he likewise [11] gave orders to make images of these gods who are written above, and [12] he gave orders to make (them) for these kings: for King Kujula Kadphises (his) great [13] grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu, (his) grandfather, and for King Vima Kadphises [14] (his) father, and *also for himself, King Kanishka. Then, as the king of kings, the devaputra [15] . . . had given orders to do, Shafar the karalrang made this sanctuary. [16] [Then . . .] the karalrang, and Shafar the karalrang, and Nukunzuk [led] the worship [17] [according to] the (king's) command. (As for) *these gods who are written here - may they [keep] the [18] king of kings, Kanishka the Kushan, for ever healthy, *secure, (and) victorious. [19] And [when] the devaputra, the *ruler of all India from the year one to the year *one *thousand, [20] had *founded the sanctuary in the year one, then *also to the . . . year. . . [21] according to the king's command . . . (and) it was given also to the . . ., (and) it was given also to the . . ., (and) also to [22] . . . the king gave an *endowment to the gods, and . . ."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabatak_inscription

"Some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin, Surkh Kotal (a monumental temple), and in the palace of Khalchayan. Various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers, and significantly men such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan.... The Chinese first referred to these people as the Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire, although the relationship between the Yuezhi and the Kushans is still unclear. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses. The earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was Heraios. He may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises."....Lebedynsky, Iaroslav (2006). Les Saces. Paris: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-337-2.

"The Kushans are believed to have been predominantly Zoroastrian....However, from the time of Vima Takto, many Kushans started adopting aspects of Buddhist culture. Like the Egyptians, they absorbed the strong remnants of the Greek Culture of the Hellenistic Kingdoms, becoming at least partly Hellenised. The great Kushan emperor Vima Kadphises may have embraced Saivism, as surmised by coins minted during the period. The following Kushan emperors represented a wide variety of faiths including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and possibly Saivism (a sect of Hinduism)."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empire#cite_note-23

"The Kushans adopted elements of the Hellenistic culture of Bactria. They adopted the Greek alphabet to suit their own language (with the additional development of the letter Þ "sh", as in "Kushan") and soon began minting coinage on the Greek model. On their coins they used Greek language legends combined with Pali legends (in the Kharoshthi script), until the first few years of the reign of Kanishka. "....

"BACTRIAN LANGUAGE.....the Iranian language of ancient Bactria (northern Afghanistan), attested by coins, seals, and inscriptions of the Kushan period (first to third centuries A.D.) and the following centuries and by a few later manuscript fragments. Bactrian is the only Middle Iranian language whose writing system is based on the Greek alphabet, a fact ultimately attributable to Alexander’s conquest of Bactria and to the maintenance of Greek rule for some 200 years after his death (323 B.C.).".....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bactrian-language

"The recently discovered Rabatak inscription confirms the account of the Hou Hanshu, Weilüe, and inscriptions dated early in the Kanishka era (incept probably 127 CE), that large Kushan dominions expanded into in the heartland of northern India in the early 2nd century CE. The lines 4 to 7 of the inscription describe the cities which were under the rule of Kanishka, among which six names are identifiable: Ujjain, Kundina, Saketa, Kausambi, Pataliputra, and Champa (although the text is not clear whether Champa was a possession of Kanishka or just beyond it). Northward, in the 2nd century CE, the Kushans under Kanishka made various forays into the Tarim Basin, seemingly the original ground of their ancestors the Yuezhi, where they had various contacts with the Chinese. Both archaeological findings and literary evidence suggest Kushan rule, in Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan. The Kushan state was bounded to the south by the Pārata state of Balochistan, western Pakistan.....As late as the 3rd century CE, decorated coins of Huvishka were dedicated at Bodh Gaya together with other gold offerings under the "Enlightenment Throne" of the Buddha, suggesting direct Kushan influence in the area during that period."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empire

"The earliest known inscriptions in Bactrian (the “unfinished inscription” from Surkh Kotal, cf. A. D. H. Bivar, BSOAS 26, 1963, pp. 498-502, and the Dašt-e Nāvūr trilingual) belong to the reign of Vima Kadphises.".....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bactrian-language

"Of the numerous divinities depicted on the coins of Kanishka I and Huvishka, most are given Iranian names, e.g., ardoxšo (Av. ašiš vaŋuhi), aθšo “fire,” farro (Av. xᵛarənah-), lrooaspo (masc.; cf. Av. drvāspā-), mao “moon,” miiro (in many spellings; Av. miθra-), nana (Sogd. nny), oado “wind,” oaxšo “Oxus,” oēšo (Av. vayuš, conflated with the Indian Śiva, see H. Humbach in Monumentum H. S. Nyberg I, Acta Iranica 4, Tehran and Liège, 1975, pp. 402-08), ōoromozdo (Av. ahurō mazdǡ), orlagno (Av. vərəθraγna-), and teiro (Mid. Pers. tīr). See further F. Grenet, “Notes sur le panthéon iranien des Kouchans,” Studia Iranica 13, 1984, pp. 253-62. The coinage of Kanishka includes issues portraying boddo “Buddha,” sakamano boudo “Śākyamuni,” and mētrago boudo “Maitreya” (see J. Cribb, “A Re-examination of the Buddha Images on the Coins of King Kaniska. . .” in Studies in Buddhist Art of South Asia, Delhi, 1985, pp. 59-87), while that of Huvishka attests foreign gods and demigods such as ērakilo “Heracles,” sarapo “Sarapis,” maasēno “Mahāsena,” and skando komaro “Skanda Kumāra.” After Huvishka the repertoire of reverse types contracts sharply, the only deities named on the coins of the last Kushans being ardoxšo and oēšo.".....http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bactrian-language

"The Gandhāran Buddhist texts are the oldest Buddhist manuscripts yet discovered, dating from about the 1st century CE.They are written in Gāndhārī, and are possibly the oldest extant Bactrian and Pakistani texts altogether. They were sold to European and Japanese institutions and individuals, and are currently being recovered and studied by several universities. The Gandhāran texts are in a considerably deteriorated form (their survival alone is extraordinary), but educated guesses about reconstruction have been possible in several cases using both modern preservation techniques and more traditional textual scholarship, comparing previously known Pāli and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit versions of texts. Other Gandhāran Buddhist texts—"several and perhaps many"—have been found over the last two centuries but lost or destroyed.[2].....Salomon, Richard. Ancient Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhāra, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1999, ISBN 0-295-97769-8.

The Rabatak site, again visited by Robert Kluijver in March 2002, has been looted and destroyed (the looting was performed with bulldozers), reportedly by the local commander at Rabatak.

**************************

Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2013

**************************

Surkh Kotal & The Kushan Empire (127 AD)

**************************

Click Here to View the Main Index

Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

**************************

Surkh Kotal (Persian: سرخ‌کوتل‎), also called Chashma-i Shir or Sar-i Chashma, is an ancient archaeological site located in the southern part of the region of Bactria, about 18 km north of the city of Puli Khumri, the capital of Baghlan Province of Afghanistan.....It is the location of monumental constructions made during the rule of the Kushans. Huge temples, statues of Kushan rulers and the Surkh Kotal inscription, which revealed part of the chronology (another fragment of that chronology was found on the Rabatak inscription found nearby) of early Kushan emperors (also called Great Kushans) were all found there.... The most famous artifacts of this site are the Surkh Kotal inscriptions, the statue of King Kanishka and the fire altar.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surkh_Kotal

"The Kushan Empire (Sanskrit: कुषाण राजवंश, Kuṣāṇ Rājavaṃśa; BHS: Guṣāṇa-vaṃśa; Parthian: Kušanxšaθr) was an empire in Central Asia originally formed in the early 1st century CE under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria around the Oxus River (Amu Darya), and later based near Kabul, Afghanistan. The Kushans spread from the Kabul River Valley to defeat other Central Asian tribes that had previously conquered parts of the northern central Iranian Plateau once ruled by the Parthians, and reached their peak under the Buddhist emperor Kanishka (127–151), whose realm stretched from Turfan in the Tarim Basin to Pataliputra on the Gangetic Plain.".....Afghanistan: Central Asian and Sassanian Rule, ca. 150 B.C.-700 A.D.". United States: Library of Congress Country Studies. 1997

"..... translations of the inscriptions from Surkh Kotal by J. Harmatta. They were originally in the Bactrian language and written in Greek script.....'Era-year 299, on the 9th [day] of [month] Dios, King of Kings Ooëmo Takpiso, the majesty, the Kuṣāṇa, had the canal d[ug here]."......Languages and literature of the Kushan Empire" János Harmatta. (1994). In: History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II, pp. 427-432. UNESCO Publishing. Paris. ISBN 92-3-102846-4.

"Tepe Fullol (also known as Khush Tepe) is a village in northern Afghanistan where the treasure of Fullol was found, consisting of twenty vessels in gold and silver dated to the Bronze Age. It was accidentally discovered in 1965 by Afghan farmers in a grave cache and provided the first evidence of the Oxus civilisation (also known as BMAC) in northern Afghanistan.....Tepe Fullol is situated in Baghlan Province at the junction of the Khost and Sai valleys. On the basis of iconographic comparisons, the treasure has been dated to between 2600 and 1700 BC. There is also a mound, covering an area 14 by 18 metres (46 by 59 ft) and 20 metres (66 ft) high.....The area's wealth probably derived from precious materials extracted from the nearby mountains , in particular lapis lazuli from Badakshan, which were widely traded. The vessel's designs include animal imagery, such as a boar, a stag, snakes and bearded bulls (the latter derived from distant Mesopotamia), indicating that at this early date Afghanistan was already part of an extensive network of trade and cultural exchanges.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tepe_Fullol

"...Tepe Fullol: a gold bowl from 2500-2000 BC...... Sarianidi considers the site to be part of the large Baktria-Margiana-Archeological-Complex........Hastinapur is one of the chief sites of the Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW) an Iron Age culture in the Gangetic plain, lasting from roughly 1200 BC to 600 BC. It is contemporary to, and a successor of the Black and Red ware culture. It is succeeded by Northern Black Polished Ware from ca. 500 BC. ...The Gandhara (or Swat) grave culture emerged ca. 1600 BC, and flourished in Gandhara, Pakistan from 1500 BC to 500 BC. Simply made terracotta figurines were buried with the pottery, and other items are decorated with simple dot designs. Horse remains were found in at least one burial......

"The Rabatak inscription is an inscription written on a rock in the Bactrian language and the Greek script, which was found in 1993 at the site of Rabatak, near Surkh Kotal in Afghanistan. The inscription relates to the rule of the Kushan emperor Kanishka, and gives remarkable clues on the genealogy of the Kushan dynasty."

"The Rabatak inscription.....(Translation by Nicholas Sims-Williams) [1] . . . of the great salvation, Kanishka the Kushan, the righteous, the just, the autocrat, the god [2] worthy of worship, who has obtained the kingship from Nana and from all the gods, who has inaugurated the year one as the gods pleased. And he *issued a Greek *edict (and) then he put it into Aryan. [4] In the year one it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the *whole of the realm of the *kshatriyas, that (as for) [5] them - both the (city of) . . . and the (city of) Saketa, and the (city of) Kausambi, and the (city of) Pataliputra, as far as the (city of) Sri-Campa [6] - whatever rulers and other *important persons (they might have) he had submitted to (his) will, and he had submitted all [7] India to (his) will. Then King Kanishka gave orders to Shafar the karalrang [8] *at this . . . to make the sanctuary which is called B . . . ab, in the *plain of Ka . . ., for these [9] gods, (of) whom the . . . *glorious Umma leads the *service here, (namely:) the *lady Nana and the [10] lady Umma, Aurmuzd, the gracious one, Sroshard, Narasa, (and) Mihr. [interlinear text: . . . and he is called Maaseno, and he is called Bizago] And he likewise [11] gave orders to make images of these gods who are written above, and [12] he gave orders to make (them) for these kings: for King Kujula Kadphises (his) great [13] grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu, (his) grandfather, and for King Vima Kadphises [14] (his) father, and *also for himself, King Kanishka. Then, as the king of kings, the devaputra [15] . . . had given orders to do, Shafar the karalrang made this sanctuary. [16] [Then . . .] the karalrang, and Shafar the karalrang, and Nukunzuk [led] the worship [17] [according to] the (king's) command. (As for) *these gods who are written here - may they [keep] the [18] king of kings, Kanishka the Kushan, for ever healthy, *secure, (and) victorious. [19] And [when] the devaputra, the *ruler of all India from the year one to the year *one *thousand, [20] had *founded the sanctuary in the year one, then *also to the . . . year. . . [21] according to the king's command . . . (and) it was given also to the . . ., (and) it was given also to the . . ., (and) also to [22] . . . the king gave an *endowment to the gods, and . . ."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabatak_inscription

"The Kushans were one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, a possibly Tocharian, Indo-European nomadic people who had migrated from the Tarim Basin and settled in ancient Bactria. They may also have been of Iranian origin. During the 1st and early 2nd centuries CE, the Kushans expanded across the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi (Benares), where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan emperor Kanishka, which began about 127 CE Around 152 CE, Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains. They captured territories as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkant, in the Tarim Basin of modern-day Xinjiang, China. A direct road from Gandhara to China was opened which remained under Kushan control for more than 100 years. The security offered by the Kushans encouraged travel across the Khunjerab Pass and facilitated the spread of Mahayana Buddhism to China.".....Falk, Harry. 2001. "The yuga of Sphujiddhvaja and the era of the Kuṣāṇas." Silk Road Art and Archaeology VII, pp. 121–136.

"Some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin, Surkh Kotal (a monumental temple), and in the palace of Khalchayan. Various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers, and significantly men such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan.... The Chinese first referred to these people as the Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire, although the relationship between the Yuezhi and the Kushans is still unclear. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses. The earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was Heraios. He may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises."....Lebedynsky, Iaroslav (2006). Les Saces. Paris: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-337-2.

"The Kushans are believed to have been predominantly Zoroastrian....However, from the time of Vima Takto, many Kushans started adopting aspects of Buddhist culture. Like the Egyptians, they absorbed the strong remnants of the Greek Culture of the Hellenistic Kingdoms, becoming at least partly Hellenised. The great Kushan emperor Vima Kadphises may have embraced Saivism, as surmised by coins minted during the period. The following Kushan emperors represented a wide variety of faiths including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and possibly Saivism (a sect of Hinduism)."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empire#cite_note-23

"The Kushans adopted elements of the Hellenistic culture of Bactria. They adopted the Greek alphabet to suit their own language (with the additional development of the letter Þ "sh", as in "Kushan") and soon began minting coinage on the Greek model. On their coins they used Greek language legends combined with Pali legends (in the Kharoshthi script), until the first few years of the reign of Kanishka. "....

"The recently discovered Rabatak inscription confirms the account of the Hou Hanshu, Weilüe, and inscriptions dated early in the Kanishka era (incept probably 127 CE), that large Kushan dominions expanded into in the heartland of northern India in the early 2nd century CE. The lines 4 to 7 of the inscription describe the cities which were under the rule of Kanishka, among which six names are identifiable: Ujjain, Kundina, Saketa, Kausambi, Pataliputra, and Champa (although the text is not clear whether Champa was a possession of Kanishka or just beyond it). Northward, in the 2nd century CE, the Kushans under Kanishka made various forays into the Tarim Basin, seemingly the original ground of their ancestors the Yuezhi, where they had various contacts with the Chinese. Both archaeological findings and literary evidence suggest Kushan rule, in Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan. The Kushan state was bounded to the south by the Pārata state of Balochistan, western Pakistan.....As late as the 3rd century CE, decorated coins of Huvishka were dedicated at Bodh Gaya together with other gold offerings under the "Enlightenment Throne" of the Buddha, suggesting direct Kushan influence in the area during that period."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empire

The Rabatak site, again visited by Robert Kluijver in March 2002, has been looted and destroyed (the looting was performed with bulldozers), reportedly by the local commander at Rabatak.

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2013

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