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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
There is no lack of numismatic evidence for the fact that the words Kūšān šāhān šāh and Kūšān šāh were used as personal attributes by certain princes reigning about the year A.D. 300. On the obverse of one of the coins in question Professor Marquart reads the legend: mazdēsn bagē Pērōzē (i) wažurg Kūšān šāh, “des mazdaverehrenden Gottes Pērōz, grossen Kōnigs der Kūšān.” M. Drouin translates the saine legend as follows: “le mazdéen, le divin Pérose, grand Kouchan, roi.”
page 79 note 1 See Marquart, , Ērānšahr nach der Geographie des Ps. Moses Xorenac'i, Berlin, 1901, p. 49Google Scholar, and Drouin, , Revue numismatique, 1896, p. 170.Google Scholar
page 79 note 2 The author of the fundamental work Turkestan at the time, of the Mongol Invasion, by Barthold, W., St. Petersburg, 1900Google Scholar (in Russian), drew my attention to p. 98 of his book, where, while discussing the title Kūšān šāh, he refers to Ibn Khordadbeh (cf. de Goeje's edition of the latter's Liber Viarum et Regnorum, Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum, pars sexta, text p. 40, transl, p. 29). Cf. also Annales quos scripsit … Tabari, secunda series, iii, Recensuerunt Guidi, I., Müller, D. H., et de Goeje, M. J., Lugd. Bat., 1885–1889, p. 1449, 1. 21.Google Scholar
page 80 note 1 I give the original phrase as I find it in the Chinese block-print (As. Dep., No. 624, ch. 118, p. 116) of the Hou-han-shu, belonging to the Asiatic Museum of St. Petersburg. A copy of the same edition has, apparently, been used by Dr. O. Franke, who quotes the same page in his book Zur Kenntniss der Türkvölker und Skythen Zentralasiens (Berlin, 1904, p. 66).Google Scholar The translation is mainly based on the authority of Dr. Franke, whose rendering of the phrase is, “Er setzte sich selbst als König (wang) ein und führte den dynastischen Titel König v.on Kuei-shuang.”
It can hardly be doubted that the first word of the title Kūšān šāh represents the name of a race. Cf. the title Guṣanavaśasaṃvardhaka (according to M. Senart's reading of the Manikyāla inscription, Journal Asiatique, Janvier-Février, 1896, p. 8), which Professor Lüders translates by “scion of the Guṣana race” (JRAS., 1909, p. 666).Google ScholarSenart, M. (op. cit., p. 12)Google Scholar hesitated between two alternative translations: “auteur de l'accroissement de la race des Koushans” and “issu de la race des Koushans”. Dr. Thomas (JRAS. 1906, p. 203)Google Scholar translates the title by “propagator of the Kushan stock”.
Dr. Vogel has been so kind as to supply me with his “provisional” reading of one of the inscriptions discovered near Muttra in March, 1912. The name of the king seems to be doubtful, but the titles Mahārāja rājātirāja devaputro Kuṣāṇaputr[o] are quite clear. It seems most natural to interpret as the name of a race the first part of the title Kuṣāṇapwtr[o]. (The long vowel (ā) is also of great interest.)
Considering these facts, I have no doubt that “Königder [not von] Kuei-shuang” is the correct German rendering of the title Kuei-shuang-wang.
page 81 note 1 It is just possible that the Kharoṣṭhī letters read Gushanasa by Sir A. Cunningham represent another form of the title Kūšān šāh. Unfortunately, however, the letters immediately following Gushanasa in the Panjtar inscription are broken off or mutilated, except the first one, which according to the editor is R, or perhaps N. “The second letter, which is very doubtful, may be either re, or ha, or ne” (Cunningham, Archæological Reports, vol. v, p. 62). The original of the Panjtar inscription being lost (op. cit., p. 61) it will hardly be possible to use it for the purpose of proving or disproving my contentions.
page 81 note 2 On some coins of Gondophares, who was a βασιλεὺς βασιλέων, we find the title sasasa (Gardner, pp. 104, 106, 189) in Kharoṣṭhī characters, which probably represent the genitive of sa[n]sa ( = šāhān šāh). I have not succeeded in ascertaining the presence of the sign representing ṃ (or n) at the bottom of the akṣara read sa(sasa) by Gardner, the lower part of it being, apparently, damaged on all the coins belonging to the Imperial Hermitage, as well as on the ones reproduced in the catalogues of Gardner and Smith. Cf. the title saansa(an) mentioned below (p. 87, note).
page 82 note 1 The translation of Kuei-shuang-wang as “king of the Kūšān” being certain, Kuei-shuang-hsi-hou and its equivalent Kuṣanayavuga must mean “yavuga of the Kūšān”.
The Kharoṣṭhī legends of Kadphises I's type 1 (Kuṣanayavugasa) are not only found on pieces bearing that monarch's Greek name on the obverse, but also on coins which he minted conjointly with Hermæus (cf. Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, vol. i, by Smith, Vincent A., Oxford, 1906, p. 33).Google Scholar The Kharoṣṭhī legend, type 3 (Khuṣanasayavüasa), however, is found only on coins belonging exclusively to Kadphises I. This proves Kuṣanayavugasa (the admitted equivalent of Kuei-shuang-hsi-hou) to be older than Khuṣanasayavu[g]asa (which, as suggested above, contains the equivalent of Kuei-shuang-wang [Kūšān šāh]).
It need hardly be pointed out how well the data of the Chinese Chronicle agree with the Kharoṣṭhī legends if interpreted according to my view. I do not discuss the types 2 and 4 of Kadphises I, the readings being too uncertain. I have, however, examined them without finding anything disproving my contentions.
page 82 note 2 Accumulations of various titles are very frequent on the numismatic and epigraphic documents of the period, and it will hardly strike anyone as improbable that Kadphises I, after having assumed the more exalted dignity (Kūšān šāh), should retain his old title (yavu[g]a) by the side of the new one.
page 83 note 1 ProfessorRapson, (JRAS., 1897, p. 321)Google Scholar and DrThomas, (JRAS., 1913, p. 632)Google Scholar also regard ΧΟΡΑΝСΥ as a genitive singular.
page 83 note 2 It is a significant fact that we find the word rajarajasa on the Kharoṣṭhl side of several Hermæus (alone without Kadphises I) coins showing σν on the obverse, and that the word rajarajasa never appears on the pieces (mentioned by Gardner, Smith, and von Sallet, , Nachfolger Alexanders des Grossen)Google Scholar bearing the shorter Greek legend βασιλεως σωτηρος ερμαιου. If there were no συ coins omitting rajarajasa we should possess an absolute proof for the fact that συ was a royal title.
page 84 note 1 The a-themes of that language generally show the termination i in the nominative singular, and in the article mentioned I compared the title ṣāhānuṣāhi (or sāhāṇusāhi), “king of kings,” which apparently belonged to Kūšān princes (cf. SirStein, M. A.'s article in the Ind. Ant., 1888, p. 95 sq.Google Scholar, and DrFleet, 's Gupta Inscriptions, p. 8)Google Scholar, with the expression gyastānu gyasti (in the language ii “deorum deus”). I arrived at the conclusion that traces of the language ii could be found in the titles of the Kūšān princes. This view has since been accepted by ProfessorsKonow, (Festschrift für Vilhelm Thomsen, Leipzig, 1912, p. 96)Google Scholar and Lüders, (Sitzungsberichte Kgl. Preuss. Ak. Wiss., 1913, p. 426).Google Scholar
page 84 note 1 Professor Konow accounts for the first Ν in ΡΑΟΝΑΝΟ, which he explains as a genitive plural of a theme ṣavan. (derived from kṣāy + van), by assuming that the Ν lost in the nominative singular ΡΑΟ reappears before the termination of the genitive plural ΑΝΟ. Dr. Salemann draws my attention to the fact that this explanation is confirmed by the existence of the words χšē-van-ê (king) and χšâ-van (might) occurring in the “Soghdische Texte” published by Professor F. W. K. Müller (see the index of that edition in the Abhandlungen Kgl. Preuss. Ak. Wiss., 1912 [published 1913], p. 108). Professor Konow tells me that his full explanation of the Ν will soon appear in the Journal of the German Oriental Society.
page 85 note 1 The long ā generally being neglected in the Kharoṣṭhī writing of the period, both readings Kuṣănu (Guṣănu) and Kuṣānu (Guṣānu) are possible. The fact that in the title Kuṣāṇaputr[o] (cf. sup., p. 80)Google Scholar, on the (Pahlavi) legends deciphered by Drouin, and Marquart, (cf. sup., p. 79)Google Scholar, in Khordadbeh's work, and in other Arabic texts the ā is clearly marked, suggests the reading Kuṣānu (Guṣānu) [not Kuṣănu (Guṣănu,)]. Cf. also the legend Kidâra Kushâna shâhi mentioned by Cunningham, , Numismatic Chronicle, 1893, p. 184.Google Scholar
page 86 note 1 It cannot be disputed that kü-sha represents Kuṣa. Cf. Lévi, M. Sylvain's translation of the passage, Journal Asiatique, 11–12, 1896, p. 457.Google Scholar The character 
(sha) is in many transcribed texts the regular representative of 
(ṣa). See my edition of the Kien-ch'ui-fan-tsan (Aśvaghoṣa, 's GaṇḍīstotragāthāGoogle Scholar in a Chinese transcription, Bibliotheca Buddhica, xv, p. 179). According to Giles' Diet. (No. 2886) 
(chung), i.a., means “race”. I quote the Chinese phrase from the copy of the Tripiṭaka (vol. xix, fase. 4, ch. 6, p. 93b) belonging to the Asiatic Museum of St. Petersburg. It was Professor Konow who first pointed out to me that some confirmation could be found for my view (Kuṣa, not Kuṣana) in Aśvaghoṣa, 's Sūtrālaṃkāra.Google Scholar
page 86 note 2 Cf. the title 
(transcribed Hindowân-schâh by de Goeje and followed by “dans l'Inde” in the translation of Khordadbeh, 's work, p. 13)Google Scholar and the title Σεγανσαά, “the king of the Çakas,” mentioned by a Greek historian of the sixth century A.D.: Ἐπειδ ο
ν κα τ τ
ν Σεγεστανν ἔθνος Οὐαραράνῃ τ
το
δε πατρ δεδούλωτο, εἰκότως ἄρα πα
ς Σεγανσα (Segansaa) πωνόμαστ
δύναται γρ τοτο τ
Ἑλλήνων φων Σεγεστανν βασιλεύς (Segestanorum rex). This passage we find in Agathias (ed. Niebuhrius, , Bonnæ, mdcccxviii, p. 261).Google Scholar The Latin equivalents mentioned are those of Bonaventura Vulcanius' translation which accompanies Agathias' Greek text. According to Ammianus Marcellinus (ed. Gardthausen, , Lipsiæ, mdccclxxiii, vol. i, p. 173)Google Scholar the title saansaan, “rex regibus imperans,” belonged to the Persian king Sapor [II?], and I have no doubt that saansaan is nothing but a clerical error for saansa or saansaa ( = šāhān šāh).
page 87 note 1 No mechanical reproduction of the newly (March, 1912) discovered Muttra inscription mentioned above (p. 80) being at hand, Dr. Vogel was unable to tell me whether the reading Kuṣāṇuputr[o] (instead of Kuṣāṇaputr[o]) was possible or not. In any case the interpretation of that title would be identical with the translation of Guṣanuva[ṃ]śa-saṃvardhaka (cf. sup., pp. 80, 84)Google Scholar, viz. “scion of the Kuṣa (Guṣa) race”.