Sanctuaries and “dynastic cults” in the Indo-Iranian world: Arsacid, Indo-Parthian and Kushan evidence

The presence of monumental sites characterised by images of sovereigns is attested from Anatolia to the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent and has often been associated with possible ʻdynastic cultsʼ. Re-examination of some of the main ʻdynastic sanctuariesʼ associated with the Arsacid, Indo-Parthian and Kushan dynasties yields evidence for a possible interpretation of these places and the ideology they represent. The data in our possession suggest the existence of at least two architectural types that differed according to their function and spatial-chronological distribution, and at the same time a substantial ideological continuity of the royal ideology associated with these ruling Iranian dynasties.