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VarahranI.jpg|thumb|350px|Coin of the Indo-Sassanian kushansha Varahran I (early 4th century).
Obv: King Varahran with characteristic headdress.
Rev: Shiva and bull.]]
The Indo-Sassanians or Kushano-Sassanians are a branch of the Sassanians who established their rule in the northwestern Indian subcontinent during the third and fourth centuries CE, and later between the sixth and tenth centuries CE.
History
First Indo-Sassanian period
The Sassanians, shortly after their victory over the Parthians, extended their dominion into Bactria around 230 CE during the reign of Ardashir I, and then into Kushan territory (what is today Pakistan and northwestern India) during the reign of his son Shapur I (240-270).
The declining Kushans lost the western part of their territory to them, and Bactria and Gandhara came under the rule of Sassanian nobles named Kushanshahs. Their decline also lead to the rise to power of an indigenous Indian dynasty, the Guptas, in the fourth century.
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.
From 410, Bactria and then Gandhara was invaded by the Hephthalites (who became known as the Indo-Hephthalites), thus replacing the Indo-Sassanians temporarily.
Second Indo-Sassanian period
The Hephthalites ruled until they were defeated around 565 by a coalition of Sasanians and Western Turks, who were able to reassert some Indo-Sassanian authority in the Northwestern parts of the subcontinent.Religious influences
The prophet Mani (210-276), founder of Manichaeism, followed the Sassanians's 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 India 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).
Artistic influences
The Indo-Sassanians traded goods such as silverware and textiles depicting the Sassanid emperors engaged in hunting or administering justice. The example of Sassanian art was influential on Kushan art, and this influence remained active for several centuries in the northwest Indian subcontinent.
Coinage
The Indo-Sassanians created an extensive coinage with legend in Brahmi, Pahlavi or Bactrian, sometimes inspired from Kushan coinage, and sometimes more clearly Sassanian.
The obverse of the coin usually depicts the ruler with elaborate headdress and on the reverse either the zoroastrian fire altar or Shiva and his bull Nandi.
Main Indo-Sassanian rulers
- Ardashir I, Sassanian king and "Kushanshah" (circa 230 - 250)
- Peroz I "Kushanshah" (circa 250 - 265)
- Hormizd I "Kushanshah" (circa 265 - 295)
- Hormizd II "Kushanshah" (circa 295 - 300)
- Peroz II "Kushanshah" (circa 300 - 325)
- Shapur II Sassanian king and "Sakanshah" (circa 325)
- Varhran I, II, III "Kushanshahs" (circa 325 - 350; lasted until the Hephthalites invasion)
- Peroz III "Kushanshah" (circa 350 - 360; in Gandhara)
See also
External links
"Indo-Sassanian"