Kanishka: Facts about the most famous Kushana emperor

Sculpture of Kanishka at Mathura Government Museum / Image Source

• Kanishka was the founder of the Shaka Era (A.D. 78), one of the most widely spread Indian systems of dating.

• It was during the time of Kanishka that Buddhism began to spread to Central Asia and the Far East.

• According to a tradition preserved in China, the Fourth Buddhist Council was held under the patronage of Kanishka in Srinagar. In this fourth council the Sarvastivadin doctrines were codified in a summary, the Mahavibhasa.

• The convening of the Fourth Council led to the division into two broad sects, namely the Mahayana (great Vehicle ) and the Hinayana (lesser Vehicle). 

• Kanishka’s greatest contribution to Buddhist architecture was the Kanishka Stupa at Peshawar (now in Pakistan). He was a patron of Buddhist art of Gandhara.