Jiva (Kuchanese nun)

Jīva was a the sister of a king of Kucha, and later a Buddhist nun.

At a young age, Jīva fell in love with Kumārāyana, a noble Indian who renounced his fortune to become a Buddhist monk and thus travelled to Kucha. Jīva and Kumārāyana married and produced a son, Kumārajīva. When he was just seven, he had already memorised many Buddhist texts, and Jīva herself joined the Tsio-li nunnery north of Kucha. Two years later, when her son was nine, Jīva took him to Kashmir to study further. After two or three years they returned to Kashgar, where they stayed for a year. Finally, they travelled to Turfan before returning home to Kucha. As Kumārajīva grew up Jīva the two are said to have become more distant, with Jīva supposedly relocating to Kashmir. Kumārajīva became a noted Buddhist scholar and translator.