Kingship

The Kushan Empire was ruled by a monarchy. The kingship was hereditary. Kujula Kadphises was succeeded by his son Vima Kadphises. We may at least assume that either the eldest son or one of the sons or the living oldest member of the royal family generally succeeded the dead emperor on the Kushan throne. The evidence of ascending the throne by a co-ruler of an emperor, who had been appointed by or at least acceptable to the latter, suggests that the ruling emperor might have a hand in choosing his successor.^[5] The heir-apparent was sometimes associated with the royal administration. He used all regal titles. But he probably did not strike coins during the period of conjoint rule. Thus, hereditary dual rule in which the empire, which was sometimes headed by two monarchs (one senior and one junior) was a characteristic feature of Kushan kingship.^[6]

A study of the coin legends and the records mentioning the titles would give an idea of the Kushan monarch’s status. Besides the usual titles— Maharaja Rajadhiraja for all the monarchs, Vima Kadphises is also called Sarvalokaisvara and Mahisvara. The first one would mean the ‘lord of all the worlds’, while the next one means ‘great lord’ and also signifies that he was devotee of Siva, which he was. Besides the Sanskrit titles, the Greek ones Basiletus Basileun and the Iranian Shaonano Shao —corresponding to the later Shahanshah suggest that the Kushan monarch was anxious to exhibit his position to all his subjects—Greeks, Indo-Greeks, Iranians, and Indians The use of the title Kaisara by king Kanishka as we found in Ara inscription might be suggestive of the attempt of this ruler, not obviously to challenge the authority of the Roman emperor, but probably to place himself on a footing of equality with him. In other words, the Kushan monarchs seemed eager to assert their position as equals in the eyes of their citizens as well as those of foreign merchants who passed through their empire, to the other monarchs.^[7] The legends on the coins and the titles given in the records point out the status of the monarch without providing any administrative detail.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility of Kushan emperors adopting grandiloquent titles suggesting a tendency towards decentralisation of government rather than the real demonstration of royal authority. Since contemporary lesser rulers to Kushans especially the Sakas of Western India also styled themselves as Rajatiraja and Maharaja, therefore, high titles taken by Kushan monarchs such as Maharaja Rajadhiraja and Devaputra might have taken notice of the existence of lesser kings and chiefs who stood in the relation of feudatories to the sovereign power. For the king is called Maharaja or the great king in relation to other kings simply called Rajas, who do not enjoy that position. Similarly, Kushan emperor was called Maharaja Rajadhiraja - the supreme king of kings in relation to other subordinate kings in his kingdom. Thus such high titles indicate a feudatory organization consisting of tributary states or chiefs. ^[8]

In many inscriptions, the Kushan ruler is also called Devaputra suggesting the divine origin of the king. In adopting this title they were perhaps influenced by the Chinese custom of calling the emperor T’ien-tzu meaning “the son of Heaven”. It is interesting to note that an inscription, found at Kamra (Punjab, Pakistan), describes the Kushan ruler Vajheshka not only as “son of god” but also as devatnanuia alluding to god living in the form of man. The representations of the bust of Vima Kadphises on several coins as rising from clouds or his head set within frames, and also the nimbus behind the head of the king on Kushan coins were attempts to indicate the supernatural character of Kushan kingship. The Kushan royal statues found at a temple at Mathura and in the small sanctuaries in the Swat region prove that the Kushan monarchs were actually worshipped as divinities. The temple at Mat, as indicated by the archaeological materials found there, was erected during the reign of Vima Kadphises and his image was installed there as the principal object of worship. This shrine was renovated in the days of Huvishka, son of Kanishka, and so it was in worship at least for some time during the period of that king. These data suggest that a Kushan monarch used to be worshipped as a deity in a temple during his lifetime as well as after death. ^[9]

Council of Ministers

The facts that the early Kushan emperors successfully built up a vast empire and that the majority of them ruled over a large diverse territory indicate that they possessed the qualifications required of successful monarchs. The Council of Ministers was an integral part of all ancient monarchies of the world. All ancient empires such as Greeks, Romans, Indo-Greeks, Parthians, Chinese, Mauryans, and Satavahans have advisory bodies and senates to assist the king in the administration of the country. Although we have no reference to an advisory body in the Kushana records, but contemporary Buddhist literature, refers to a council assisting the king of which the members were known as Parishadyam. Another word Tulaka is used for a councillor, while in another work the king’s councillor Rajamatya is distinguished from Rajamahatra. ^[10]

The absence of any reference to the king’s councillor in the records of the Kushan period should not be interpreted as the non-existent of a minister’s council in the Kushan administration altogether. Long before the Indianisation of Kushan rulers, some kind of advisory body should have been a part of the Kushan polity as all major contemporaries’ empires had it. Also, it is impossible to believe that its greatest ruler Kanishka who was born in India and had both of his imperial capitals in mainland India, Purushpur and Mathura does not have any advisory body. His father Vima Kadphises was Shivaite and he himself becomes a Buddhist. Thus both father and son following a sect overwhelmed with the literature on polity where the importance of a council of ministers has so greatly been emphasized led us to conclude that Kushan must have some kind of advisory body to assist the ruler in the administration of such a vast empire. However, they probably did not act as a real check on the authority of the Kushan kings. But since the rulers had obviously to work with the assistance of ministers and high officials, they had to depend on them.^[11] Kanishka has a prime minister named Mo-cha-lo as confirmed by a statement attributed to a Chinese source.

It is important to note here that sometimes well-known celebrities were included in the inner circle of Kanishka’s acquaintances. The great Buddhist scholar Asvaghosh and the famous physician Charaka were described in the Tsa pao-tsang ching as intimate friends of Kanishka.^[12]

Provincial Governors: Kshatrapas and Mahakshatrapa

The vast Kushan Empire, stretching from Central Asia to Bihar and from Kashmir to Sind, containing peoples of different nationalities and religions with heterogeneous socio-economic backgrounds, was governed through a well-organised administrative system, probably in three distinct levels, at central, provincial, and local levels. The Kushans seem to have followed the earlier existing pattern of the Indo-Greeks and Parthians (Sakas) by appointing Kshatrapas and Mahakshatrapa for different units of the empire.^[13] Under the Kshatrapa system of government, the empire was divided into provinces, each under military governor Mahakshatrapa (great satrap).^[14] The governors of lower status were called kshatrapas (satraps). The empire itself was called shahr or Kshathra. It is referred to as Kwshnhsht(r) (or Kushanshahr) and Kousenon ethn (os) in the Naqsh-i-Rustam inscription of Shapur l. But, we have no exact idea of the number of kshatrapas in the Kushan Empire. It has been suggested that the empire was divided into five or seven kshatrapas. ^[15]

The Kshatrapas and the Mahakshatrapas though acquired for themselves regal titles acknowledged the suzerainty of the Kushana monarchs. The assumption of the higher appellation, Rajan Mahakshatraps by some Kshatrapas points to its conferment by the overlord Kushan king. Few Kshatrapas like Chashtana of Ujjain enjoyed considerable autonomy and were allowed to issue coins mainly in silver. Available evidence suggests that the posts of Kshatrapa and Mahakshatrapa were enjoyed by members of one single family. The governor of a province situated in the border region of the Kushan Empire was called Karalrango. ^[16]

Epigraphical evidence makes it clear that Kushan kings did not exercise any direct administrative control over the exterior part of their territories. The Sarnath Buddhist Image Inscription of Kaniska I refer to the rule of two Ksatrapas, Vanaspara and Kharapallana, ruling over the easternmost province of Kanishka’s empire – Varanasi. The administration of Varanasi region by two Ksatrapas indicates that Kushans had introduced the curious practice of dual governorship in a province. Maybe it was intended that one ksatrapa would act as a check on the power of the other. But Vanaspara and Kharapallana couldn’t stay on the same level for long, since in another inscription the former is mentioned as ksatrapa and the latter as a mahaksatrapa. ^[17]

Administrative Officials

The emperor and the heir-apparent were assisted by others in running the administration. Designations of high civil, judicial, and military officials of the empire like Mahadandanayaka and Dandanayaka formed the backbone of Kushan’s administration. The two terms are found in numerous inscriptions throughout India suggesting their prevalence in the administrative set-up of the Kushan Empire. As danda means inter alia “punishment”, “chastisement”, and also “army”, the expression dandanyaka or the leader of danda refer to a judge, magistrate, head police officer, and also an army general. A Dandanayaka might have been used to perform judicial, civil, and military duties at different times or as the occasions demanded.^[18] Although he could also perform military functions, but to consider him senani, or a real commander would be wrong. Dandanayaka is also differentiated from the Dandapdiika probably signifying someone carrying fetters (pasa).^[19]

Moreover, we also find a still higher appellation Mahaprachamda Dandanaydka and the same officer is also given other titles suggesting other functions. The existence of Mahadandanayaka as well in the Kushan officialdom alludes to the prevalence of a system of graded hierarchy of the same types of officials in the empire. The higher term indicated a superior status. Admission to the bureaucracy most probably largely depended, as in the Roman and the Han empires, on the imperial appointment.^[20] Other officers worthy of mention are Navakarmiga who was superintendent of buildings, and karavhaena, a special class of officers appointed by Kanishka to build Buddhist monasteries in the length and breadth of his empire. The creation of the later position largely had to owe to the Kanishka’s interest in Buddhism as he was the one who started the tradition of making the statues of Buddha.^[21]

A Mahadandanayaka in the reign of Kushan King, Huvishka son of Kanishka, also appears to perform the duty of temple keeper and is known by the name Bakanapati. While a reference to a Vahari in a record of the time of Kanishka may be considered to allude to a class of officials called Vyavaharika. In the age of the Mauryas, the officials holding the post of Vyavaharika or nagaravyavaharika acted as magistrates. Similar majesterial duties might have been performed by the Vyavaharikas of the Kushan times.^[22]

City Administration

Information about the city administration in the Kushan Empire is very scanty, but as Kushan territory comprised a wide range of nationalities ruled by different dynasties at one point in time, it is quite natural that Kushan may have adopted the urban administrative system of Indo-Greeks, Sakas, Chinese, and Mauryans. At the time of the conquest of northern India by Kushans, Indian cities were administered by a governor. Subordinate to him were the three chief magistrates. The district inspector known as gopah was in charge of ten, twenty, or forty families. He was expected to know the caste, names, and occupations of all the men and women living in his district, and even how much they earned and spent. There was also a district inspector called sthanikah who was in charge of each of the four city sections. Each of these inspectors managed the affairs of one-quarter of the fortified city.^[23] As far as the cities of Iranian territory were concerned, they had district inspectors and there is some evidence that districts were enclosed by walls. In India, the municipal authorities controlled the activities of artisans and merchants. There are references to city councils and some cities had a city seal. According to Megasthenes, urban life was administered by six committees, each of which consisted of five members and had its own specific function.^[24]

The Kara Tepe inscriptions in modern Uzbekistan show that where Buddhism was widespread, an important role was played by Buddhist monks and officials of the Buddhist religious community- Sangha. An equal if not more important role was of course played by the numerically larger Zoroastrian priesthood in the western territories of Kushans. The population in many cities included many foreigners. Persons from different parts of Central Asia lived in Indian cities during this period.^[25] The cosmopolitan cities of the Kushan Empire become the centre of handicrafts and economic life, so a major part of their administration was played by guilds. The Buddhist text named Milinda Panha related to Indo-Greek ruler Menander mentions blacksmiths, silversmiths, goldsmiths, coppersmiths, lead-workers, tinsmiths, iron-worker, metallurgical craftsmen, and even gold assayer. Many seals of the Kushan period speak of the nigama and an inscription refers to guilds as srenis. The guilds were surely capable of taking care of their members and possibly of managing the affairs of the town.^[26]

Village Administration

The lowest territorial unit was undoubtedly the village, under the gramika who seems to have been a regular part of the Kushan system of administration. This village institution was taken over by the Kushan from their predecessors and retained by them, for the office of gramika was as old as the time of Bimbisara of Magadha. The term gramika is also found in the Damodarpur copper plate inscription and is taken in the sense of the head of a village. A gramika is expressly mentioned in a Mathura inscription of the time of later Kushan king Vasudeva and another Jain votive image epigraph from the same location, which refers to two generations of seemingly local gramika, also ascribed to the Kushan period. ^[27]

The term gramika is synonymous with the gramami of the Vedic literature, and gramkuttaka in a later record where the latter is distinguished with gramapati —probably the landlord of the village. Another village officer noticed in the Kushan period for the local head was Padrapala. They appeared to be hereditary as suggested by the record. There is hardly any information regarding his functions and remuneration in the Kushan record. But as Kushans kings from Vima Kadphises onwards gets assimilated into the Indian soil and adopted the general administrative machinery described in the Indian science of polity, it is likely that the village headman performed the functions of his predecessors.^[28]

Revenue

The Kushan emperors were aware of the resources for the running of the administration. We have some idea of the financial and fiscal sources of the empire. Bounties collected in the course of military ventures must have been among the principal sources of wealth for the Kushans. The Fu-fa-tsang-yin-yuan-chuan (Chronicle of the Transmission of the Dharma Treasury) narrates how Kanishka acquired the most valuable possessions of the Pataliputra king when he attacked the latter. The Kushana emperor also benefited from regular tributes paid by feudatory nations (kshatrapas). The Hou Hanshu (Book of the Later Han) stated that after conquering Shen-tu, i.e., the lower Indus region, Kushans became “extremely rich and powerful”. As Shen-tu had regular commercial relations with the oriental possessions of the Roman Empire, its possession by Kushans secured for them a huge source of revenue by levying taxes on articles of commerce.^[29]

The fact that Kushans were the first to mint a large number of gold coins in India led us to presume that taxes were paid in cash. But there are many indications of another mode of payment of taxes prevalent in the age of Kushans. They established a customs house system along the frontiers of their empire. All commodities liable to duty that entered the country were registered by the customs officer in a book at the time of entry. This also contributes to the revenue of the Kushans. Excavations at Begram (a part of ancient Kapisa and Indian province) in Eastern Afghanistan have brought to light a storehouse of the Kushans consisting of wares from different countries. It has been argued that this storehouse was a custom depot for receipt of dues in kind collected from traders participating in trade between the Orient and the Occident.^[30] The evidence concerned indicates that the Kushan officials used to collect taxes in kind as well. Such an inference is supported by the evidence of the Junagadh inscription about the collection of royal dues by different kinds of taxes imposed on the subjects. ^[31]

The Junagadh record of 149-50 AD referring to Saka ruler Rudradiman, whose family had earlier served the Kushans, stated that his treasury was overflowed with an accumulation of gold, silver, diamonds, beryl stones, and other precious things rightfully obtained through collection of taxes. The three taxes mentioned in the Junagadh inscription are, (1) Bali - a kind of compulsory tribute or contribution from the subjects, (2) Shulka - ferry dues, tolls, duties on merchandise, etc. and (3) Bhaga – the royal share, generally one-sixth of the produce including agricultural products. The same inscription informs that Rudradaman caused the rebuilding of a dam “without oppressing the citizens of the towns and country” by Kara tax which was some kind of periodical tax, vishti, i.e. the forced labour and pranaya denoting an emergency tax of non-recurring nature. Since Rudradiman’s family members served the Kushans for a period not much earlier than the date stated in the Junagadh inscription, and since much of his territory might have been earlier in the Kushana Empire, the taxes mentioned in this inscription may have been in practice in the Indian provinces of Kushans.^[32]

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