text:
Kushan Empire
|Kushan Empire
Κυϸανο (Bactrian)
कुषाण राजवंश (Sanskrit)
Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν (Greek)
Kushan territories (full line) and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under Kanishka the Great (dotted line), according to the Rabatak inscription.[1]
Bagram (Kapiśi)
Peshawar (Puruṣapura)
Taxila (Takṣaśilā)
Mathura (Mathurā)
Greek (official until ca. 127)[2]
Bactrian (official from ca. 127)
Unofficial regional languages:
Gandhari, Sogdian, Chorasmian, Tocharian, Saka dialects
Liturgical language:
various Bactrian-Indian religions
|Kujula Kadphises
|Historical era
|Classical Antiquity
|Kujula Kadphises unites Yuezhi tribes into a confederation
|Subjugated by the Sassanians, Guptas and Hepthalites[4]
|3,800,000 km² (1,467,188 sq mi)
|Kushan drachm
|Today part of
|Outline of South Asian history
Riwatian people (1,900,000 BCE)
Soanian people (500,000 BCE)
Stone Age (50,000–3000 BCE)
Bronze Age (3000–1300 BCE)
Iron Age (1200–230 BCE)
Classical period (230 BCE–1279CE)
Late medieval period (1206–1596)
Early modern period (1526–1858)
Colonial period (1510–1961)
Other states (1102–1947)
Kingdoms of Sri Lanka
Nation histories
Specialised histories
The Kushan Empire (Bactrian: Κυϸανο, Kushano; Sanskrit: कुषाण राजवंश Kuṣāṇ Rājavaṃśa; BHS: Guṣāṇa-vaṃśa; Parthian: 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓 Kušan-xšaθr[5]) was a syncretic Empire formed by Yuezhi in the Greco-Bactrian territories of the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of Afghanistan, today's Peshawar, Pakistan,[6] and then the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi (Benares), where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan emperor Kanishka the Great.[7] Though Kanishka greatly honored Buddhism, he is also said to have protected the teachings of Zoroastrianism. As Kushan expanded southward, the deities of its later coinage came to reflect its new Hindu majority.
Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains, capturing territories as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkant, in the Tarim Basin of modern-day Xinjiang, China. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than a century, encouraging travel across the Khunjerab Pass and facilitating the spread of Mahayana Buddhism to China.
The Kushans were one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation,[8][9] a possibly Iranian[10][11] or Tocharian,[12][13][14][15][16][17] Indo-European[16][18][19][20] nomadic people who migrated from the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang) and settled in ancient Bactria.[9] The Kushans at first retained the Greek language for administrative purposes, but soon began to use an Iranian Bactrian language closely related to the modern Afghan languages,[21] absorbing the coinage system, Greco-Buddhist religion and art, and the Central Asian tribes that had previously conquered parts of the northern central Iranian Plateau once ruled by the Parthians..
The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sassanid Persia, Aksumite Empire and Han China. While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record of the empire's history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly Chinese.[22] The Kushan empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, which fell to the Sassanians invading from the west. In the 4th century, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Sassanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by the Hepthalites, another Indo-European people from the north.[4] Historian H. G. Rawlinson states that the "Kushana Period is a fitting prelude to the age of Gupta's".[23]
- Origins 1
- Early Kushans 2
- Diverse cultural influences 3
- Territorial expansion 4
- Gallery of Merv Buddhist Kushan city 5
- Kushan Afrighids 6
Main Kushan rulers 7
- Kujula Kadphises (c. 30 – c. 80) 7.1
- Vima Taktu or Sadashkana (c. 80 – c. 95) 7.2
- Vima Kadphises (c. 95 – c. 127) 7.3
- Kanishka I (c. 127 – c. 140) 7.4
- Vāsishka (c. 140 – c. 160) 7.5
- Huvishka (c. 160 – c. 190) 7.6
- Vasudeva I (c. 190 – c. 230) 7.7
- Kushan deities 8
Kushans and Buddhism 9
- Kushan art 9.1
- Contacts with Rome 10
- Contacts with China 11
- Decline 12
- Main Kushan rulers 13
- See also 14
- Notes 15
- References 16
- Further reading 17
- External links 18
Chinese sources describe the Guishuang (貴霜), i.e. the Kushans, as one of the five aristocratic tribes of the Yuezhi (月氏), with some people claiming they were a loose confederation of Indo-European peoples,[24] though many scholars are still unconvinced that they originally spoke an Indo-European language.
For well over a century, however, there have been many arguments about the ethnic and linguistic origins of the Da Yuezhi (大月氏), Kushans (貴霜), and the Tochari, and still there is little consensus.[25]
The Yuezhi had been living in the arid grasslands of eastern Central Asia's Tarim Basin, in modern-day Xinjiang, China, possibly speaking varieties of the Tocharian languages, until they were driven west by the Xiongnu in 176–160 BCE. The five tribes constituting the Yuezhi are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì (休密), Guìshuāng (貴霜), Shuāngmǐ (雙靡), Xìdùn (肸頓), and Dūmì (都密).
The Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of Greco-Bactria (in northern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan) around 135 BC. The displaced Greek dynasties resettled to the southeast in areas of the Hindu Kush and the Indus basin (in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan), occupying the western part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom.
General Cunningham identified the Kushans as Gurjars or Gujjar.[26] The word Gusur is referenced in the Rabatak inscription of Kushan king Kanishka. According to some scholars, in this inscription the word Gusur, which means Kulputra or a "man or woman born in high family", stands for Gurjara.[27][28][29]
Early Kushans
Some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin, Surkh Kotal (a monumental temple), and in the palace of Khalchayan. Various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers,[30] and significantly men with artificially deformed skulls, such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan[31] (a practice well attested in nomadic Central Asia). The Chinese first referred to these people as the Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire, although the relationship between the Yuezhi and the Kushans is still unclear. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses. The earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was Heraios. He calls himself a "tyrant" on his coins, and also exhibits skull deformation. He may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises.
Ban Gu's Book of Han tells us the Kushans (Kuei-shuang) divided up Bactria in 128 BC. Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han "relates how the chief of the Kushans, Ch'iu-shiu-ch'ueh (the Kujula Kadphises of coins), founded by means of the submission of the other Yueh-chih clans the Kushan Empire, known to the Greeks and Romans under the name of Empire of the Indo-Scythians."[32]
The Chinese Hou Hanshu chronicles gives an account of the formation of the Kushan empire based on a report made by the Chinese general Ban Yong to the Chinese Emperor c. 125 AD:
More than a hundred years later [than the conquest of Bactria by the Da Yuezhi], the prince [xihou] of Guishuang (Badakhshan) established himself as king, and his dynasty was called that of the Guishuang (Kushan) King. He invaded Anxi (Indo-Parthia), and took the Gaofu (Kabul) region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda (Paktiya) and Jibin (Kapisha and Gandhara). Qiujiuque (Kujula Kadphises) was more than eighty years old when he died. His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahk (tu) or, possibly, his brother Sadaṣkaṇa], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi.|Hou Hanshu[33][34]
Diverse cultural influences
In the 1st century BCE, the Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜) gained prominence over the other Yuezhi tribes, and welded them into a tight confederation under yabgu (Commander) Kujula Kadphises. The name Guishuang was adopted in the West and modified into Kushan to designate the confederation, although the Chinese continued to call them Yuezhi.
Gradually wresting control of the area from the Scythian tribes, the Kushans expanded south into the region traditionally known as Gandhara (an area primarily in Pakistan's Pothowar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region but going in an arc to include the Kabul valley and part of Qandahar in Afghanistan) and established twin capitals near present-day Kabul and Peshawar then known as Kapisa and Pushklavati respectively.
The Kushans adopted elements of the Hellenistic culture of Bactria. They adopted the Greek alphabet to suit their own language (with the additional development of the letter Þ "sh", as in "Kushan") and soon began minting coinage on the Greek model. On their coins they used Greek language legends combined with Pali legends (in the Kharoshthi script), until the first few years of the reign of Kanishka. After that date, they used Kushan language legends (in an adapted Greek script), combined with legends in Greek (Greek script) and legends in Prakrit (Kharoshthi script).
The Kushans are believed to have been predominantly Zoroastrian. However, from the time of Vima Takto, many Kushans started adopting aspects of Buddhist culture. Like the Egyptians, they absorbed the strong remnants of the Greek Culture of the Hellenistic Kingdoms, becoming at least partly Hellenised. The great Kushan emperor Vima Kadphises may have embraced Saivism, as surmised by coins minted during the period. The following Kushan emperors represented a wide variety of faiths including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and possibly Saivism (a sect of Hinduism).
The rule of the Kushans linked the seagoing trade of the Indian Ocean with the commerce of the Silk Road through the long-civilized Indus Valley. At the height of the dynasty, the Kushans loosely ruled a territory that extended to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan into northern India.
The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese silks to Rome, and created strings of flourishing urban centers.
Territorial expansion
Rosenfield notes that archaeological evidence of a Kushan rule of long duration is present in an area stretching from Surkh Kotal, Begram, the summer capital of the Kushans, Peshawar, the capital under Kanishka I, Taxila, and Mathura, the winter capital of the Kushans.[35]
Other areas of probable rule include Khwarezm[35] Kausambi (excavations of Allahabad University),[35] Sanchi and Sarnath (inscriptions with names and dates of Kushan kings),[35] Malwa and Maharashtra,[36] Odisha (imitation of Kushan coins, and large Kushan hoards).[35]
Kushan invasions in the 1st century CE had been given as an explanation for the migration of Indians from the Indian Subcontinent toward Southeast Asia according to proponents of a Greater India theory by 20th-century Indian nationalists. However, there is no evidence to support this hypothesis.[37]
The recently discovered Rabatak inscription confirms the account of the Hou Hanshu, Weilüe, and inscriptions dated early in the Kanishka era (incept probably 127 CE), that large Kushan dominions expanded into the heartland of northern India in the early 2nd century CE. The lines 4 to 7 of the inscription[38] describe the cities which were under the rule of Kanishka, among which six names are identifiable: Ujjain, Kundina, Saketa, Kausambi, Pataliputra, and Champa (although the text is not clear whether Champa was a possession of Kanishka or just beyond it).[39][40][41] Northward, in the 2nd century AD, the Kushans under Kanishka made various forays into the Tarim Basin, seemingly the original ground of their ancestors the Yuezhi, where they had various contacts with the Chinese. Both archaeological findings and literary evidence suggest Kushan rule, in Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan. The Kushan state was bounded to the south by the Pārata state of Balochistan, western Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan was known for the kushan Buddhist city of Merv.[35] As late as the 3rd century AD, decorated coins of Huvishka were dedicated at Bodh Gaya together with other gold offerings under the "Enlightenment Throne" of the Buddha, suggesting direct Kushan influence in the area during that period.[42]
Gallery of Merv Buddhist Kushan city
Great Kyz Qala
Little Kyz Qala
part of Kyz Qala
Kushan Afrighids
The Afrighids (آفریغیان-آل آفریغ) were a native Chorasmian (i.g. Iranian) [44][45][46] dynasty which ruled over the kingdom of Khwarezm (according to Al-Biruni) from 305 until 995. Sometimes, it was under Sassanid control. Khwarezmian (Khwarazmian, Khorezmian, Chorasmian) is an extinct East Iranian language[47][48][49][50] closely related to Sogdian. The language was spoken in the area of Khwarezm (Chorasmia), centered in the lower Amu Darya south of the Aral Sea (the northern part of the modern Republic of Uzbekistan, and the adjacent areas of Turkmenistan) and Kazakhstan).
Our knowledge of Khwarezmian is limited to its Middle Iranian stage and, as with Sogdian, little is known of its ancient form.
From the writings of the great Khwarezmian scholars, Al-Biruni and Zamakhshari, we know that the language was in use at least until the 13th century, when it was gradually replaced by Persian and Turkic languages for the most part, as well as several dialects with Kushan religion.
Main Kushan rulers
Kujula Kadphises (c. 30 – c. 80)
...the prince [elavoor] of Guishuang, named thilac [Kujula Kadphises], attacked and exterminated the four other xihou. He established himself as king, and his dynasty was called that of the Guishuang [Kushan] King. He invaded Anxi [Indo-Parthia], and took the Gaofu [Kabul] region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda [Paktiya] and Jibin [Kapisha and Gandhara]. Qiujiuque [Kujula Kadphises] was more than eighty years old when he died."|Hou Hanshu[33]
These conquests probably took place sometime between 45 and 60, and laid the basis for the Kushan Empire which was rapidly expanded by his descendants.
Kujula issued an extensive series of coins and fathered at least two sons, Sadaṣkaṇa (who is known from only two inscriptions, especially the Rabatak inscription, and apparently never ruled), and seemingly Vima Takto.
Kujula Kadphises was the great grandfather of Kanishka.
Vima Taktu or Sadashkana (c. 80 – c. 95)
Vima Takto (Ancient Chinese: 閻膏珍 Yangaozhen) is mentioned in the Rabatak inscription (another son, Sadashkana, is mentioned in an inscription of Senavarman, the King of Odi). He was the predecessor of Vima Kadphises, and Kanishka I. He expanded the Kushan Empire into the northwest of the South Asia. The Hou Hanshu says:
"His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahk (tu) or, possibly, his brother Sadaṣkaṇa], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi."— Hou Hanshu[33]
Vima Kadphises (c. 95 – c. 127)
Vima Kadphises (Kushan language: Οοημο Καδφισης) was a Kushan emperor from around 90–100 CE, the son of Sadashkana and the grandson of Kujula Kadphises, and the father of Kanishka I, as detailed by the Rabatak inscription.
Vima Kadphises added to the Kushan territory by his conquests in Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan. He issued an extensive series of coins and inscriptions. He was the first to introduce gold coinage in India, in addition to the existing copper and silver coinage.
Kanishka I (c. 127 – c. 140)
The rule of Kanishka the Great, fifth Kushan king, who flourished for about 13 years from c. 127. Upon his accession, Kanishka ruled a huge territory (virtually all of northern India), south to Ujjain and Kundina and east beyond Pataliputra, according to the Rabatak inscription:
In the year one, it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the whole realm of the governing class, including Koonadeano (Kaundiny, Kundina) and the city of Ozeno (Ozene, Ujjain) and the city of Zageda (Saketa) and the city of Kozambo (Kausambi) and the city of Palabotro (Pataliputra) and so long unto (i.e. as far as) the city of Ziri-tambo (Sri-Champa).— Rabatak inscription, Lines 4–6
His territory was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan) and Mathura, in northern India. He is also credited (along with Raja Dab) for building the massive, ancient Fort at Bathinda (Qila Mubarak), in the modern city of Bathinda, Indian Punjab.
The Kushans also had a summer capital in Bagram (then known as Kapisa), where the "Begram Treasure", comprising works of art from Greece to China, has been found. According to the Rabatak inscription, Kanishka was the son of Vima Kadphises, the grandson of Sadashkana, and the great-grandson of Kujula Kadphises. Kanishka's era is now generally accepted to have begun in 127 on the basis of Harry Falk's ground-breaking research.[51][52] Kanishka's era was used as a calendar reference by the Kushans for about a century, until the decline of the Kushan realm.
Vāsishka (c. 140 – c. 160)
Vāsishka was a Kushan emperor who seems to have a 20-year reign following Kanishka. His rule is recorded as far south as Sanchi (near Vidisa), where several inscriptions in his name have been found, dated to the year 22 (The Sanchi inscription of "Vaksushana" – i. e. Vasishka Kushana) and year 28 (The Sanchi inscription of Vasaska – i. e. Vasishka) of the Kanishka era.
Huvishka (c. 160 – c. 190)
Huvishka (Kushan: Οοηϸκι, "Ooishki") was a Kushan emperor from about 20 years after the death of Kanishka (assumed on the best evidence available to be in 140) until the succession of Vasudeva I about thirty years later. His rule was a period of retrenchment and consolidation for the Empire. In particular he devoted time and effort early in his reign to the exertion of greater control over the city of Mathura.
Vasudeva I (c. 190 – c. 230)
Vasudeva I (Kushan: Βαζοδηο "Bazodeo", Chinese: 波調 "Bodiao") was the last of the "Great Kushans." Named inscriptions dating from year 64 to 98 of Kanishka's era suggest his reign extended from at least 191 to 225 AD. He was the last great Kushan emperor, and the end of his rule coincides with the invasion of the Sassanids as far as northwestern India, and the establishment of the Indo-Sassanids or Kushanshahs in what is nowadays Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India from around 240 AD.
Kushan deities
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The Kushan religious pantheon is extremely varied, as revealed by their coins that were made in gold, silver, and copper. These coins contained more than thirty different gods, belonging mainly to their own Iranic, Greek, and Indo-Aryan worlds as well. Kushan coins had images of Kushan Kings, Buddha, and figures from the Indo-Aryan and Iranian pantheons.[53] Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on early coins. During Kanishka's reign, the language of the coinage changes to Bactrian (though it remained in Greek script for all kings). After Huvishka, only two divinities appear on the coins: Ardoxsho and Oesho (see details below).
The Iranic entities depicted on coinage include:
- Αρδοχþο (ardoxsho, Ashi Vanghuhi)
- Aþαειχþo (ashaeixsho, Asha Vahishta)
- Αθþο (athsho, Atar)
- Φαρρο (pharro, Khwarenah)
- Λροοασπο (lrooaspa, Drvaspa)
- Μαναοβαγο, (manaobago, Vohu Manah)
- Μαο (mao, Mah)
- Μιθρο, Μιιρο, Μιορο, Μιυρο (mithro and variants, Mithra)
- Μοζδοοανο (mozdooano, Mazda *vana "Mazda the victorious?")
- Νανα, Ναναια, Ναναϸαο (variations of pan-Asiatic nana, Sogdian nny, in a Zoroastrian context Aredvi Sura Anahita, in the Indian context Durga)
- Οαδο (oado Vata)
- Oαxþo (oaxsho, "Oxus")
- Ooρoμoζδο (ooromozdo, Ahura Mazda)
- Οραλαγνο (orlagno, Verethragna)
- Τιερο (tiero, Tir)
Representation of entities from Greek mythology and Hellenistic syncretism are:
- Ηλιος (Helios), Ηφαηστος (Hephaistos), Σαληνη (Selene), Ανημος (Anemos). Further, the coins of Huvishka also portray the demi-god erakilo Heracles, and the Egyptian god sarapo Sarapis
The Indic entities represented on coinage include:
- Βοδδο (boddo, Buddha)
- Μετραγο Βοδδο (metrago boddo, bodhisattava Maitreya)
- Mαασηνo (maaseno, Mahasena)
- Σκανδo koμαρo (skando komaro, Skanda Kumara)
- þακαμανο Βοδδο (shakamano boddho, Shakyamuni Buddha)
- Οηϸο (oesho), long considered to represent Indic [55][56] but also identified as Avestan Vayu conflated with Shiva.[57][58]
- Two copper coins of Huvishka bear a 'Ganesa' legend, but instead of depicting the typical theriomorphic figure of Ganesha, have a figure of an archer holding a full-length bow with string inwards and an arrow. This is typically a depiction of Rudra, but in the case of these two coins is generally assumed to represent Shiva.
|Images of Kushan worshippers
|Deities on Kushan coinage
Kushans and Buddhism
The Kushans inherited the Greco-Buddhist traditions of the Indo-Greek Kingdom they replaced, and their patronage of Buddhist institutions allowed them to grow as a commercial power.[61] Between the mid-1st century and the mid-3rd century, Buddhism, patronized by the Kushans, extended to China and other Asian countries through the Silk Road.
Kanishka is renowned in Buddhist tradition for having convened a great Buddhist council in Kashmir. Along with his predecessor in the region the Indo-Greek king Menander I (Milinda) and the Indian emperors Ashoka and Harsha Vardhana, Kanishka is considered by Buddhism as one of its greatest benefactors.
During the 1st century AD, Buddhist books were being produced and carried by monks, and their trader patrons. Also, monasteries were being established along these land routes that went from China and other parts of Asia. With the development of Buddhist books, it caused a new written language called Gandhara. Gandhara consists of eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. Scholars are said to have found many Buddhist scrolls that contained the Gandhari language.[62]
The reign of Huvishka corresponds to the first known epigraphic evidence of the Buddha Amitabha, on the bottom part of a 2nd-century statue which has been found in Govindo-Nagar, and now at the Mathura Museum. The statue is dated to "the 28th year of the reign of Huvishka", and dedicated to "Amitabha Buddha" by a family of merchants. There is also some evidence that Huvishka himself was a follower of Mahāyāna Buddhism. A Sanskrit manuscript fragment in the Schøyen Collection describes Huvishka as one who has "set forth in the Mahāyāna."[63]
Kushan art
The art and culture of Gandhara, at the crossroads of the Kushan hegemony, continued the traditions of Greco-Buddhist art and are the best known expressions of Kushan influences to Westerners. Several direct depictions of Kushans are known from Gandhara, where they are represented with a tunic, belt and trousers and play the role of devotees to the Buddha, as well as the Bodhisattva and future Buddha Maitreya.
During the Kushan Empire, many images of Gandhara share a strong resemblance to the features of Greek, Syrian, Persian and Indian figures. These Western-looking stylistic signatures often include heavy drapery and curly hair,[64] representing a composite (the Greeks, for example, often possessed curly hair).
In the iconography, they are never associated however with the very Hellenistic "Standing Buddha" statues, which might therefore correspond to an earlier historical period.
Contacts with Rome
Several Roman sources describe the visit of ambassadors from the Kings of Bactria and India during the 2nd century, probably referring to the Kushans.
Historia Augusta, speaking of Emperor Hadrian (117–138) tells:
Reges Bactrianorum legatos ad eum, amicitiae petendae causa, supplices miserunt "The kings of the Bactrians sent supplicant ambassadors to him, to seek his friendship."
Also in 138, according to Aurelius Victor (Epitome' XV, 4), and Appian (Praef., 7), Antoninus Pius, successor to Hadrian, received some Indian, Bactrian Hyrcanian ambassadors.
"Precious things from Da Qin [the Roman Empire] can be found there [in Tianzhu or Northwestern India], as well as fine cotton cloths, fine wool carpets, perfumes of all sorts, sugar candy, pepper, ginger, and black salt."— Hou Hanshu[65]
The summer capital of the Kushan in Begram has yielded a considerable amount of goods imported from the Roman Empire, in particular, various types of glassware.
Contacts with China
During the 1st and 2nd century, the Kushan Empire expanded militarily to the north and occupied parts of the Tarim Basin, their original grounds, putting them at the center of the profitable Central Asian commerce with the Roman Empire. They are related to have collaborated militarily with the Chinese against nomadic incursion, particularly when they collaborated with the Han Dynasty general Ban Chao against the Sogdians in 84, when the latter were trying to support a revolt by the king of Kashgar.[66] Around 85, they also assisted the Chinese general in an attack on Turpan, east of the Tarim Basin.
In recognition for their support to the Chinese, the Kushans requested a Han princess, but were denied,[66][67] even after they had sent presents to the Chinese court. In retaliation, they marched on Ban Chao in 86 with a force of 70,000, but were defeated by a smaller Chinese force.[66][67] The Yuezhi retreated and paid tribute to the Chinese Empire during the reign of the Chinese emperor Han He (89–106).
Later, around 116, the Kushans under Kanishka established a kingdom centered on Kashgar, also taking control of Khotan and Yarkand, which were Chinese dependencies in the Tarim Basin, modern Xinjiang. They introduced the Brahmi script, the Indian Prakrit language for administration, and expanded the influence of Greco-Buddhist art which developed into Serindian art.
The Kushans are again recorded to have sent presents to the Chinese court in 158–159 during the reign of the Chinese emperor Han Huan.
Following these interactions, cultural exchanges further increased, and Kushan Buddhist missionaries, such as Lokaksema, became active in the Chinese capital cities of Loyang and sometimes Nanjing, where they particularly distinguished themselves by their translation work. They were the first recorded promoters of Hinayana and Mahayana scriptures in China, greatly contributing to the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism.
After the death of Vasudeva I in 225, the Kushan empire split into western and eastern halves. The Western Kushans (in Afghanistan) were soon subjugated by the Persian Sassanid Empire and lost Bactria and other territories. In 248 they were defeated again by the Persians, who deposed the Western dynasty and replaced them with Persian vassals known as the Kushanshas (or Indo-Sassanids).
The Eastern Kushan kingdom was based in the Punjab. Around 270 their territories on the Gangetic plain became independent under local dynasties such as the Yaudheyas. Then in the mid-4th century they were subjugated by the Gupta Empire under Samudragupta.
In 360 a Kushan vassal named Kidara overthrew the old Kushan dynasty and established the Kidarite Kingdom. The Kushan style of Kidarite coins indicates they considered themselves Kushans. The Kidarite seem to have been rather prosperous, although on a smaller scale than their Kushan predecessors.
These remnants of the Kushan empire were ultimately wiped out in the 5th century by the invasions of the Hephthalites, and the rise of the Gupta empire.
Main Kushan rulers
- Heraios (c. 1 – 30), first Kushan ruler, generally Kushan ruling period is disputed
- Kujula Kadphises (c. 30 – c. 80)
- Vima Takto, (c. 80 – c. 95) alias Soter Megas or "Great Saviour."
- Vima Kadphises (c. 95 – c. 127) the first great Kushan emperor
- Kanishka the Great (127 – c. 140)
- Vāsishka (c. 140 – c. 160)
- Huvishka (c. 160 – c. 190)
- Vasudeva I (c. 190 – to at least 230), the last of the great Kushan emperors
- Kanishka II (c. 230 – 240)
- Vashishka (c. 240 – 250)
- Kanishka III (c. 250 – 275)
Vasudeva II (c. 275 – 310)
- Vasudeva III reported son of Vasudeva III, a King, uncertain.
- Vasudeva IV reported possible child of Vasudeva III, ruling in Kandahar, uncertain.
- Vasudeva of Kabul reported possible child of Vasudeva IV, ruling in Kabul, uncertain.
- Chhu (c. 310? – 325?)
- Shaka I (c. 325 – 345)
- Kipunada (c. 345 – 375)
See also
- Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan
- Indo-Parthian Kingdom
- Kucha, another Tocharian-speaking kingdom (with a related etymology)
- History of Pakistan
- ^ "The Rabatak inscription claims that in the year 1 Kanishka I's authority was proclaimed in India, in all the satrapies and in different cities like Koonadeano (Kundina), Ozeno (Ujjain), Kozambo (Kausambi), Zagedo (Saketa), Palabotro (Pataliputra) and Ziri-Tambo (Janjgir-Champa). These cities lay to the east and south of Mathura, up to which locality Wima had already carried his victorious arm. Therefore they must have been captured or subdued by Kanishka I himself." "Ancient Indian Inscriptions", S. R. Goyal, p. 93. See also the analysis of Sims-Williams and J.Cribb, who had a central role in the decipherment: "A new Bactrian inscription of Kanishka the Great", in "Silk Road Art and Archaeology" No4, 1995–1996. Also Mukherjee B.N. "The Great Kushanan Testament", Indian Museum Bulletin.
- ^ The Kushans at first retained the Greek language for administrative purposes, but soon began to use Bactrian. The Bactrian Rabatak inscription (discovered in 1993 and deciphered in 2000) records that the Kushan king Kanishka the Great (c. 127 AD), discarded Greek (Ionian) as the language of administration and adopted Bactrian ("Arya language"), from Falk (2001): "The yuga of Sphujiddhvaja and the era of the Kuṣâṇas." Harry Falk. Silk Road Art and Archaeology VII, p. 133.
- ^ André Wink, Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: The Slavic Kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th-13th centuries, (Oxford University Press, 1997), 57.
- ^ a b
- ^ The Dynasty Arts of the Kushans, University of California Press, 1967, p. 5
- ^ http://www.kushan.org/general/other/part1.htm and Si-Yu-Ki, Buddhist Records of the Western World, (Tr. Samuel Beal: Travels of Fa-Hian, The Mission of Sung-Yun and Hwei-S?ng, Books 1–5), Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd. London. 1906 and Hill (2009), pp. 29, 318–350
- ^ which began about 127 CE. "Falk 2001, pp. 121–136", Falk (2001), pp. 121–136, Falk, Harry (2004), pp. 167–176 and Hill (2009), pp. 29, 33, 368–371.
- ^
- ^ a b
- ^ Enoki, Koshelenko & Haidary 1994, pp. 171–191
- ^
- ^ Pulleyblank 1966, pp. 9–39
- ^ Mallory 1989, pp. 59–60
- ^ Mallory 1997, pp. 591–593
- ^ Mallory & Mair (2000), pp. 270–297.
- ^ a b Loewe & Shaughnessy 1999, pp. 87–88
- ^
- ^
- ^ West 2009, pp. 713–717
- ^ "They are, by almost unanimous opinion, Indo-Europeans, probably the most oriental of those who occupied the steppes." Roux, p.90
- ^ The Bactrian Rabatak inscription (discovered in 1993 and deciphered in 2000) records that the Kushan king Kanishka the Great (c. 127 AD), discarded Greek (Ionian) as the language of administration and adopted Bactrian ("Arya language"), from Falk (2001): "The yuga of Sphujiddhvaja and the era of the Kuṣâṇas." Harry Falk. Silk Road Art and Archaeology VII, p. 133.
- ^ Hill (2009), p. 36 and notes.
- ^ H.G. Rawlinson., India, A Short Cultural History, P 105
- ^
- ^ Hill (2009), p. 311.
- ^
- ^
- ^
- ^
- ^ Lebedynsky, p. 62.
- ^ Lebedynsky, p. 15.
- ^
- ^ a b c Hill (2009), p. 29.
- ^ Chavannes (1907), pp. 190–192.
- ^ a b c d e f Rosenfield, p. 41.
- ^ For "Malwa and Maharashtra, for which it is speculated that the Kushans had an alliance with the Western Kshatrapas", see: Rosenfield, p. 41.
- ^
- ^ For a translation of the full text of the Rabatak inscription see: Mukherjee, B.N., "The Great Kushana Testament", Indian Museum Bulletin, Calcutta, 1995. This translation is quoted in: Goyal (2005), p.88.
- ^ For quotation: "The Rabatak inscription claims that in the year 1 Kanishka I's authority was proclaimed in India, in all the satrapies and in different cities like Koonadeano (Kundina), Ozeno (Ujjain), Kozambo (Kausambi), Zagedo (Saketa), Palabotro (Pataliputra) and Ziri-Tambo (Janjgir-Champa). These cities lay to the east and south of Mathura, up to which locality Wima had already carried his victorious arm. Therefore they must have been captured or subdued by Kanishka I himself."see: Goyal, p. 93.
- ^ See also the analysis of Sims-Williams and J. Cribb, specialists of the field, who had a central role in the decipherment: "A new Bactrian inscription of Kanishka the Great", in Silk Road Art and Archaeology No. 4, 1995–1996. pp.75–142.
- ^
- ^ British Museum display, Asian Art room.
- ^
- ^ " ĀL-E AFRĪḠ" IN Encyclopedia Iranica by C. E. Bosworth
- ^ C.E. Bosworth, "The Ghaznavids" in History of Civilization: Central Asia in History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume IV: The Age of Achievement : A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century : Part One : The Historical Social and Economic Setting/edited by M.S. Asimov and C.E. Bosworth. Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1999, 485 pages. (Vol. IV, Pt. I). ISBN 81-208-1595-5. Excerpt from page 101: "The ancient Iranian kingdom of Khwarazm had been ruled until 995 by the old established line of Afrighids of Kath, but control subsequently passed to the new line of Khwarazm Shahs, the Ma'munids of Gurganj"
- ^ Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual, Columbia University, 1996.
- ^ Encyclopedia Iranica, "The Chorasmian Language", D.N.Mackenzie. Online access at June, 2011: [1]
- ^ Andrew Dalby, Dictionary of Languages: the definitive reference to more than 400 languages, Columbia University Press, 2004, pg 278
- ^ MacKenzie, D. N. "Khwarazmian Language and Literature," in E. Yarshater ed. Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. III, Part 2, Cambridge 1983, pp. 1244–1249
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, "Iranian languages" (Retrieved on 29 December 2008)
- ^ Falk (2001), pp. 121–136.
- ^ Falk (2004), pp. 167–176.
- ^ Xinru Liu, The Silk Road in World History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 47.
- ^ Sivaramamurti, p. 56-59.
- ^ a b Loeschner, Hans (2012) The Stūpa of the Kushan Emperor Kanishka the Great Sino-Platonic Papers, No. 227 (July 2012); page 11
- ^ a b Bopearachchi, O. (2007). Some observations on the chronology of the early Kushans. Res Orientales, 17, 41-53
- ^
- ^ H. Humbach, 1975, p.402-408. K.Tanabe, 1997, p.277, M.Carter, 1995, p.152. J.Cribb, 1997, p.40. References cited in "De l'Indus à l'Oxus".
- ^ a b c d e f Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition
- ^ Perkins, J. (2007). Three-headed Śiva on the Reverse of Vima Kadphises's Copper Coinage. South Asian Studies, 23(1), 31-37
- ^ Xinru Liu, The Silk Road in World History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 42.
- ^ Xinru Liu, The Silk Road in World History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 58.
- ^ Neelis, Jason. Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks. 2010. p. 141
- ^
- ^ Hill (2009), p. 31.
- ^ a b c de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 AD). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. page 5-6. ISBN 90-04-15605-4.
- ^ a b Torday, Laszlo. (1997). Mounted Archers: The Beginnings of Central Asian History. Durham: The Durham Academic Press. page 393. ISBN 1-900838-03-6.
- Faccenna, Domenico (1980). Butkara I (Swāt, Pakistan) 1956–1962, Volume III 1 (in English). Rome: IsMEO (Istituto Italiano Per Il Medio Ed Estremo Oriente).
- Falk, Harry. 1995–1996. Silk Road Art and Archaeology IV.
- Falk, Harry. 2001. "The yuga of Sphujiddhvaja and the era of the Kuṣāṇas." Silk Road Art and Archaeology VII, pp. 121–136.
- Falk, Harry. 2004. "The Kaniṣka era in Gupta records." Harry Falk. Silk Road Art and Archaeology X, pp. 167–176.
- Goyal, S. R. "Ancient Indian Inscriptions" Kusumanjali Book World, Jodhpur (India), 2005.
- Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilüe 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation. [2]
- .
- Roux, Jean-Paul, L'Asie Centrale, Histoire et Civilization (French), Fayard, 1997, ISBN 978-2-213-59894-9
Further reading
- Dorn'eich, Chris M. (2008). Chinese sources on the History of the Niusi-Wusi-Asi (oi)-Rishi (ka)-Arsi-Arshi-Ruzhi and their Kueishuang-Kushan Dynasty. Shiji 110/Hanshu 94A: The Xiongnu: Synopsis of Chinese original Text and several Western Translations with Extant Annotations. Berlin. To read or download go to: [3]
- Foucher, M. A. 1901. "Notes sur la geographie ancienne du Gandhâra (commentaire à un chaptaire de Hiuen-Tsang)." BEFEO No. 4, Oct. 1901, pp. 322–369.
- Hargreaves, H. (1910–11): "Excavations at Shāh-jī-kī Dhērī"; Archaeological Survey of India, 1910–11, pp. 25–32.
- Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. Paris, UNESCO Publishing.
- Konow, Sten. Editor. 1929. Kharoshthī Inscriptions with Exception of those of Asoka. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. II, Part I. Reprint: Indological Book House, Varanasi, 1969.
- Litvinsky, B. A., ed., 1996. History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Paris, UNESCO Publishing.
- Liu, Xinru 2001 "Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies." Journal of World History, Volume 12, No. 2, Fall 2001. University of Hawaii Press, pp. 261–292. [4].
- Sarianidi, Viktor. 1985. The Golden Hoard of Bactria: From the Tillya-tepe Excavations in Northern Afghanistan. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York.
- Sims-Williams, Nicholas. 1998. "Further notes on the Bactrian inscription of Rabatak, with an Appendix on the names of Kujula Kadphises and Vima Taktu in Chinese." Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies Part 1: Old and Middle Iranian Studies. Edited by Nicholas Sims-Williams. Wiesbaden. 1998, pp. 79–93.
- Spooner, D. B. 1908–9. "Excavations at Shāh-jī-kī Dhērī."; Archaeological Survey of India, 1908–9, pp. 38–59.
- Watson, Burton. Trans. 1993. Records of the Grand Historian of China: Han Dynasty II. Translated from the Shiji of Sima Qian. Chapter 123: "The Account of Dayuan," Columbia University Press. Revised Edition. ISBN 0-231-08166-9; ISBN 0-231-08167-7 (pbk.)
- Zürcher, E. (1968). "The Yüeh-chih and Kaniṣka in the Chinese sources." Papers on the Date of Kaniṣka. Basham, A. L., ed., 1968. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 346–393.
External links
- Kushan dynasty in Encyclopædia Britannica
- Metropolitan Museum capsule history
- New documents help fix controversial Kushan dating
- Coins of the Kushans on wildwinds.com
- Antique Indian Coins
- Brief Guide to Kushan History
- The CoinIndia Online Catalogue of Kushan Coins
- Dedicated resource to study of Kushan Empire
|Middle kingdoms of India
Timeline and
cultural period
|Northwestern India
|Indo-Gangetic Plain
|Central India
|Southern India
|Western Gangetic Plain
Northern India
(Central Gangetic Plain)
|Northeastern India
|Late Vedic Period
Late Vedic Period
(Brahmin ideology)[1]
Late Vedic Period
(Kshatriya/Shramanic culture)[2]
|6th century BC
|Adivasi (tribes)
|Persian-Greek influences
"Second Urbanisation"
Rise of Shramana movements
|5th century BC
|(Persian rule)
|Shishunaga dynasty
|Adivasi (tribes)
|4th century BC
|(Greek conquests)
|Spread of Buddhism
Sangam period
|3rd century BC
|Maurya Empire
Early Cholas
46 other small kingdoms in Ancient Thamizhagam
Preclassical Hinduism[3] - "Hindu Synthesis"[4] (ca. 200 BC - 300 AD)[5][6]
Epics - Puranas - Ramayana - Mahabharata - Bhagavad Gita - Brahma Sutras - Smarta Tradition
Mahayana Buddhism
Sangam period
|2nd century BC
|Indo-Greek Kingdom
|Shunga Empire
|Adivasi (tribes)
Early Cholas
46 other small kingdoms in Ancient Thamizhagam
|1st century BC
|Maha-Meghavahana Dynasty
|1st century AD
|Kuninda Kingdom
|2nd century
|Varman dynasty
|3rd century
|Kushan Empire
|Western Satraps
|Kamarupa kingdom
|Kalabhras dynasty
"Golden Age of Hinduism"(ca. AD 320-650)[7]
Co-existence of Hinduism and Buddhism
|4th century
|Gupta Empire
Kalabhras dynasty
Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras)
|5th century
|Adivasi (tribes)
Kalabhras dynasty
Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras)
|6th century
|Kalabhras dynasty
Late-Classical Hinduism (ca. AD 650-1100)[8]
Advaita Vedanta - Tantra
Decline of Buddhism in India
|7th century
Vakataka dynasty
Empire of Harsha
|Mlechchha dynasty
|Adivasi (tribes)
|Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras)
|8th century
|Kidarite Kingdom
|Pandyan Kingdom
|9th century
|Indo-Hephthalites (Huna)
|Pandyan Kingdom
|10th century
|Pala dynasty
|Medieval Cholas
References and sources for table
- Articles containing non-English-language text
- Articles containing Sanskrit-language text
- Articles containing Ancient Greek-language text
- Former monarchies of Asia
- All articles with unsourced statements
- Articles with unsourced statements from March 2015
- Articles with unsourced statements from February 2011
- All WorldHeritage articles needing clarification
- WorldHeritage articles needing clarification from April 2010
- Vague or ambiguous time from April 2010
- All accuracy disputes
- Articles with disputed statements from April 2010
- Articles with unsourced statements from June 2011
- Articles containing Persian-language text
- Articles with unsourced statements from December 2010
- Commons category without a link on Wikidata
- Kushan Empire
- History of Central Asia
- Former empires of Asia
- History of Afghanistan
- History of Pakistan
- Empires and kingdoms of India
- 375 disestablishments in India
- History of Buddhism
- Buddhism in India
- Buddhism in Afghanistan
- Buddhism in Pakistan
- Dynasties of India
- Lists of monarchs
- Nomadic groups in Eurasia
- History of Tajikistan
- 1st-century establishments in India


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Item Added To Bag
Bing Bang Heart Ring in Yellow Gold
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text:
The bankruptcy trustee overseeing the recovery of funds in the $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme by Tom Petters filed suit Wednesday against a key bank, accusing it of playing a significant role in "aiding and abetting" the fraud by ignoring Petters' huge deposits.
The lawsuit by Doug Kelley against BMO Harris Bank is his most aggressive attempt yet to seek damages since filing a flurry of clawback lawsuits more than two years ago against various individuals and organizations that benefited from Minnesota's largest Ponzi scheme.
Kelley contends in the suit that M&I Bank, now owned by BMO Harris, was complicit in the illegal operation engineered by the former Wayzata businessman. Specifically, M&I ignored multiple red flags to protect a lucrative banking relationship, as more than $35 billion flowed through an account controlled by Petters from 2003 to 2008, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Paul.
"M&I should have been put on notice just by the sheer volume of money going into the account," Kelley said in an interview.
The suit seeks at least $68 million, Kelley said, and total damages could be considerably higher depending on when the bank had actual knowledge of the scheme's existence.
Jim Kappel, a spokesman for Chicago-based BMO Harris Bank, said in a statement Wednesday that the claims "are completely without merit," and the bank will vigorously defend itself.
The suit is part of a wave of lawsuits nationally, some of them successful, by Ponzi victims targeting the banks that swindlers used to perpetrate their frauds.
The former M&I Bank was home of the principal bank account that Petters Companies Inc. (PCI) used to finance its fraudulent inventory scheme for more than five years.
The suit includes three counts - aiding and abetting fraud, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty and civil conspiracy.
The lawsuit calls the account's deposit activity "astronomical" and "frenzied."
"M&I was never provided a valid business reason for such a staggering amount," the lawsuit says. "Without the substantial assistance that M&I provided, the Ponzi scheme would have been discovered earlier by law enforcement authorities and victims of the Ponzi scheme."
Petters and his associates, including lieutenant Deanna Coleman and document forger Robert White, were raising money from investors by purporting to sell consumer electronics to big-box retailers. Although the M&I account was supposed to receive payments from retailers for disbursement to lenders and investors, no such deposits occurred, the suit states.
Instead, funds from new investors and lenders were used to pay off older investors and investor-lenders. Indeed, two-thirds of the deposits in the account were from two money-laundering fronts set up by Petters and run by associates Larry Reynolds and Michael Catain, and most of the other deposits were from lenders.
The lawsuit notes that $68.4 million was transferred into personal accounts of Petters.
"M&I never inquired, nor was it ever provided, a valid reason for these transfers," the suit states.
BMO Harris has been fighting a similar fraud lawsuit in Florida bankruptcy court over the Petters account at M&I. Lawyers in that case are seeking damages of at least $1.3 billion, excluding punitive damages. In its motion to dismiss the case, the bank argued it was simply a conduit for the funds and that Petters fooled M&I just as he fooled everyone else. The Florida case is ongoing.
M&I was a wounded bank when BMO Harris bought it in 2011, inheriting the Petters trouble. It was Wisconsin's largest bank and a big Twin Cities lender but had suffered major losses on commercial and residential real estate loans, particularly in Arizona and Florida.
BMO Harris and its parent, BMO Financial Group in Toronto, are owned by the Bank of Montreal, one of Canada's largest banks.
A central feature of the Minnesota and Florida lawsuits is the deposit control agreement that M&I Bank signed with PCI. Under terms of the agreement, M&I would transfer deposits from retailers into special accounts for lenders and investors.
But, said Kelley, the bank "never had any intent of implementing it and enforcing it in any way."
Generally, banks can't be held liable simply because they fail to catch a depositor running a Ponzi scheme, said Michael Budwick, the lawyer for Barry Mukamal, the bankruptcy trustee for the hedge funds in Florida that have sued M&I Bank. It's different if the bank assumed a specific duty to the victim or knew of the wrongdoing and somehow assisted.
Proving fraud, however, requires proving the bank had actual knowledge of what was going on.
"It's a very heavy burden legally," said Helen Davis Chaitman, an attorney with Becker & Poliakoff in New York who represents victims of Ponzi king Bernard Madoff.
But not impossible.
A number of cases have been settled favorably for victims against banks in smaller Florida schemes, Budwick said.
Earlier this year the Toronto-Dominion Bank paid $170 million to settle claims by burned investors that it assisted in the Ponzi scheme of Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein, who is now in prison.
"That was a humongous success," Davis Chaitman said.
Former Madoff clients have filed a class action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co., claiming the bank was complicit in hiding Madoff's fraud and owes them at least $19 billion. The bank has moved to dismiss and the case is pending.
Petters is serving a 50-year sentence in federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan. White is serving a five-year sentence, and Coleman, the principal whistleblower in the case, has returned to private life after serving a prison sentence just short of a year.
David Phelps • 612-673-7269 firstname.lastname@example.com Jennifer Bjorhus • 612-673-4683 email@example.com


text:
Noah Van Sciver's Top 5 Favorite Comics Of 2011
This year, we asked a number of our friends who are also cartoonists and comics publishers and editors what their favorite comics of 2011 were. Over the next few weeks, we'll be posting those lists.
First up is Blammo Comics' Noah Van Sciver.Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost In The Andes by Carl Barks
3. Big Questions by Anders Nilsen
4. Black Eye Nr. 1 by Ryan Standfest
5. Paying For It by Chester Brown


text:
Let Me Count the Ways
Loyal Wreckies, I am positively giddy to share one of my favorite collections of wrecks with you today. You see, with "birthday" arguably being the second most common word written on cakes these days ("happy" being the first) I'm always amazed when Wreckerators spell it wrong. Which means I'm amazed a LOT.
Then I started wondering: Just how many ways can you accidentally misspell "birthday?"
Thus began my journey. And so far, it's had some surprising destinations, lemme tell ya.
First, there's the expected stuff:
Aw, c'mon, you doubting Thomases. This'll be fun.
Do I hear a missed 'T'?
Now how about a missed 'H'?
Let's get a little crazy. You think anyone's ever missed the 'Y'?
Ok, but surely - SURELY - no one has ever forgotten to write the 'B' in 'birthday', right?
(Are you guys as excited about this as I am?)
Drum roll, please!
Now that's what I'm TALKIN' 'bout.
(Also, check out the white roses masquerading as clouds. Impostors!)
Poor Aaron.
And would you believe we're just getting started? That's right, it's allll downhill from here. You'll have to tune in tomorrow, though, because John starts getting this funny little eye twitch every time I post more than half a dozen Wrecks at a time, and right now they're kind of bulging out in a way that simply can NOT be healthy. (His eyes, that is - not the wrecks. [Although, truth be told, some of them are kind of bulgy.])
So tomorrow, then. Be there, or be without amazingly hilarious misspelling of "birthday." And then where will you be?
Lia F., Lea G., Megan M., Keisha S., Diane C., Lex, Sandy, Erika K., Lauren, & Brian D., if you're keeping score, we're currently up to an imperfect 10. And if not, well, we're still up to 10.
- Related Wreckage: The Cutest Misspellings of "Happy Birthday" I Have Ever Seen


text:
At the institute "Ethics in the Neurosciences" (INM-8) several interdisciplinary projects contribute to the analysis of neuroscientific findings from the perspective of philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and ethics.
The work group "Representation and Modelling" focuses on issues in the philosophy of science and philosophy of mind. It examines the enormous progress of the neurosciences in exploring the neural realizations of specific cognitive capacities and recent developments in computational neuroscience that aim at the simulation of brain activities in neural networks. One aim of the work group is to evaluate the theoretical commitments and criteria for the success of such models.
While there has been significant progress in establishing correlations between brain states and mental states, there are as yet no satisfactory neuroscientific explanations of such key mental traits as self-consciousness, intentionality, or the qualitative aspect of phenomenal experience. The work group investigates how these are represented in the brain.
The concepts 'person', 'personhood', and 'personality' are of central relevance to our self-conception. The work group "Person and Neuroethics" investigates selected aspects of personal life from both a conceptual and an empirical viewpoint. From a philosophical perspective, the usage of terms for aspects of personal life in the empirical sciences equivocate between subjective and objective notions of human consciousness. One task of the work group is to provide a conceptual clarification of the presuppositions in empirical research and to relate empirical results to a conceptually sound understanding of personal life.
Self-referential consciousness is considered to be a constitutive element of personality in neuro-psychological research as well as in psychiatric practice. In order to analyze its role in the life of a person, the understanding of the phenomena of self-consciousness needs to be sharpened both conceptually and empirically. Recent philosophical and neuroscientific research suggests that one has to deal with self- referential attitudes and states rather than with a "self" or an "I" as referents of egological vocabulary. The conceptual analysis has to be related to the use of egological terms in psychiatry, where it is employed to describe directly or indirectly observable states of a person with psychiatric disorder.
The use of new neurotechnologies and their possible influence on self-conscious states raise several ethical concerns beyond standard bioethical problems such as informed consent, incidental findings, and privacy. These technologies give cause to serious concern regarding possible alterations of a person's self-referential attitudes, personality structure, and capacities to lead the life of a person. Therefore, identifying normatively relevant properties of personality and personhood is an essential requirement for the ethical evaluation of neurotechnological systems.
The work group "Science and Ethics", which is co-organised by the INM-8, facilitates ethical reflection on scientific research in the FZ Juelich. This interdisciplinary work group provides the unique opportunity of raising and discussing issues of ethical importance as they arise in research practice. One special focus is to create an awareness of the ethical problems associated with their work in early career scientists. For this purpose, the results of the work group's discussions will be disseminated in different appropriate formats.


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The makers of these Tidbit memo pads found a way to improve on something that, quite frankly, was already pretty perfect to begin with. But by turning the grid lines on a piece of graph paper into perforations, they've managed to create a product that's even more useful.
Whether you need to tear out half a page to share a drawing, or a single line to remember a phone number, the performations ensure your notes are always perfectly straight with clean edges. And they're available in 80-sheet pads in three different sizes ranging from around £2.50 to £3.20, so it's not like you're paying an outrageous premium for the extra functionality.


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Decentralization & Responsibility
Imerys operates in around 50 countries and owns more than 250 industrial sites. These characteristics explain why it has such a decentralized structure conducive to action, responsiveness and well-calculated risk-taking. Transparency and acceptance of responsibility are the natural benefits resulting from these very specific imperatives.
Furthermore, the Group is constantly evolving, developing its range of products and services, adapting to its environment and improving. In this context, the spirit of initiative must be accompanied by a constant focus on teamwork, networking and communication with a very wide range of contacts, both internal and external. That is why simplicity, openness and strong interpersonal skills are also favored by Imerys.


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Vince Delmonte Workout
Over the last few years Vince Delmonte has become one of the premier muscle building coaches on the internet. A former skinny guy himself he knows the sheer frustration that we "hardgainers" go through when trying to gain muscle mass.
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If you read this site, it's likely you're already living the sweet life; but today, life is about to get sweeter still. Why so? Well, we've decided to give away a Cakespy original mini watercolor painting to one lucky reader! Like whoa!
How can you put your name in the running? It's easy! All you need to do is this:
- To satisfy our nosy tendencies (we are spies, after all), fill out the below Cake Poll! You can leave your responses in the comment section, or send your responses via email to email@example.com.
- At 12pm PST on Sunday, February 24, the Cake Poll will be closed. The winner will be chosen at random, not based on their responses. The original will then be shipped to the lucky winner within 48 hours, via the most economical method.
As for our fine print: The results of this poll will be used for entertainment and Cake Gumshoeing purposes only; we may summarize the results of this poll in upcoming posts. Your private information will not be shared with any outside parties. Also, we've elected to leave the cake poll open to all US Territories, Canada and abroad--so even overseas cake enthusiasts can take part! *As for the prize itself, it is the miniature framed painting pictured at the top and to the left; no substitutions are allowed.
And so, without further ado, let us poke at your most intimate cake details (if emailing your answers, please include your name and the best way to contact you if you win!):
- Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
- What were some of the special cakes from your childhood (a Birthday cake? Grandma's German Chocolate? Or perhaps something from the local bakery or supermarket? Anything goes for us as long as it was special to you.)?
- Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes? No judgments, we promise.
- If you were stranded on a desert island and had to live on one type of cake or cupcake for the rest of your life...what type would it be?
- On cupcakes, what is your ideal ratio of cake to frosting? 50/50? 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting? 3/4 cake, 1/4 frosting? Other?
- How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes?
- What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes?
- Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad?
In the meantime, have a very sweet weekend!


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Search Results: healthy
Arugula Pesto Chicken Salad
This ain't yo' mama's chicken salad! Easy homemade arugula pesto adds big flavor to this family favorite chicken salad. (gluten-free)
Arugula and Tomato Salad with Shaved Parmesan
A simple Italian classic with a divine mix of flavours.
Apple-Cranberry Oat Crisp
This crisp will make a delicious and healthy addition to any breakfast or brunch. Can also be enjoyed as a dessert.
Asian Noodle Salad
Delicious hot or cold, this dish is easily customizable to the veggies you have on hand! Make extra and enjoy the leftovers- it's better the second day!
Asian Sesame Naan Pizza
This easy Asian Sesame Naan Pizza is so simple to throw together, but has an amazing flavor that can't be denied!
Asian-Inspired Seafood with Vegetables
Versatile, delicious and uber-healthy weekday dinner.


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Eye-level watermarks, gutted buildings and rows of mobile classrooms linger as reminders of the flooding from Hurricane Katrina that nearly wiped out Southern University at New Orleans in 2005.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Eye-level watermarks, gutted buildings and rows of mobile classrooms linger as reminders of the flooding from Hurricane Katrina that nearly wiped out Southern University at New Orleans in 2005.
Now the predominantly African-American university faces what students and administrators view as a new threat: Gov. Bobby Jindal's proposal to consolidate the school with the nearby, mostly white University of New Orleans.
"It will be the death of SUNO," student government vice president Ellis Brent Jr. said recently as he worked on a letter-writing campaign in hopes of killing the idea in an upcoming legislative session.
Jindal's proposal renews a politically and racially charged argument that pops up periodically in the roughly 20 states that have public, four-year institutions known as historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs.
"Every time the economy tanks, and certainly, right now, these are dire economic times, understandably governments and legislatures look for ways of cutting costs while maintaining and increasing a level of educational excellence," said Lezli Baskerville, president of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. "We certainly applaud and salute that.
"The challenge comes when there are broad and diverse options and the first option appears to be 'let's look at submerging HBCUs into the historically white college and university system.'"
Jindal is adamant. "It makes no sense to have colleges blocks apart, neither one of them with graduation rates we can accept," he said Tuesday at his weekly legislative news conference in Baton Rouge. At the same time, more than 200 SUNO supporters were gathering on the Capitol steps to protest the merger.
Students have filed a complaint with the Department of Justice over the merger, saying the state has discriminated against minority students, the faculty senate president said Tuesday. Spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa confirmed Tuesday that the Justice Department has received the complaint.
A 2009 proposal in Georgia to merge two mostly black colleges with mostly white institutions failed. The following year, the Georgia NAACP sued the state for alleged systematic underfunding of black colleges. A 2010 proposal by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour would have merged three historically black universities — Alcorn State, Jackson State and Mississippi Valley state — but it went nowhere.
This latest effort comes as Louisiana faces a $1.6 billion budget shortfall and it's being pushed by a governor with high approval ratings and no announced opposition so far as he campaigns for re-election in the fall. Still, it will require a hard-to-get two-thirds vote in the House and the Senate and has strong opposition from the Democratic Party, black lawmakers and much of the New Orleans political establishment, including Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
Jindal insists his proposal is about improving education, not saving money. Unveiled in January, it comes a little more than five years after both campuses were badly damaged when levees breached during Katrina and much of the city flooded. Lower post-Katrina enrollment and low graduation rates plague both schools, especially SUNO, where the percentage of students who graduate within six years is less than 8 percent.
A SUNO-UNO consolidation proposal adopted in March by Louisiana's top higher education board, the Board of Regents, involved something less than a full-blown merger. Based on a consultant's recommendation, it called for creation of a "University of Greater New Orleans" encompassing a consolidated administrative system running both an "urban research university" with tougher admission standards and a "Metropolitan University" having, in the consultants' words "a special role (and obligation) in serving the African-American citizens of the Greater New Orleans Region." It also would keep the schools with separate academic officers and accreditations.
Last week, Jindal floor leaders introduced a bill calling for a more sweeping consolidation, with one accreditation and one academic chief.
Either recommendation removes SUNO from the governance of the Baton Rouge-based, historically black Southern University System. Students and administrators are uneasy about SUNO leaving the Southern fold and they question whether the consolidated university would truly serve the needs of New Orleans' black students.
"SUNO's mission is driven by the fact that it's part of the Southern University System," Ron Mason, president of the system, said.
Talk of SUNO's low graduation rate irritates SUNO administrators.
"It's directly impacted by Katrina," chancellor Victor Ukpolo, said during a recent news conference. The percentage is affected, he said, by the fact that the campus shut down after the August 29, 2005, storm and many students quit or transferred rather than wait for resumption of classes the following January.
Still, supporters of the merger point out that SUNO's six-year rate is the lowest in the state — much lower than that at UNO, around 21 percent, which was also hit hard by the storm.
"What they're not telling you is that, because the students here are older, work harder and have many life challenges, it takes them nine years to graduate," Mason said in a separate interview.
Anthony Jeanmarie agrees.
"Most people do not go to SUNO for four years. That's not going to happen," said Jeanmarie, a 35-year-old SUNO student. "If your life is complicated in any form or fashion and you want to go to a university, then SUNO is your place."
And Jeanmarie's life is complicated. A married, African-American father of three who preaches at a New Orleans church and was recently laid off from his job at a state Medicaid office, he finished high school at 16, but was a teenage father by the time he entered college. He said poor grades got him suspended from SUNO but he returned three years ago to major in psychology.
"Give this university a chance," he said, arguing that recently adopted higher admission standards are expected to increase graduation rates, and noting that enrollment is bouncing back.
National education officials will be watching.
During a recent visit to New Orleans, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was careful to say he does not know details of the current proposal and couldn't comment specifically on it. He made clear, however, that HBCUs are an important part of the Obama administration's efforts to increase the number of people getting college degrees.
"A disproportionate number of students going to HBCUs are first-generation college-goers," Duncan said. "When they have these opportunities, it doesn't just change their life, it changes the life of their family for generations to come."
There is trepidation about
the proposal, too, on UNO's campus, where enrollment is more than 11,000. Student Government Association President John Mineo said students there are concerned about the uncertainty involved as the consolidation debate heats up.
UNO currently is without a chancellor and the search for a new leader was suspended recently amid uncertainty over the merger proposal. Some students worry that they may be affected by tougher requirements will be adopted at ta new, hybrid university, And, he said UNO students he has talked to don't think a merger should be forced if SUNO students are opposed.
"I don't think race is an issue," he said. "SUNO students feel like they're losing their identity and UNO students feel like they're losing theirs too."
Associated Press writers Melinda Deslatte and Molly Davis in Baton Rouge, La., contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
Photo Caption: Anthony Jeanmarie, 35-year-old psychology student at Southern University at New Orleans, walks past external air conditioning ducts that cool campus buildings, which replaced the building's ducts that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans, Tuesday, April 26, 2011. More than five years after Hurricane Katrina nearly wiped out Southern University at New Orleans, students and faculty there are fighting what they portray as another grave threat: Gov. Bobby Jindal's proposal to consolidate historically black SUNO with the nearby, predominantly white University of New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)


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Didn't we learn anything from the financial meltdown? Individual consumers cannot protect themselves from lenders that are willing to use predatory practices to boost profits. Reputable businesses cannot compete when competitors don't play by the same rules.
The financial markets need a strong regulator, one that can take decisive action against bad actors. This is good for everyone.
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It took a terrible recession to teach us an important lesson: Without proper regulation, financial markets can devastate the economy and hurt us all. Congress vowed this would never happen again, so last year it passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. That law created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The bureau, which officially opens for business July 21, will be empowered to protect the American consumer from unfair, deceptive or abusive practices. As envisioned by Dodd-Frank, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will:
- Improve disclosure about financial transactions
- Promote fair competition
- Reduce outdated or overly burdensome regulations
- Simplify paperwork and eliminate fine print that hides fees, penalties and other important information
- Hold companies accountable if they break the law
It's hard to see what can be wrong about any of that, especially after well-documented abuses of the system brought the world's largest economy to the brink of disaster.
Yet Republicans in Congress have never liked the idea of creating this new agency. They believe it is unnecessary and way too powerful. They've introduced a series of bills designed to muzzle this watchdog.
In a statement last week, Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor President Obama tapped to create this consumer agency, said the bills are designed to "defund, delay and defang the consumer agency before it can help one family."
"These bills are about preventing the CFPB from operating effectively — a dangerous game to play in light of recent lessons in the marketplace and how quickly financial threats to consumers emerge," she said.Story: Congress may defang consumer agency before first bite
Consumer groups across the country have launched a full-scale counterattack against the proposals.
"This agency will simply make sure costs and risks are presented clearly, so each of us can make smart financial choices," says Ruth Susswein of Consumer Action."Why should this be so threatening?"
"A vote to roll back this consumer protection bureau is a vote for the kind of predatory lending that got us in this mess and cost taxpayers so much," says Kathleen Day with the Center for Responsible Lending."It will make the recovery take longer, and we will end up with another bubble and bust."
"Consumers are still dealing with financial tricks and traps even after Congress passed financial reform last year," notes Travis Plunkett, legislative director at the Consumer Federation of America."So we need a consumer protection bureau more than ever, to provide a cop on the beat to help consumers."
Consumer advocates are also taking on the financial institutions that want the CFPB weakened.
"The banks do not want a regulator that is truly independent and has only one job, protecting consumers," says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at U.S. PIRG.
Elizabeth Warren in her own words
"Fine print and overly long agreements make it difficult for consumers to understand and compare products, and that obstacle to sound markets is not removed by disclosures that are too complicated or that do not focus on the key information consumers need."
"The principal role of consumer protection regulation in credit markets is to make it easy for consumers to see what they are getting and to make it easy for customers to compare one product with another, so that markets can function effectively."
"At the consumer bureau, we believe in markets – markets that make prices and risks clear and that give consumers the basic information they need to determine who is offering the best deals."
"When consumers are presented with a clearer choice between two financial products and they can easily know the costs, benefits, and risks of those products, they will be better able to make decisions that work for themselves and for their families."
"At the CFPB, we believe that a simple and straightforward presentation of key credit terms is the best way to level the playing field between borrowers and lenders and to foster honest competition. Our goal is shorter, clearer forms for the most common credit products, the kind that consumers can read in a few minutes with high levels of understanding."
Source: Prepared Testimony presented to U.S. House Oversight Subcommittee, May 24, 2011
"Businesses that are playing by the rules and being fair to customers will benefit from the work that the bureau will do," says Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League."Anybody who is trying to pull a fast one is not going to do so well, and that's as it should be," she says.
"Reputable banks and reputable business people have absolutely nothing to fear from this agency," says Ellen Bloom with Consumers Union,the publisher of Consumer Reports. "We just want to give the consumer an even shot and get back to clarity and simplicity and make things less confusing for them."
People are confused. Consumer Reports conducted a national poll about financial services last year. An overwhelming majority (84 percent) of those responding said they had applied for a loan or credit card in the last 12 months and had some difficulty in understanding the terms of what they were signing.
The CFPB wants the new standard to be: a simple and straightforward presentation of information that tells people the true cost of financial products and what the risks are.
Just last week the agency proposed simplified mortgage disclosure forms. These prototypes are shorter and easier to understand than forms given to potential borrowers now.
Warren says a clear and simple disclosure form will help people decide if they can afford the loan and make it easier for them to shop around for a better deal.
The CFPB wants consumers and lenders to comment about these disclosure forms on its website.
Solving problems
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to set up a system to accept consumer complaints and publish them on its website. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have similar complaint databases.
The CFPB would use this information to answer questions, try to help people solve their problems and use the complaints to take action against those who are not following the law.
"One of the beauties of this agency is that you will not just send in your complaint and hope that someday the agency will sue a company for its wrongdoing," notes Ruth Susswein with Consumer Action. "It actually has to respond to consumer complaints. It has to interact with people and not just collect complaints and that will be huge."
My two cents
The last Congress created this agency and the new Congress needs to give it a chance. I'd ask lawmakers to consider the words of Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase. In his April report to shareholders Dimon wrote, "Strong regulatory standards, adequate review of new products and transparency to consumers all are good things."
Want to keep up with the latest on consumer news, follow the ConsumerMan on Facebook .


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WEDNESDAY, June 12, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- Restricting the sale of large sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages in restaurants and other food-service outlets would affect 7.5 percent of Americans each day and have the greatest impact on overweight people, according to a new study.
In an effort to fight obesity, New York City's Board of Health approved a ban on the sale of sugary beverages larger than 16 ounces at eateries, but the law was struck down by the New York state Supreme Court in March. An appeal began this week.
In order to assess the effect that such a ban would have nationwide, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health analyzed the records of more than 19,000 people who took part in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007 to 2010.
The study found that about 60 percent of Americans consumed sugary drinks daily, but only 7.5 percent of them purchased "super-size" sugary drinks from an eatery on a given day. The rates, however, were somewhat higher for certain groups: 13.6 percent of overweight teens, 12.6 percent of overweight young adults aged 20 to 44 and 8.6 percent of overweight people in general.
The investigators also found that low-income and high-income people were equally likely to buy large sugary drinks from restaurants, which challenges the criticism that a ban on the sale of these drinks at eateries discriminates against the poor.
The researchers said this finding was a surprise because poorer people are more likely to drink sugary beverages than those with higher incomes. But although poor people tend to consume more sugary beverages, it's cheaper for them to buy these drinks at a store and consume them at home, the authors said.
The study, published online in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, used national data but shows that this type of ban would help fight obesity no matter where in the country it was implemented.
"Our findings are clear: A law like this would address one of the fundamental causes of obesity -- the growing portion size of sweetened drinks," lead author Dr. Y. Claire Wang, an assistant professor of health policy and management, said in a university news release.
For example, the study authors said, in 1955, a regular-size soda at McDonald's was 7 ounces. The sizes offered today range from a 12-ounce child-size drink to a 32-ounce drink. "Changing social norms is difficult, but as portion sizes have grown, it's useful to establish a new standard," Wang said.
Another expert, Dr. Sandro Galea, chairman of the department of epidemiology at the Mailman School, pointed out the importance of the study findings.
"[The study] provides critical foundational evidence that the proposed efforts to restrict marketing of large sodas in New York City and elsewhere can have a substantial impact on population health," said Galea, who is also a member of the New York City Board of Health.
Commenting on the study findings, Christopher Gindlesperger, senior director of public affairs at the American Beverage Association, stated that "it's time for a comprehensive approach to addressing obesity."
Gindlesperger pointed out that "obesity is a complex issue with many contributing factors beyond one type of food or beverage. A recent report found that in 2010, U.S. youth consumed 68 fewer calories and adults 45 fewer calories per day from added sugar in soft drinks than in 2000, yet obesity rates continue to rise."
More information
The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about overweight and obesity.


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- At the summit: a view of Eastern Europe's Carpathian Range stretching toward the horizon.
Hiking Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains
Far off the beaten path...
The Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine occupy the far western part of the country. They are considered moderate – nothing quite as massive or high as the Rockies, nor as rolling or subtle as the Appalachians. Yet they provide enough terrain for any adventure-savvy hiker to drool over.
You may be asking yourself, well, why should I visit the Carpathian Mountains? For starters, the Alps have turned into a Disneyland circus; though impressive, they aren't quite the escape that they used to be. In a age when the internet has uncovered landscapes that were unknown to the traveler twenty years ago, who wouldn't want a novel hiking experience?
A new country, Ukraine has only been open to Western capitalism a little over twenty years. Vast swaths of the Ukrainian Carpathians are untouched by hotels, vacation condos and ski resorts. If you're searching for a true getaway, this is the place.
To hike the Carpathians, the ideal months are August and September. From October to late March, cold weather and impassable trails make it a bit rough. I'd done a previous trip in early June, but between April and the end of June the Carpathians receive significant (and often unpredictable) rainfall.
Our trip to the Carpathian Mountains was centered on the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast in August – the weather would be ideal and the days long. A 13-hour overnight train ride from Kiev took us to the western oblast (a large area of land much like a province. There are 24 oblasts in Ukraine).
From Ivano-Frankivsk, we took a 90-minute bus ride to Kalush. Once in Kalush we hitched another smaller bus and headed to the town of Osmoloda, our starting point. After riding a crammed bus for another 90 minutes and then navigating a rocky, crater-infested dirt road, we finally arrived.
As it turns out, Osmoloda isn't really a town and isn't really a village – more like a Wild West outpost. No visible humans were in sight along the one and only dirt street. Watermelon-sized horse droppings littered the street. A wolf-like dog trotted past, and a nearby wooden fence creaked eerily in the breeze. I expected John Wayne to come walking by any second and address me as "pilgrim."
Behind Osmoloda, the Carpathians loomed in the distance, casting a massive shadow over the settlement and giving the place a cozy feel. Everything smelled of wood and pine. The whole place was dreamy and sublime.
Besides rudimentary logging equipment, there was only a group of splintered wooden houses along the main drag. After talking to a lone Ukrainian hiker, decked in military boots and a t-shirt that read "Space Man," we learned that a small amount of logging takes place outside of town.
He continued to tell us that the scale of the logging is quite small when considering the large amount of unlogged mountain land that still existed. However, due to the slippery agreements between the logging companies and the local Ukrainian government, which turns a blind eye to this ruthless destruction, the escalation of logging was imminent.
There are four hiking routes heading out of Osmoloda, all marked by different colors: the red trail, blue trail, yellow trail and black trail. Each trail is an out-and-back loop and spans anywhere from 30 to about 60 kilometers. We took the red trail, a route which spans a little over 45 km (28 miles).
If you choose to hike into the Carpathians from Osmoloda, you'll be rewarded with nightly accommodations along the trail. Small cabins are located along each trail for hikers who want to get out of the elements should the weather turn sour. Originally designed as rescue cabins, each is equipped with a wool sweater, matches, tea, and if you're lucky, edible grains for the fatigued hiker.
Our plan was to spend each night in one of these aged cabins. Based on their rickety exterior, along with cobwebs and mustiness in the interior, these cabins creepily resembled haunted houses in the middle of the woods.
The first day we trotted a meager 15 km due to overgrown vegetation on the trail. The people who maintain the Carpathian trails in the Ivano-Frankovsk oblast are largely volunteers, so you must be persistent when encountering an untamed section. This process gives hiking a visceral, old-school approach compared to many of the well-maintained trails in the States.
We spent the first night in a wooden rescue cabin, meeting two Romanians who had come to the Ukrainian Carpathians to experience the wilderness. We traded Cliff Bars for smoked Polish sausage and talked of the grand adventures we were planning for the future. Things couldn't have been much better.
The next day we climbed over sizeable ridgelines, above the tree line, and enjoyed spectacular views. Shrubs of fresh raspberries and blueberries lined the trails. We stained our hands, stuffed our faces, and buzzed like bees along the trail from all the natural sugar.
The next two days were spent following the red trail over six peaks, through meadows, across rivers, and through dark, eerie forests in which no sunlight penetrated.
At night, we "crashed" at other rescue cabins, and even though we slept on wooden boards, the aesthetic experience made it feel like we were sleeping on beds of feathers.
Towards evening, we trotted into Osmoloda smelling like dirtbag bums, having only seen six people in three and a half days. Opting for a swim in the icy river flowing on the outside of town, we bathed and nursed our inflamed muscles as a nearly full moon hung low between the crest of two peaks.