Scientists learned about the existence of the Kushan kingdom in the middle of the 19th century from numismatic and archaeological materials. But since then, for a century and a half, the time of its creation and collapse, the dates of the reign of its kings remained the subject of controversy. The author of this book, based on materials from ancient Chinese sources, has clarified in detail the history of the predecessor of the Kushan kingdom - the kingdom of Great Yuezhi. This made it possible to establish the absolute chronology and location of the Kushan kingdom.

Contents: PrefaceNomadic kingdoms of Yuezhi and Great Yuezhi ( end of the 3rd–2nd centuries BC) The first information about the Yuezhi kingdom in the Gansu corridor and its defeat by the Huns (end of the 3rd century - 140 BC) Zhang Qian’s campaign in Central Asia and his information about kingdom of Greater YuezhiAbout the time of the first and second migration of the Yuezhi and their creation of the kingdom of Greater YuezhiEstablishment and development of Han embassy relations with Daxia and Greater Yuezhi (119–104 BC)Agricultural kingdom of Greater Yuezhi (1st century BC )When and how Greater Yuezhi took possession of DaxiaAbout the time of establishment and location of the headquarters cities of the five Yuezhi XihouAbout the limits of the Greater Yuezhi's possessions in the 1st century. BC BC Archaeological and numismatic materials from Bactria about the Yuezhi of the 2nd–1st centuries. BC e.How and when the Yuezhi nomads took possession of BactriaYuzhi coinage and the question of the fragmentation of Greater YuezhiPositions of the Later Han in the Western Territory and its contacts with the Kushan KingdomStrengthening of the kingdom of Shache and its collapse (25–61 AD)Attempts of the Later Han to establish itself in the Western Territory . Ban Chao (73–107) Ban Yong in the Western Territory (123–127) Creation of the Kushan Kingdom and the reign of its first two kings Rebellion of Guishuang-sihou Kujula Kadphises and the transformation of Greater Yuezhi into the Kushan Kingdom (c. 20 AD) Expansion Kushan kingdom under Kujula Kadphises. Conquest of the kingdoms of Gaofu, Puda and Jibin. Strengthening the power of the kingdom under Vima Kadphises (c. 80–103). Conquest of TianzhuOn the dates of Kanishka's reign (c. 103–125). The heyday of the Kushan kingdom under him and the gradual decline under his successorsConclusionBibliographyIndex of geographical namesIndex of namesSchemesSummary