Iranian Huns

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Iranian Huns are a group of different late antique Central Asian tribes that lived between the 4th and 6th / 7th centuries. In the 19th century, they established their own rulers in what is now Afghanistan and neighboring areas, and in some cases expanded to the north-west of India . The name Iranian Huns goes back to Robert Göbl's numismatic studies in the 1960s, which have become generally accepted in research. The Iranian Huns threatened by their forays always the northeastern boundary of the Persian Sassanidenreichs and forced the Persian kings to secure the border with repeated campaigns, but is often little is known about the details.

Bactria

Source and name problems

The sources on the history of these groups, which must not be confused with the Huns known in Europe , are very sparse. In addition to isolated written statements - rarely found in some late antique historians or in Indian sources (where they are mentioned as Hunas ) and Chinese reports - their history can be traced primarily on the basis of the quite rich coin finds, which, however, do not allow a detailed reconstruction and for modern research raise several problems, including those relating to chronology and historical interpretation. Furthermore, coins from the Iranian Huns cannot always be assigned to a ruler who is known by name.

Attacks by various Central Asian tribes against the New Persian Sassanid Empire began in the 4th century . In the sources, these attackers who minted their own coins are sometimes referred to as "Huns", but their exact origin is unclear. However, these groups were very probably not related to the "Huns" who advanced westward from the southern Russian steppe around 375 and can be clearly separated from them. Even the term “Hun” in its various forms of name was often used rather imprecisely by ancient historians to simply designate steppe tribes (as previously with the term “ Scythians ”) that appeared in their field of vision. In modern research, it is often assumed that the name “Hun” is to be understood as a prestigious name for a heterogeneously composed group and not as a specific ethnic name.

Broad history of the Iranian Huns

Starting position

Around the year 350, attacks by a group known as the Chionites began against the Sassanid Empire. The Chionites conquered Bactria , but the Sassanid king Shapur II finally defeated them. They then provided auxiliary troops to the Persians who served in the Roman-Persian War in 359 and took part in the first siege of Amida under the leadership of their king Grumbates .

Robert Göbl did not include the Chionites in his categorization, since no coinage of them has survived and he started from this criterion. However, written sources report about the Chionites, according to Ammianus Marcellinus ; In more recent research, a connection between Chionites and the (according to Göbl) first wave of Iranian Huns is established. In the Middle Persian word Xyon (from which the name of the Chionites seems to be derived) there is probably the designation "Huns", but without all of the groups designated as Huns being ethnically related or homogeneous. In the groups dealt with here (from the Kidarites to the Hephthalites), Iranian cultural elements can be identified to a varying degree, for example with regard to the administrative language used (the Bactrian language played an important role) and coin inscriptions.

In contrast to many other nomadic invaders, the Iranian Huns established their own, more or less consolidated domains and turned out to be bitter enemies of the Persians. This was also reflected in the later tradition up to the Islamic period; Thus, in Firdausi's famous national epic Shāhnāme, the inhabitants of Tūrān (Transoxania) appear as hereditary enemies of the Persians.

In recent research it is controversial whether the newcomers arrived at the northeastern border of the Sassanid Empire in a single train in the second half of the 4th century or whether they were subsequent waves of different groups. In any case, Göbl assumed four waves of "Iranian Huns", some of which were shifted in time and some of which appeared in parallel:

Kidarites

The first group were the Kidarites at the end of the 4th century , who succeeded them in the former Kushana empire. In recent research, the thesis has been put forward that Chionites and Kidarites were not two separate groups, but that the Kidarites were rather a clan of the Chionites mentioned above or were descended from them. In this sense, no strict separation between Chionites and Kidarites is possible. Like the Chionites, the Kidarites turned out to be serious opponents of the Sassanid Empire. The late antique historian Priskos reports of "Kidarite Huns" who were involved in battles with the Sassanids. This probably already applies to the time of Bahram V , but certainly to the time of Yazdegerd II. In this context, even tribute payments by the Persian kings to the Kidarites are documented in order to prevent them from incursions.

Yazdegerd II coin

The name of the Kidarites is derived from their first known ruler, Kidara. The Kidarites minted coins based on the Kuschano-Sassanids , who had previously ruled this room. Several hoard finds were made in what is now Kabul ; accordingly, the beginning of the Kidarite rule can be dated to around 380. Kidarite coin finds in Gandhara show that the Kidarites also relocated their rule to this area, at least temporarily. The Kidarites used the Bactrian, Sogdian and Middle Persian languages ​​as well as the Brahmi script for inscriptions on coins .

In the second half of the 5th century the power of the Kidarites declined. They lost their capital (possibly Balkh ) in 467, after the Sassanid Peroz I had apparently won a major victory over the Kidarite king Kunkhas. Their rule in Gandhara continued to exist at least until the year 477, since a last Kidarite embassy to northern China to the T'o-pa is documented for that year . In the cashmere room they seem to have stayed for some time, but otherwise their traces are lost. During this time the Hephthalites will probably have secured their rule in Bactria and the Alchon have expelled the Kidarites from the area south of the Hindu Kush (see below).

Alchon coin depicting King Khingila
Alchon

The second wave came from the so-called Alchon group (also called Alkhon ), who established themselves in the Kabul area around 400. Its history has to be reconstructed almost exclusively on the basis of coin finds. They minted coins based on the Sassanid model, apparently taking over the central Persian mint in Kabul. The Bactrian term alxanno was coined on the coins, and the naming of this group is based on this. However, it is unclear whether it is a ruler or a tribal name.

Under their king Khingila (died around 490) they invaded Gandhara and drove out the Kidarites. The first subsequent attacks on Indian princes could apparently still be repulsed. In the early 6th century, however, the Alchon expanded from Gandhara to north-west India, where they effectively destroyed the rule of the Gupta Empire , whose coinage they also imitated. This interpretation is based on the fact that the attackers, referred to in Indian sources as the Hunas , are identical to the Alchon, which, based on the numismatic findings, speaks for itself. In some cases, the Hephthalites are also identified across the board as these attackers, although it remains unclear which groups of them exactly participated. In any case, these Hunas acted aggressively under their rulers Toramana and Mihirakula.

Mihirakula coin

Especially Mihirakula , who succeeded his father Toramana around 515, is portrayed very negatively in Indian sources, especially since he apparently initiated the persecution of Buddhists . Around the middle of the 6th century, the rule of the Alchon in northern India largely collapsed. Mihirakula had already suffered a heavy defeat in 528 and was then only able to act to a limited extent. Its capital was Sakala in Punjab , which had already served as an important center for the Indo-Greeks . After his death (probably around 550) the Alchon no longer forced the attacks. Despite the relatively short duration of the incident who worked Hunas politically and culturally devastating impact on India. Parts of the Alkhon eventually returned to Bactria.

Nezak

The third wave followed by the so-called Nezak group (also referred to as Napki in older research ), which also settled in what is now Afghanistan around Kabul. The exact chronology is unclear, in some cases the formation of the Nezak rule is postponed to the late 6th century, after the collapse of the Hephthalite rule. While written reports about the Nezak have only come down to us from the early 7th century, the coinage indicate that the Nezak ruled from the late 5th century.

Nezak coin

Several Nezak coins have survived, which were still very much based on the Sassanid model. But at the same time they were designed quite individually, with the unmistakable beef head crown, whereby several types of coins can be distinguished. If one accepts the dating regarding the formation of rule of the Nezak from the late 5th century onwards, they also seem to have come under pressure from the Hephthalites; if the formation of their rule had been late, they would again have benefited from the collapse of the Hephthalite Empire. It is sometimes assumed that returning groups of the Alchon came across the Nezak, which is also supported by later Alchon-Nezak mixed coinage.

What is certain is that the Nezak eventually expanded to Gandhara and continued to mint coins there; its capital was Kapisa , as documented by written Chinese sources for the early 7th century. Their remaining rule south of the Hindu Kush does not seem to have collapsed until the later 7th century due to the Arab expansion . They were succeeded by the Turk Shahi , who were later replaced by the Hindu Shahi .

Hephthalites

The fourth and most important group of the Iranian Huns, the Hephthalites advancing into Bactria, followed around the middle of the 5th century . As with the previous groups, an exact chronology is difficult to achieve. In later Perso-Arabic sources, such as Tabari , the impression arises that the Hephthalites (who are indifferently referred to as Turks there) appeared as opponents of the Persians as early as the first half of the 5th century. In the few source statements by Greco-Roman authors, on the other hand, who often had only imprecise knowledge of what was going on so far in the East, too little differentiation is made between the various groups. It is more likely that corresponding statements related to earlier groups of the Iranian Huns before the appearance of the actual Hephthalites. The Hephthalites are also known as the "white Huns" and are mentioned explicitly in the history of the late antique historian Prokopios of Caesarea , who gives some insights into their history. The coinage was based on common Persian models.

By the end of the 5th century, starting from eastern Tocharistan, they had brought this and several neighboring areas under their control. They did not expand to India (the attackers referred to as Hunas in Indian sources were probably the Alchon, see above), but to Transoxania . At the beginning of the 6th century they controlled a considerable area in Bactria and Sogdia .

Coin of the Sassanid king Peroz I.

The Hephthalites led several conflicts with Persia : In the year 484 even the Sassanid king Peroz I , who had previously been defeated by them, fell in the fight against the Hephthalites, which had a clear shock effect; In 498/99 there was interference in Sassanid throne disputes when Kavadh I came back to the throne with their help after his disempowerment. The Persians were apparently forced to pay tribute at least temporarily. Of the Iranian Huns groups, the Hephthalites represented the most serious threat to the Sassanids. Syrian and Armenian sources document the repeated attempts by the Sassanids to secure their northeast border, which led to the aforementioned devastating defeat of Peroz, who had previously defeated the Kidarites would have. As Prokopios describes, the Hephthalites had a very effective ruling structure with a king at the head and were (at least after their conquests in Bactria and Transoxania) were apparently no nomads. The Hephthalites used the Bactrian language as an administrative language and seem to have continued to use the urban centers in their domain; these included the cities of Gorgo and Balkh.

Around 560 the Hephthalite Empire was destroyed by Persians and Gök Turks who had come together specifically for this purpose. The remaining rule of the Hephthalites lasted until the conquest by the Arabs (who the Hephthalites called Hayātela or Hayātila ) in the late 7th / early 8th century.

literature

  • Michael Alram et al. a. (Ed.): The face of the stranger. The coinage of the Huns and Western Turks in Central Asia and India. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2016.
  • Michael Alram: Alchon and Nēzak. On the history of the Iranian Huns in Central Asia. In: La Persia e l'Asia centrale da Alessandro al X secolo. Rome 1996, pp. 517-554.
  • Michael Alram: The history of Eastern Iran from the Greek kings in Bactria and India to the Iranian Huns (250 BC-700 AD). In: Wilfried Seipel (Hrsg.): Weihrauch und Silk. Ancient cultures on the Silk Road. Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-900325-53-7 , pp. 119-140.
  • Christoph Baumer : The History of Central Asia. Vol. 2. IB Tauris, London 2014, pp. 94-101.
  • Robert Göbl : Documents on the history of the Iranian Huns in Bactria and India. 4 volumes. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1967.
  • Aydogdy Kurbanov: The Archeology and History of the Hephthalites. Habelt, Bonn 2013 ( The Hephthalites: archaeological and historical analysis. Diss. Freie Universität Berlin 2010 ).
  • Boris A. Litvinsky (Ed.): The crossroads of civilizations. AD 250 to 750 (= History of Civilizations of Central Asia Vol. 3). Unesco, Paris 1996, ISBN 92-3-103211-9 .
  • Matthias Pfisterer: Huns in India. The coins of the Kidarites and Alkhan from the Bern Historical Museum and the Jean-Pierre Righetti Collection. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2014.
  • Daniel T. Potts: Nomadism in Iran. From Antiquity to the Modern Era. Oxford University Press, Oxford u. a. 2014, ISBN 978-0199330799 .
  • Khodadad Rezakhani: ReOrienting the Sasanians. East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2017.
  • Nikolaus Schindel: Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum Paris-Berlin-Vienna. Vol. 3/1 (text volume). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2004, ISBN 978-3700133148 .
  • Martin Schottky: Huns . In: Encyclopædia Iranica . Vol. 12, 2004, pp. 575-577.
  • Timo Stickler : The Huns in Asia. In: Jutta Frings (arr.): Rome and the barbarians. Europe at the time of the Great Migration. Hirmer, Munich 2008, pp. 154–156.
  • Klaus Vondrovec: Coinage of the Iranian Huns and their Successors from Bactria to Gandhara (4th to 8th century CE). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2014.
  • Klaus Vondrovec: The Anonymous Clan Chiefs. The beginning of the Alchon coinage. In: Numismatic Journal 113/114, 2005, pp. 176–191.
  • Klaus Vondrovec: Coinage of the Nezak. In: M. Alram, D. Klimburg-Salter, M. Inaba, M. Pfisterer (Eds.): Coins, Art and Chronology II. The First Millennium CE in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands. Vienna 2010, pp. 169–190.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ See Martin Schottky: Huns. In: Encyclopædia Iranica ; Timo Stickler : The Huns. Munich 2007, p. 29ff.
  2. ^ Cf. Walter Pohl : The Avars. 2nd Edition. Munich 2002, p. 21ff.
  3. ↑ See for example Timo Stickler: The Huns. Munich 2007, p. 24ff.
  4. ↑ Current overview of the following events with Daniel T. Potts: Nomadism in Iran. From Antiquity to the Modern Era. Oxford et al. a. 2014, p. 127ff. and now specifically Khodadad Rezakhani: ReOrienting the Sasanians. East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh 2017.
  5. ↑ See also John Matthews: The Roman Empire of Ammianus. London 1989, p. 61ff.
  6. ↑ See Ammianus 18.7–19.2.
  7. ↑ See Carlo G. Cereti: Xiiaona and Xyon in Zoroastrian Texts. In: M. Alram, D. Klimburg (eds.): Coins Art and Chronology II: The First Millennium CE in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands. Vienna 2010, pp. 59–72.
  8. ↑ Timo Stickler: The Huns. Munich 2007, p. 27. See also Khodadad Rezakhani: ReOrienting the Sasanians. East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh 2017, pp. 88f.
  9. ↑ See Christoph Baumer: The History of Central Asia. Vol. 2, London 2014, p. 94 with note 75 (p. 336). Michael Alram and Étienne de La Vaissière, for example, now assume that it was a single surge.
  10. ^ Daniel T. Potts: Nomadism in Iran. From Antiquity to the Modern Era. Oxford et al. a. 2014, p. 129.
  11. ↑ Priskos, fragments 25 and 31 (Edition Pia Carolla).
  12. ^ Daniel T. Potts: Nomadism in Iran. From Antiquity to the Modern Era. Oxford et al. a. 2014, p. 136 and p. 138. See Nikolaus Schindel: The Sasanian Eastern Wars in the 5th Century. The Numismatic Evidence. In: A. Panaino, A. Piras (Ed.): Proceedings of the 5th Conference of the Societas Iranologica Europaea. Volume I. Milan 2006, pp. 675-689, here pp. 678-680.
  13. ↑ For the interpretation see Michael Alram: Hunnic Coinage . In: Encyclopædia Iranica
  14. ↑ On this, see Étienne de La Vaissière: Kushanshas, ​​History , in: Encyclopædia Iranica
  15. ↑ See Boris A. Litvinsky: The Hephthalite Empire. In: Boris A. Litvinsky (Ed.): The crossroads of civilizations. AD 250 to 750. Paris 1996, here p. 141; AK Narain: Indo-Europeans in Inner Asia. In: Denis Sinor (Ed.): Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia. Cambridge 1990, pp. 151-176, here p. 172; Khodadad Rezakhani: ReOrienting the Sasanians. East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh 2017, pp. 98f.
  16. ↑ On the loss of this important mint, cf. Nikolaus Schindel: The Sasanian Eastern Wars in the 5th Century. The Numismatic Evidence. In: A. Panaino, A. Piras (Ed.): Proceedings of the 5th Conference of the Societas Iranologica Europaea. Volume I. Milan 2006, pp. 675-689, here p. 677.
  17. ↑ For the interpretation of the numismatic finds see Michael Alram: Hunnic Coinage . In: Encyclopædia Iranica
  18. ^ Upendra Thakur: The Hunas in India. Varanasi 1967, p. 62ff.
  19. ↑ On the Gupta Empire cf. introductory Hermann Kulke , Dietmar Rothermund : History of India. From the Indus culture to today. Updated new edition. Munich 2006, p. 108ff.
  20. ↑ Cf. Matthias Pfisterer: Huns in India. Vienna 2014, pp. 145ff .; Klaus Vondrovec: Numismatic Evidence of the Alchon Huns reconsidered. In: Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe 50, 2008, pp. 25–56, here pp. 30f.
  21. ↑ Cf. inter alia Boris A. Litvinsky: The Hephthalite Empire. In: Boris A. Litvinsky (Ed.): The crossroads of civilizations. AD 250 to 750. Paris 1996, here pp. 141–143. Differentiated AD Bivar: Hephthalites . In: Encyclopædia Iranica , which emphasizes the difficulty of precisely assigning which groups of the Iranian Huns are ultimately involved.
  22. ^ Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund: History of India. From the Indus culture to today. Updated new edition. Munich 2006, pp. 120-123; Upendra Thakur: The Hunas in India. Varanasi 1967, p. 86ff.
  23. ^ Upendra Thakur: The Hunas in India. Varanasi 1967, p. 132ff.
  24. ↑ Cf. Michael Alram: The history of Eastern Iran from the Greek kings in Bactria and India to the Iranian Huns (250 BC-700 AD). In: Wilfried Seipel (Hrsg.): Weihrauch und Silk. Ancient cultures on the Silk Road. Vienna 1996, here p. 138.
  25. ↑ See Klaus Vondrovec: Coinage of the Nezak. In: M. Alram, D. Klimburg-Salter, M. Inaba, M. Pfisterer (Eds.): Coins, Art and Chronology II. The First Millennium CE in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands. Vienna 2010, pp. 169–190, here p. 169 and p. 173f.
  26. ↑ For the latter, Frantz Grenet advocates: Nezak . In: Encyclopædia Iranica
  27. ↑ See Klaus Vondrovec: Coinage of the Nezak. In: M. Alram, D. Klimburg-Salter, M. Inaba, M. Pfisterer (Eds.): Coins, Art and Chronology II. The First Millennium CE in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands. Vienna 2010, pp. 169–190, here p. 174 and p. 182–184.
  28. ^ Klaus Vondrovec: Coinage of the Nezak. In: M. Alram, D. Klimburg-Salter, M. Inaba, M. Pfisterer (Eds.): Coins, Art and Chronology II. The First Millennium CE in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands. Vienna 2010, pp. 169–190, here p. 173.
  29. ^ Minoru Inaba: Across the Hindūkush of the ʿAbbasid Period. In: DG Tor (Ed.): In The ʿAbbasid and Carolingian Empires. Comparative Studies in Civilizational Formation. Leiden / Boston 2018, p. 123 ff.
  30. ↑ For a summary see AD Bivar: Hephthalites . In: Encyclopædia Iranica ; Boris A. Litvinsky: The Hephthalite Empire. In: Boris A. Litvinsky (Ed.): The crossroads of civilizations. AD 250 to 750. Paris 1996, pp. 135ff.
  31. ↑ See Daniel T. Potts: Nomadism in Iran. From Antiquity to the Modern Era. Oxford et al. a. 2014, pp. 133-135.
  32. ↑ Prokopios, Historien 1,3ff.
  33. ↑ Cf. Michael Alram: The history of Eastern Iran from the Greek kings in Bactria and India to the Iranian Huns (250 BC-700 AD). In: Wilfried Seipel (Hrsg.): Weihrauch und Silk. Ancient cultures on the Silk Road. Vienna 1996, here p. 138; Daniel T. Potts: Nomadism in Iran. From Antiquity to the Modern Era. Oxford et al. a. 2014, p. 133; Klaus Vondrovec: Numismatic Evidence of the Alchon Huns reconsidered. In: Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe 50, 2008, pp. 25–56, here pp. 30f. Boris A. Litvinsky: The Hephthalite Empire is different . In: Boris A. Litvinsky (Ed.): The crossroads of civilizations. AD 250 to 750. Paris 1996, here pp. 141–143.
  34. ↑ See Boris A. Litvinsky: The Hephthalite Empire. In: Boris A. Litvinsky (Ed.): The crossroads of civilizations. AD 250 to 750. Paris 1996, here p. 141.
  35. ↑ See Nikolaus Schindel: The Sasanian Eastern Wars in the 5th Century. The Numismatic Evidence. In: A. Panaino, A. Piras (Ed.): Proceedings of the 5th Conference of the Societas Iranologica Europaea. Volume I. Milan 2006, pp. 675-689, here pp. 678ff.
  36. ↑ For the amalgamation of the history of the Hephthalites and Sassanids cf. Klaus Schippmann : Basic features of the history of the Sassanid Empire. Darmstadt 1990, p. 32ff. See also the numismatic analyzes and explanations by Nikolaus Schindel: Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum . Vol. 3/1 (text volume). Vienna 2004.
  37. ^ Daniel T. Potts: Nomadism in Iran. From Antiquity to the Modern Era. Oxford et al. a. 2014, pp. 141ff.
  38. ^ Prokopios, Historien 1,3. See also Henning Börm : Prokop and the Persians. Stuttgart 2007, pp. 206ff.
  39. ↑ For the social structure see Boris A. Litvinsky: The Hephthalite Empire. In: Boris A. Litvinsky (Ed.): The crossroads of civilizations. AD 250 to 750. Paris 1996, here pp. 144–146.
  40. ↑ See Boris A. Litvinsky: The Hephthalite Empire. In: Boris A. Litvinsky (Ed.): The crossroads of civilizations. AD 250 to 750. Paris 1996, here p. 143f.