Chaghaniyan ( Middle Persian : Chagīnīgān ; Persian : چغانیان Chaghāniyān ), known as al-Saghaniyan in Arabic sources, was a medieval region and principality located on the right bank of the Oxus River , to the south of Samarkand .
115-636: Chaganian was an " Hephthalite buffer principality" located between Denov and Termez , and became a sanctuary for the Hephthalites following their defeat against the Sasanian Empire and the First Turkic Khaganate in 563-567 CE. They resettled in Chaganian and other territories of Tokharistan , under their new king Faganish, who established a dynasty. Soon, the new Hephthalite territories north of
230-561: A brother of Peroz took the Sasanian throne. In 488, a Hepthalite army vanquished the Sasaniana army of Balash, and was able to put Kavad I (488–496, 498–531) on the throne. In 496–498, Kavad I was overthrown by the nobles and clergy, escaped, and restored himself with a Hephthalite army. Joshua the Stylite reports numerous instances in which Kavadh led Hepthalite ("Hun") troops, in the capture of
345-554: A decade, despite the turmoil that swept the Caliphate after 743. When Yazid III came to power in early 744, he initially ordered Nasr replaced. Nasr refused to accept this, and held on to the post, being eventually confirmed to it a few months later. After Marwan II 's rise to power in December 744, he likewise affirmed Nasr's position. Nasr gave his province an unprecedented period of good government, stability and prosperity, so that, in
460-625: A fierce hatred for each other. During the reign of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ( r. 724–743 ), the Umayyad government appointed Mudari governors in Khurasan, except for Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri's tenure in 735–738. Nasr's appointment came four months after Asad's death. In the interim, the sources report variously that the province was run either by the Syrian general Ja'far ibn Hanzala al-Bahrani or by Asad's lieutenant Juday al-Kirmani. At any rate,
575-460: A group of people named Havitaras but it is unclear whether the term denotes Hephthalites. The Indians also used the expression "White Huns" ( Sveta Huna ) for the Hephthalites. According to recent scholarship, the stronghold of the Hephthalites was always Tokharistan on the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush , in what is present-day southern Uzbekistan and northern Afghanistan . Their capital
690-515: A local tribe of the Tokharistan ( Bactria ) region, with their origin in the nearby Western Himalayas . He also used as an argument the presence of numerous Bactrian names among the Hephthalites, and the fact that the Chinese reported that they practiced polyandry , a well-known West Himalayan cultural trait. According to a recent reappraisal of the Chinese sources by de la Vaissière (2003), only
805-618: A recent reappraisal of the Chinese sources, suggest that the Hephthalites were initially of Turkic origin, and later adopted the Bactrian language, first for administrative purposes, and possibly later as a native language — according to Rezakhani (2017) , this thesis is seemingly the "most prominent at present". In effect, the Hephthalites may have been a confederation of various people, speaking different languages. According to Richard Nelson Frye : Just as later nomadic empires were confederations of many peoples, we may tentatively propose that
920-464: A result, both Ali al-Kirmani and Nasr separately appealed for aid against each other to Abu Muslim, who now held the balance of power. The latter eventually chose to support al-Kirmani. On 14 February 748, the Hashimiyya army occupied Merv, and Nasr again had to flee the city. Pursued by the Hashimiyya forces under Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i , Nasr was forced to abandon Nishapur too after his son Tamim
1035-700: A revolt led by Yahya , son of Zayd ibn Ali and the leader of the Hashimiyya in Khurasan. Yahya was captured and executed, and the resulting vacuum in the Hashimiyya leadership opened the path for the Khurasani branch of the movement to come under the control of the Abbasid family . It is however, a testament to the "respect and even affection" (Gibb) with which Nasr was regarded by the native population in Transoxiana, that in contrast to Khurasan, no native city there welcomed
1150-513: Is dated to 483/484 CE. With the Sasanian Empire paying a heavy tribute, from 474, the Hephthalites themselves adopted the winged, triple-crescent crowned Peroz I as the design for their coinage. Benefiting from the influx of Sasanian silver coins , the Hephthalites did not develop their own coinage: they either minted coins with the same designs as the Sasanians, or simply countermarked Sasanian coins with their own symbols. They did not inscribe
1265-490: Is known to have visited king Varkhuman of Samarkand , and appears in the Afrasiyab murals , together with other Central Asian ambassadors. An adjoining inscription reads: "I am Pukarzate, the dapirpat (chancellor) of Chaganian. I arrived here from Turantash, the lord of Chaganian". The King of Chaganian named Turantash may have a been a "Hunnic" Hephthalite ruler, or one of the local Chaghan Khudah, who seem to have coexisted with
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#17330853108791380-807: Is no king-list, and historians are not sure how the group arose or what language they initially spoke. They seem to have called themselves Ebodalo (ηβοδαλο, hence Hephthal ), often abbreviated Eb (ηβ), a name they wrote in the Bactrian script on some of their coins. The origin of the name "Hephthalites" is unknown, it may stem either from a Khotanese word *Hitala meaning "Strong", from hypothetical Sogdian * Heβtalīt , plural of * Heβtalak , or from postulated Middle Persian *haft āl "the Seven Al ". The Hephthalites called themselves ēbodāl ( Bactrian : , Greek script: [ηβοδαλο] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |3= ( help ) ) in their inscriptions, which
1495-449: Is recorded as heading a Mudari army sent against Balkh, where restive Yamani troops refused to participate in the expedition against Ferghana that resulted in the disastrous ' Day of Thirst '. His troops, reinforced by men from the subject Hephthalite principality of Chaghaniyan , clashed with the Yaman at Baruqan and prevailed over them. This led to resentment towards his person among
1610-455: Is traditionally held to have assisted in regaining the loyalty of the local populations and their princes, who returned quickly to the Arab fold. Other modern scholars however consider the effect of this belated reform on the prevailing anti-Umayyad climate as minimal. Upon his appointment, Nasr also moved the provincial capital back to Merv from Balkh, where Asad had established it. Additionally, for
1725-518: Is unlike that of their kinsmen, nor do they live a savage life as they do; but they are ruled by one king, and since they possess a lawful constitution, they observe right and justice in their dealings both with one another and with their neighbors, in no degree less than the Romans and the Persians The Hephthalites were first known to the Chinese in 456 CE, when a Hephthalite embassy arrived at
1840-584: The Beishi , describing the situation in the first half of the 6th century CE around the time Song Yun visited Central Asia, the language of the Hephthalites was different from that of the Rouran, Gaoju or other tribes of Central Asia, but that probably reflects their acculturation and adoption of the Bactrian language since their arrival in Bactria in the 4th century CE. The Liangshu and Liang Zhigongtu do explain that
1955-533: The Abbasid Revolution , whose leader, Abu Muslim , exploited the situation to his advantage. Evicted from his province in early 748, he fled to Persia pursued by the Abbasid forces, where he died on 9 December 748. Nasr was a military leader with long service and experience in Khurasan. As early as 705 he participated in a campaign along the upper Oxus River , led by Salih , the brother of Qutayba ibn Muslim ,
2070-729: The Alchon Huns , previously thought to be an extension of the Hephthalites. They were a tribal confederation and included both nomadic and settled urban communities. They formed part of the four major states known collectively as Xyon (Xionites) or Huna , being preceded by the Kidarites and by the Alkhon , and succeeded by the Nezak Huns and by the First Turkic Khaganate. All of these Hunnic peoples have often been controversially linked to
2185-455: The Altai region, among the waves of invading Huns. Following their westward or southward expansion, the Hephthalites settled in Bactria , and displaced the Alchon Huns , who expanded into Northern India. The Hephthalites came into contact with the Sasanian Empire , and were involved in helping militarily Peroz I seize the throne from his brother Hormizd III . Later, in the late 5th century,
2300-461: The Huns who invaded Eastern Europe during the same period, and/or have been referred to as "Huns", but scholars have reached no consensus about any such connection. The stronghold of the Hephthalites was Tokharistan (present-day southern Uzbekistan and northern Afghanistan ) on the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush , and their capital was probably at Kunduz , having come from the east, possibly from
2415-544: The Kidarites (who arrived from around 380 CE), but recent studies suggest that instead there may have been a single massive wave of nomadic migrations around 350–360 CE, the "Great Invasion", triggered by climate change and the onset of aridity in the grazing grounds of the Altay region, and that these nomadic tribes vied for supremacy thereafter in their new territories in Southern Central Asia. As they rose to prominence,
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#17330853108792530-851: The Middle Chinese pronunciation ( IPA [ʔjɛpdɑt] ) better than the modern Mandarin pronunciation, are more consistent with the Greek Hephthalite . Some Chinese chroniclers suggest that the root Hephtha- (as in Yàndàiyílìtuó or Yèdā ) was technically a title equivalent to "emperor", while Huá was the name of the dominant tribe. In ancient India , names such as Hephthalite were unknown. The Hephthalites were part of, or offshoots of, people known in India as Hunas or Turushkas , although these names may have referred to broader groups or neighbouring peoples. Ancient Sanskrit text Pravishyasutra mentions
2645-676: The Northern Wei (i.e. circa 360 CE) 嚈噠國 ，或云 高車 之別種，或云 大月氏 之別種。其原出於塞北。自金山而南。[...] 至 後魏 文帝 時已八九十年矣 The Gaoju (高車 lit. "High Cart"), also known as Tiele , were early Turkic speakers related to the earlier Dingling , who were once conquered by the Xiongnu . Weishu also mentioned the linguistic and ethnic proximity between the Gaoju and the Xiongnu. De la Vaissière proposes that the Hephthalites had originally been one Oghuric-speaking tribe who belonged
2760-676: The Oxus , to which Chaganian belonged, fell under Western Turk suzerainty, while the territories south of the Oxus were nominally controlled by the Sasanian Empire. The territories under the Turks rebelled in 581 CE. Their coinage in Chaganian was an imitation of the Sasanian coins of Khusrau I , with sometimes the addition of the name of local rulers. In 648-651 CE an ambassador from Chaganian named Pukarzate
2875-592: The Rouran Khaganate but split from their overlords in the early fifth century. The next time they were mentioned was in Persian sources as foes of Yazdegerd II (435–457), who from 442, fought 'tribes of the Hephthalites', according to the Armenian Elisee Vardaped . In 453, Yazdegerd moved his court east to deal with the Hephthalites or related groups. In 458, a Hephthalite king called Akhshunwar helped
2990-763: The Sasanian Emperor Peroz I (458–484) gain the Persian throne from his brother. Before his accession to the throne, Peroz had been the Sasanian for Sistan in the far east of the Empire, and therefore had been one of the first to enter into contact with the Hephthalites and request their help. The Hephthalites may have also helped the Sasanians to eliminate another Hunnic tribe, the Kidarites : by 467, Peroz I, with Hephthalite aid, reportedly managed to capture Balaam and put an end to Kidarite rule in Transoxiana once and for all. The weakened Kidarites had to take refuge in
3105-682: The Sasanian Empire , but some of them remained as local rulers in the region of Tokharistan for the next 150 years, under the suzerainty of the Western Turks, followed by the Tokhara Yabghus . Among the principalities which remained in Hephthalite hands even after the Turkic overcame their territory were: Chaganian , and Khuttal in the Vakhsh Valley . The Hephthalites were originally vassals of
3220-470: The Xiongnu ". This massive migration was apparently triggered by climate change , with aridity affecting the mountain grazing grounds of the Altay Mountains during the 4th century CE. According to Amanda Lomazoff and Aaron Ralby, there is a high synchronicity between the "reign of terror" of Attila in the west and the southern expansion of the Hephthalites, with extensive territorial overlap between
3335-500: The official language of the Hephthalite elite was East Iranian. In 1959, Kazuo Enoki proposed that the Hephthalites were probably Indo-European (East) Iranians who originated in Bactria / Tokharistan , based on the fact that ancient sources generally located them in the area between Sogdia and the Hindu-Kush , and the Hephthalites had some Iranian characteristics. Richard Nelson Frye cautiously accepted Enoki's hypothesis, while at
3450-512: The suzerainty of the Western Turks (in the areas north of the Oxus ) and of the Sasanian Empire (in the areas south of the Oxus ), before the Tokhara Yabghus took over in 625. The Imperial Hephthalites, based in Bactria , expanded eastwards to the Tarim Basin , westwards to Sogdia and southwards through Afghanistan , but they never went beyond the Hindu-Kush , which was occupied by
3565-469: The 5th to 8th centuries CE, part of the larger group of Eastern Iranian Huns . They formed an empire, the Imperial Hephthalites , and were militarily important from 450 CE, when they defeated the Kidarites , to 560 CE, when combined forces from the First Turkic Khaganate and the Sasanian Empire defeated them. After 560 CE, they established "principalities" in the area of Tokharistan , under
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3680-733: The Arabs. Nevertheless, the principality of Chaghaniyan still aided the Arabs against the Turgesh , and were present at the side of the Arabs during the Battle of the Baggage , where they were defeated and the Chaghan Khudah was killed. After the battle, most of Khorasan except Chaghaniyan remained under Arab control. Under Nasr ibn Sayyar , Chaghaniyan was once again a vassal of the Umayyad Caliphate. After this,
3795-520: The Azd, as well as by trying to win over Azd and Rabi'ah leaders. This led to a general uprising by the Azd and Rabi'ah under al-Kirmani. It is indicative of the lingering inter-tribal antagonism of the late Umayyad world that the rebellion was launched in the name of revenge for the Muhallabids , an Azd family that had been purged after rebelling in 720—an act which had since become a symbol of Yamani resentment of
3910-566: The Bandian complex in 484 CE. In 456–457 a Hephthalite embassy arrived in China, during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Northern Wei . By 458 they were strong enough to intervene in Persia . Around 466 they probably took Transoxianan lands from the Kidarites with Persian help but soon took from Persia the area of Balkh and eastern Kushanshahr . In the second half of the fifth century they controlled
4025-575: The Chaghan Khudahs begin to fade from the sources. In the late 8th-century Chaghaniyan fell under the direct control of the Abbasid Caliphate , which had succeeded the Umayyad Caliphate in 750. The Muhtajids , an Iranian dynasty which in the 10th-century gained control over Chaghaniyan, may have been descended from the Chaghan Khudahs. The founder of the Muhtajid dynasty was Abu Bakr Muhammad , who
4140-484: The Chinese court of the Northern Wei . The Chinese used various names for the Hephthalites, such as Hua (滑), Ye-tha-i-li-to (simp. 厌带夷栗陁, trad. 厭帶夷粟陁) or more briefly Ye-da (嚈噠). Ancient imperial Chinese chronicles give various explanations about the origins of the Hephthalites: Kazuo Enoki made a first groundbreaking analysis of the Chinese sources in 1959, suggesting that the Hephthalites were
4255-582: The European Huns , but may have been causally related with their movement. The tribes in question deliberately called themselves "Huns" in order to frighten their enemies. On the contrary, de la Vaissière considers that the Hepthalites were part of the great Hunnic migrations of the 4th century CE from the Altai region that also reached Europe, and that these Huns "were the political, and partly cultural, heirs of
4370-553: The Gaoju/Tiele confederation. This and several later Chinese chronicles also report that the Hephthalites may have originated from the Da Yuezhi , probably because of their settlement in the former Da Yuezhi territory of Bactria . Later Chinese sources become quite confused about the origins of the Hephthalites, and this may be due to their progressive assimilation of Bactrian culture and language once they settled there. According to
4485-410: The Hashimiyya missionaries, and that they remained loyal to him even during the later Abbasid Revolution . In 743, after the death of Caliph Hisham, his successor, Walid II , reconfirmed Nasr in his post. The influential governor of Iraq, Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi , an opponent of Nasr, tried to lure him away from his province by calling him to Iraq. Nasr delayed his departure, stalling for time, and
4600-485: The Hephthalites displaced the Kidarites and then the Alchon Huns , who expanded into Gandhara and Northern India. The Hephthalites also entered into conflict with the Sasanians. The reliefs of the Bandian complex seem to show the initial defeat of the Hephthalites against the Sasanians in 425 CE, and then their alliance with them, from the time of Bahram V (420-438 CE), until they invaded Sasanian territory and destroyed
4715-596: The Hephthalites expanded into vast areas of Central Asia , and occupied the Tarim Basin as far as Turfan , taking control of the area from the Rourans , who had been collecting heavy tribute from the oasis cities, but were now weakening under the assaults of the Chinese Northern Wei dynasty . There have been several theories regarding the origins of the Hephthalites, with the Iranian and Altaic theories being
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4830-458: The Hephthalites originally had no written language and adopted the hu (local, "Barbarian") alphabet, in this case, the Bactrian script . Overall, de la Vaissière considers that the Hephthalites were part of the great Hunnic migrations of the 4th century CE from the Altai region that also reached Europe and that these Huns "were the political, and partly cultural, heirs, of the Xiongnu ". The Hepthalites appear in several mural paintings in
4945-517: The Hephthalites were Hephthal , Hep't'al & Tetal and sometimes identified with the Kushans . To the Persians, Hephthalites are Hephtal, Hephtel, & Hēvtāls. To Arabs, Hephthalites were Haital , Hetal , Heithal , Haiethal , Heyâthelites , (al-)Hayaṭila ( هياطلة ), and sometimes identified as Turks . According to Zeki Velidi Togan (1985), the form Ha y tal in Persian and Arabic sources in
5060-508: The Hephthalites"). The seal is dated to the end 5th century- early 6th century CE. The ethnic name "Ebodalo", and title "Ebodalo Yabghu", have also been discovered in contemporary Bactrian documents of the Kingdom of Rob describing administrative functions under the Hephthalites. Byzantine Greek sources referred to them as Hephthalitae ( Ἐφθαλῖται ), Abdel or Avdel . To the Armenians,
5175-399: The Hephthalites. During its early history, the region often shifted between Sasanian and Hephthalite control. By the late 7th-century, Chaghaniyan came under the control of presumably Iranian local rulers known as the “ Chaghan Khudah ”. During the Muslim conquest of Persia , the Chaghan Khudah aided the Sasanians against the Rashidun Arabs . However, the Arabs, after having dealt with
5290-462: The Huns and the Hephthalites in Central Asia. The 6th-century Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea (History of the Wars, Book I. ch. 3), related them to the Huns in Europe, but insisted on cultural and sociological differences, highlighting the sophistication of the Hephthalites: The Ephthalitae Huns, who are called White Huns [...] The Ephthalitae are of the stock of the Huns in fact as well as in name, however, they do not mingle with any of
5405-412: The Huns known to us, for they occupy a land neither adjoining nor even very near to them; but their territory lies immediately to the north of Persia [...] They are not nomads like the other Hunnic peoples, but for a long period have been established in a goodly land... They are the only ones among the Huns who have white bodies and countenances which are not ugly. It is also true that their manner of living
5520-413: The Khurasani army, which outnumbered the Yaman, but could also, as a local, help to reduce the Khurasani Arabs' discontent towards the Syria-centric Umayyad government. Nasr's own relatively obscure tribal background—from a non-noble family of the Layth tribe from Kinanah—also suited the caliph's purposes, as it meant that he lacked any local power base of his own. His position was thus heavily reliant on
5635-464: The Khurasanis with the words: "O people of Khurasan, are an armed post at the throat of the enemy. Beware! Beware lest two of your swords cross each other!" Despite Nasr's entreaties, agitation among the Yamani faction persisted, amidst rumours that Nasr had intercepted letters appointing al-Kirmani as governor, and a dispute on the payment of stipends to the muqatila . Nasr tried to secure his own position by deposing al-Kirmani from his leadership of
5750-425: The Muslim army reached the Jaxartes , it was confronted by a 15,000-strong force from Shash along with Ibn Surayj's men and some Türgesh; according to Arab tradition, the latter were led by Suluk's murderer and successor, Kursul . According to the Arab sources, Nasr was able to drive off the Türgesh and scored a victory against one of their detachments, killing its chief. He apparently failed to subdue al-Shash, for he
5865-409: The Northern Wei ( Weishu ) as quoted in the later Tongdian , reports that they migrated southward from the Altai region circa 360 CE: The Hephthalites are a branch of the Gaoju (高車, "High Carts") or the Da Yuezhi , they originated from the north of the Chinese frontier and came down south from the Jinshan ( Altai ) mountains [...] This was 80 to 90 years before Emperor Wen (r. 440–465 CE) of
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#17330853108795980-444: The Sasanian Empire, began focusing on the local rulers of Khorasan , which included the Chaghan Khudah and many other local rulers. In 652, the Chaghan Khudah, along with the rulers of Talaqan , Guzgan , and Faryab , aided the ruler of southern Tokharistan , the Western Turk Yabghus of Tokharistan , against the Arabs. Nevertheless, the Arabs managed to emerge victorious. However, the Rashidun Caliphate soon fell into civil war, and
6095-404: The Syrian contingent sided with his opponents. Nasr was hence mostly reliant on the support of his wife's powerful Tamim tribe, living around Merv. As long as he was supported by a strong central government, Nasr was able to keep his internal enemies in check, but in the troubles that followed Hisham's death in 743, that support vanished. In the event, Nasr would succeed in retaining his office for
6210-424: The Turgesh onslaught. His last years were occupied by inter-tribal rivalries and uprisings, however, as the Umayyad Caliphate itself descended into a period of civil war . In 746 Nasr was driven from his capital by Ibn Surayj and Juday al-Kirmani , but returned after the latter fell out among themselves, resulting in Ibn Surayj's death. Preoccupied with this conflict, Nasr was unable to stop the outbreak and spread of
6325-431: The Turkic Gaoju origin of the Hephthalites should be retained as indicative of their primary ethnicity, and the mention of the Da Yuezhi only stems from the fact that, at the time, the Hephthalites had already settled in the former Da Yuezhi territory of Bactria , where they are known to have used the Eastern Iranian Bactrian language . The earliest Chinese source on this encounter, the near-contemporary chronicles of
6440-437: The Umayyad central government in Damascus, no doubt as Hisham intended: the caliph is reported to have remarked that he himself would be Nasr's tribal group. As a result, Nasr's rule throughout his tenure was not fully accepted by many Arab tribesmen: aside from the Yaman, who favoured their own candidate al-Kirmani and resented the shift in power back towards the Mudar, the Qays around Nishapur refused to support him, and even
6555-479: The Umayyad period, this system progressed to the formation of ever-larger super-groupings, culminating in the two super-groups : the northern Arab Mudar or Qays , and the southern Arabs or Yaman, dominated by the Azd and Rabi'ah tribes. By the 8th century, this division had become firmly established across the Caliphate and was a source of constant internal instability, as the two groups formed in essence two rival political parties, jockeying for power and separated by
6670-422: The Umayyads and their northern Arab-dominated regime. On 13 July 744, Nasr captured and imprisoned al-Kirmani. After barely a month, the latter escaped, and his rebellion was joined not only by Azd soldiers, but also by many of the Arab settlers around Merv. A tentative truce was initially agreed upon, during which fruitless negotiations were conducted, but after Yazid reconfirmed Nasr in his post, al-Kirmani and
6785-416: The Yaman, especially from those around Balkh; and during the governorship of the Yamani Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri , along with other Mudari leaders, Nasr fell into disfavour and was mistreated. Nasr was one of the few Muslim leaders to distinguish himself in the disastrous Battle of the Defile in July 731. In 734 he was appointed as governor of Balkh, after arresting the previous governor. There he faced
6900-486: The Yaman—in reality, al-Kirmani's followers included other tribes as well, including most of the Syrians and even some Mudar, but they were collectively called Yamaniyya in the sources—resumed their revolt. Nasr in turn tried to strengthen his own position by enlisting the services of al-Harith ibn Surayj, al-Kirmani's one-time adversary, who enjoyed considerable support among some Arab tribes and especially his fellow Tamimis. When Ibn Surayj arrived at Merv in July 745 he
7015-412: The appellation of "Tokharistan school of art", or the "Hephthalite stage in the History of Central Asia Art". The paintings of Tavka Kurgan , of very high quality, also belong to this school of art, and are closely related to other paintings of the Tokharistan school such as Balalyk tepe , in the depiction of clothes, and especially in the treatment of the faces. This "Hephthalite period" in art, with
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#17330853108797130-449: The area of Gandhara . Later, however, from 474 CE, Peroz I fought three wars with his former allies the Hephthalites. In the first two, he himself was captured and ransomed. Following his second defeat, he had to offer thirty mules loaded with silver drachms to the Hephthalites, and also had to leave his son Kavad as a hostage. The coinage of Peroz I in effect flooded Tokharistan, taking precedence over all other Sasanian issues. In
7245-409: The area of Pamir . By 479 the Hephthalites had conquered Sogdia and driven the Kidarites eastwards, and by 493 they had captured parts of Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin (in present-day Northwest China ). The Alchon Huns , formerly confused with the Hephthalites, expanded into Northern India as well. The sources for Hephthalite history are sparse and the opinions of historians differ. There
7360-412: The area of Tokharistan , especially in banquet scenes at Balalyk tepe and as donors to the Buddha in the ceiling painting of the 35-meter Buddha at the Buddhas of Bamyan . Several of the figures in these paintings have a characteristic appearance, with belted jackets with a unique lapel of their tunic being folded on the right side, a style which became popular under the Hephthalites, the cropped hair,
7475-443: The caftans with a triangular collar folded on the right, the particular cropped hairstyle, the crowns with crescents, have been found in many of the areas historically occupied and ruled by the Hephthalites, in Sogdia , Bamyan (modern Afghanistan ), or in Kucha in the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang , China ). This points to a "political and cultural unification of Central Asia " with similar artistic styles and iconography, under
7590-432: The city in 947. Abu 'Ali, now having secured his position, returned to Chaghaniyan. Ibrahim, however, was unpopular with the people of Bukhara, and Nuh soon retaliated by retaking the city and blinding Ibrahim and two brothers. When the news of the re-capture of Bukhara arrived to Abu 'Ali, he once again marched towards Bukhara, but was defeated by an army sent by Nuh and withdrew back to Chaghaniyan. After some time, he left
7705-405: The city of Theodosiupolis of Armenia in 501–502, in battles against the Romans in 502–503, and again during the siege of Edessa in September 503. Nasr ibn Sayyar Naṣr ibn Sayyār al-Lāythi al-Kināni ( Arabic : نصر بن سيار الليثي الكناني ; 663 – 9 December 748) was an Arab general and the last Umayyad governor of Khurasan in 738–748. Nasr played a distinguished role in
7820-449: The death of Ibn Surayj. Al-Kirmani then destroyed the Tamimi quarters in the city, a shocking act, as dwellings were traditionally considered exempt from warfare in Arab culture. As a result, the Mudari tribes, hitherto reserved towards Nasr, now came over to him. Backed by them, especially the Qays settled around Nishapur, Nasr now resolved to take back the capital. During summer 747, Nasr's and al-Kirmani's armies confronted each other before
7935-416: The deserts of Turkmenistan as far as the Caspian Sea and possibly Merv . By 500 they held the whole of Bactria and the Pamirs and parts of Afghanistan . In 509, they captured Sogdia and they took 'Sughd' (the capital of Sogdiana ). To the east, they captured the Tarim Basin and went as far as Urumqi . Around 560 CE their empire was destroyed by an alliance of the First Turkic Khaganate and
8050-409: The early days of the Muslim conquests , Arab armies were divided into regiments drawn from individual tribes or tribal confederations ( butun or ʿashaʿir ). Despite the fact that many of these groupings were recent creations, created for reasons of military efficiency rather than any common ancestry, they soon developed a strong and distinct identity. Eventually, and certainly by the beginning of
8165-471: The end made peace with Nuh, who allowed him to keep Chaghaniyan in return for sending his son Abu'l Muzaffar Abdallah as hostage to Bukhara. Some time later, Abu 'Ali was sent on an expedition to quell a rebellion near Chaghaniyan under a self-proclaimed prophet known as Mahdi. Abu 'Ali managed to successfully defeat and capture the latter and then had his head sent to Bukhara. In ca. 951/2, Abu 'Ali's son Abu'l Muzaffar Abdallah died in an accident and his corpse
8280-689: The end of the 10th-century, the Muhtajid dynasty became a vassal of the Ghaznavids , who had replaced the Samanids as the dominant power in Transoxiana and Khurasan. In 1025, an unnamed Muhtajid ruler and other Ghaznavid vassals joined the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud of Ghazna when he crossed the Oxus River to meet his ally, the Karakhanid ruler of Kashgar Qadir-khan Yusuf. During the reign of Mahmud's successor Mas'ud ,
8395-566: The first period was a clerical error for Ha b tal , as Arabic -b - resembles -y - . In Chinese chronicles, the Hephthalites are called Yàndàiyílìtuó ( Chinese : 厭帶夷栗陀 ), or in the more usual abbreviated form, Yèdā 嚈噠 or in the 635 Book of Liang as the Huá 滑 . The latter name has been given various Latinisations , including Yeda , Ye-ta , Ye-tha ; Ye-dā and Yanda . The corresponding Cantonese and Korean names Yipdaat and Yeoptal ( Korean : 엽달 ), which preserve aspects of
8510-453: The first time in the province's history he appointed sub-governors. They were drawn from among his allies and supporters in order to reward them and to improve his own control of the province. Taking advantage of the disintegration of the Türgesh khaganate after the murder of the khagan Suluk , Nasr moved aggressively across the Oxus. His first campaign, immediately after his appointment,
8625-485: The general who had been tasked with subduing Transoxiana . For his service during this campaign, Nasr was awarded an entire village in this region. Despite the successes of Qutayba, much of Central Asia east of the Oxus remained outside effective Arab control; while garrisons had been established in places like Samarkand , Balkh , or Bukhara , the Umayyad Caliphate largely relied on cliental relationships with
8740-580: The governor of Chaghaniyan was a certain Abu'l-Qasem, who was the son-in-law of Mas'ud, and may have been a Muhtajid. Some years later, Abu'l-Qasem had to temporarily leave the province due to an invasion by Karakhanids. No more rulers of Chaghaniyan are mentioned after this, and only a few years later the Seljuks took control of the region. During the reign of the Alp Arslan (r. 1063–1072), his brother Ilyas ibn Chaghri Beg
8855-402: The hair accessories, their distinctive physionomy and their round beardless faces. The figures at Bamyan must represent the donors and potentates who supported the building of the monumental giant Buddha. These remarkable paintings participate "to the artistic tradition of the Hephthalite ruling classes of Tukharistan ". The paintings related to the Hephthalites have often been grouped under
8970-532: The latter's harsh rule, and sought to replace him with a Turk, the Simjurid Ibrahim ibn Simjur . Abu 'Ali refused to accept his dismissal and rebelled. He was joined by several prominent Iranian figures such as Abu Mansur Muhammad , whom he appointed as the commander of Khurasan. Abu 'Ali also convinced a Samanid, Nuh's uncle Ibrahim ibn Ahmad , to come from Iraq and installed him as ruler in Bukhara when he took
9085-508: The local non-Muslim (mostly Zoroastrian ) gentry , the dihqan s, who often discriminated against the Muslim settlers and the native converts. This contributed to the latter's increasing resentment of Umayyad rule, and the demand for a tax reform had fuelled past revolts like that of Ibn Surayj. Consequently, Nasr streamlined the tax system in 739, implementing a blanket imposition (the kharaj ) on all owners of agricultural land and forcing
9200-529: The local rulers of Akharun and Shuman in northern Tokharistan, who had been making incursions against him. Qutayba shortly defeated the two rulers, and forced them to acknowledge Umayyad authority. However, in 718, Tish, along with Gurak , the king of Samarkand, Narayana, the king of Kumadh, and Tughshada, the Bukhar Khudah of Bukhara , sent an embassy to the Tang dynasty of China , where they asked for aid against
9315-401: The main ones. The most prominent theory at present seems to be that the Hephthalites were initially of Turkic origin, and later adopted the Bactrian language. According to most specialist scholars, the Hephthalites adopted Bactrian as their official language, just as the Kushans had done, following their settlement in Bactria / Tokharistan . Bactrian was an Eastern Iranian language , but
9430-412: The middle of the 6th century, the Sasanian Empire paid tribute to the Hephthalites. Bactria came under formal Hephthalite rule from that time. Taxes were levied by the Hephthalites over the local population: a contract in the Bactrian language from the archive of the Kingdom of Rob , has been found, which mentions taxes from the Hephthalites, requiring the sale of land in order to pay these taxes. It
9545-547: The multitude of local rulers, who became tributary to the Umayyads. In addition, clashes with the Chinese -backed Türgesh , the ambiguous policy followed regarding conversion of the native population (mass conversions would lessen the taxable population and hence the amount of tribute received) and increasing inter-Arab tribal factionalism weakened Umayyad control over the region and necessitated increased military activity. In 724, Nasr
9660-473: The name of their ruler, contrary to the habit of the Alchon Huns or the Kidarites before them. Exceptionally, one coin type deviates from the Sasanian design, by showing the bust of a Hepthalite prince holding a drinking cup. Overall, the Sasanians paid "an enormous tribute" to the Hephthalites, until the 530s and the rise of Khosrow I . Following their victory over Peroz I, the Hepthalites became protectors and benefactors of his son Kavad I , as Balash ,
9775-401: The non-Muslims to pay an additional poll tax (the jizyah ). In this way, the chroniclers report, 30,000 Muslims were absolved of the jizyah , and 80,000 non-Muslims were forced to pay it instead. Attention was also paid to the accurate collection of the kharaj in accordance with treaties with the local rulers, as a result of which the tax burden was generally eased. This reform
9890-502: The rebellion of the local Khurasani troops under al-Harith ibn Surayj , who called for reforms in taxation and the ending of discrimination towards the native converts ( mawali ). Ibn Surayj marched on Balkh and took the city with only 4,000 followers, even though Nasr commanded 10,000 men. It is unclear from the sources whether the town was seized from Nasr, or whether it was captured in his absence and then successfully held against him. In any case, Nasr and his army remained passive for
10005-511: The region and tried to obtain support from other Samanid vassals. Meanwhile, Nuh had Chaghaniyan ravaged and its capital sacked. Another battle shortly ensured between Abu 'Ali and a Samanid army in Tokharistan, which resulted in a Samanid victory. Fortunately for Abu 'Ali, he managed to secure the support of other Samanid vassals, such as the rulers of Khuttal , and the Kumiji mountain people , and in
10120-414: The region. According to H. A. R. Gibb , the expeditions against Chaghaniyan and other areas east of the Oxus river seemingly indicated “a methodical plan of conquest” of Soghdiana by Ziyad. In 705, the Arab general Qutayba ibn Muslim managed to make the Chaghan Khudah, whose name is mentioned as Tish, acknowledge Umayyad authority. The real reason for Tish's submission, however, was to gain aid in defeating
10235-400: The remainder of the revolt; they did not aid the provincial capital, Merv , when the rebels attacked it, and this stance encouraged several local tribes to join the uprising. Eventually however the rebels were defeated by Juday al-Kirmani , with Ibn Surayj fleeing across the Oxus to the Türgesh. In July 738, at the age of 74, Nasr was appointed as governor of Khurasan. Despite his age, he
10350-619: The remoter principalities. Outwardly at least, by 743 the Umayyad position in Khurasan appeared stronger than ever. The reality beneath the splendid façade however was different. Tension and mutual mistrust existed between the Khurasani Arab levies ( muqatila ) and the 20,000 Syrian troops introduced into the province as a security measure after the disastrous Battle of the Defile in 731, while tribal antagonisms continued to create trouble: apart from continued Yamani resentment at Nasr, there
10465-452: The rule of the Hephthalites. The Hephthalites were a vassal state to the Rouran Khaganate until the beginning of the 5th century. There were close contacts between them, although they had different languages and cultures, and the Hephthalites borrowed much of their political organization from Rourans. In particular, the title " Khan ", which according to McGovern was original to the Rourans,
10580-498: The ruling groups of these invaders were, or at least included, Turkic-speaking tribesmen from the east and north, although most probably the bulk of the people in the confederation of Chionites and then Hephhtalites spoke an Iranian language. In this case, as normal, the nomads adopted the written language, institutions, and culture of the settled folks. According to Martin Schottky, the Hephthalites apparently had no direct connection with
10695-564: The same time stressing that the Hephthalites "were probably a mixed horde". According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica and Encyclopaedia of Islam , the Hephthalites possibly originated in what is today Afghanistan . A few scholars, such as Marquart and Grousset proposed Proto-Mongolic origins. Yu Taishan traced the Hephthalites' origins to the Xianbei and further to Goguryeo . Other scholars such as de la Vaissière , based on
10810-474: The sources agree that al-Kirmani stood at the time as the most prominent man in Khurasan and should have been the clear choice for governor. His Yamani roots (he was the leader of the Azd in Khurasan), however, made him unpalatable to the caliph. Nasr on the other hand, in addition to his other qualities, was a Mudari and married to a Tamimi wife. He would therefore be acceptable to the numerous Mudari element of
10925-532: The third battle, at the Battle of Herat (484) , he was vanquished by the Hepthalite king Kun-khi, and for the next two years the Hephthalites plundered and controlled the eastern part of the Sasanian Empire. Perozduxt, the daughter of Peroz, was captured and became a lady as the Hephtalite court, as Queen of king Kun-khi. She became pregnant and had a daughter who would later marry her uncle Kavad I . From 474 until
11040-760: The walls of Merv, occupying two fortified camps and skirmishing with each other for several months. The fighting stopped only when news came of the start of the Hashimiyya uprising under Abu Muslim . Negotiations commenced, but were almost broken off when a member of Nasr's entourage, an embittered son of Ibn Surayj, attacked and killed al-Kirmani. Calmer heads prevailed for the moment, the two sides were able to tentatively settle their differences, and Nasr re-occupied his seat in Merv. Tensions however remained, and Abu Muslim soon managed to persuade al-Kirmani's son and successor, Ali, that Nasr had been involved in his father's murder. As
11155-526: The wars against the Turgesh , although he failed to decisively confront the rebellion of al-Harith ibn Surayj in its early stages. Although respected as a soldier and a statesman, he owed his appointment as governor more to his obscure tribal background , which rendered him dependent on the caliph. His tenure was nevertheless successful, as Nasr introduced long-overdue tax reforms that alleviated social tension and largely restored and stabilized Umayyad control in Transoxiana , which had been greatly reduced under
11270-403: The words of the 9th-century historian al-Mada'ini , "Khurasan was built up as it had never been before". His major achievements during his tenure were the reform of the tax system and the restoration of Umayyad control over Transoxiana. The Khurasani tax system had been established at the time of the Muslim conquest and remained unchanged since. It relied on the collection of a fixed tribute by
11385-513: Was a vassal of the Samanids , another Iranian dynasty. He was a loyal supporter of the Samanid ruler Nasr II (914-943), who in return, rewarded him by appointing him as the governor of Khorasan. In 939, Abu Bakr Muhammad fell ill and was replaced from his post by his son Abu 'Ali Chaghani . In 945, the Samanid ruler Nuh I dismissed Abu 'Ali from the governorship of Khurasan after hearing complaints of
11500-406: Was again fortunate in his persistence, for Mansur fell out of favour and was dismissed after only two months. Nasr's position was that regardless of the strife in the core territories of the caliphate, the Arabs of Khurasan, living on an exposed and dangerous frontier of the entire Islamic world, could not afford to be driven into civil strife; the historian al-Mada'ini reports his exhortation to
11615-727: Was appointed as the governor of Chaghaniyan. By the 12th-century, the name of the region itself ceases to be used. Hephthalite The Hephthalites ( Bactrian : ηβοδαλο , romanized: Ebodalo ), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas , in Iranian as the Spet Xyon and in Prakrit as the Sveta-huna ), were a people who lived in Central Asia during
11730-501: Was borrowed by the Hephthalite rulers. The reason for the migration of the Hephthalites southeast was to avoid a pressure of the Rourans. The Hephthalites became a significant political entity in Bactria around 450 CE, or sometime before. It has been commonly assumed that the Hephthalites formed a third wave of migrations into Central Asia, after the Chionites (who arrived circa 350 CE) and
11845-432: Was commonly abbreviated to ( ηβ , "Eb") in their coinage. An important and unique seal, held in the private collection of Professor Dr. Aman ur Rahman and published by Nicholas Sims-Williams in 2011, shows an early Hepthalite ruler with a round beardless face and slanted almond-shaped eyes, wearing a radiate crown with a single crescent, and framed by the Bactrian script legend ηβοδαλο ββγο ("The Lord [ Yabghu ] of
11960-423: Was conquered by another Arab family, who founded the Umayyad Caliphate in 661. Under the leadership of Ziyad ibn Abihi , the Umayyad viceroy of the eastern Caliphate, the Arab raids into Central Asia became more organized and his lieutenant governor of Khurasan, al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari , crossed the Oxus and raided Chaghaniyan in 667. His successor Rabi ibn Ziyad al-Harithi also launched an expedition into
12075-400: Was defeated at Tus , and retreat to the region of Qumis , on the western borderlands of Khurasan. At this point, the long-awaited reinforcements from the caliph arrived, but their general and Nasr failed to coordinate their movements, and Qahtaba was able to defeat the caliph's army at Rayy and kill its commander. Nasr was now forced to abandon Qumis and flee towards Hamadan . On the way, in
12190-578: Was enthusiastically received by the town's inhabitants. Scorning Nasr's proposals for cooperation, Ibn Surayj soon withdrew to the countryside and rose in rebellion as well. Ibn Surayj was also able to exploit the unpopularity of Marwan II among the Mudar and Nasr's followers, even though Nasr recognized him as the legitimate caliph in exchange for his own confirmation to his post. Exploiting this resentment, Ibn Surayj soon gathered around him an army of over 3,000 men. In March 746 Ibn Surayj's army attacked Merv, but
12305-471: Was forced to content himself with an agreement with the ruler of Shash, whereby Ibn Surayj was evicted to Farab , where the latter was left unmolested to continue his opposition to the Umayyads. Nasr also launched two expeditions against Ferghana, which plundered and ravaged the countryside and took many captives. It seems, however, that the Muslim reconquest at this time did not extend much further than Samarkand, with occasional tribute being possibly levied from
12420-483: Was in the area of Chaghaniyan; his second campaign, in 740, recovered much territory in Sogdia , including Samarkand, with little apparent resistance. Aiming to recover all the lands previously held under Qutayba ibn Muslim and to curtail the activities of the renegade Ibn Surayj, who was based there, Nasr then launched an expedition targeting al-Shash ( Tashkent ). The principality of Usrushana submitted peacefully, but when
12535-511: Was probably at Kunduz , which was known to the 11th-century scholar al-Biruni as War-Walīz , a possible origin of one of the names given by the Chinese to Hephthalites: 滑 ( Middle Chinese ( ZS ) * ɦˠuat̚ > standard Chinese : Huá ). The Hephthalites may have come from the East, through the Pamir Mountains , possibly from the area of Badakhshan . Alternatively, they may have migrated from
12650-564: Was repulsed with many casualties, and he then made common cause with al-Kirmani—of whose activities between his escape in 744 and this point nothing is known. With Marwan II still trying to consolidate his own position in Syria and Mesopotamia, Nasr was bereft of any hopes of reinforcement, and the allied armies of Ibn Surayj and al-Kirmani drove him out of Merv towards the end of 746. Nasr retreated to Nishapur , but within days al-Kirmani and Ibn Surayj fell out among themselves and clashed, resulting in
12765-681: Was saved by the murder of Walid in April 744. Walid's successor, Yazid III, moved to install a regime dominated by the Yamani Kalb tribe. Nasr's position was severely undermined, and the Yamani faction now hoped to see their leader, Juday al-Kirmani, appointed governor in his stead. Indeed, Yazid appointed his favourite, the Kalbi Mansur ibn Jumhur , as governor of Iraq, and he in turn nominated his own brother as Nasr's replacement. Nasr refused to accept this, and
12880-433: Was shortly sent to Chaghaniyan, where he was buried. In 955, Abu 'Ali and one of his sons died of the plague. Their bodies were shortly brought to Chaghaniyan where they were buried. A certain Muhtajid prince, Abu'l Muzaffar ibn Muhammad, probably the grandson of 'Abu Ali, was then appointed as the new ruler of Chaghaniyan. However, according to some other sources, Abu 'Ali was succeeded by his relative Abu'l-Hasan Taher. By
12995-451: Was strong dislike of the Umayyads' Syrian regime, fanned by their unjust tax policies. Although Nasr tried to remedy the situation, it was too late. In addition, Khurasan was a major center of early Shiism , and specifically of the Kaysanite sect of the Hashimiyya , which had gained wide acceptance in the province, especially among the mawali . In 742–743, Nasr confronted and defeated
13110-491: Was widely respected both for his military record, his knowledge of the affairs of Khurasan and his abilities as a statesman. Julius Wellhausen wrote of him that "His age did not affect the freshness of his mind, as is testified not only by his deeds, but also by the verses in which he gave expression to his feelings till the very end of his life". However, in the climate of the times, his nomination owed more to his appropriate tribal affiliation than his personal qualities. From
13225-681: Was written in the Greek alphabet , a remnant of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in the 3rd–2nd century BCE. Bactrian , beyond being an official language, was also the language of the local populations ruled by the Hephthalites. The Hephthalites inscribed their coins in Bactrian , the titles they held were Bactrian, such as XOAΔHO or Šao, and of probable Chinese origin, such as Yabghu , the names of Hephthalite rulers given in Ferdowsi 's Shahnameh are Iranian, and gem inscriptions and other evidence shows that
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