Kujula Kadphises
1st-century CE Kushan emperor
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Names and titles
The origins of Kujula Kadphises are quite obscure, and he is usually believed to be a descendant of the Kushan ruler Heraios, or possibly identical with him. However, Kujula shares his name (Kushan: Κοζουλου on some of his "Hermaeus" coins, or Κοζολα on his "Augustus" coins) with some of the last Indo-Scythian rulers, such as Liaka Kusulaka (Greek: Λιακα Κοζουλο), or his son Patika Kusulaka, which might suggest some family connection. Kujula Kadphises, referred to himself on his coins, inscribed in the Indian Kharosthi script, as Maharaja Rajarajasa Devaputra Kujula Kara Kadphises, which translates to "Great King of Kings, Son of the Divine Being, Kujula Kadphises."
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History
Reign
Kujula Kadphises' reign is estimated to have lasted from approximately 25 to 85 CE, though the chronology of the Kushan rulers remains uncertain. During his reign, Kujula was a contemporary of Roman emperors such as Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. Latin sources mention "Indian" ambassadors received by some of these emperors, though it is unclear whether these representatives were independent merchants from the Indian subcontinent or officials of the Kushan Empire. Numismatic evidence points to Roman influence on early Kushan coinage. One notable series of copper tetradrachms issued by Kujula features an obverse bust modeled after Augustus and a curule chair on the reverse.
Chinese accounts
In the process of their expansion eastward, Kujula Kadphises and his son Vima Takto (or Vema Tahktu) seem to have displaced the Indo-Parthian kingdom, established in northwestern India by the Parthian Gondophares since around 20 CE:
His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahktu or, possibly, his brother Sadaṣkaṇa], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi [Great Yuezhi].
The invasion of the Indo-Parthian kingdom led by Kujula Kadphises is thought to have occurred some time after 45 CE, during the reign of Gondophares's successors: Abdagases and Sases.
Genealogy according to the Rabatak inscription
The connection of Kujula with other Kushan rulers is described in the Rabatak inscription, discovered in Rabatak in what was once Bactria in 1993, which was inscribed by Kanishka. Kanishka states Kujula Kadphises to be his great-grandfather, Vima Taktu to be his grandfather, Vima Kadphises to be his father, and himself Kanishka:
And he [Kanishka] gave orders to make images of the same, (namely) of these gods who are written herein, and he gave orders to make (them) for these kings: for King Kujula Kadphises (his) great grandfather, and for King Vima Taktu (his) grandfather, and for King Vima Kadphises (his) father, and for himself, King Kanishka.
Khalchayan
Some of the statues of the Khalchayan palatial site in Bactria, dated circa 50 CE, probably corresponded to the rule of Kujula Kadphises.
Coinage
The coinage of the Kushan ruler, Kujula Kadphises, shows us the enlargement of the religious horizon of the Kushans. His first issue, which has the debased portrait and name of Hermaeus on the obverse, shows Heracles on the reverse, still following the Greek tradition, even though Heracles may be the interpretatio Graeca of the Iranian god Verethragna. Contrary to earlier assumptions, which regarded Kujula Kadphises as Buddhist on the basis of the epithet of the 'satyadharmasthita' epithet, it is now clear from the wording of a Mathura inscription, in which Huvishka bears the same epithet satyadharmasthita, that the kingdom was conferred upon him by Sarva (Shiva) and Scamdavira (Candavlra), that is, he was a devotee of the Hindu God, Shiva, and hence a firm Shaivite. It is striking to see that Kujula Kadphises has already adopted the worship of Siva and the use of Kharosthï script at such an early date.