Kanis?ka
Kaniṣka.
1. A king of the Śaka-Kūṣāna period (c.78–144 CE), who ruled over the west of N. India, and some parts of Central Asia, about 78–102. Buddhist tradition celebrates him as a great patron of Buddhism, a view borne out by historical and archaeological evidence.
Under his patronage, the Gāndhara school of art flourished. His court included such Buddhist luminaries as Aśvaghoṣa, Nāgārjuna, Pārśva, and Vasumitra, as well as the physician Caraka, the politician Māṭhara, and the Greek engineer Agesilaus, who designed and built a famous stūpa in Kaniṣka's capital of Puruṣapura (Peshāwar).
2. A class of Hindu deities of the fourteenth manvantara (cf. Manu).
1. A king of the Śaka-Kūṣāna period (c.78–144 CE), who ruled over the west of N. India, and some parts of Central Asia, about 78–102. Buddhist tradition celebrates him as a great patron of Buddhism, a view borne out by historical and archaeological evidence.
Under his patronage, the Gāndhara school of art flourished. His court included such Buddhist luminaries as Aśvaghoṣa, Nāgārjuna, Pārśva, and Vasumitra, as well as the physician Caraka, the politician Māṭhara, and the Greek engineer Agesilaus, who designed and built a famous stūpa in Kaniṣka's capital of Puruṣapura (Peshāwar).
2. A class of Hindu deities of the fourteenth manvantara (cf. Manu).
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Kanis?ka
