Kushana administrative system stands between the Greek-Shaka-Pahlava system, on the one hand, and the Gupta system, on the other. Kushanas borrowed principles of governance from their predecessors and developed such principles and institutions which continued and were adopted by the imperial Guptas.
The Kushana kings, unlike the Mauryas, used grand eloquent titles such as maharaj, rajatiraja etc. Kujula Kadphises, the founder of the Kushana kingdom in India, is described as a small chief (yavuga), but later kings adopted bigger titles. Although, both the titles seem Indian in form, the title rajatiraja was derived from their Parthian predecessors.
The Kanishka group of rulers generally prefixed the title sahi to their names which appears as shaonano shao on their coin legends. The Kushanas adopted this title from their Shaka predecessors. This title appeared later in the Allahabad Prasasti in its sanskritized form as sahanushahi.
The Kushanas were also influenced by the Roman system. Kanishka adopted the title kaiser. But the imitation was restricted to the title only. In the field of provincial administration the Kushanas followed the kshatrapal system. The Sarnath buddhist image inscription of Kanishka refers to the rule of two kshatrapas: Vanaspara and Kharapallana.
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Although the system of dual kingship prevailed before the Kushanas, they introduced the practice of dual governorship in a province, so that one could act as a check on the other. The kshatrapas exercised their powers through semi-military officers known as dandanayaka and mahadandanayaka. The lowest territorial unit was the village under the gramika and the towns were supervised by the nigama officials.
The nature of the early historical political scenario makes it amply clear that centrifugal forces were at work. To counter-balance this Kushanas proclaimed association of divine elements with the ruler. They tried to deify themselves by adopting the title of devaputra and instituting the dead king’s cult (devakula).
Before Kushanas, the Parthian kings had adopted the title devavrata i.e. devoted to god. Since the concept of deified king was alien to Buddhism (Kanishka’s professed faith), its theoretical justification came immediately in the near contemporary Mahayanist Buddhist text, Suvarnaprabhasottamsutra.
The Kushanas derived the practice of setting up devakulas from the Romans, who in turn had borrowed this idea from the Egyptians. Apart from these two practices, the Kushana kings were also represented on their coins with the nimbus, aureole, clouds or flames. The idea of devaputra was adopted by the Kushanas from the Chinese who called their king the “Son of Heaven.”