The Spread of Buddhism

the spread of buddhism in serindia 81

reigned upon a culturally dual monarchy across the Hindukush, unit-

ing Bactria and Northern India (Kapi a, Gandhra and the Gangetic

plain) where Buddhism had  ourished since at least the reign of the

Mauryan king A oka (r. 268–231 BC).^15

2.2.1. Buddhism among Iranians in India

Several Iranian dynasties in India (the Indo-Scythians and Indo-

Parthians) seized parts of Gandhra and Northern India (as far as

Mathur) after 90 BC. Under the akas and their vassals, particularly

from Azes onwards (58 BC) the Buddhist donations grew considerably

and Buddha was depicted for the  rst time.^16 Whereas several inscrip-

tions acknowledge the generosity of Iranian rulers, princes, of cials

or subordinates,^17 none does so for the Kua kings and princes

themselves.^18 The Kuas thus inherited in their newly seized Indian

territories a tradition of at least sponsorship towards Buddhism (as well

as towards Hinduism) and under their reign Buddhism went on thriving

in India. The political uni cation of Bactria and Northern India and

the peace it provided must have facilitated the journey of preachers or

monks from India to Bactria.

(^15) Lamotte 1958, pp. 365ff. Missions to Northwestern India and Bactria were attrib-
uted to the  16 ctitious  gure of Madhyntika.
Coins found in the necropolis of Tilia Tepe in northern Afghanistan, which may
date as early as 50 BC, show a bearded man (iconographically a Zeus? or a Heracles?)
holding a wheel with the inscription “he who sets in motion the Wheel of the Law”.
This bearded man must be the Buddha: it is clearly an early, not yet standardised and
isolated attempt to represent him. At least from 20 AD onwards, representations of the
Buddha are found in abundance, see Fussman 1987, pp. 71 and 77. At about the same
time seated Buddhas appeared in Mathur, in the Kua Empire, but outside Bactria
(van Lohuizen – de Leeuw 1981). See also van Lohuizen – De Leeuw 1949, p. 87. 17
Before the Kuas, numerous kings had made donations (for instance the Copper
Plate of Taxila, donated by king Liaka Kusulaka). Under the Kuas, some of cials,
even Bactrian ones, did the same. For instance, Va¿amare.ga (*

) built a
vih 18 ra which was dubbed after him, the Va¿amari¿avihra (CIInd II:2, lxxxvi).
The Shh-j -k her reliquary, found in a monastery near the present Peshawar
and sometimes seen as a proof of Buddhist support by the Kuna king Kanika, is
in fact a perfume-box which was commissioned under the reign of Kanika by two
junior monks, in no way by Kanika himself—a fact which accounts for the crude
work, see Fussman 1987, p. 79. All historical inferences drawn from this casket are
void. See Falk 2002.
Heirman_f5new_75-129.indd 81 3/13/2007 1:15:52 PM