[BtS] Civ of the Week: The Kushans 2016-10-05

Civ of the Week is a “project” aiming at bringing you a new, fresh, exotic, and most of all, random, civ every 1-2 weeks, from all corners of the globe, from the Vietnamese to the Mittanni to the Iraqis. Each civilization features full civilopedia text entires, 1-2 leaders with unique game and diplomatic attitudes (they're not simply a copy of another leader!), a UU, a UB, unique diplomacy music, and full graphics.

The purpose of Civ of the Week, then, is three-fold:

1. To bring you random civs that would probably not have been chosen as civilizations first of all, and to provide a new, more exotic, more interesting experience in choosing civilizations.

2. To promote more knowledge of lesser-known peoples, cultures, and histories.

3. Make more civs for the totally awesome Civ Gold mod.


Otherwise, then, enjoy!

[FONT=&quot]Leader(s):[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Kanishka (Spiritual, Imperialistic)

UU: Yuezhi Cavalry (Horse Archer) +50% city attack

UB: Gandhara School (Library) +25% culture in city[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Starting Techs:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Hunting, Mysticism[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Credits:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] bakuel (unit), Diversica Mod (building)[/FONT]



[FONT=&quot]Description: [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]The Kushans were direct descendants of the Yuezhi, who were part of the Tocharians who were the Indo-European speakers who spread the furthest West[/FONT]. Originally from the Tarim Basin, the Yuezhi conquered Bactria in the 2nd century [SIZE=-1]BCE[/SIZE] and divided the country into five chiefdoms, one of which was that of the Kushans (Guishuang). A hundred years later the Kushan chief Kujula Kadphises (Qiu Jiuque) secured the political unification of the Yuezhi kingdom under himself. Under Kanishka (flourished 1st century [SIZE=-1]CE[/SIZE]) and his successors, the Kushan kingdom reached its height. It was acknowledged as one of the four great Eurasian powers of its time (the others being China, Rome, and Parthia). The Kushans were instrumental in spreading Buddhism in Central Asia and China and in developing Mahayana Buddhism and the Gandhara and Mathura schools of art. The Kushans became affluent through trade, particularly with Rome, as their large issues of gold coins show. These coins, which exhibit the figures of Greek, Roman, Iranian, Hindu, and Buddhist deities and bear inscriptions in adapted Greek letters, are witness to the toleration and to the syncretism in religion and art that prevailed in the Kushan empire. After the rise of the Sasanian Dynasty in Iran and of local powers in northern India, Kushan rule declined.