Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "קנישקה" in Hebrew language version.
According to one influential account, he was born in Khotan and came from a family line different from that of Kushan dynasty founder Kujūla Kadphises and his successor, Vīma Kadphises.
According to the Chinese sources, Kanishka came originally from Khotan and belonged to one of the smaller Yueh Chi tribes.
There are two unconfirmed theories about Kanisha's having ruled in the periphery of the Kushan Empire before assuming power as the Shaonanoshao. Both are based on the supposition of a separate Kanishka dynasty. The earlier-Sten Konow's-is that Kanishka came from Khotan, having been summoned as an ethnic ally at the time of troubles after Vima's reign. Konow supports this theory by citing a Tibetan tradition that a Khotanese expedition to India of about A.D. 120 was commanded by a King Vijayakirti along with a King Kanika and the king of Guzan. Ghirshman's similar theory is that Kanishka was originally king of Kashmir before becoming suzerain of the dynasty as a whole. He cites the above mentioned Khalatse epigraph, which may allude to Kushan power reaching the northeast corner of Kashmir, and also the Rajatarangini, in which the list of Turushka kings of Kashmir gave Kanishka's name as the third of a sequence, suggesting that he had predecessors there (Hushka and Jushka). Finally, testimony of Kanishka's activity in Kashmir in favor of the Buddhist faith suggests that he favored the region above others and that he founded Peshawar as his capital to be close to Kashmir.
According to the Chinese sources, Kanishka came originally from Khotan and belonged to one of the smaller Yueh Chi tribes.
