Kanishka's war with Parthia

Kanishka's war with Parthia was a war that may have taken place between Kanishka I of the Kushan Empire and the Parthians. The king of Parthia is said to have attacked Kanishka I and been defeated in battle.^[5][6][8]

Kanishka's war with Parthia
The Parthian Empire ( ) with the Kushan Empire ( ) and zones of territorial contention.[1][2][3]
Date Possibly between c. 130 CE to c. 140 CE Location Possibly west of Kushan territory Result Kushan victory[4][5][6]
Belligerents
Kushan Empire	Parthian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Kanishka I	Vologases III[7]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Campaign

A Buddhist text translated into Chinese in 470 under the title Fu fazang yinyuan zhuan (付法藏因緣傳, A History of the Buddha's Successors)^[9] carried in the Historical Tales section of the Tripiṭaka as number 2058,^[10] is the solitary source attesting this conflict.^{[11][12]: 339} It is possible that the Kushans fought an earlier war against Parthia in conjunction with Trajan's Parthian campaign in 115 CE.^[13]: 189

The text recounts a war between Kanishka I and the Eastern Parthian King, not named in the original, but determined by later scholars to have been Vologases III.^[7] As the war commenced, the Parthian king attacked the Kushan Empire with an army consisting of mounted bowmen, armoured soldiers, archers on foot and spearmen.^[14]: 386 This seemingly took place around the middle of the 2nd century. The Parthians may have been seeking to reclaim lands previously conquered by the Kushans.^[13]: 189 Kanishka responded with a counteroffensive, ending in a brutal melee. The text records the patently inflated figure of 900,000 Parthian deaths, described as "slaughter".^[14]: 386 It is mentioned that both sides attacked each other incessantly in the battle until Kanishka won.^[15] This tale emphasises that Kanishka's actions were mitigated by the cruelty and stubbornness of the Parthian king.^[16]

Aftermath

Kanishka was victorious but was shocked to see the sufferings that he had caused. He decided to repent and seek guidance from religious leaders.^[15]

After Kanishka decided to launch the second expedition on China. The expedition turned out to be successful as the Chinese were defeated and Kanishka I annexed the provinces of Kashgar, Yarkhand and Khotan from the Han Empire. His Empire then stretched from central Asia to central India including Gandhara, Kashmir and the Pamir region.^[4]