Kanishka of Kushan Dynasty

# He rules from 127 AD – 150 AD.
# Considered the greatest Kushana king and also a great king of ancient India.
# Son of Vima Kadphises.
# His kingdom included Afghanistan, parts of Sindhu, parts of Parthia, Punjab, Kashmir, parts of Magadha (including Pataliputra), Malwa, Benaras, perhaps parts of Bengal, Khotan, Kashgar, Yarkhand (last three in modern China). His empire covered Gandhara, Peshawar, Oudh, Pataliputra, Kashmir and Mathura. His kingdom also included parts of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
# His main capital was Peshawar, then known as Purushpura.
# After the capture of Pataliputra, he is said to have taken away the Buddhist monk Ashvaghosha with him to Peshawar.
# The scholars in his court included Parsva, Ashvaghosha, Vasumitra, Nagarjuna, Charaka and Mathara. He also patronised the Greek engineer Agesilaus.
# Kanishka convened the fourth Buddhist Council at Kundalvana in Kashmir.
# He patronised Buddhism although he was very tolerant in his religious views. His coins contain a mix of Indian, Greek and Zoroastrian deities.
# He was also a patron of art and architecture. The Gandhara School of art flourished under him.
# He also propagated the Mahayana form of Buddhism and he was largely responsible for propagating it in China.
# It is not known how he died.