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The fall of Han dynasty (206 BC � 220 AD) and overthrown of the Parthian Empire in 224 AD by Ardashir I, founder of the Sassanid.
Under Ardashir (ruled 226 � 241 AD), the Sassanians swept across Bactria (230-240 AD), and pushed the Kushans to India.
By the end of the reign of Ardashir�s son Shapur I (241-270 AD), the Sassanian Empire stretched from the Euphrates River to Indus River and once mighty Kushan Empire devolved into the long reign of Shapur II (310-79 AD). In the east this regime was known by various names. Indo Sassanians, Kushano Sassanian or Kushan Shahs.
During the mid 5th Cent., mass southward migration of Turkic Tribe from Central Asia known as the Hephthalites (white Huns or Huns) invaded Sassanian and created a new Kingdom.
The Kushan Shahs (Kushano Sassanids, Indo Sassanids, or Indo-Sassanian were a branch of Sassanid Persian Empire who filled the power vacuum in 3rd and 4th Century AD left by declining Kushan Empire.
They established their rule in old Gandhara region. Displaced by Hepthalites invaders around 410 AD, the Kushan Shahs re-established their authority after the Sassanians destroyed Hephthalites in 565 AD. But their rule finally collapsed by Arab Attacks during mid 600�s.
The Kidarites
The end of Kushano Sassanian rule left a power vacuum at the end of 4th Century AD. that was filled by tribe of Huns, hailed from Western Central Asia or Black Sea region and known as Kidarites. They rose to power in AD 420s�.
Many small Kidarite Kingdoms came up known exclusively through their coinage only. Some of these coins include a legend that asserts the Kidarites as the inheritors of Kushans. |
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