A multi-institutional AI project has successfully deciphered a series of 'Proto-Kushana' inscriptions found on clay bullae in the Oxus Valley of Northern Afghanistan. The inscriptions, written in a previously undeciphered hybrid of Greek and Central Asian scripts, detail the complex administrative logistics of a 1st-century BCE trade confederation.
The texts reveal a sophisticated taxation and insurance system for caravans traveling the Silk Road, including specific codes for the transport of semi-precious stones and medicinal resins. This breakthrough provides the first direct linguistic evidence of the proto-state structures that existed prior to the rise of the Kushan Empire, illustrating how regional trade guilds evolved into one of the world's most powerful imperial bureaucracies.