Page "Middle kingdoms of India" Paragraph 14

The Kushan Empire ( c. 1st – 3rd centuries ) originally formed in Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus River or Amu Darya in what is now northern Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan ; during the 1st century CE, they expanded their territory to include the Punjab and much of the Ganges basin, conquering a number of kingdoms across the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the process.

The Kushans conquered the central section of the main Silk Routes and, therefore, had control of the overland trade between India, Persia, China and the Roman Empire.