| Ardashir I Kushanshah | |
|---|---|
 Coin of Ardashir I Kushanshah, Marw mint | |
| Kushanshah of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom | |
| Reign | 233–245 |
| Successor | Peroz I Kushanshah |
| Died | 245 |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
Ardashir I Kushanshah was the first Kushanshah of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom from 233 to 245. He was succeeded by Peroz I Kushanshah.
Ardashir is the Middle Persian form of the Old Persian Ṛtaxšira (also spelled Artaxšaçā, meaning "whose reign is through truth").[1][2] The Latin variant of the name is Artaxerxes.[1] Three kings of the Achaemenid Empire were known to have the same name.[1]
"Kushano-Sasanian" is a historiographic term used by modern scholars when referring to a dynasty of monarchs who supplanted the Kushan Empire in the Tukharistan region, and ultimately in both Kabulistan and Gandhara as well.[3] According to the historian Khodadad Rezakhani, the dynasty was seemingly a young branch of the House of Sasan, and perhaps a offspring of one of the Sasanian King of Kings.[3] It was founded in 233 by Ardashir I Kushanshah after his appointment by the first Sasanian King of Kings, Ardashir I (r. 224–242).[4][2] The Kushano-Sasanians, in the same manner as the Kushans, used the title of Kushanshah ("Kushan King"), thus demonstrating a continuum with their predecessors.[3]
The coins of Ardashir I Kushanshah had the Bactrian legend AP∆AÞΟPΟ KΟÞANΟ ÞAΟ, "Ardashir, the Kushan Shah".[5] Some of his coins also had a Pahlavi legend on the reverse reading mzdysn bgy arthštr RBA kwšan MLK "The Mazda-worshipping lord Ardashir the Great Kushan Shah".[5] The reverse of his Bactrian-written coins depicted the goddess Anahita, whilst the ones written in Pahlavi depicted Mithra.[6] Several of Ardashir I Kushanshah's coins have been found together with coins of the Kushan ruler Vasishka, suggesting a level of interaction between the two rulers.[5]