Hi, I'm Tristan Hughes, and if you would like the ancient ad-free, get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.

With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, including my recent documentary all about Petra and the Nabatans, and enjoy a new release every week.

Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com slash subscribe. Hello everyone, I hope you're all well. We're all good at Ancient HQ. Just finished recording three ancient episodes in a row. So now just out for a quick walk. Now for today's episode, we have received quite a few comments asking us to do more episodes on ancient Central Asia and India.

In particular, I remember receiving an email from an ancient listener. Her name was Brianna.

And Brianna, she's been listening to the podcast for more than a year and a half,

and she suggested that we do an episode all about the Kashan Empire.

Well, it's taken a bit of time, but Brianna, I'm delighted to say we're now making that episode a reality.

It's the first century BC, and a new power has risen to prominence in Central Asia,

in the land known as Bactria, present-day Afghanistan.

Over the previous century, Greek overlords had ruled here, but no longer.

Hailing from the Great Step in Central Asia, nomadic invaders had swept westwards and ultimately settled in

Bactria, establishing their own kingdom along the fertile banks of the Oxus River. We know it today

as the Kushan Empire, named after its ruling dynasty. Over time, this empire would expand

across the Hindu Kush into northern India, reaching as far as the

Gangesh plane. Both sides of the Hindu Kush became connected under one empire. The story of the

Kushan Empire is that of an ancient superpower at the center of Eurasia, with connections to Rome,

Persia, China, the steppe and India.

And yet, so much of its story remains shrouded in mystery.

Today on the ancients, we're giving you an introduction to the enigmatic Kushan Empire,

exploring themes such as their extensive trade connections, their strong links to Buddhism,

and potentially to famous ancient Indian epics like the Mahabharata.

As for our guest, well, I was delighted to welcome back to the podcast to the one and only

...