The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c28.72

c28.72

⁴ Stein, *Rājat.*, transl. bk. i, 168–72. Kanishkapura is now represented by the village of Kānispōr, 74° 28′ E. long., 34° 14′ N. lat., situated between the Vitastā (Bihat) river and the high road leading from Varāhamūla (Bārāmūla) to Srīnagar. The text of the Kashmīr chronicle is as follows: 'Then there were in this land three kings, called Hushka, Jushka, and Kanishka, who built three towns named after them. That wise king Jushka, who built Jushkapura with its Vihāra, was also the founder of Jayasvāmipura. These kings, who were given to acts of piety, though descended from the Turushka race, built at Sushkaletra and other places *mathas*, *chaityas*, and similar [structures]' (Stein, transl. *Rājatar.*, Bk. I, vv. 168–71). Kalhaṇa adds that during the rule of those powerful princes Kashmīr to a large extent was in the possession of the Buddhists. He dates them 150 years after the Nirvāṇa, which is, of course, absurd. Jushka suggests an alternative form of the name to be Juvishka. His reality is attested by the continued existence of his town, now the large village of Zukur, to the north of Srīnagar. There is no sufficient reason to identify him with Vāsudeva. He may have been merely a Viceroy in Kashmīr. Coins of Kanishka and Huvishka are abundant in that country. The word *Turushka* was often applied to Muhammadans, and meant, I think, simply 'foreigner from beyond the passes'. The term must not be interpreted as implying a belief that Kanishka, &c., belonged to the Turks, or any other distinct nomad people.