Kanishka III (
Greco-Bactrian
The Bactrian Kingdom, known to historians as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria, was a Hellenistic-era Greek state, and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world in Central Asia and the India ...
: ΚΑΝΗϷΚΕ ''Kanēške'';
Kharosthi
The Kharoṣṭhī script, also spelled Kharoshthi (Kharosthi: ), was an ancient Indo-Iranian script used by various Aryan peoples in north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely around present-day northern Pakistan and ...
: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 ', ';
Brahmi
Brahmi (; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such ...
:
', '; sa, कनिष्क), was a
Kushan
The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...
emperor who reigned from around the year 265 CE to 270 CE. He is believed to have succeeded
Vasishka and was succeeded by
Vasudeva II
According to Hindu scriptures, Vasudeva (Sanskrit: वसुदेव, IAST: ''Vasudeva''), also called Anakadundubhi, (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his b ...
. He ruled in areas of Northwestern India.
Inscriptions
In an inscription dated to the "Year 41" (probably of the 2nd century of the Kanishka era) and discovered on the borders of the river Ara in Punjab, he qualifies himself as a ''Maharaja rajadhiraja Devaputra Kaisara Kanishka'' ("Great King, King of Kings, Son of God,
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
, Kanishka), suggesting some awareness of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
as ''Kaisara'' seems to stand for "Caesar", and names himself as the son of Vajheshka, identified as Kushan ruler
Vashishka. The inscription is rather worn and the reading ''Kaisara'' has been doubted, especially since no other mentions of this title are known from Kushan sources.
Coinage
It was initially thought that there were no definite coins known of him, as the "Kanishka" named in the coins was not differentiated. Only workmanship and graphical style in relation to other known rulers, tend to suggest attribution to this later Kanishka. However, this hypothesis was shaken by coin hoards being found in
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
where coins of Kanishka III were found and identified in large numbers. All these finds north of the
Oxus river
The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...
seems to indicate that it was legal tender for a period of time.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanishka 03
Kushan emperors
3rd-century Indian monarchs