ABSTRACT
The result of Gafurov’s deliberations was an international conference under UNESCO auspices on the history, archaeology and culture of Central Asia in the Kushan period, held from 27 September through 6 October 1968 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The Kushans returned in strength in 1978, the same year as the Saur revolution. Even before the country had recovered from the overthrow of Daud an international seminar on Kushan studies was planned for the end of November 1978 under the auspices of a new Academy of Sciences with its new president Gul Mohammad Noorzai. The Kushan empire fitted very well into the picture of contemporary Afghanistan, and all of its peoples could look back and proudly say ‘we are descendants of the Kushans’. In the case of Afghanistan, promotion of the pre-Islamic Kushans as a rallying point of national pride for all Afghans is a step towards detracting from Islam.
