BUDDHISM IN CENTRAL ASIA AND CHINA 167scriptions in Afghanistan serve as evidence of Asoka's efforts in spreading the
Dharma to this area. Asoka's son, Kustana, is said to have founded the king-
dom of Khotan, now located in the southern portion of eastern Turkestan, in
240 B.C.E. Asoka's great grandson, Vijayasabhava, is traditionally credited with
championing Buddhism in the kingdom. The first Buddhist monastery there
was constructed in 211 B.C.E.
In the first century C.E., a group of nomadic Indo-Scythians swept down
from the north and gained control of northern India, Mghanistan, and a large
part of central Asia from the Aral Sea east to the border of China, founding
the Ku~a1_1a (Kushan) dynasty. A member of the dynasty, Kani~ka I (see Section
4.4), converted to Buddhism and played an influential role in the development
of the religion not only in central Asia but also in India itself
During its three centuries of rule, the Ku~a1_1a empire ranked among the
four major powers of the world, alongside Parthia, Rome, and China. In terms
of cultural sophistication, it was the greatest empire central Asia has ever seen.
The stability it brought to the region facilitated the movement of goods and
ideas along the major trade routes, including the north-south route from India
into Bactria and Sogdia, and the east-west route from Persia into China, called
the Silk Road after the most prized commodity that traveled west along the
road. The location of the Ku~a1_1a empire gave it control over a most lucrative
part of the Silk Road, at the same time opening it to cultural influences from
all directions. The range of these influences is reflected in Ku~a1_1a coins, which
were imprinted with Buddhist, Greek, Roman, Iranian, and Hindu figures.
This cosmopolitan mix can be seen in Ku~a1_1a Buddhist art as well. The
Ku~a1_1as developed a synthesis of Greco-Roman, Persian (Sasanian), and In-
dian styles in what appear to be among the first sculptures of the Buddha in
human form (sec.rsection 5.3). They also seem to be responsible for introduc-
ing the towering form of the Buddhist stiipa to India, topped by a tall, taper-
ing spire, replacing the earlier hemispherical form. The Ku~a1_1a taste in stiipa
architecture has continued to influence stiipa design throughout Asia, from
the tall spires of Thai and Burmese cetiyas to the multistoried pagodas of
China, Korea, and Japan.
Central Asians were not only on the receiving end of outside influences
during this period. They also were active in exporting Buddhist ideas to other
areas, most notably to China. The first translator ofBuddhist texts into Chi-
nese was a Parthian, and throughout the early centuries of Chinese Buddhism
the most active missionaries were central Asians.
8.1.2 Between Two Empires
The second period in central Asian Buddhist history extends from the fall of
the Ku~a1_1as in the middle of the third century to the rise of the Tibetan em-
pire in the middle of the eighth. Although the region was fragmented politi-
cally and subject to occasional invasions by the Ephthalite Huns, the
movement of ideas and goods along the Silk Road continually increased. Orig-
inating in what is now western Iran and continuing south of the Caspian Sea,