Kaniṣka I

The third king of the north-west and central Indian Kuṣāṇa dynasty who ruled c.128-51 ce. He was renowned as a patron of Buddhism, sometimes even regarded as a ‘second Aśoka’, and was particulary associated with the Sarvāstivāda school. A council was held under his patronage at Gandhāra, which led to the compilation of the Mahāvibhāṣā (see Council of Kaniṣka).