Lands of Asia layouts (Eng) 26.11.21

part ii | states
other titles. On all of the four earliest types of coins with Kharoshthi legends he is
referred to as ‘Kushana Yavuasa/Yavugasa’, which means ‘yabghu Kushan’. This title,
written in Greek on his coins, is rendered as Zaooy, which also means leader or chief
of nomadic tribes.
There is some disagreement about the interpretation of the ethnic origin of this
title. Some scholars consider the title yabghu to be Turkic, others believe it to be
Saka-Khotanese, i.e. originally of East Iranian origin before it became incorporated
in Turkic languages.
Later, apparently during the second period of the reign of Kadphises I, royal titles
of Indian origin ‘great king’ and ‘king of kings’ (maharaja; rajatiraja) appeared on
his coins. The next king, Soter Megas, who is now identified with Wima Tak[to] or
Sadashkana, bore the Greek title basileus basileon, ‘king of kings’. The same Greek title
was retained by his successors, Wima Kadphises and Kanishka.
The titles of Kushan kings start to become more grandiose and significant under
Kadphises II, when the Kushan state included vast territories of northern and central
India. The titles of Kadphises II are mainly of Indian origin, although the traditional
Greek title basileus basileon was still being used. At the same time, the Iranian title
shahi was used for the first time in relation to a Kushan king in the Mathura inscription.
Later, in the Bactrian form shao or in the combined form shaonano shao, this title was
used by all Kushan kings from Kanishka I to Kanishka III inclusive.
On his coins, Kadphises II is referred to as ‘maharaja rajatiraja, sarvaloga ishvara,
mahishvara’, i.e. ‘the king of kings, lord of the world’ (Maheshwara is one of the
epithets of the Hindu God Shiva). Furthermore, a number of epigraphic inscriptions
ascribe to Kadphises II yet another title – devaputra, ‘son of heaven’, which, according
to some scholars, beginning with E. Thomas, is a borrowing from Chinese practice
whereby Chinese emperors of the Han dynasty were called ‘sons of heaven’.
Mukherjee, however, does not rule out the possibility of some Greek and Arsacid
influence here.
Unlike his predecessor, Kadphises II, who favoured Indian traditions, Kanishka
I based his administrative, religious and linguistic policies on Bactrian practices.
In particular, he introduced a language reform, something which has long been
confirmed by coin legends and more recently by the Rabatak inscription.
In coin legends, the Greek title basileus basileon was replaced by the equivalent
Bactrian title shaonano shao, which was a borrowing from the Saka language and which
replicated the Old Persian formulation kshayathiyanam kshayathia – ‘king of kings’.
Indian titles disappeared from the coin legends while epigraphic inscriptions used
other Bactrian titles, such as xoadēo (in Surkh Kotal and Dilberzhin) originating from
Old Persian *xwatāwya, i.e. autocrat or sovereign, used just like shao as a synonym for
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