Second capital of kanishka

What was the capital of Kanishka? Kanishka, also known as Kanishka the Great, was a sovereign of the Kushan Empire who ruled from his capital at Purushapura in Gandhar. Kanishka’s rule is famous for the development of the Silk Road and the spread of Mahayana Buddhism to China. Earlier scholars believed that Kanishka ascended the Kushan throne in 78 CE, and that this date was used as the beginning of the Saka calendar era. For further reading check the following articles: • Prehistoric Age in India • Kushan Empire • Prehistoric Rock Paintings Related Links Who defeated the Kushan Empire? IAS Toppers 100 Must-Know Facts about IVC for UPSC UPSC FAQ NCERT Notes: Arts of the Indus Valley NCERT notes for History (Modern, Medieval, Ancient), Art and Culture, and Geography IAS Exam UPSC Syllabus UPSC 2022

Q. Which was the second capital of Kanishka? Answer: [A] Mathura Notes: Kanishka’s main capital was at Peshawar (Purushpura) and regional capitals is at Taxila in Pakistan, Begram in Afghanistan and Mathura in India. Mathura had a status of almost a second capital. 5 The above question is part of 35000+ General Studies MCQ Series Course on GKToday Android app.

BEGRĀM, the site of ancient Kāpiśa, is located 80.5 km north of Kabul overlooking the Panjšīr valley at the confluence of the Panjšīr and Ḡorband rivers. Its ruins were known in the 19th century and yielded large quantities of coins dating between the period of the Greco-Bactrians and that of the Kushans (cf. C. Masson, “Memoir on the Ancient Coins Found at Behgram, in the Kohistan of Kabul,” JASB 3, 1834, pp. 153-75; 5, 1836, pp. 1-29, 537-47). It was not until 1922, however, that the ruins were correctly recognized by Alfred Foucher as those of the important ancient city of Kāpiśa (A. Foucher, “Le vieille route de l’Inde de Bactres à Taxila,” MDAFA 1, 1942, pp. 138-45). It has been suggested that the town was originally Alexandria-­under-Caucasus, founded by Alexander the Great (cf. W. W. Tam, The Greeks in Bactria and India, 2nd ed., Cambridge, 1951, pp. 96ff., 460-62; H. Deydier, Contribution à l’étude de l’art du Gandhāra, Paris, 1950, pp. 94-97); but there can be no doubt that it was inhabited by the Indo-Greeks, since a coin reverse of Eukratides shows an enthroned deity between an elephant protome and a mountain symbol with the Kharoshthi inscription Kavisiye nagaradevata, i.e., “city god of Kāpiśa” (cf. A. K. Narain, The Indo-Greeks, Oxford, 1957, pp. 63­-64). According to the account of Hsüan-tsang, the city was the summer capital of the Kushan empire under Kanishka (cf. S. Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World I, London, 1884, pp. 54-58). The site was firs...