Indo-Sasanians
![](../I/m/HormizdI.jpg)
![](../I/m/BahramITheIndoSasanian.jpg)
Obv: King Varhran I with characteristic Indus Valley head-dress.
Rev: Iranian bull (and also at times a Zoroastrian fire altar.
The Indo-Sassanids, Kushano-Sassanids or Kushanshas (also Indo-Sassanians) were a branch of the Sassanid Persians who established their rule in the northwestern Indian subcontinent during the third and fourth centuries at the expense of the declining Kushans. They were in turn displaced in 410 by the invasions of the Huna people. They were able to re-establish some authority after the Sassanids destroyed the Hephthalites in 565, but their rule collapsed under Arab attacks in the mid 7th century.
History
First Indo-Sassanid period
![](../I/m/Indo-Sassanid.jpg)
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Soanian people (500,000 BP)
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Stone Age (50,000–3000 BC)
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Bronze Age (3000–1300 BC)
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Iron Age (1200–26 BC)
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Classical period (21–1279 AD) |
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Late medieval period (1206–1596)
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Early modern period (1526–1858)
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Colonial period (1510–1961)
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Other states (1102–1947)
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Kingdoms of Sri Lanka
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The Sassanids, shortly after victory over the Parthians, extended their dominion into Bactria during the reign of Ardashir I around 230 CE, then further to the eastern parts of their empire in western Pakistan during the reign of his son Shapur I (240–270). Thus the Kushans lost their western territory (including Bactria and Gandhara) to the rule of Sassanid nobles named Kushanshahs or "Kings of the Kushans".
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.
The decline of the Kushans and their defeat by the Sassanids led to the rise of an indigenous Indian dynasty, the Guptas, in the 4th century. In 410, the Hephthalites or Indo-Hephthalites conquered Bactria and Gandhara, thus temporarily replacing the Indo-Sassanids.
Second Indo-Sassanid period
![](../I/m/Kushanshas-Hepthalites_565ad.jpg)
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The Hephthalites dominated the area until they were defeated in 565 AD by an alliance between the Gokturks and Sassanids, and some Indo-Sassanid authority was re-established. The Kushano-Hephthalites were able to set up a rival states in Kapisa, Bamiyan, and Kabul. The 2nd Indo-Sassanid period ended with the collapse of Sassanids to the Rashidun Caliphate in the mid 7th century. Sind remained independent until the Arab invasions of India in the early 8th century. The Kushano-Hephthalites or Turkshahis were replaced by the Shahi in the mid 8th century.
Religious influences
The prophet Mani (210–276), founder of Manichaeism, followed the Sassanids' 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 Pakistan 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, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).
Artistic influences
The Indo-Sassanids traded goods such as silverware and textiles depicting the Sassanid emperors engaged in hunting or administering justice. The example of Sassanid art was influential on Kushan art, and this influence remained active for several centuries in the northwest Indian subcontinent.
Coinage
![](../I/m/Indo-SassanianCoinage.jpg)
![](../I/m/Indo-SassanianCoin.jpg)
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Ancient
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Medieval
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Modern
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The Indo-Sassanids created an extensive coinage with legend in Brahmi, Pahlavi or Bactrian, sometimes inspired from Kushan coinage, and sometimes more clearly Sassanid.
The obverse of the coin usually depicts the ruler with elaborate headdress and on the reverse either a zoroastrian fire altar.
Main Indo-Sassanid rulers
- Ardashir I, Sassanid 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 Sassanid king and "Sakanshah" (circa 325)
- Varhran I, Varhran II, Varhran III "Kushanshahs" (circa 325 – 350; lasted until the Hephthalites invasion)
- Peroz III "Kushanshah" (circa 350 – 360; in Gandhara)
See also
- Indo-Parthian
References
External links
Middle kingdoms of India | ||||||
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Timeline and cultural period |
Northwestern India (Punjab-Sapta Sindhu) |
Indo-Gangetic Plain | Central India | Southern India | ||
Western Gangetic Plain | Northern India (Central Gangetic Plain) |
Northeastern India | ||||
IRON AGE | ||||||
Culture | Late Vedic Period | Late Vedic Period (Brahmin ideology)[lower-alpha 1] |
Late Vedic Period (Kshatriya/Shramanic culture)[lower-alpha 2] |
Pre-history | ||
6th century BCE | Gandhara | Kuru-Panchala | Magadha | Adivasi (tribes) | ||
Culture | Persian-Greek influences | "Second Urbanisation" Rise of Shramana movements |
Pre-history | |||
5th century BCE | (Persian rule) | Shishunaga dynasty | Adivasi (tribes) | |||
4th century BCE | (Greek conquests) |
Nanda empire |
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HISTORICAL AGE | ||||||
Culture | Spread of Buddhism | Pre-history | Sangam period (300 BCE – 200 CE) | |||
3rd century BCE | Maurya Empire | Early Cholas Cheras 46 other small kingdoms in Ancient Thamizhagam | ||||
Culture | Preclassical Hinduism[lower-alpha 3] - "Hindu Synthesis"[lower-alpha 4] (ca. 200 BCE - 300 CE)[lower-alpha 5][lower-alpha 6] Epics - Puranas - Ramayana - Mahabharata - Bhagavad Gita - Brahma Sutras - Smarta Tradition Mahayana Buddhism |
Sangam period (continued) | ||||
2nd century BCE | Indo-Greek Kingdom | Sunga Empire | Adivasi (tribes) | Early Cholas Cheras 46 other small kingdoms in Ancient Thamizhagam | ||
1st century BCE | Yona | Maha-Meghavahana Dynasty | ||||
1st century CE | Kuninda Kingdom | |||||
2nd century | Pahlava | Varman dynasty | ||||
3rd century | Kushan Empire | Western Satraps | Kamarupa kingdom | Kalabhras dynasty Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras) | ||
Culture | "Golden Age of Hinduism"(ca. CE 320-650)[lower-alpha 7] Puranas Co-existence of Hinduism and Buddhism | |||||
4th century | Gupta Empire | Kalabhras dynasty Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras) Kadamba Dynasty Western Ganga Dynasty | ||||
5th century | Maitraka | Adivasi (tribes) | Kalabhras dynasty Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras) | |||
6th century | Kalabhras dynasty Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras) | |||||
Culture | Late-Classical Hinduism (ca. CE 650-1100)[lower-alpha 8] Advaita Vedanta - Tantra Decline of Buddhism in India | |||||
7th century | Indo-Sassanids | Vakataka dynasty, Harsha | Mlechchha dynasty | Adivasi (tribes) | Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras) Pandyan Kingdom(Revival) | |
8th century | Kidarite Kingdom | Pandyan Kingdom Kalachuri | ||||
9th century | Indo-Hephthalites (Huna) | Gurjara-Pratihara | Pandyan Kingdom Pandyan Kingdom(Under Cholas) Chera Perumals of Makkotai | |||
10th century | Pala dynasty Kamboja-Pala dynasty |
Medieval Cholas Pandyan Kingdom(Under Cholas) Chera Perumals of Makkotai Rashtrakuta | ||||
References and sources for table References Sources
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