Kidara I (Late

Brahmi script Brahmi (; ; 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 as 'lath' o ...

''Ki-da-ra'') fl. 350-390 CE) was the first major ruler of the

Kidarite Kingdom The Kidarites, or Kidara Huns, were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Kidarites belonged to a complex of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna people, Huna, ...

, which replaced the

Indo-Sasanians Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom (also called Kushanshahs, KΟÞANΟ ÞAΟ ''or Koshano Shao'' in Bactrian, or Indo-Sasanians) is a historiographic term used by modern scholars to refer to a branch of the Sasanian Persians who established their rule in ...

in northwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, in the areas of

Kushanshahr Kushanshahr was a province of the Sasanian Empire comprising the region between Kabul Valley and Peshawar Valley.The Cambridge History of Iran: Seleucid Parthian, E. Yarshaterp.770 sq/ref> The Kushanshar territory centered on Tukharistan, and co ...

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

and

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Reign

Kidara himself was a nomadic ruler who invaded the areas of

Tukharistan Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

and

hitherto ruled by the

. It is thought the Kidarites had initially invaded

Sogdiana Sogdia ( Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Emp ...

and

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

from the north circa 300 CE. His people may have been pushed out from the northern areas of

by migrating

Hephthalites The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during th ...

. Kidara's ethnicity is unclear, but he may himself have been a

Chionite Xionites, Chionites, or Chionitae (Middle Persian: ''Xiyōn'' or ''Hiyōn''; Avestan: ''Xiiaona''; Sogdian ''xwn''; Pahlavi ''Xyon'') were a nomadic people in the Central Asian regions of Transoxiana and Bactria. The Xionites appear to be syno ...

, and he belongs to the general category of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

or Huna. Already during the 4th century Sasanian Emperor

Shapur II Shapur II ( pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 ; New Persian: , ''Šāpur'', 309 – 379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran. The longest-reigning monarch in Iranian history, he reigned fo ...

had fought against Chionite invaders led by king

Grumbates Grumbates or Krumbates was a king of the Chionitae, probably of the Kidarites tribe, an ancient nomadic tribe of Transoxiana. Etymology The exact origin of his name is not fully known. Hyun Jin Kim etymologized his name as ''*Qurum-pat'', "rul ...

, and ultimately passed an alliance with them, using their military in the campaign against the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

in the siege of the fortress of Amida (now

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

).History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Ahmad Hasan Dani, B. A. Litvinsky,

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

br>p.38 sq
/ref> Chinese sources explain however that the Kidarites are the Lesser Yuezhi, which would make them relatives of the

Yuezhi The Yuezhi (;) were an ancient people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat ...

, themselves ancestors of the

Kushans The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, wikt:貴霜, 貴霜 ) was a Sync ...

.History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Ahmad Hasan Dani, B. A. Litvinsky,

br>p.119 sq
/ref> Kidara having established himself in Tukharistan and Gandara, took the title of

Kushanshah Kushanshah ( Bactrian: KΟÞANΟ ÞAΟ, ''Koshano Shao'', Pahlavi: Kwšan MLK ''Kushan Malik'') was the title of the rulers of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom, the parts of the former Kushan Empire in the areas of Sogdiana, Bactria and Gandhara, na ...

which until that time had been used by the rulers of the Indo-Sasanian kingdom. He thus founded the eponymous new dynasty of the Kidarites in northwestern India. The Kidarites also claimed to have been successors of the

, possibly due to their ethnic proximity.

Coinage

Kidara struck both Sasanian-style gold and silver coins (imitating his immediate predecessor in the region Varahran I) and Kushan-style gold coins, before issuing coins in his own name. File:Kushano-Sasanian Vahrām (Bahram) I Balkh mint Struck under Kidarite king Kidara circa CE 350-365.jpg, Coin in the name of Kushano-Sasanian Varahran I struck under Kidara circa CE 350-365. Crown with ribbon flying upward. Kidarite

tamgha A tamga or tamgha (from otk, 𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀, tamga, lit=stamp, seal; tr, damga; mn, tamga; ; ); an abstract Seal (emblem), seal or Seal (emblem), stamp used by Eurasian nomads and by cultures influenced by them. The tamga was normally the e ...

to the right.

Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

mint. File:Kidara coin, 4th century CE, type 6A-D.jpg, Coin in the name of Kidara, with legend "βαγο Κιδαρο οοζορκο κοþανοþαο" "Kidara, the great Kushanshah". Type 6A-D. Coin type found in Tepe Maranjan, dated to before 388 CE. File:Kidarites ruler Kidara circa 350-385 CE in Sasanian style.jpg, A coin of Kidara in the style of

Indo-Sassanian Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom (also called Kushanshahs, KΟÞANΟ ÞAΟ ''or Koshano Shao'' in Bactrian, or Indo-Sasanians) is a historiographic term used by modern scholars to refer to a branch of the Sasanian Persians who established their rule in ...

ruler Bahram Kushanshah. Crown with ribbon flying upward.

mint. File:Kidarites ruler Kidara circa 350-385 CE front view.jpg, Kidara facing, with a legend in his own name.

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 ...

legend:

''Ki-da-ra Ku-ṣa-ṇa-ṣa'' "Kidara the Kushana king".

References

{{s-end 4th-century monarchs in Asia Kushanshahs

Reign

Coinage

See also

References