Kidara I (Late

Brahmi script Brahmi ( ; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "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 ...

''Ki-da-ra'')

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

350–390 CE) was the first major ruler of the Kidarite Kingdom, which replaced the Indo-Sasanians in northwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, in the areas of Kushanshahr,

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, 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 P ...

and

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Reign

Kidara himself was a nomadic ruler who invaded the areas of Tukharistan and

hitherto ruled by the Indo-Sasanians. It is thought the Kidarites had initially invaded Sogdiana and

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...

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

by migrating

Hephthalites The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian languages, Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to ...

. Kidara's ethnicity is unclear, but he may himself have been a Chionite, 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 centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

or Huna. Already during the 4th century Sasanian Emperor

Shapur II Shapur II ( , 309–379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth King of Kings (List of monarchs of the Sasanian Empire, Shahanshah) of Sasanian Iran. He took the title at birth and held it until his death at age 70, making him the List ...

had fought against Chionite invaders led by king Grumbates, and ultimately passed an alliance with them, using their military in the campaign against the Romans 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, it is ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

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

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

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 China, 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 defea ...

, themselves ancestors of the Kushans.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 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 Kushans, 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 ) was an abstract Seal (emblem), seal or brand used by Eurasian nomads initially as a livestock branding, and by cultures influenced by them. The tamga was used as a livestock branding for a particular tribe, clan or fam ...

to the right. Balkh 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 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: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "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' or ...

legend:

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

References

{{s-end 4th-century monarchs in Asia Kushanshahs Kings of the Kidarites

Reign

Coinage

See also

References