Geographic HistoryMap of the Kushan Empire
On the Geographic History map, the Kushan Empire appears from AD 1 to AD 375. It reaches its largest mapped extent in AD 225: about 2.1 million km² across 55 provinces.
The Kushan Empire was founded in the 1st century AD by the Yuezhi, nomads who had migrated from the borderlands of China into Bactria. Under Kanishka it ruled from Central Asia to the Ganges plain, at the crossroads of trade between Rome, Persia, India and China. Kushan patronage helped carry Buddhism into Central Asia and shaped the Gandhara style of art.
Mapped area over time
The Kushan Empire on the world maps
Largest other states in AD 225
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Roman Empire | 4.6 million km² |
| Xianbei | 2.3 million km² |
| Sasanian Empire | 2 million km² |
| Northern Wei | 1.8 million km² |
| Eastern Wu | 1.3 million km² |
| Shu Han | 930 thousand km² |
| Huns | 690 thousand km² |
| Kangju | 660 thousand km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
