The '''Kushan Empire''' was a relatively short-lived empire that controlled a vast area from the eastern shores of the [[Caspian Sea]] across the north and east of modern [[Iran]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Pakistan]] and much of the [[Ganges River|Ganges]] valley in northern [[India]]. From the last years of the first century A.D. to its disintegration in the first half of the 3rd, it controlled all the land trade routes between the [[Mediterranean]], then under the [[Roman]]s - at the height of their power - and [[China]]. | The '''Kushan Empire''' was a relatively short-lived empire that controlled a vast area from the eastern shores of the [[Caspian Sea]] across the north and east of modern [[Iran]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Pakistan]] and much of the [[Ganges River|Ganges]] valley in northern [[India]]. From the last years of the first century A.D. to its disintegration in the first half of the 3rd, it controlled all the land trade routes between the [[Mediterranean]], then under the [[Roman]]s - at the height of their power - and [[China]]. |