Kujula Kadphises the first Kushan ruler, unifies the Yueh Chi triebes by 22 AD and instead of conquering Gandhara immediately, reconquers the Tarim Basin, the original home of the Yueh Chi and Tokharians from the Northern Hsiung-Hu and then defeats Wang Ming, the Hsin Dynasty Ruler who has led China into disaster. His well organized forces than defeat Liu Xiu, preventing the establishment of theLater Han Dynasty and giving the Kushans the opportunity to create the first foreign dynasty to rule over China.
The Kushans finish consolidating power over China by 50 AD and move to conquer Gandhara and then Arcsid Persia, which they complete by AD 60. This gives them a common frontier with Rome.
The Kushans utilize several major military innovations. One is the stirrup, which enables a mounted archer to fire arrows accurately from the saddle, even while riding away. The other, learned from the Chinese while conquering China, is the Chinese crossbow,which can penetrate the Roman scutum.
In AD 66, Judea revolts against Rome. The Kushans move in on Judea and offer it protection, which extends the Kushan Empire's borders all the way to the Mediteranean. Roman legions under Appolinaris from Egypt and Flavius Vespasian counterattack, but being infantry, are ill equiped to deal with an army that is mostly heavy catophracti. They are forced to retreat to Egypt where the Kushan Chinese commander decides not to follow for the time being at least due to the dificulty that he sees in controlling a territory with a population the size of Egypt with the force that he has, let alone transporting tax grain all the way to Chang'an, the new Kushan capital. A truce is arranged that still leaves Rome importing grain from Egypt while the Kushan Chinese begin to conquer and line up Scythian tribes north of the Jaxterxes (Syr Darya) River up to and later beyond the Volga for a final assault on the Hsiung Nu, the Kushan's most dangerous enemy. Further imperial conquest can wait until the remaining people of the Steppe are gathered together to deal with the Hsiung Nu.