View Message

[Facts] What does the name "Kanishk" mean?

This message was edited 4/24/2023, 1:30 AM

vote up0vote down

Replies

Kanishk is the Hindi version of Sanskrit Kanishka (written in both as कनिष्क), which refers to an eminent emperor of the 1st- or 2nd-century Kushan dynasty known for his political and military achievements, as well as his benevolence and patronage of Buddhism. All that is known about his name is that before it was written in Sanskrit, it was written in Bactrian as Κανηϸκε (Kanēške). However, his native language is posited to be Tocharian, as he was of the Yuezhi ethnicity.Being possibly from either of two dead languages, the actual meaning of his name may well be unknowable, and potential theories are endless. I could not find any sources that infer anything about the name, so here are some random possibilities I came up with myself:
- related to Tocharian kän- meaning "to fulfill; to come to pass";
- related to Tocharian kene meaning "melody; tune"; and
- related to Indo-Iranian (Bactrian was an East Iranian language) *kanH- meaning "to love; to take pleasure in; to dig."
I am not an expert, though, so I cannot guess how likely any of these are.Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanishka
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kän-
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Tocharian/kene
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/kanH-
vote up7vote down
Wow that's an awesome explanation!
vote up2vote down