Around 30CE, the leader of the Kuei-Shang tribe, Kujula Kadphises, conquered the other tribes of the Yuezhi and established himself as their unifying, autocratic leader. This event is considered by most to be the formal start of the Kushan Empire, with minted coins labeling Kujula Kadphises as the koşana for the first time.

Dr. Mandana Seyfeddinipur is a professor at the SOAS University of London and Director of the SOAS Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP). Dr.Seyfeddinipur grew up in Mainz, Germany as the daughter of Iranian parents who migrated to Germany as teenagers. Dr.Seyfeddinipur obtained degrees from The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, The Freie Universität in Berlin, and as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in California. Dr.Seyfeddinipur is dedicated to fighting the process of language endangerment and educating the public on the issue at-large.