Kushan Empire

30–375 CE empire in Central and South Asia

The Kushan Empire (c. 30–c. 375 CE) was a syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the early 1st century CE. Initially based in the Bactrian territories, it spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Kushan territory in India extended at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi, where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan emperor Kanishka the Great. The Kushans were most probably one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, an Indo-European nomadic people of possible Tocharian origin, who migrated from northwestern China (Xinjiang and Gansu) and settled in ancient Bactria.

From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA. More on occurri.