The Kushans

(noun)

One of five branches of the Yuezhi, who invaded Bactria in 135 BCE, and spread southeast to form the Kushan Empire around 30 CE.

Related Terms

Examples of The Kushans in the following topics:

  • Expansion and Decline of the Kushan Empire

    • The Kushans spread from the Kabul River Valley to defeat other Central Asian tribes.
    • The Kushans were one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, an Indo-European nomadic people.
    • During the 1st and early 2nd centuries CE, the Kushans expanded across the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
    • The western Kushans in Afghanistan were soon conquered by the Persian Sassanid Empire.
    • The eastern Kushan kingdom was based in the Punjab.

  • Greco-Buddhist Art

    • The Kingdom of Gandhāra lasted from the early first millennium BCE to the 11th century CE.
    • The art style of the Kingdom flourished and achieved its peak during the Kushan period, from the 1st to the 5th centuries; it then declined and suffered destruction after the invasion of the White Huns in the 5th century.
    • The Mathuran school contributed to many new styles in art such as clothes covering the left shoulder of thin muslin, the wheel on the palm, and the lotus seat.
    • During their artistic florescence, the two regions were united politically under the Kushans, both being capitals of the empire.
    • The art of the Gupta is considered as the pinnacle of Indian Buddhist art.

  • Mathura Style

    • The Mathuran school contributed clothes covering the left shoulder of thin muslin, the wheel on the palm, the lotus seat, etc.
    • Banerjee in Hellenism in India describes "the mixed character of the Mathura School in which we find on the one hand, a direct continuation of the old Indian art of Bharut and Sanchi and on the other hand, the classical influence derived from Gandhara. " Moreover, the art of Mathura features frequent sexual imagery.
    • During their artistic florescence, the two regions were even united politically under the Kushans, both being capitals of the empire.
    • The art of Mathura acquired progressively more Indian elements and reached a very high sophistication during the Gupta Empire, between the 4th and the 6th century CE.
    • The art of the Gupta is considered as the pinnacle of Indian Buddhist art .

  • Rise of the Gupta Empire

    • The Gupta Empire was believed to be a dynasty of the Vaishya caste, the third of the four Hindu castes representing merchants and farmers.
    • Historians believe Sri Gupta and his son may have been Kushan vassals, or rulers who swore allegiance to the Kushan Empire.
    • Chandragupta II conquered the western Indian region of Malwa after defeating the Western Kshatrapas, a branch of the Sakas, as well as expelling the Kushana Empire from the northern Indian city state Mathura.
    • Under Gupta rule, a number of notable scholars thrived, including Kalidasa, considered the greatest poet and dramatist of the Sanskrit language; Aryabhata, the first of the Indian mathematician-astronomers who worked on the approximation for Pi; Vishnu Sharma, thought to be the author of the Panchatantra fables, one of the most widely-translated, non-religious books in history; and the Hindu philosopher Vatsyayana, author of the Kama Sutra.
    • Explain the factors that contributed to the rise of the Gupta Empire

  • Ulna and Radius (The Forearm)

    • The forearm contains two bones—the radius and the ulna—that extend in parallel from the elbow, where they articulate with the humerus to the wrist, where they articulate with the carpals.
    • The space between the two bones is spanned by the interosseous membrane.
    • The cornoid process, together with the olecranon, forms the trochlear notch where it articulates with the trochlea of the humerus.
    • Laterally to the trochlear notch lies the radial notch, which articulates with the head of the radius to form the proximal radioulnar joint.
    • Distally the radius expands, medially the ulnar notch articulates with the head of the ulnar.

  • Human Appendicular Skeleton

    • The humerus is the largest and longest bone of the upper limb and the only bone of the arm.
    • The pelvis joins together in the anterior of the body the pubic symphysis joint and with the bones of the sacrum at the posterior of the body.
    • The lower limbs consists of the thigh, the leg, and the foot.
    • The tarsals are the seven bones of the ankle, which transmits the weight of the body from the tibia and the fibula to the foot.
    • The metatarsals are the five bones of the foot, while the phalanges are the 14 bones of the toes .

  • Orbits

    • The orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated.
    • To the rear of the orbit, the optic foramen opens into the optical canal through which the optic nerve and ophthalmic artery pass.
    • The frontal bone forms the superior border of the orbital rim and also the superior wall (roof) of the orbital surface.
    • The zygomatic bone forms the lateral (and half of the basal) border of the orbital rim, and also the lateral wall of the orbital surface—this is the thickest region of the orbit as it is most exposed to external trauma.
    • Finally, the sphenoid bone forms the posterior wall of the orbit and also contributes to the formation of the optic canal.

  • Ischium

    • The ischium forms the lower and posterior portion of the hip bones of the pelvis.
    • The ischium forms the lower and back part of the hip bone .
    • The inferior ramus of the ischium is thin and flattened and ascends from the superior ramus of the ischium to join the inferior ramus of the pubis.
    • The ischium is located below the ilium and behind the pubis.
    • The ischium is labeled at the bottom left of the ilium.

  • Ascending Aorta

    • The ascending aorta is the first portion of the aorta; it includes the aortic sinuses, the bulb of the aorta, and the sinotubular junction.
    • The ascending aorta is a portion of the aorta beginning at the upper part of the base of the left ventricle, on a level with the lower border of the third costal cartilage behind the left half of the sternum; it passes diagonally upward, forward, and to the right, in the direction of the heart's axis, as high as the upper border of the second right costal cartilage.
    • The aortic root is the portion of the ascending aorta beginning at the aortic annulus, the fibrous attachment between the heart and the aorta, and extending to the sinotubular junction.
    • The ascending aorta is covered at its beginning by the trunk of the pulmonary artery and, higher up, is separated from the sternum by the pericardium, the right pleura, the anterior margin of the right lung, some loose areolar tissue, and the remains of the thymus.
    • The aorta has three parts: the ascending, the arch and the descending.

  • Control of the Pituitary Gland by the Hypothalamus

    • The pituitary gland consists of the anterior pituitary and the posterior pituitary.
    • The pituitary gland consists of two components: the anterior pituitary and the posterior pituitary, and is functionally linked to the hypothalamus by the pituitary stalk (also named the infundibular stem, or simply the infundibulum).
    • Whilst the pituitary gland is known as the master endocrine gland, both of the lobes are under the control of the hypothalamus: the anterior pituitary receives its signals from the parvocellular neurons, and the posterior pituitary receives its signals from magnocellular neurons.
    • The anterior lobe of the pituitary receives hypothalamic-releasing hormones from the hypothalamus that bind with receptors on endocrine cells in the anterior pituitary that regulate the release of adrenal hormones into the circulatory system.
    • The posterior lobe of the pituitary gland develops as an extension of the hypothalamus.