Kidarite Kingdom

  General Description   The Kidarite state in Central Asia (~ 388-477 CE) may have lasted less than 100 years, but its earliest phase under the suzerainty of the Sassanid Empire is not well known. ^[1] "It has been suggested that they conquered K’ang-chu and Sogdiana in c. 300 but the literary sources have not yet been corroborated by the archaeological evidence." ^[2]
The most influential ruler of the Kidarites was perhaps king Kidara: narrative sources place him in the c420s CE but numismatists agree his rule began c390 CE. ^[3] The Chinese chronicle Peo-Shih (Annals of the Wei Dynasty) say Kidara held "vast territories to the north and south of the Hindu Kush" and his most imporant city was near Peshawar, probably Purushapura, ^[4] the late capital of the Kushan Empire.
Much like the Kushan Empire little is known about how exactly they ruled their territories. The Kidarites founded new cities (Panjikent and Kushaniya), Kushaniya being a royal foundation ^[3] that shows that the Kidarites attempted to draw some of their legitimacy from the preceding Kushan period. Zeimal (1996) concludes that "It seems likely that the administrative and government structure created by the Kushans was left largely intact under the Kidarites." ^[5]

[1]: (Zeimal 1996, 125) E. V. Zeimal. The Kidarite Kingdom In Central Asia. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.123-137. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf

[2]: (Zeimal 1996, 124-125) E V Zeimal. The Kidarite Kingdom In Central Asia. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.123-137. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf

[3]: (Grenet 2005) Frantz Grenet. 2005. KIDARITES. Iranicaonline. www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kidarites

[4]: (Zeimal 1996, 126) E V Zeimal. The Kidarite Kingdom In Central Asia. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.123-137. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf

[5]: (Zeimal 1996, 132) Zeimal, E. V. The Kidarite Kingdom In Central Asia. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.123-137.