View source for Hephthalites

{{Short description|5th–8th-century nomadic confederation in Central Asia}}
{{use dmy dates|date= January 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = '''Hephthalites'''
| common_name            = Hephthalites
| native_name            = ηβοδαλο<br>[[File:Ebodalo (Bactrian cursive).jpg|50px]]<br/>{{Transliteration|xbc|Ebodalo}}
| status                 = [[Nomadic empire]]
| era                    = [[Late antiquity]]
| capital                = {{plainlist|
* [[Kunduz]] <small>(''Walwalij'', ''Drapsaka'', or ''Badian'')</small>
* [[Balkh]] <small>(''[[Bactria|Pakhlo]]'')</small>}}
| common_languages       = {{plainlist|
* [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]] (official)<ref name="iranica-bivar">{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Bivar|first1=A. D. H. |title=Hephthalites|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hephthalites |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |access-date= 8 March 2017}}</ref>
* [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] <small>(Sogdiana)</small>
* [[Khwarezmian language|Chorasmian]]
* [[Prakrit]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Southern |first=Mark R. V. |year=2005 |title=Contagious Couplings: Transmission of Expressives in Yiddish Echo Phrases |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780275980870 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGhFQFJZUIYC&pg=PA46 |page=46}}</ref>
* [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]<ref name="iranica-bivar"/>}}
| year_start             = Empire: 440s
| year_end               = 560<ref name="CB484">{{cite book |last1=Benjamin |first1=Craig |title=The Cambridge World History: Volume 4, A World with States, Empires and Networks 1200 BCE–900 CE |date=16 April 2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-29830-5 |page=484 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LAFuCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT484}}</ref><br />Principalities in [[Tokharistan]] and the [[Hindu-Kush]] until 710.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |last1=Nicholson |first1=Oliver |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |date=19 April 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-256246-3 |page=708 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A09WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA708 |language=en}}</ref>
| p1                     = Kidarites
| p2                     = Sasanian Empire
| p3                     = Kangju
| p4                     = Alchon Huns
| s1                     = Nezak Huns
| s2                     = First Turkic Khaganate
| s3                     = Sasanian Empire
| s4                     = Turk Shahis
| s5                     = Zunbils
| s6                     = Principality of Chaghaniyan
| image_map              = {{Location map+
| Hephthalites
| width = 300  <!--  DO NOT CHANGE MAP SIZE (300) AS THIS WILL DISPLACE THE LABELS  -->
| float = center
| border = none
| nodiv= 1 | mini= 1 | relief= yes
| places  = 
{{Annotation|text-align=center|35|90|[[Sasanian Empire|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">SASANIAN<br />EMPIRE</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|105|70|[[Hephthalite|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">HEPHTHALITES</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|145|123|[[Alchon Huns|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">ALCHON<br />HUNS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|142|93|[[Nezak|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">NEZAK<br>HUNS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=6|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|120|15|[[Yueban|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">''Yueban''</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|40|1|[[Magyars|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">''Magyars''</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|0|15|[[Oghurs|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">''Oghurs''</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|205|61|[[Tocharians|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">TOCHARIANS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=6|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|200|140|[[Gupta Empire|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">GUPTA<br />EMPIRE</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|200|100|[[Zhangzhung|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">ZHANGZHUNG</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=6|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|160|175|[[Vakatakas|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">VAKATAKAS</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|250|25|[[Rouran Khaganate|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">ROURAN<br>KHAGANATE</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|210|02|[[Tiele people|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">''Gaoju Turks''</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|272|176|[[Template:Continental Asia in 400 CE|<span style="color:#4F311CFF"> ◁  </span>]] [[Template:Asia 576 CE|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">  ▷ </span>]]|text-align=center|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=12|color=#000000}}
|caption=
}}
| image_map_caption      = {{center|Territory of the Hepthalite Empire, circa 500}}
| image_coat             = Hephthalite tamgha.jpg
| coa_size               = 60px
| symbol_type            = [[Tamga]] of the Imperial Hephthalites, known as "Tamgha S2".<ref name="KHM10">{{harvnb|Alram et al.|2012–2013}}. [http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase10?language=en exhibit: 10. Hephthalites In Bactria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329061818/http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase10?language=en |date=29 March 2016 }}</ref>{{sfn|Alram|2008}}
| title_leader           = 
| leader1                = 
| year_leader1           = 
| leader2                = 
| year_leader2           = 
| leader3                = [[Nezak Tarkhan]]
| year_leader3           = 710
| religion               = {{plainlist|
* [[Manichaeism]]{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}}
* [[Zoroastrianism]]<ref name="Al-Hind" />
* [[Church of the East|Nestorian Christianity]]<ref name=DW />}}
}}
The '''Hephthalites''' ({{langx|xbc|ηβοδαλο|translit= Ebodalo}}),{{sfn|Dani|Litvinsky|Zamir Safi|1996|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA177 177]}} sometimes called the '''White Huns''' (also known as the '''White Hunas''', in [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] as the '''''Spet Xyon''''' and in [[Sanskrit]] and [[Prakrit]] as the '''''Sveta-huna'''''),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dignas |first1=Beate |last2=Winter |first2=Engelbert |title=Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity: Neighbours and Rivals |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-84925-8 |page=97 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MG2hqcRDvJgC&pg=PA97}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Goldsworthy |first=Adrian |title=The Fall of the West: The Death Of The Roman Superpower |date=2009 |publisher=Orion |isbn=978-0-297-85760-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=muVoB0O_XXMC&pg=PT189}}</ref> were a people who lived in [[Central Asia]] during the 5th to 8th centuries CE, part of the larger group of Eastern [[Iranian Huns]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rezakhani |first=Khodadad |date=April 25, 2014 |title=Hephthalites |url=https://iranologie.com/the-history-page/the-sasanian-empire-2/hephthalites-and-the-western-turks/ |access-date=October 5, 2023 |website=Iranologie.com}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Schottky |first=Martin |title=HUNS |date=2020-08-20 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/*-COM_3271 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica Online |access-date=2023-10-05 |publisher=Brill |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name="CB484"/>{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017a|p=208}} After 560 CE, they established "principalities" in the area of [[Tokharistan]], under the [[suzerainty]] of the [[Western Turks]] (in the areas north of the [[Amu Daria|Oxus]]) and of the [[Sasanian Empire]] (in the areas south of the [[Amu Daria|Oxus]]), before the [[Tokhara Yabghus]] took over in 625.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017a|p=208}}

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 the [[Alchon Huns]], previously thought to be an extension of the Hephthalites.{{sfn|Alram|2014|p=279}} They were a tribal confederation and included both nomadic and settled urban communities.  They formed part of the four major states known collectively as [[Xionites|''Xyon'']] (Xionites) or [[Huna people|''Huna'']], being preceded by the [[Kidarites]] and by the [[Alchon Huns|Alkhon]], and succeeded by the [[Nezak Huns]] and by the First Turkic Khaganate. All of these Hunnic peoples have often been controversially linked to 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 [[Bactria#Tokharistan|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{{clarify|date=May 2021}} from the east, possibly from the area of [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017a|p=208}} 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 [[Ancient India|Northern India]] as well.<ref name="CC287">{{harvnb|Maas|2015|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=e0dcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA287 287]}}</ref>

The sources for Hephthalite history are sparse and the opinions of historians differ. There 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.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VjVYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT213 213]}}{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VjVYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT217 217]}}{{sfn|Alram|2014|pp=278–279}}<ref>{{cite book |last1= Whitfield |first1= Susan | author-link = Susan Whitfield | title= Silk, Slaves, and Stupas: Material Culture of the Silk Road |date= 2018 |publisher= University of California Press |isbn= 978-0-520-95766-4 |page= 185 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cHBdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT185}}</ref> The origin of the name "Hephthalites" is unknown, it may stem either from a [[Khotanese language|Khotanese]] word ''*Hitala'' meaning "Strong",<ref>Bailey, H.W. (1979) [https://archive.org/details/soshyans51_yahoo_Saka ''Dictionary of Khotan Saka'']. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 482</ref> from hypothetical [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] *''Heβtalīt'', plural of *''Heβtalak'',<ref>Gharib B. (1995) ''Sogdian dictionary''. Tehran, Iran: Farhangan publications. p. xvi</ref> or from postulated [[Middle Persian]] ''*haft āl'' "the Seven{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p=27}} [[Aryan|Al]]".<ref>quote: "Sept Aryas". Tremblay X., "Pour une histoire de la Sérinde. Le manichéisme parmi les peuples et religions d’Asie Centrale d’après les sources primaires, ''Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Iranistik'', '''28''', Verlag der Österreichischen Akademieder Wissenschaften, Vienne 2001, 185; cited in Étienne de la Vaissière, "Theophylact's Turkish ''Exkurs'' Revisited" in ''De Samarcande à Istanbul: étapes orientales . Hommages à Pierre Chuvin'' '''II''', Paris, CNRS Editions, 2015, p. 93-94 of pp. 91-102</ref>{{efn|de la Vaissière proposes underlying Turkic ''Yeti-Al'', later translated to Iranian ''Haft-Al''}}{{efn|de la Vaissière also cited Sims-Williams, who noted that the initial η- ''ē'' of the Bactrian form ηβοδαλο ''Ēbodālo'' precluded etymology based on Iranian ''haft'' and consequently hypothetical underlying [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] ''yeti'' "seven"}}

== Name and ethnonyms ==
[[File:Seal of a Hephthalite king with the Bactrian inscription The Lord (Yabgu) of the Hephthalites. End 5th century early 6th century CE.jpg|thumb|right|<div style="text-align:center">'''Hephthalite ruler'''<br />The Hephthalites called themselves ''ēbodāl'', as seen in this seal of an early Hephthalite king with the [[Bactrian script]] inscription:<br />[[File:Ηβοδαλο ββγο (Bactrian script).jpg|120px]]<br />ηβοδαλο ββγο<br />''ēbodālo bbgo''<br />"''[[Yabghu]]'' (Lord) of the Hephthalites"<br />He wears an elaborate radiate crown, and royal ribbons. End 5th century- early 6th century CE.<ref name="KHM10"/>{{sfn|Alram|2014|p=279}}<ref name="KR209Q" />{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VjVYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT214 214]}}</div>]]
The Hephthalites called themselves ''ēbodālo'' ([[Bactrian language|Bactrian]]: <sup>[[File:Ebodalo (Bactrian cursive).jpg|60px]]</sup>; [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] script: ηβοδαλο) in their inscriptions, which was commonly abbreviated to <sup>[[File:Ebodalo (Bactrian cursive, abbreviation Eb).jpg|23px]]</sup> (ηβ, ''eb'') in their coinage.<ref name=HEIDEMANN>{{cite journal |last1=Heidemann |first1=Stefan |title=THe Hephthalite Drachms Minted in Balkh. A Hoard, A Sequence, And A New Reading |journal=The Numismatic Chronicle |date=2015 |volume=175 |page=340 |url=https://www.podgorski.com/main/assets/documents/The_Hephthalite_Drachms_Minted_in_Balkh.pdf}}</ref><ref name="KR209Q" /> An important and unique seal, held in the private collection of Professor Dr. Aman ur Rahman and published by [[Nicholas Sims-Williams]] in 2011,{{sfn|Lerner|Sims-Williams|2011|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}} 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 the Hephthalites").{{sfn|Lerner|Sims-Williams|2011|pp=83–84, Seal AA 7 (Hc007) |ps=. "Most striking are the eyes, which are almond-shaped and slanted..."}}{{efn|Similar crowns are known in other seals such as the seal of "Kedīr, the hazāruxt" ("Kedir the [[Chiliarch]]"), dated by Sims-Williams to the last quarter of the 5th century CE from the paleography of the inscription.{{sfn|Lerner|2010|loc=Plate I Fig.7}} Reference for the exact datation: {{harvp|Sundermann|Hintze|de Blois|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=b3gOdaiXNKkC&pg=PA218 218, note 14]}} }} The seal is dated to the end 5th century- early 6th century CE.<ref name="KHM10"/><ref name="KR209Q">{{harvnb|Rezakhani|2017a|p=208}}. "A seal bearing the legend ηβοδαλο ββγο, "Yabghu/governor of the Hephthal," shows the local, Bactrian form of their name, ēbodāl, which is commonly abbreviated to ηβ on their coins"</ref> 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.<ref name="SS313">Translations of [[Nicholas Sims-Williams]], quoted in {{cite book |last1=Solovev |first1=Sergej |title=Attila Kagan of the Huns from the kind of Velsung |date=20 January 2020 |publisher=Litres |isbn=978-5-04-227693-4 |page=313 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FiLLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT313}}</ref>{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=135}}

[[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Greek]] sources referred to them as ''Hephthalitae'' ({{lang|grc|Ἐφθαλῖται}}),{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017a|p=209}} ''Abdel'' or ''Avdel''. To the Armenians, 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'' ({{lang|ar|هياطلة}}), and sometimes identified as [[Turkic peoples|Turks]].{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}} According to [[Zeki Velidi Togan]] (1985), the form ''Ha'''y'''tal'' in Persian and Arabic sources in the first period was a clerical error for ''Ha'''b'''tal'', as Arabic ''[[Bet (letter)#Arabic bāʾ|-b]]-'' resembles ''[[Yodh#Arabic yāʼ|-y]]-''.<ref>Kurbanov, Aydogdy. (2013) "The Hephthalites Disappeared Or Not?" in ''Studia et Documenta Turcologica'', '''1'''. Presa Universitară Clujeană. p. 88 of 87-94</ref>

In Chinese chronicles, the Hephthalites are called ''Yàndàiyílìtuó'' ({{lang-zh|厭帶夷栗陀}}), or in the more usual abbreviated form, ''Yèdā'' {{lang|zh|嚈噠}} or in the 635 ''[[Book of Liang]]'' as the ''Huá'' {{lang|zh|滑}}.{{sfn|Balogh|2020|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 44–47]}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Theobald |first1=Ulrich |date=2011-11-26 |title=Yeda 嚈噠, Hephthalites or White Huns |website=ChinaKnowledge.de |url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/hephthalites.html}}</ref> The latter name has been given various [[Latinisation of names|Latinisations]], including ''Yeda'', ''Ye-ta'', ''Ye-tha''; ''Ye-dā'' and ''Yanda''. The corresponding [[Cantonese]] and [[Korean language|Korean]] names ''Yipdaat'' and ''Yeoptal'' ({{langx|ko|엽달}}), which preserve aspects of the [[Middle Chinese]] pronunciation ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] {{IPA|[ʔjɛpdɑt]}}) better than the modern Mandarin pronunciation, are more consistent with the Greek ''Hephthalite''. <!-- The name of the Hephthalite ruling elite seems to have applied to one of the 5 [[Yuezhi]] families from the [[Kushan Empire]] according to some sources.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} -->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.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Enoki |first=K. |title=The Liang shih-kung-t'u on the origin and migration of the Hua or Ephthalites |journal=Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia |volume=7 |issue=1–2 |date=December 1970 |pages=37–45}}</ref>

In [[ancient India]], names such as Hephthalite were unknown. The Hephthalites were part of, or offshoots of, people known in India as ''[[Huna people|Hunas]]'' or ''Turushkas'',<ref name="Alexander Berzin">{{cite web |url=http://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-in-mongolia-central-asia/history-of-buddhism-in-afghanistan |title=History of Buddhism in Afghanistan |author=Alexander Berzin |work=Study Buddhism}}</ref> although these names may have referred to broader groups or neighbouring peoples. Ancient Sanskrit text ''Pravishyasutra'' mentions a group of people named ''Havitaras'' but it is unclear whether the term denotes Hephthalites.<ref>{{cite book|author=Dinesh Prasad Saklani|title=Ancient Communities of the Himalaya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tK5y4iPArKQC |year=1998 |publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-7387-090-3|page=187}}</ref> The Indians also used the expression "White Huns" (''Sveta Huna'') for the Hephthalites.{{sfn|Dani|Litvinsky|Zamir Safi|1996|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FcKtIPVQ6REC&pg=PA169 169]}}

=== Geographical origin and expansion ===
{{Location map+
|Pamir
|float      = right
|width      = 300
|caption    = The Hephthalites came from [[Badakhshan]] or the [[Altai Mountains|Altai]], and always had their historical stronghold in [[Bactria]] ([[Tokharistan]]), with their capital in [[Kunduz]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017a|pp=208–209}}
|nodiv      = 1
|mini       = 1
|relief=yes
|places     ={{location map~ |Pamir|lat=40|N |long=70|E |position=top |label_size=90|mark=Antu edit-undo.svg|marksize=70}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=33.1|N |long=64|E |label=[[Sasanian Empire]]|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=36.728611|N |long=68.868056|E |label='''[[Kunduz]]'''|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=Capital mark.svg|marksize=10}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=39.7|N |long=66.983333|E |label=[[Samarkand]] |position=left |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=38.266667|N |long=67.9|E |label=[[Chaganian]] |position=left |label_size=90|marksize=10}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=34.341944|N |long=62.203056|E |label=[[Herat]] |position=right |label_size=90|marksize=10}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=37.662778|N |long=62.1925|E |label=[[Merv]] |position=right |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=39.4681|N |long=75.9938|E |label=[[Kashgar]] |position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=36.766667 |N |long=66.9|E |label=[[Balkh]] |position=left |label_size=90|marksize=10}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=34.016667|N |long=72.433333|E |label=[[Hund (village)|Udabhanda]]|position=right |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=33.5|N |long=72|E |label=[[Alchon Huns]]|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=34.825|N |long=67.833333|E |label=[[Bamyan]]|position=left |label_size=90|marksize=10}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=37.35|N |long=69|E |label=[[Bactria]]|position=left |label_size=100|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=33.549167|N |long=68.423333|E |label=[[Ghazni]]|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=34.525278|N |long=69.178333|E |label=[[Kabul]]|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=36.7|N |long=67.116667|E |label=[[Mazar-i-Sharif|Yeda]] |position=bottom|label_size=80|marksize=10}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=36.995312|N |long=72.645539|E |label=[[Wakhan]] |position=right |label_size=80|marksize=10}}
{{location map~ |Pamir|lat=38|N |long=70|E |label=[[Badakhshan|'''BADAKHSHAN''']]|position=right |label_size=80|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
}}
According to recent scholarship, the stronghold of the Hephthalites was always [[Bactria#Tokharistan|Tokharistan]] on the northern slopes of the [[Hindu Kush]], in what is present-day southern [[Uzbekistan]] and northern [[Afghanistan]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017a|pp=208–209}} Their capital 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]] ([[Zhengzhang Shangfang|ZS]]) *''ɦˠuat̚'' > [[standard Chinese]]: ''Huá'').{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017a|pp=208–209}}

The Hephthalites may have come from the East, through the [[Pamir Mountains]], possibly from the area of [[Badakhshan]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017a|pp=208–209}} Alternatively, they may have migrated from the [[Altai Mountains|Altai]] region, among the waves of invading Huns.{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|p=200}}

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]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017a|pp=208–209}}

Later, in the late 5th century, 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 [[Rouran]]s, who had been collecting heavy tribute from the oasis cities, but were now weakening under the assaults of the Chinese [[Northern Wei|Northern Wei dynasty]].<ref name="JAM30-31">{{harvnb|Millward|2007|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA30 30–31]}}.</ref>

== Origins and characteristics ==
{{See also|Origins of the Huns}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=310|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| image1   = Dilberjin attendants.jpg
| image2   = Dilbergin frescoe royal figure (cleaned up).jpg
| footer   = Murals from [[Dilberjin Tepe]], thought to represent early Hephthalites.{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|pp=135–136}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bernard |first=P. |title=DelbarjīnELBARJĪN |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/delbarjin}}</ref>{{sfn|Ilyasov|2001|pp=187–197}}{{sfn|Dani|Litvinsky|Zamir Safi|1996|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA183 183]}} The ruler wears a radiate crown which is comparable to the crown of the king on the ''"[[:File:Seal of a Hephthalite king with the Bactrian inscription The Lord (Yabgu) of the Hephthalites. End 5th century early 6th century CE.jpg|Yabghu of the Hephthalites]]"'' seal.{{sfn|Lerner|Sims-Williams|2011|p=36}}}}
There are several theories regarding the origins of the Hephthalites, with the [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]]{{sfn|Enoki|1959}}<ref name="Sinor">{{cite book |chapter=The establishment and dissolution of the Türk empire |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ST6TRNuWmHsC&pg=PA300 300] |title=The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, volume 1|first= Denis|last= Sinor|date=1990 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-24304-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ST6TRNuWmHsC |access-date=2017-08-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwUWAQAAMAAJ |title=Asia Major, volume 4, part 1 |date=1954 |publisher=Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica, University of Indiana |access-date=2017-08-19}}</ref> and [[Altaic]]<ref>{{cite book |author=M.A. Shaban |chapter=Khurasan at the Time of the Arab Conquest |editor=C.E. Bosworth |title=Iran and Islam ''in memory of the late Vlademir Minorsky'' |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=1971 |page=481 |isbn=0-85224-200-X}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Christian |title=A History of Russia, Inner Asia and Mongolia |place=Oxford |publisher=Basil Blackwell |year=1998 |page=248}}</ref>{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p=14}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adas |first1=Michael |title=Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History |year=2001 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=978-1-56639-832-9 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qcSsoJ0IXawC&pg=PA90}}</ref><ref name="CB">{{harvnb|Baumer|2018|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA97 97–99]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Talbot |first1=Tamara Abelson Rice (Mrs David |title=Ancient arts of Central Asia |year=1965 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |page=93 |isbn=978-0-19-520001-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ha9RAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> theories being the main ones. The most prominent theory at present seems to be that the Hephthalites were of Turkic origin, and later adopted the [[Bactrian language]].<ref>{{harvnb|Rezakhani|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VjVYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT187 135]}}. "The suggestion that the Hephthalites were originally of Turkic origin and only later adopted Bactrian as their administrative, and possibly native, language (de la Vaissière 2007: 122) seems to be most prominent at present."</ref>

According to most specialists, the Hephthalites adopted Bactrian as their official language, just as the [[Kushans]] had done, following their settlement in [[Bactria]]/[[Tokharistan]].<ref name="CB"/> Bactrian was an [[Eastern Iranian languages|Eastern Iranian language]] which was written in the [[Greek alphabet]], a legacy of the [[Greco-Bactrian kingdom]] in the 3rd–2nd century BCE.<ref name="CB" /> Bactrian, beyond being an official language, was also the language of the local populations ruled by the Hephthalites.<ref name=Canfield49>{{harvnb|Frye|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=g3JhKNSk8tQC&pg=PA49 49]}}.</ref><ref name="Sinor"/>

The Hephthalites inscribed their coins in Bactrian. The titles they held were Bactrian, such as {{Sc2|{{lang|xbc-Grek|χοαδηο}}}} ({{Transliteration|xbc|khoadēo}}) or {{Transliteration|xbc|šao}},{{sfn|Litvinsky|1996|pp=138–154}} and of probable Chinese origin, such as ''[[yabghu]]''.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=135}} The names of Hephthalite rulers given in [[Ferdowsi]]'s ''[[Shahnameh]]'' are Iranian,{{sfn|Litvinsky|1996|pp=138–154}} and gem inscriptions and other evidence shows that the official language of the Hephthalite elite was East Iranian.{{sfn|Litvinsky|1996|pp=138–154}} In 1959, Kazuo Enoki proposed that the Hephthalites were probably (East) [[Iranian peoples|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.{{sfn|Enoki|1959|pp=23-28}} [[Richard Nelson Frye]] cautiously accepted Enoki's hypothesis, while at the same time stressing that the Hephthalites "were probably a mixed horde".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Frye |first=R. |title=CENTRAL ASIA iii. In Pre-Islamic Times |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/central-asia-iii}}</ref> Frye writes:

{{blockquote|text=Just as later [[nomadic]] empires were confederations of many peoples, we may tentatively propose that 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.<ref name=Canfield49/>}}

A few scholars, such as [[Josef Markwart|Marquart]] and [[René Grousset|Grousset]] proposed [[Proto-Mongols|Proto-Mongolic]] origins.{{sfn|Enoki|1959|pp=17–18}} Yu Taishan traced the Hephthalites' origins to the [[Xianbei]] and further to [[Goguryeo]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Yu Taishan |date=2011 |title=History of the Yeda tribe (Hephthalites): Further Issues |journal=Eurasian Studies |volume=I |pages=66–119 |url=https://www.academia.edu/38877277}}</ref>

Other scholars such as [[Étienne de la Vaissière|de la Vaissière]], based on a recent reappraisal of the Chinese sources, suggest that the Hephthalites were of Turkic origin, and later adopted the Bactrian language, first for administrative purposes, and possibly later as a native language. According to {{harvp|Rezakhani|2017}}, this thesis is seemingly the "most prominent at present".<ref>{{harvnb|Rezakhani|2017|p=135}}. "The suggestion that the Hephthalites were originally of Turkic origin and only later adopted Bactrian as their administrative, and possibly native, language (de la Vaissière 2007: 122) seems to be most prominent at present."</ref>{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=119–137}}{{efn|{{harvp|de la Vaissière|2012}} pointed out that "[a] recently published seal gives the title of a fifth-century lord of Samarkand as 'king of the Oglar Huns.'"{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KZNoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA146 146]}} (βαγο ογλαρ(γ)ο – υονανο). See the seal and this reading of the inscription in Hans Bakker (2020: 13, note 17), referencing from Sim-Williams (2011: 72-74).<ref name="HB2020">{{cite book |last1=Bakker |first1=Hans T. |title=The Alkhan: A Hunnic People in South Asia |date=12 March 2020 |publisher=Barkhuis |isbn=978-94-93194-00-7 |page=13, note 17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA13}}</ref> "Oglar" is thought to derive from the Turk ''oǧul-lar'' > ''oǧlar'' "sons; princes" plus an Iranian adjective suffix -g.<ref name="XW286">{{cite journal |last1=Wan |first1=Xiang |title=A study on the Kidarites: Reexamination of documentary sources |journal=Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi |date=August 2013 |volume=19 |page=286 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1089723}}</ref> Alternatively, and less likely, "Oglarg" could correspond to "Walkon", and thus the [[Alchon Huns]], although the seal is closer to [[Kidarites]] coin types.<ref name="XW286" /> Another seal found in the Kashmir reads "ολαρ(γ)ο" (seal AA2.3).<ref name="HB2020" /> The Kashmir seal was published by Grenet, ur Rahman, and Sims-Williams (2006:125-127) who compared ολαργο ''Ularg'' on the seal to the ethnonym οιλαργανο "people of ''Wilarg''" attested in a Bactrian document written in 629 CE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |last2=ur Rahman |first2=Aman |last3=Sims-Williams |first3=Nicholas |title=A Hunnish Kushanshah |journal=Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology |date=2006 |volume=1 |pages=125–131 |doi=10.1484/J.JIAAA.2.301930 |url=https://www.academia.edu/24463151}}</ref> The style of the sealings is related to the [[Kidarites]], and the title "Kushanshah" is known to have disappeared with the Kidarites.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kurbanov |first1=Aydogdy |title=Some information related to the art history of the hephthalite time (4th-6th centuries AD) in Central Asia and Neighbouring countries |journal=Isimu |date=2013a |volume=16 |pages=99–112 |url=https://revistas.uam.es/isimu/article/download/3178/3373/6505}}</ref>}}

{{multiple image|perrow=1|total_width=310|caption_align=center
| align    = right
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| image1   = Balalyk Tepe banquet scene.jpg
| image2   = Balalyk Tepe festivities.jpg
| footer   = The banquet scenes in the murals of [[Balalyk Tepe]] show the life of the Hephthalite ruling class of [[Tokharistan]].<ref name="CH141" />{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p=67}}<ref name="SP9293">{{cite book |last1=Azarpay |first1=Guitty |last2=Belenickij |first2=Aleksandr M. |last3=Maršak |first3=Boris Il'ič |last4=Dresden |first4=Mark J. |title=Sogdian Painting: The Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art |date=1981 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03765-6 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KVSPEN4ap_0C&pg=PA92 92]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=KVSPEN4ap_0C&pg=PA93 93] |url=}}</ref>}}

=== Relation to European Huns ===
According to Martin Schottky, the Hephthalites apparently had no direct connection with 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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Schottky |first=M. |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/huns |title=Iranian Huns |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica}}</ref> On the contrary, [[Étienne de la Vaissière|de la Vaissière]] considers that the Hephthalites were part of the great [[Huns|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]]".{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=122}}{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2012|pp=144–155|ps=. "The Huns are beyond doubt the political and ethnic inheritors of the old Xiongnu empire"}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cosmo |first1=Nicola Di |last2=Maas |first2=Michael |title=Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity: Rome, China, Iran, and the Steppe, ca. 250–750 |date=26 April 2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-54810-6 |pages=196–197 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y01UDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA196 |language=en|quote=In 2005, Étienne de la Vaissière, in a seminal article, used some new or little-known sources to argue that the Xiongnu had in fact called themselves “Huns,” and that after the dissolution of their empire a considerable part of the northern Xiongnu remained in the Altai region. In the middle of the fourth century, two large groups of Huns departed from there, one southward to the lands north of Persia (Kidarites, Alkhan, Hephthalites) and the other one westward to Europe. Although based on limited sources, the contention that the imperial and post-imperial Xiongnu, the Hunnic dynasties north and east of the Sasanians, and the European Huns are directly linked is well argued.}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2012|pp=144–146}} 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 the Huns and the Hephthalites in Central Asia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lomazoff |first1=Amanda |last2=Ralby |first2=Aaron |title=The Atlas of Military History |date=August 2013 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-60710-985-3 |page=246 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ilZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT246}}</ref>

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:

{{blockquote|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 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 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<ref>[[s:History of the Wars/Book I|Procopius, ''History of the Wars''. Book I, Ch. III, "The Persian War"]]</ref>}}

=== Chinese chronicles ===
{{multiple image|perrow=1/2/2 |total_width=310|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=
| image1   = Hephthalite sponsors at Bamiyan (ceiling of the 38 meter Buddha, detail of royal sponsors, enhanced).jpg
| footer=Probable Hephthalite royal couple in the murals of the [[Buddhas of Bamiyan]] circa 600 CE (the 38-meter Buddha they decorate is carbon dated to 544 – 595 CE).<ref name="Bamiyan Dates">{{cite book |last1=Blänsdorf |first1=Catharina |last2=Nadeau |first2=Marie-Josée |last3=Grootes |first3=Pieter M. |last4=Hüls |first4=Matthias |last5=Pfeffer |first5=Stephanie |last6=Thiemann |first6=Laura |date=2009 |chapter=Dating of the Buddha Statues – AMS {{SimpleNuclide|Carbon|14}} Dating of Organic Materials |editor-last=Petzet |editor-first=Michael |title=The Giant Buddhas of Bamiyan. Safeguarding the remains |series=Monuments and Sites |volume=19 |place=Berlin |publisher=Bässler |page=235, Table 4 |quote=Eastern Buddha: 549 AD – 579 AD (1 σ range, 68.2% probability) 544 AD – 595 AD (2 σ range, 95.4% probability). Western Buddha: 605 AD – 633 AD (1 σ range, 68.2%) 591 AD – 644 AD (2 σ range, 95.4% probability). |chapter-url=https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/monsites/article/download/22983/16750 |url=https://www.icomos.de/admin/ckeditor/plugins/alphamanager/uploads/pdf/ICOMOS_Publikation_Bamiyan.pdf |isbn=978-3-930388-55-4 |access-date=17 November 2020 |archive-date=4 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204200802/https://www.icomos.de/admin/ckeditor/plugins/alphamanager/uploads/pdf/ICOMOS_Publikation_Bamiyan.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Their characteristics are similar to the figures in [[Balalyk Tepe]], such as the right side triangular lapel, hairstyles, faces and ornaments, and reflect Hephthalite styles.{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p=67}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Azarpay |first1=Guitty |last2=Belenickij |first2=Aleksandr M. |last3=Maršak |first3=Boris Il'ič |last4=Dresden |first4=Mark J. |title=Sogdian Painting: The Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art |date=1981 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03765-6 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KVSPEN4ap_0C&pg=PA92 92]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=KVSPEN4ap_0C&pg=PA93 93] |url=|quote=...would argue for their association with the artistic tradition of the Hepthalite ruling classes of [[Tukharistan]], that survived the downfall of Hephthalite power in 557 AD.}}</ref> The Bamiyan complex developed under Hephthalite rule.<ref name="XL64">{{cite book |last1=Liu |first1=Xinru |title=The Silk Road in World History |date=9 July 2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-979880-3 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xXhhkvOULHsC&pg=PA64}}</ref>{{sfn|Litvinsky|1996|p=158}}
}}
The Hephthalites were first known to the Chinese in 456 CE, when a Hephthalite embassy arrived at the Chinese court of the [[Northern Wei]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=121}} 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).<ref>[[Du You]], ''[[Tongdian]]'' "Vol. 193" [http://www.guoxuemi.com/siku/124889wets/418679irff/ folio 5b-6a]</ref><ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Ephthalites|short=x}}</ref> Ancient [[History of China#Imperial China|imperial Chinese]] chronicles give various explanations about the origins of the Hephthalites:{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=119–122, Annex 1}}{{sfn|Enoki|1959|pp=1–14}}{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|pp=2–32}}
* They were descendants "of the [[Tiele people|Gaoju]] or the [[Da Yuezhi]]" according to the earliest chronicles such as the ''[[Book of Wei]]'' or the ''[[History of the Northern Dynasties]]''.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=119–122, Annex 1}}
* They were descendants "of the [[Da Yuezhi]] tribes", according to many later chronicles.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=119–122, Annex 1}}
* The ancient historian [[Pei Ziye]] conjectured that the "Hua" (滑) may be descendants of a [[Jushi Kingdom|Jushi]] general of the 2nd century CE because that general was named "Bahua" (八滑). This etymological fantasy was adopted by the ''[[Book of Liang]]'' ([[:s:zh:梁書/卷30|Volume 30]] and [[:s:zh:梁書/卷54|Volume 54]]).{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=119–122, Annex 1}}{{sfn|Balogh|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 46]}}
* Another etymological fantasy appeared in the ''[[Tongdian]]'', reporting an account by the traveller Wei Jie according to which the Hephthalites may have been the descendants of the [[Kangju]] because a Kangju general of the [[Han dynasty#Eastern Han|Eastern Han]] happened to be named "Yitian".{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=119–122, Annex 1}}

Kazuo Enoki made a first groundbreaking analysis of the Chinese sources in 1959, suggesting that the Hephthalites were a local tribe of the [[Tokharistan]] ([[Bactria]]) region, with their origin in the nearby Western [[Himalayas]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=119–122, Annex 1}} He also used as an argument the presence of numerous [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]] names among the Hephthalites, and the fact that the Chinese reported that they practiced [[polyandry]], a well-known West Himalayan cultural trait.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=119–122, Annex 1}}

According to a recent reappraisal of the Chinese sources by [[Étienne de la Vaissière|de la Vaissière]] (2003), only the Turkic [[Tiele people|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]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=120–121, Annex 1}} The earliest Chinese source on this encounter, the near-contemporary chronicles of the Northern Wei (''[[Weishu]]'') as quoted in the later ''[[Tongdian]]'', reports that they migrated southward from the [[Altai Mountains|Altai]] region circa 360 CE:

{{blockquote|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|Altai]]) mountains [...] This was 80 to 90 years before [[Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei|Emperor Wen]] (r. 440–465 CE) of the [[Northern Wei]] (i.e. circa 360 CE)<br />
[[Hephthalite|嚈噠國]]，或云[[Gaoju|高車]]之別種，或云[[Da Yuezhi|大月氏]]之別種。其原出於塞北。自金山而南。[...] 至[[Northern Wei|後魏]] [[Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei|文帝]]時已八九十年矣|Extract of the ''[[Weishu]]'' chronicles as copied in ''[[Tongdian]]''.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=120–121, Annex 1}}}}

The [[Gaoju]] (高車 lit. "High Cart"), also known as [[Tiele people|Tiele]],<ref>[[Xin Tangshu]] [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7217%E4%B8%8A vol. 217a] txt: "回紇，其先匈奴也，俗多乘高輪車，元魏時亦號高車部，或曰敕勒，訛為鐵勒。" tr: "[[Uyghur Khaganate|Uyghurs]], their predecessors were the Xiongnu. Because, customarily, they ride high-wheeled carts. In [[Northern Wei|Yuan Wei]] time, they were also called Gaoju (i.e. High-Cart) tribe. Or called Chile, or mistakenly as Tiele."</ref> were early Turkic speakers related to the earlier [[Dingling]],<ref>[[Weishu]] [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%AD%8F%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7103#%E9%AB%98%E8%BB%8A Vol 103 Gaoju] txt: "高車，蓋古赤狄之餘種也，[...] 諸夏以為高車丁零。" tr: "Gaoju, probably the remnant stock of the ancient Red Di. [...] The various Xia (i.e. Chinese) considered them Gaoju Dingling (i.e. Dingling with High Cart)"</ref><ref>Cheng, Fanyi. "The Research on the Identification between the Tiele (鐵勒) and the Oğuric tribes" in ''Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi'' ed. Th. T. Allsen, P. B. Golden, R. K. Kovalev, A. P. Martinez. 19 (2012). Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden. p. 87</ref> who were once conquered by the [[Xiongnu]].<ref>[[Sima Qian]], [[Shiji]] [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7110 vol. 110] txt: "後北服渾庾、屈射、'''丁零'''、鬲昆、薪犁之國。" tr: "Later (in the) north ([[Modu Chanyu]]) subjugated the nations of Hunyu, Qushe, '''Dingling''', [[Yenisei Kirghiz|Gekun]], and [[Xueyantuo|Xinli]]."</ref><ref>Lee, Joo-Yup; Kuang, Shuntu (2017). "A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Historical Sources and Y-DNA Studies with Regard to the Early and Medieval Turkic Peoples". ''Inner Asia''. (19): p. 199-201 of pp. 197-239</ref> [[Weishu]] also mentioned the linguistic and ethnic proximity between the Gaoju and the Xiongnu.<ref>Weishu, [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%AD%8F%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7103#%E9%AB%98%E8%BB%8A vol. 103] txt: "高車，[...] 其語略與匈奴同而時有小異，或云其先匈奴之甥也", tr: "The Gaoju, [...] their language and the Xiongnu's are similar though differ a little; or to say it differently, they are the sororal nephews/sons-in-laws of their Xiongnu predecessors"</ref> De la Vaissière proposes that the Hephthalites had originally been one Oghuric-speaking tribe who belonged the Gaoju/Tiele confederation.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=121}}{{sfn|Golden|1992|pp=93–96}}<ref>Golden, P.B. (2006) [https://books.google.com/books?id=8-OilJCX1moC&pg=PA136 "Some Thoughts on the Origins of the Turks and the Shaping of the Turkic Peoples"] in ''Contact and exchange in the ancient world'', ed. Victor H. Mair, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. p. 137-138 of 136-140</ref> 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]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=121}} 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.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=123}}

According to the ''[[History of Northern Dynasties|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.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=120–122}} The ''[[Liangshu]]'' and ''[[Liang Zhigongtu]]'' do explain that the Hephthalites originally had no written language and adopted the ''[[Barbarian|hu]]'' (local, "Barbarian") alphabet, in this case, the [[Bactrian script]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=120–122}}

Overall, de la Vaissière considers that the Hephthalites were part of the great [[Huns|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]]".{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=122}}

=== Appearance ===
[[File:Termez Shirabad Tavka Kurgan (Fortress) 5th-6th cent CE Wall Painting.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Another painting of the Tokharistan school, from [[Tavka Kurgan]].<ref name="FG" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rakhmanov |first1=Shaymardankul A. |title=Wall Paintings from Tavka, Uzbekistan |journal=Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology |date=2016 |volume=7 |pages=31–54 |doi=10.1484/J.JIAAA.4.2017003 |issn=1783-9025}}</ref> It is closely related to [[Balalyk tepe]], "especially in the treatment of the face". Termez Archaeological Museum.<ref name="FG" />]]
The Hepthalites appear in several mural paintings in 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]].<ref name="SP9293"/> 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,<ref>{{harvnb|Kageyama|2016|p=200}}. "Il’yasov's article references figurines wearing caftans with triangular-shaped collars on the right side. This is believed to be a style of garment that became popular in Central Asia under Hephthalite rule"</ref> the cropped hair, the hair accessories, their distinctive physionomy and their round beardless faces.<ref name="CM12">{{harvnb|Margottini|2013|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=OTK_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 12–13]}}</ref> The figures at Bamyan must represent the donors and potentates who supported the building of the monumental giant Buddha.<ref name="CM12"/> These remarkable paintings participate "to the artistic tradition of the Hephthalite ruling classes of [[Tukharistan]]".{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p=67}}<ref name="SP9293"/>

The paintings related to the Hephthalites have often been grouped under the appellation of "Tokharistan school of art",{{sfn|Kurbanov|2014|p=322}} or the "Hephthalite stage in the History of Central Asia Art".{{sfn|Ilyasov|2001|p=187}} 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.<ref name="FG">{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |title=Tavka (k istorii drevnix tamožennyx sooruženij Uzbekistana). Taškent-Samarkand, Izd. A. Kadyri / Institut Arxeologii A.N. Uzb, 141 p., 68 ill. + 13 pl. couleurs h.-t. (Texte bilingue ouzbek-russe, résumé en anglais). [Tavka (contribution à l'histoire des anciens édifices frontaliers de l'Ouzbékistan)] |journal=Abstracta Iranica |date=15 May 2004 |volume=25 |issn=0240-8910 |doi=10.4000/abstractairanica.4213 |doi-access=free |url=https://journals.openedition.org/abstractairanica/4213 |language=fr}}</ref>

This "Hephthalite period" in art, with 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 the rule of the Hephthalites.{{sfn|Kageyama|2007|p=12}}

== History ==
[[File:Ebodalo (Bactrian cursive and Greek standard).jpg|thumb|upright|left|The Hephthalites used the [[Bactrian script]] (top), an adaptation of the [[Greek script]] (bottom). Here, their [[endonym]] ''Ebodalo'', "Hephthalites".]]
The Hephthalites were a vassal state to the [[Rouran Khaganate]] until the beginning of the 5th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grousset |first=René |author-link=René Grousset |year=1970 |title=The Empire of the Steppes: a History of Central Asia |translator=Naomi Walford |place=New Brunswick, NJ |publisher=Rutgers University Press |page=67}}</ref> There were close contacts between them, although they had different languages and cultures, and the Hephthalites borrowed much of their political organization from Rourans.{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}} In particular, the title "[[Khan (title)|Khan]]", which according to McGovern was original to the Rourans, was borrowed by the Hephthalite rulers.{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}} 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.<ref name="CC287"/> 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 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.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2012|pp=144–146}}{{sfn|Sundermann|Hintze|de Blois|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=b3gOdaiXNKkC&pg=PA216 216, note 5]}} As they rose to prominence, the Hephthalites displaced the [[Kidarites]] and then the [[Alchon Huns]], who expanded into [[Gandhara]] and Northern India.

{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| image1   = Bandian, vanquished Hephthalite (vertical).jpg
| image2   = Bandian Hephthalite.jpg
| footer=The Hephthalites as vanquished enemies (face down on the floor), and then as allies (seated), in the Sasanian [[Bandian complex]]. The inscription next to the seated ruler reads: "I am Hephthalite, son … the Hephthalite is trustworthy".<ref>{{cite book |last1=KURBANOV |first1=AYDOGDY |title=THE HEPHTHALITES: ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS |date=2010 |publisher=Department of History and Cultural Studies of the Free University |location=Berlin |page=39 |url=https://www.podgorski.com/main/assets/documents/Hephthalites_Kurbanov.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite book |last1=Potts |first1=Daniel T. |title=Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-933079-9 |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8c3QAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |language=en}}</ref> 459-497 CE
}}
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 the Bandian complex in 484 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=KURBANOV |first1=AYDOGDY |title=THE HEPHTHALITES: ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS |date=2010 |publisher=Department of History and Cultural Studies of the Free University |location=Berlin |page=39 |url=https://www.podgorski.com/main/assets/documents/Hephthalites_Kurbanov.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite book |last1=Potts |first1=Daniel T. |title=Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-933079-9 |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8c3QAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |language=en}}</ref>

In 456–457 a Hephthalite embassy arrived in China, during the reign of [[Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei|Emperor Wen]] of the [[Northern Wei]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2012|pp=144–146}} 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]].<ref name="CB" /> In the second half of the fifth century they controlled the deserts of [[Turkmenistan]] as far as the [[Caspian Sea]] and possibly [[Merv]].{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|pp=164, 167}} 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]]).<ref name="CH141">{{cite book |last1=Higham |first1=Charles |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations |date=14 May 2014 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0996-1 |pages=141–142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1c1UIEVH9gC&pg=PA141}}</ref>

To the east, they captured the [[Tarim Basin]] and went as far as [[Urumqi]].<ref name="CH141" />

Around 560 CE their empire was destroyed by an alliance of the First Turkic Khaganate and 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]].<ref name="CB" /><ref name="CH141" /> Among the principalities which remained in Hephthalite hands even after the Turkic overcame their territory were: [[Chaganian]], and [[Khuttal]] in the [[Vakhsh (river)|Vakhsh Valley]].<ref name="CH141" />

=== Ascendancy over the Sasanian Empire (442–c.530 CE) ===
{{See also|Hephthalite–Persian Wars}}
[[File:Hephthalites. Circa 5th Century CE. Crowned bust of Peroz right.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Early Hephthalite coinage: a close imitation of a coin type of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian Emperor]] [[Peroz I]] (third period coinage of Peroz I, after 474 CE).<ref name="CC287"/> Late 5th century CE. This coinage is typically distinguished from Sasanian issues by dots around the border and the abbreviation [[File:Ebodalo (Bactrian cursive, abbreviation Eb).jpg|20px]] (ηβ "ēb") in front of the crown of Peroz I, abbreviation of ηβοδαλο "ĒBODALO", for "Hepthalites".<ref name=HEIDEMANN/>]]
[[File:Hephthalites coin. Uncertain ruler. Late 5th century CE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|A rare [[Hephthalite]] coin. '''Obverse''': Hephthalite prince wearing a belted caftan with single right lapel, and holding a drinking cup. Probable Bactrian legend ηβοδαλο "ĒBODALO" to the right.{{efn|name="Coin"|1=See another example (with coin description).<ref>{{harvnb|Alram et al.|2012–2013}}. [http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/coins/coin152?ref=showcases/showcase10&language=en exhibit: 10. HEPHTHALITES IN BACTRIA]</ref>}} '''Reverse''': Sasanian-style bust imitating [[Khavadh I]], whom the Hephthalites had helped to the Sasanian throne. Hephthalite [[tamgha]] [[File:Hephthalite tamgha.jpg|8px]] before the face of Khavad.{{efn|name="Coin"}}{{sfn|Alram|2008|loc=coin type 47 and 48}} First half of the 6th century CE.]]
The Hephthalites were originally vassals of 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 the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian Emperor]] [[Peroz I]] (458–484) gain the Persian throne from his brother.<ref name="HCCE 38">{{harvnb|Chegini|Nikitin|1996|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA38 38ff]}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=125–156}}

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.{{sfn|Zeimal|1996|p=130}} The weakened Kidarites had to take refuge in the area of [[Gandhara]].

==== Victories over the Sasanian Empire (474–484 CE) ====
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.<ref name="CC287"/> 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 I|Kavad]] as a hostage.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=125–156}} The coinage of [[Peroz I]] in effect flooded Tokharistan, taking precedence over all other Sasanian issues.{{sfn|Zeimal|1994|p=253}}

In 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.<ref name="HCCE 38"/><ref name="STA36">{{harvnb|Adylov|Mirzaahmedov|2006|p=36}}. "The third incursion cost him his own life and his camp was captured together with his daughter who was taken as a wife by the Hephtalite king Kun-khi"</ref> Perozduxt, the daughter of Peroz, was captured and became a lady as the Hephtalite court, as Queen of king Kun-khi.<ref name="STA36" /> She became pregnant and had a daughter who would later marry her uncle [[Kavad I]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=125–156}} From 474 until the middle of the 6th century, the Sasanian Empire paid tribute to the Hephthalites.

[[Bactria]] came under formal Hephthalite rule from that time.<ref name="KHM10"/> 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 is dated to 483/484 CE.<ref name="KHM10"/>

==== Hephthalite coinage ====
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.<ref name="CC287"/> Benefiting from the influx of [[Sasanian coinage|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.<ref name="KHM10"/> They did not inscribe the name of their ruler, contrary to the habit of the [[Alchon Huns]] or the [[Kidarites]] before them.<ref name="KHM10"/> Exceptionally, one coin type deviates from the Sasanian design, by showing the bust of a Hepthalite prince holding a drinking cup.<ref name="KHM10"/> Overall, the Sasanians paid "an enormous tribute" to the Hephthalites, until the 530s and the rise of [[Khosrow I]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2012|pp=144–146}}

==== Protectors of Kavad ====
Following their victory over Peroz I, the Hepthalites became protectors and benefactors of his son [[Kavad I]], as [[Balash]], a brother of Peroz took the Sasanian throne.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=125–156}} In 488, a Hepthalite army vanquished the Sasanian army of Balash, and was able to put [[Kavad I]] (488–496, 498–531) on the throne.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=125–156}}

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 the city of [[Theodosiupolis of Armenia]] in 501–502, in battles against the Romans in 502–503, and again during the [[Siege of Edessa (503)|siege of Edessa]] in September 503.<ref name="HCCE 38"/><ref>{{cite web |title=British Museum notice on Hephthalite troops |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_2007-6002-364 |website=The British Museum}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Joshua the Stylite, Chronicle composed in Syriac in AD 507 (1882) pp.1-76 |url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/joshua_the_stylite_02_trans.htm}}</ref>

=== Hephthalites in Tokharistan (466 CE) ===
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=450|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=
| image1   = Silver bowl with a royal couple at a banquet. Probably produced in Bactria, 6th-7th century CE. St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum, Inv no S-75.jpg
| caption1 = Hephthalite-style couple at a banquet, with man in single-lapel caftan. Inscription: "Dhenakk, the son of ''xwn'' (Hun)".{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|p=203}} [[Bactria]], second half of the 5th century CE.<ref name="FG138">{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |last2=Riboud |first2=Pénélope |title=A Reflection of the Hephthalite Empire: The Biographical Narra- tive in the Reliefs of the Tomb of the Sabao Wirkak (494-579) |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=2003 |volume=17 |page=138 |url=https://www.podgorski.com/main/assets/documents/A_reflection_of_the_Hephtalite_empire.pdf}}</ref> St. Petersburg, [[State Hermitage Museum]].<ref name="KHM10"/>
| image2   = Contract in the Bactrian language from the archive of the kingdom of Rob.jpg
| caption2 = A tax receipt in [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]] for the Hephthalites in Tokharistan. Archives of the [[Kingdom of Rob]], 483/484 CE.<ref name="KHM10"/>
| footer=
}}
Around 461–462 CE, an [[Alchon Hun]] ruler named [[Mehama]] is known to have been based in Eastern Tokharistan, possibly indicating a partition of the region between the Hephthalites in western Tokharistan, centered on [[Balkh]], and the [[Alchon Huns]] in eastern Tokharistan, who would then go on to expand into northern India.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA140 140–141]}} [[Mehama]] appears in [[:File:Bactrian language letter from Meyam, King of the people of Kadag, 461-462 CE.jpg|a letter]] in the Bactrian language he wrote in 461–462 CE, where he describes himself as "Meyam, King of the people of Kadag, the governor of the famous and prosperous King of Kings Peroz".{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA140 140–141]}} Kadag is Kadagstan, an area in southern Bactria, in the region of [[Baghlan]]. Significantly, he presents himself as a vassal of the [[Sasanian Empire]] king [[Peroz I]], but Mehama was probably later able to wrestle autonomy or even independence as Sasanian power waned and he moved into India, with dire consequences for the [[Gupta Empire]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA140 140–141]}}<ref>{{harvnb|Alram et al.|2012–2013}}. [http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase8?language=en exhibit: 8. Alkhan: Contemporaries Of Khingila] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115150326/http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase8?language=en |date=15 November 2020 }}</ref>{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA121 120–122]}}

The Hepthalites probably expanded into [[Tokharistan]] following the destruction of the [[Kidarites]] in 466. The presence of the Hepthalites in Tokharistan ([[Bactria]]) is securely dated to 484 CE, date of [[:File:Contract in the Bactrian language from the archive of the kingdom of Rob.jpg|a tax receipt]] from the [[Kingdom of Rob]] mentioning the need to sell some land in order to pay Hephthalite taxes.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=126}} Two documents were also found, with dates from the period from 492 to 527 CE, mentioning taxes paid to Hephthalite rulers. Another, undated documents, mentions scribal and judiciary functions under the Hephthalites:

{{blockquote|Sartu, the son of Hwade-gang, the prosperous [[Yabghu]] of the Hepthalite people (''ebodalo shabgo''); Haru Rob, the scribe of the Hephthalite ruler (''ebodalo eoaggo''), the judge of [[Tokharistan]] and [[Gharchistan]].|Document of the [[Kingdom of Rob]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Solovyov |first1=Sergei |title=Attila Kagan of the Huns from the kind of Velsung |date=2020 |publisher=Litres |isbn=978-5-04-227693-4 |page=313 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FiLLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT313}}</ref>}}

=== Hephthalite conquest of Sogdiana (479 CE) ===
[[File:Sogdiana. Samarkand (Pre-Ikhshid), Hephthalite tamgha S2 on the reverse.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Local coinage of [[Samarkand]], [[Sogdia]], with the Hepthalite [[tamgha]] on the reverse.{{sfn|Alram|2008|loc=coin type 46}}]]
{{Continental Asia in 500 CE|right|{{center|Territory of the Imperial Hephthalites and main Asian polities c. 500 CE}}||Map of Hephthalites.png}}
The Hephthalites conquered the territory of [[Sogdiana]], beyond the [[Oxus]], which was incorporated into their Empire.<ref name="CP" /> They may have conquered Sogdiana as early as 479 CE, as this is the date of the last known embassy of the Sogdians to China.<ref name="CP"/>{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}} The [[:File:Huaguoshi.jpg|account of the Liang Zhigongtu]] also seems to record that from around 479 CE, the Hephthalites occupied the region of Samarkand.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}} Alternatively, the Hephthalites may have occupied Sogdia later in 509 CE, as this is the date of the last known embassy from [[Samarkand]] to the Chinese Empire, but this might not be conclusive as several cities, such as [[Balkh]] or [[Kobadiyan]], are known to have sent embassies to China as late as 522 CE, while under Hephthalite control.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}} As early as 484, the famous Hephthalite ruler [[Akhshunwar]], who defeated [[Peroz I]], held a title that may be understood as Sogdian: "’xs’wnd’r" ("power-holder").{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}}

The Hephthalites may have built major fortified [[Hippodamian]] cities (rectangular walls with an orthogonal network of streets) in Sogdiana, such as [[Bukhara]] and [[Panjikent]], as they had also in [[Herat]], continuing the city-building efforts of the [[Kidarites]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}} The Hephthalites probably ruled over a confederation of local rulers or governors, linked through alliance agreements. One of these vassals may have been Asbar, ruler of [[Vardanzi]], who also minted his own coinage during the period.{{sfn|Adylov|Mirzaahmedov|2006|pp=34–36}}

The wealth of the Sasanian ransoms and tributes may have been reinvested in Sogdia, possibly explaining the prosperity of the region from that time.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}} Sogdia, at the center of a new [[Silk Road]] between China to the Sasanian Empire and the [[Byzantine Empire]] became extremely prosperous under its nomadic elites.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2012|pp=144–160|ps=. "Sogdiana under its nomadic elites became the principal center of agricultural wealth and population in Central Asia." and paragraph on "The Shift of the Trade Routes"}} The Hephthalites took on the role of major intermediary on the [[Silk Road]], after their great predecessor the [[Kushans]], and contracted local [[Sogdians]] to carry on the trade of silk and other luxury goods between the China Empire and the Sasanian Empire.<ref name="JAM28">{{cite book |last1=Millward |first1=James A. |title=The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press USA |isbn=978-0-19-978286-4 |page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0uMBi67IngC&pg=PA28}}</ref>

Because of the Hephthalite occupation of Sogdia, the original coinage of Sogdia came to be flooded by the influx of Sasanian coins received as a tribute to the Hephthalites. This coinage then spread along the [[Silk Road]].<ref name="CP">{{cite journal |last1=Pei 裴 |first1=Chengguo 成国 |title=The Silk Road and the economy of Gaochang: evidence on the Circulation of silver coins |journal=Silk Road |date=2017 |volume=15 |page=57, note 5 |url=https://religiondocbox.com/74666854-Islam/Volume-contents.html}}</ref> The symbol of the Hephthalites appears on the residual coinage of [[Samarkand]], probably as a consequence of the Hephthalite control of Sogdia, and becomes prominent in Sogdian coinage from 500 to 700 CE, including in the coinage of their indigenous successors the [[Ikhshid]]s (642-755 CE), ending with the [[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA138 138]}}<ref name="MF">{{cite journal |last1=Fedorov |first1=Michael |title=ON THE PORTRAITS OF THE SOGDIAN KINGS (IKHSHĪDS) OF SAMARQAND |journal=Iran |date=2007 |volume=45 |page=155 |doi=10.1080/05786967.2007.11864723 |jstor=25651416 |s2cid=194538468 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25651416 |issn=0578-6967|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Tarim Basin (circa 480–550 CE) ===
{{multiple image|perrow=3|total_width=440|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| image1   =Sixteen Sword Bearers of Kizil Caves (detail).jpg
| caption1 = [[Kizil Caves]] swordsmen in Hephthalite style.{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|pp=200–205}}{{sfn|Kurbanov|2014|p=324}} This mural was [[carbon dated]] to 432–538 CE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=MUZIO |first1=CIRO LO |title=Remarks on the Paintings from the Buddhist Monastery of Fayaz Tepe (Southern Uzbekistan) |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=2008 |volume=22 |page=202, note 45 |jstor=24049243 |issn=0890-4464}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MIA Berlin: Turfan Collection: Kizil |url=https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/museums/mia/kizil.html |website=depts.washington.edu}}</ref>
| image3=Kizil, mural in the Cave of the Painters, with painter in caftan in the lower right corner (and enlarged), circa 500 CE.jpg
|caption3=Painter in single-lapel caftan, Kizil Caves, circa 500 CE (enlarged detail).{{sfn|Härtel|Yaldiz|1982|pp=[https://archive.org/details/AlongtheAncientSilkRoutesCentralAsianArtfromtheWestBerlinStateMuseums/page/n55/mode/2up 55–56] and [https://archive.org/details/AlongtheAncientSilkRoutesCentralAsianArtfromtheWestBerlinStateMuseums/page/n73/mode/2up 74]}}{{sfn|Rowland|1974|p=104}} [[:File:Tutuka inscription.jpg|The label at his feet]] is in [[Sanskrit]] ([[Gupta script]]) and reads: "Painting of Tutuka" (''[[wikt:चित्रकला|Citrakara]] Tututkasya'').{{sfn|Härtel|Yaldiz|1982|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BLuaphht8XwC&pg=PA74 74]}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kausch |first1=Anke |title=Seidenstrasse: von China durch die WŸsten Gobi und Taklamakan Ÿber den Karakorum Highway nach Pakistan |year=2001 |publisher=DuMont Reiseverlag |isbn=978-3-7701-5243-8 |page=258 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bj6KvMtIa68C&pg=PA258 |language=de}}</ref>
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}}
In the late 5th century CE they expanded eastward through the [[Pamir Mountains]], which are comparatively easy to cross, as did the [[Kushan Empire|Kushans]] before them, due to the presence of convenient plateaus between high peaks.{{sfn|Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA38 38]}} They occupied the western [[Tarim Basin]] ([[Kashgar]] and [[Khotan]]), taking control of the area from the [[Rouran]]s, who had been collecting heavy tribute from the oasis cities, but were now weakening under the assaults of the Chinese [[Northern Wei|Northern Wei dynasty]].<ref name="JAM30-31"/> In 479 they took the east end of the Tarim Basin, around the region of [[Turfan]].<ref name="JAM30-31"/><ref name="SW"/> In 497–509, they pushed north of Turfan to the [[Urumchi]] region.<ref name="SW"/> In the early years of the 6th century, they were sending embassies from their dominions in the Tarim Basin to the Northern Wei dynasty.<ref name="JAM30-31"/><ref name="SW"/> They were probably in contact with [[Li Xian (Northern Zhou general)|Li Xian]], the Chinese Governor of [[Dunhuang]], who is known for having furnished his tomb with a Western-style [[ewer]] probably made in [[Bactria]].<ref name="SW">{{cite book |last1=Whitfield |first1=Susan |title=Silk, Slaves, and Stupas: Material Culture of the Silk Road |date=13 March 2018 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-95766-4 |pages=201–202 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHBdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT201 |language=en}}</ref>

The Hephthalites continued to occupy the Tarim Basin until the end of their Empire, circa 560 CE.<ref name="JAM30-31"/>{{sfn|Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA375 375]}}

As the territories ruled by the Hephthalites expanded into Central Asia and the Tarim Basin, the art of the Hephthalites, characterized by the clothing and hairstyles of the figures being represented, also came to be used in the areas they ruled, such as [[Sogdiana]], [[Bamyan]] or [[Kucha]] in the [[Tarim Basin]] ([[Kizil Caves]], [[Kumtura Caves]], [[Subashi Temple|Subashi reliquary]]).{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|pp=200–205}}{{sfn|Ilyasov|2001|pp=187–197}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS xiv. E. Iranian Art |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/chinese-iranian-xiv}}</ref> In these areas appear dignitaries with caftans with a triangular collar on the right side, crowns with three crescents, some crowns with wings, and a unique hairstyle. Another marker is the two-point suspension system for swords, which seems to have been an Hephthalite innovation, and was introduced by them in the territories they controlled.{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|pp=200–205}} The paintings from the [[Kucha]] region, particularly the swordsmen in the [[Kizil Caves]], appear to have been made during Hephthalite rule in the region, circa 480–550 CE.{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|pp=200–205}}{{sfn|Kurbanov|2014|p=329}} The influence of the [[art of Gandhara]] in some of the earliest paintings at the [[Kizil Caves]], dated to circa 500 CE, is considered as a consequence of the political unification of the area between Bactria and [[Kucha]] under the Hephthalites.<ref>{{harvnb|Kageyama|2016|p=200}}. Kageyama quoting the research of S. Hiyama, "Study on the first-style murals of Kucha: analysis of some motifs related to the Hephthalite's period”</ref> Some words of the [[Tocharian languages]] may have been adopted from the Hephthalites in the 6th century CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adams |first1=Douglas Q. |title=A Dictionary of Tocharian B.: Revised and Greatly Enlarged. |year=2013 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=978-94-012-0936-6 |page=261, "Ksum" entry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fXPiAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA261}}</ref>

The early Turks of the First Turkic Khaganate then took control of the [[Turfan]] and [[Kucha]] areas from around 560 CE, and, in alliance with the [[Sasanian Empire]], became instrumental in the fall of the Hepthalite Empire.<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Hiyama |first1=Satomi |year=2015 |title=Reflection on the Geopolitical Context of the Silk Road in the First and Second Indo-Iranian Style Wall Paintings in Kucha |book-title=Silk Road – Meditations: 2015 International Conference on the Kizil Cave Paintings, Collection of Research Papers |page=81 |url=https://www.academia.edu/18453844}}</ref>

=== Hephthalite embassies to Liang China (516–526 CE) ===
{{Main|Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang}}
[[File:Huaguoshi.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Hephthalite (滑, [[Hephthalite|Hua]]) ambassador at the Chinese court of the [[Liang dynasty|Southern Liang]] in the capital [[Jingzhou]] in 516–526 CE, with explanatory text. ''[[Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang]]'', painted by [[Pei Ziye]] or the future [[Emperor Yuan of Liang]] while he was a Governor of the [[Jingzhou (ancient China)|Province of Jingzhou]] as a young man between 526 and 539 CE.{{sfn|Yu Taishan|2018|p=93}} 11th century Song copy.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=127–128}}{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=130, note 31}}]]
An illustrated account of a Hepthalite (滑, [[Hephthalite|Hua]]) embassy to the Chinese court of the [[Liang dynasty|Southern Liang]] in the capital [[Jingzhou]] in 516–526 CE is given in ''[[Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang]]'', originally painted by [[Pei Ziye]] or the future [[Emperor Yuan of Liang]] while he was a Governor of the [[Jingzhou (ancient China)|Province of Jingzhou]] as a young man between 526 and 539 CE,{{sfn|Yu Taishan|2018|p=93}} and of which an 11th-century Song copy is preserved.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=127–128}}{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=130, note 31}}{{sfn|Balogh|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 88, I.072]}} The text explains how small the country of the Hua was when they were still vassals of the [[Rouran Khaganate]], and how they later moved to "Moxian", possibly referring to their occupation of [[Sogdia]], and then conquered numerous neighbouring country, including the Sasanian Empire:{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=127–128}}{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=125}}{{sfn|Balogh|2020|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 51–52, I.032]}}<ref name="DB52">{{harvnb|Balogh|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52 52]}}. "Growing more and more powerful in the course of time, the Hua succeeded in conquering the neighbouring countries such as Bosi ([[Sasanian Empire|Sasanid Persia]]), Panpan ([[Tashkurgan]]?), Jibin ([[Kashmir]]), Wuchang ([[Uddiyana]] or [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]]), Qiuci ([[Kucha]]), Shule ([[Kashgar]]), Yutian ([[Khotan]]) and Goupan ([[Kargilik County|Karghalik]]), and expanded their territory by a thousand ''li''"</ref>{{efn|A similar account of the rise and conquests of the Hua appears in the ''[[Liangshu]]'' ([[:s:zh:梁書/卷54|Volume 54]])}}

{{blockquote|When the Suolu ([[Northern Wei]]) entered (the Chinese frontier) and settled in [[Sanggan River|the (valley of the river) Sanggan]] (i.e. in the period 398–494 CE), the Hua was still a small country and under the rule of the [[Rouran Khaganate|Ruirui]]. In the [[Southern Qi|Qi period]] (479–502 CE), they left (their original area) for the first time and shifted to Moxian (possibly [[Samarkand]]), where they settled.<ref>{{harvnb|Balogh|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 47]}}. "When the Suolu (Northern Wei) entered (the Chinese frontier) and settled in the (valley of the river) Sanggan (i.e. in the period 398–494 CE), the Hua was still a small country and under the rule of the Ruirui. In the Qi period (479–502 CE), they left (their original area) for the first time and shifted to Moxian (possibly Samarkand), where they settled."</ref> Growing more and more powerful in the course of time, the Hua succeeded in conquering the neighbouring countries such as Bosi ([[Sasanian Empire|Sasanid Persia]]), Panpan ([[Tashkurgan]]?), Jibin ([[Kashmir]]), Wuchang ([[Uddiyana]] or [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]]), Qiuci ([[Kucha]]), Shule ([[Kashgar]]), Yutian ([[Khotan]]) and Goupan ([[Kargilik Town|Karghalik]]), and expanded their territory by a thousand ''li''...<ref name="DB52"/>|"Hua" paragraph in [[Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=127–128}}}}

The ''Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang'' mentions that no envoys from the Hephthalites came before 516 to the southern court, and it was only in that year that a Hephthalite King named Yilituo Yandai (姓厭帶名夷栗陁) sent an ambassador named Puduoda[] (蒲多达[], possibly a Buddhist name "Buddhadatta" or "Buddhadāsa").{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=130, note 31}}<ref name="DB88R">{{harvnb|Balogh|2020|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 88–89, I.072/A (Liangshu), I.072/B (Liang zhigongtu)]}}</ref> In 520, another ambassador named Fuheliaoliao (富何了了) visited the Liang court, bringing a yellow lion, a white marten fur coat and Persian brocade as present.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=130, note 31}}<ref name="DB88R"/> Another ambassador named Kang Fuzhen (康符真), followed with presents as well (in 526 CE according to the ''[[Liangshu]]'').{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=130, note 31}}<ref name="DB88R"/> Their language had to be translated by the [[Tuyuhun]].<ref name="DB88R"/>

In ''Portraits of Periodical Offering of [[Liang dynasty|Liang]]'', the Hepthalithes are treated as the most important foreign state, as they occupy the leading position, at the front of the column of foreign ambassadors, and have by far the largest descriptive text.<ref name="Interpreters">{{cite book |last1=Lung |first1=Rachel |title=Interpreters in Early Imperial China |year=2011 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=978-90-272-2444-6 |pages=29, n.14, 99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsNoHtgkGPkC&pg=PA29}}</ref> The Hepthalites were, according to the ''Liangshu'' (Chap.54), accompanied in their embassy by three states: [[Tokharistan|Humidan]] (胡蜜丹), [[Yarkent Khanate|Yarkand]] (周古柯, Khargalik) and [[Qubodiyon|Kabadiyan]] (呵跋檀).<ref name="DB73">{{harvnb|Balogh|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA73 73]}}</ref> The envoys from right to left were: the Hephthalites (滑/嚈哒), [[Persia]] (波斯), [[Baekje|Korea]] (百濟), [[Qiuci|Kucha]] (龜茲), [[Wa (Japan)|Japan]] (倭), [[Langkasuka|Malaysia]] (狼牙脩), [[Qiang (historical people)|Qiang]] (鄧至), [[Yarkent Khanate|Yarkand]] (周古柯, ''Zhouguke'', "near ''Hua''"),<ref name="DB73"/> [[Qubodiyon|Kabadiyan]] (呵跋檀 ''Hebatan'', "near ''Hua''"),<ref name="DB73"/> [[Kunduz|Kumedh]] (胡蜜丹, ''Humidan'', "near ''Hua''"),<ref name="DB73"/> [[Balkh]] (白題, ''Baiti'', "descendants of the [[Xiongnu]] and east of the ''Hua''"),<ref name="DB73"/> and finally [[Merv]] (末).<ref name="Interpreters" />{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=127–128}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ge |first1=Zhaoguang |title=Imagining a Universal Empire: a Study of the Illustrations of the Tributary States of the Myriad Regions Attributed to Li Gonglin |date=2019 |journal=Journal of Chinese Humanities |page=128 |volume=5 |url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8674093/file/8674094.pdf}}</ref>

Most of the ambassadors from Central Asia are shown wearing heavy beards and relatively long hair, but, in stark contrast, the Hephthalite ambassador, as well as the ambassador from [[Balkh]], are clean-shaven and bare-headed, and their hair is cropped short.{{sfn|Lerner|Sims-Williams|2011|p=35}} These physical characteristics are also visible in many of the Central Asian seals of the period.{{sfn|Lerner|Sims-Williams|2011|p=35}}

{{Wide image|Zhigongtu full (with annotations).jpg|1000px|align-cap=center|The ''[[Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang]]'' with descriptions of each ambassador, led by the representative of the Hephthalites (far right), 526–539 CE [[Liang dynasty|Southern Liang]] painting. [[National Museum of China]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=127–128}}}}

==== Other embassies ====
Overall, Chinese chronicles recorded twenty-four Hephthalite embassies: the first embassy in 456, and the others from 507 to 558 CE (including fifteen to the [[Northern Wei]] until the end of this dynasty in 535, and five to the [[Liang dynasty|Southern Liang]] in 516–541).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kuwayama |first1=S. |title=Across the Hindukush of the First Millennium |date=2002 |publisher=Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University |page=129 |hdl=2433/120966 |url=https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/handle/2433/120966}}</ref>{{sfn|Yu Taishan|2018|pp=89–90}} The last three are mentioned in the ''[[Zhoushu]]'', which records that the Hepththalites had conquered [[Protectorate General to Pacify the West|Anxi]], [[Yutian County, Xinjiang|Yutian]] ([[Hotan]] region in [[Xinjiang]]) and more than twenty other countries, and that they sent embassies to the Chinese court of the [[Western Wei]] and [[Northern Zhou]] in 546, 553 and 558 CE respectively, after what the Hepthalites were "crushed by the Turks" and embassies stopped.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=126}}

The Hephthalites also requested and obtained a Christian bishop from the [[Patriarch of the Church of the East]] [[Mar Aba I]] circa 550 CE.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |last1=Nicholson |first1=Oliver |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |date=19 April 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-256246-3 |page=708 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A09WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA708 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Buddhas of Bamiyan (544–644 CE) ===
{{multiple image|perrow=2/1|total_width=310|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=Buddhas of Bamiyan
| image1   = Mural of the Sun God riding his golden chariot, over the head of the smaller 38 meter Eastern Buddha.jpg
| caption1 = Painted ceiling over the head of the smaller 38-meter Eastern Buddha
| image2   = Bamiyan 38 meter Buddha ceiling Sun-God.jpg
| caption2 = Sun God in Central Asian costume at the center of the ceiling.<ref name="KHM14">{{harvnb|Alram et al.|2012–2013}}. [http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase14?language=en exhibit: 14. KABULISTAN AND BACTRIA AT THE TIME OF "KHORASAN TEGIN SHAH"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125144404/http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase14?language=en |date=25 January 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Margottini|2013|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=OTK_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 9–10]}}</ref>
|image3 =Bamiyan 38 meter Buddha ceiling King Dignitaries and Buddhas around the Sun God (composite).jpg
|caption3 = Rows of royal donors in Hephthalite costumes with sitting Buddhas, around the Sun God on the ceiling.
| footer= The [[Buddhas of Bamyan]], [[carbon-dated]] to 544–595 CE and 591–644 CE respectively,<ref name="Bamiyan Dates"/> were built under Hephthalite rule in the region.<ref name="XL64"/>{{sfn|Litvinsky|1996|p=158}} [[:File:Les Antiquites Bouddhiques de Bamiyan Planche XXVII.jpg|Murals of probable Hephthalite rulers]] as royal sponsors, around the central Sun God, appear in [[:File:Bamiyan 38 meter Buddha ceiling King Dignitaries and Buddhas around the Sun God.jpg|the paintings]] of the ceiling over the smaller Buddha.{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p=67}}<ref name="SP9293"/>
}}
[[File:Françoise Foliot - Afghanistan 152.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Ruins of [[Shahr-e Zuhak]], a Hephthalite fortress in Bamiyan]] 
The complex of the [[Buddhas of Bamiyan]] was developed under Hephthalite rule.<ref name="XL64"/>{{sfn|Litvinsky|1996|p=158}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nicholson |first1=Oliver |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |date=19 April 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-256246-3 |page=708 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A09WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA708 |language=en|quote=The Bamiyan Buddhas dated from Hephthalite times}}</ref> After the dissolution of their empire in 550–560, the Hephthalites continued to rule in the geographical areas corresponding to [[Tokharistan]] and today's northern [[Afghanistan]],<ref name="CB484"/><ref name="CB99"/><ref name="Hyun Jin Kim 2015 https://books.google.com/books?id=bnv4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 56">{{cite book |title=The Huns |author=Hyun Jin Kim |year=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317340911 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bnv4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 56]}}</ref> and particularly held a series of castles on the roads to Bamiyan.<ref name="BRILL">{{cite book |last1=Neelis |first1=Jason |title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia |date=19 November 2010 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-18159-5 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GB-JV2eOr2UC&pg=PA170 |language=en}}</ref> Carbon dating of the structural components of the Buddhas has determined that the smaller {{convert|38|m|ft|abbr=on}} "Eastern Buddha" was built around 570 CE (544–595 CE with 95% probability), while the larger {{convert|55|m|ft|abbr=on}} "Western Buddha" was built around 618 CE (591–644 CE with 95% probability).<ref name="Bamiyan Dates"/> This corresponds to the period soon before or after the major defeat of the Hephthalites against the combined forces of Western Turk and [[Sasanian Empire]] (557 CE), or the following period during which they regrouped south of the Oxus as Principalities, but essentially before the Western Turks finally overran the region to form the [[Tokhara Yabghus]] (625 CE).

Among the most famous paintings of the Buddhas of Bamyan, the ceiling of the smaller Eastern Buddha represents a solar deity on a chariot pulled by horses, as well as ceremonial scenes with royal figures and devotees.<ref name="KHM14" /> The god is wearing a caftan in the style of [[Tokhara]], boots, and is holding a lance, he is "The Sun God and a Golden Chariot Rising in Heaven".<ref name="ATD8">{{harvnb|Margottini|2013|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=OTK_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 8–15]}}</ref> His representation is derived from the iconography of the Iranian god [[Mithra]], as revered in [[Sogdia]].<ref name="ATD8"/> He is riding a two-wheeled golden charriot, pulled by four horses.<ref name="ATD8"/> Two winged attendants are standing to the side of the charriot, wearing a [[Corinthian helmet]] with a feather, and holding a shield.<ref name="ATD8"/> In the top portion are wind gods, flying with a scarf held in both hands.<ref name="ATD8"/> This great composition is unique, and has no equivalent in [[Gandhara]] or [[India]], but there are some similarities with the painting of [[Kizil Caves|Kizil]] or [[Dunhuang]].<ref name="ATD8"/>

The central image of the Sun God on his golden chariot is framed by two lateral rows in individuals: Kings and dignitaries mingling with Buddhas and [[Bodhisattva]]s.<ref name="CM12"/> [[:File:Painting of a King in the niche of the 38 meter Buddha, Bamiyan.jpg|One of the personages]], standing behind a monk in profile, much be the King of Bamyan.<ref name="CM12"/> He wears a crenelated crown with single crescent and [[Korymbos (headgear)|korymbos]], a round-neck tunic and a Sasanian headband.<ref name="CM12"/> Several of the figures, either [[:File:Hephthalite sponsors at Bamiyan (ceiling of the 38 meter Buddha, detail of royal sponsors, enhanced).jpg|royal couples]], [[:File:Bamiyan Hephthalite donors, ceiling of the 38 meter Buddha (donor detail).jpg|crowned individuals]] or [[:File:Bamiyan Queen 38 meter Buddha.jpg|richly dressed women]], have the characteristic appearance of the Hephthalites of [[Tokharistan]], with belted jackets with a unique lapel of their tunic being folded on the right side, the cropped hair, the hair accessories, their distinctive physionomy and their round beardless faces.<ref name="SP9293"/><ref name="CM12"/>{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|p=209}} These figures must represent the donors and potentates who supported the building of the monumental giant Buddha.<ref name="CM12"/> They are gathered around the [[List of the named Buddhas|Seven Buddhas of the past]] and [[Maitreya]].{{sfn|Rowland|1974|p=[https://archive.org/details/artofcentralasia00rowl/page/93/mode/2up 93]}} The individuals in this painting are very similar to the individuals depicted in [[Balalyk Tepe]], and they may be related to the [[Hepthalites]].<ref name="SP9293"/><ref>{{harvnb|Kurbanov|2010|p=67}}. "Seizing large areas, the Hephthalites met with various kinds of art and of course, to some extent, acted as intermediary in the transfer of artistic traditions of one nation to another. It is here, in the opinion of Albaum, that the similarity of some of the figures in paintings from Balalyk-tepe and those from Bamiyan must be sought, which then was part of the Hephthalite state. Such similarities are exemplified by the right side triangular lapel, hair accessories and some ornamental motifs."</ref> They participate "to the artistic tradition of the Hephthalite ruling classes of [[Tukharestan]]".<ref>{{cite book |quote=A striking parallel to the Balalyk tepe murals is offered by files of donors represented on the right and left walls of the vault of the 34&nbsp;m Buddha at Bamiyan. (...) The remarkable overall stylistic and iconographic resemblance between the two sets of paintings would argue for their association with the artistic tradition of the Hephthalite ruling classes of [[Tukharestan]] that survived the downfall of Hephthalite power in A.D. 577 |last1=Azarpay |first1=Guitty |last2=Belenickij |first2=Aleksandr M. |last3=Maršak |first3=Boris Il'ič |last4=Dresden |first4=Mark J. |title=Sogdian Painting: The Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art |date=1981 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03765-6 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KVSPEN4ap_0C&pg=PA92 92]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=KVSPEN4ap_0C&pg=PA93 93] |url=}}</ref>

These murals disappeared with the destruction of the statues by the [[Taliban]] in 2001.<ref name="CM12"/>

===Hephthalite royals on the tombs of Sogdian traders===
{{multiple image
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| total_width=300
| image1   = Tomb of Wirkak, panel 2 (royal couple).jpg
| image2   = Tomb of Wirkak, panel 2 (royal figure hunting).jpg
| footer = Probable Hephthalite royal figures in the [[Tomb of Wirkak]] (580 CE).<ref name="FG133"/>
}}
The [[Tomb of Wirkak]] is the tomb of a 6th-century Sogdian trader established in China, and discovered in [[Xi'an]].<ref name="FG133">{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |last2=Riboud |first2=Pénélope |title=A Reflection of the Hephthalite Empire: The Biographical Narra- tive in the Reliefs of the Tomb of the Sabao Wirkak (494-579) |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=2003 |volume=17 |pages=133–143 |url=https://www.podgorski.com/main/assets/documents/A_reflection_of_the_Hephtalite_empire.pdf}}</ref> It seems that depictions of Hephthalite rulers are omnipresent in the pictorial decorations of the tomb, as royal figures with elaborate Sasanian-type crowns appearing in their palaces, nomadic yurts or while hunting.<ref name="FG133"/> Hephthalites rulers are shown short-haired, wearing tunics, and are often depicted together with their female consort.<ref name="FG133"/> The Sogdian trader Wirkak may therefore have primarily dealt with the Hephthalites during his young years (he was around 60 when the Hephthalites were finally destroyed by the alliance of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanians]] and the Turks between 556 and 560 CE).<ref name="FG141"/> The Hephthalites also appear in four panels of the [[Miho funerary couch]] (c.570 CE) with somewhat caricatural features, and characteristics of vassals to the Turks.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=GRENET |first1=FRANTZ |last2=RIBOUD |first2=PÉNÉLOPE |title=A Reflection of the Hephtalite Empire: The Biographical Narrative in the Reliefs of the Tomb of the Sabao Wirkak (494–579) |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=2003 |volume=17 |page=138 |jstor=24049311 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24049311 |issn=0890-4464}}</ref> On the contrary, the depictions in the tombs of later Sogdian traders, such as the [[Tomb of An Jia]] (who was 24 years younger than Wirwak), already show the omnipresence of the Turks of the First Turkic Khaganate, who were probably his main trading partners during his active life.<ref name="FG141">{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |last2=Riboud |first2=Pénélope |title=A Reflection of the Hephthalite Empire: The Biographical Narra- tive in the Reliefs of the Tomb of the Sabao Wirkak (494-579) |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=2003 |volume=17 |pages=141–142 |url=https://www.podgorski.com/main/assets/documents/A_reflection_of_the_Hephtalite_empire.pdf}}</ref>

=== End of the Empire and fragmentation into Hephthalite Principalities (560–710 CE) ===
[[File:ChaghaniyanSogdiancoin.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Hephthalite coin of the [[Principality of Chaghaniyan]], after the fall of the Hephthalite Empire, with crowned King and Queen, in [[:File:Solidus Heraclius Constantine Obverse.jpg|Byzantine fashion]], circa 550–650 CE.{{sfn|Kurbanov|2013|p=370}}]]
After [[Kavad I]], the Hephthalites seem to have shifted their attention away from the [[Sasanian Empire]], and Kavad's successor [[Khosrow I]] (531–579) was able to resume an expansionist policy to the east.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=125–156}} According to [[al-Tabari]], Khosrow I managed, through his expansionsit policy, to take control of "[[Sind]], Bust, Al-Rukkhaj, [[Zabulistan]], [[Tukharistan]], Dardistan, and [[Kabulistan]]" as he ultimately defeated the Hephthalites with the help of the First Turkic Khaganate.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=125–156}}

In 552, the [[Göktürks]] took over Mongolia, formed the [[First Turkic Khaganate]], and by 558 reached the [[Volga]]. Circa 555–567,{{efn|1=The war is variously dated: 560–565 (Gumilyov, 1967); 555 (Stark, 2008, Altturkenzeit, 210); 557 ([https://iranicaonline.org/articles/khosrow-ii Iranica, "Khosrow II"]); 558–561 {{harv|Bivar|loc="Hephthalites"}}; 557–563 {{harv|Baumer|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA174 174]}}; 557–561 {{harv|Sinor|1990|p=301}}; 560–563 {{harv|Litvinsky|1996|p=143}}; 562–565 {{harv|Christian|1998|p=252}}; c. 565 {{harv|Grousset|1970|p=82}}; 567 (Chavannes, 1903, Documents, 236 and 229)}} the Turks of the First Turkic Khaganate and the Sasanians under [[Khosrow I]] allied against the Hephthalites and defeated them after an eight-day battle near [[Qarshi]], the [[Battle of Gol-Zarriun]], perhaps in 557.{{efn|Michael J. Decker states the battle occurred in 563.{{sfn|Decker|2022|p=164}}}}{{sfn|Maas|2015|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=e0dcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA284 284]}}

These events put an end to the Hephthalite Empire, which fragmented into semi-independent Principalities, paying tribute to either the Sasanians or the Turks, depending on the military situation.<ref name="CB484"/><ref name="CB99">{{harvnb|Baumer|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA99 99]}}</ref> After the defeat, the Hephthalites withdrew to Bactria and replaced king Gatfar with [[Faghanish]], the ruler of [[Chaghaniyan]]. Thereafter, the area around the Oxus in [[Bactria]] contained numerous Hephthalites principalities, remnants of the great [[Hephthalite Empire]] destroyed by the alliance of the Turks and the Sasanians.<ref name="HC368">{{harvnb|Harmatta|Litvinsky|1996|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FcKtIPVQ6REC&pg=PA368 368]}}</ref> They are reported in the [[Zeravshan (river)|Zarafshan valley]], [[Chaghaniyan]], [[Khuttal]], [[Termez]], [[Balkh]], [[Badghis]], [[Herat]] and [[Kabul]], in the geographical areas corresponding to [[Tokharistan]] and today's northern [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="CB484"/><ref name="CB99"/><ref name="Hyun Jin Kim 2015 https://books.google.com/books?id=bnv4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 56"/> They also held a series of castles on the roads to [[Bamiyan]].<ref name="BRILL"/> Extensive Hephthalite [[kurghan]] necropoli have been excavated all over the region, as well as a possible one in the Bamiyan valley.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McNicoll |first1=Anthony |last2=Ball |first2=Warwick |title=Excavations at Kandahar 1974 and 1975: The First Two Seasons at Shahr-i Kohna (Old Kandahar) Conducted by the British Institute of Afghan Studies |date=1996 |publisher=British Archaeological Reports Limited |isbn=978-0-86054-826-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SB1mAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA401 |language=en|quote=Along with other Central Asian nomadic nations, the Hephthalites practices kurghan burial, and extensive Hephthalite necropoli have been excavated in Afghanistan at Sadiqabad near Charikar and Shakh Tepe near Qunduz. A kurghan necropolis has also been recorded in the Bamiyan Valley which, by association with the Bamiyan monuments, might also be Hephthalite ( or Yabghu ) (Note 25 See Levi 1972 69-70. It is surprising that in view of the importance of these tumulus burials and their possible association with Hephthalites in the Bamiyan Valley - they have gone unremarked in all the main authorities on Bamiyan, e.g., Klimburg - Salter 1989).}}</ref>

The Sasanians and Turks established a frontier for their zones of influence along the [[Oxus river]], and the Hephthalite Principalities functioned as buffer states between two Empires.<ref name="CB99" /> But when the Hephthalites chose [[Faghanish]] as their king in Chaganiyan, [[Khosrow I]] crossed the Oxus and put the Principalities of [[Chaghaniyan]] and [[Khuttal]] under tribute.<ref name="CB99" />

When Khosrow I died in 579, the Hephthalites of [[Tokharistan]] and [[Khotan]] took advantage of the situation to rebel against the Sasanians, but their efforts were obliterated by the Turks.<ref name="CB99" /> By 581 or before, the western part of the First Turkic Khaganate separated and became the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]]. In 588, triggering the [[First Perso-Turkic War]], the Turkic [[Khagan]] [[Bagha Qaghan]] (known as Sabeh/Saba in [[Persian language|Persian]] sources), together with his Hephthalite subjects, invaded the Sasanian territories south of the Oxus, where they attacked and routed the Sasanian soldiers stationed in [[Balkh]], and then proceeded to conquer the city along with [[Taloqan|Talaqan]], [[Badghis]], and [[Herat]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=177}} They were finally repelled by the Sasanian general [[Vahram Chobin]].<ref name="CB99" />

==== Raids into the Sasanid Empire (600–610 CE) ====
{{ Annotated image
| image=Map of Hephthalite Principalities circa 557-625 CE.png
| width=300  | image-width = 300 | image-left=0 | image-top=0| float = right
| annotations =
{{Annotation|text-align=center|210|55|Hephthalite<br />Principalities|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|160|70|[[File:Button selected.png|10px]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|132|70|[[Ispahan]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|55|45|[[Byzantine Empire|BYZANTINE<br />EMPIRE]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|275|40|[[Sui dynasty|SUI /]]<br />[[Tang dynasty|TANG<br />CHINA]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|272|95|[[Later Gupta dynasty|Later<br />Guptas]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|245|85|[[Alchon Huns|Alchon<br />Huns]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|200|25|[[Western Turks|WESTERN<br />TURKS]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|185|62|''raids''|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|170|52|[[File:Chess lat45.svg|40px]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|text-align=center|160|80|[[Sasanian Empire|SASANIAN<br />EMPIRE]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
|caption= {{center|Hephthalite Principalities c. 557–710 CE}}
}}
Circa 600, the Hephthalites were raiding the [[Sasanian Empire]] as far as [[Spahan (satrapy)|Ispahan]] (Spahan) in central Iran. The Hephthalites issued numerous coins imitating the coinage of Khosrow II, adding on the obverse a [[Hephthalite]] signature in [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] and a [[Tamga|Tamgha]] symbol [[File:Hephthalite tamgha.jpg|8px]].

Circa 616/617 CE the [[Göktürks]] and Hephthalites raided the [[Sasanian Empire]], reaching the province of Isfahan.<ref>{{cite book |title=Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran |first=Parvaneh |last=Pourshariati |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2011 |page=139}}</ref> Khosrow recalled [[Smbat IV Bagratuni]] from [[Persian Armenia]] and sent him to Iran to repel the invaders. Smbat, with the aid of a Persian prince named Datoyean, repelled the Hephthalites from Persia, and plundered their domains in [[Greater Khorasan|eastern Khorasan]], where Smbat is said to have killed their king in single combat. Khosrow then gave Smbat the honorific title ''Khosrow Shun'' ("the Joy or Satisfaction of Khosrow"), while his son [[Varaztirots II Bagratuni]] received the honorific name ''Javitean Khosrow'' ("Eternal Khosrow").<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martindale |first1=John R. |last2=Jones |first2=A.H.M. |last3=Morris |first3=John |chapter=Varaztiroch |pages=1363–1364 |title=The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume III, AD 527–641 |year=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-20160-8}}</ref>

==== Western Turk takeover (625 CE) ====
[[File:Delegate from Chaganian in the Afrasiab murals 650 CE.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Ambassador from [[Chaganian]] visiting king [[Varkhuman]] of [[Samarkand]] 648–651 CE. [[Afrasiyab (Samarkand)|Afrasiyab murals]], Samarkand.{{sfn|Dani|Litvinsky|Zamir Safi|1996|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA177 177]}}<ref>{{harvnb|Baumer|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA243 243]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Afrosiab Wall Painting |url=http://contents.nahf.or.kr/goguryeo/afrosiab/english.html |publisher=NORTHEAST ASIAN HISTORY FOUNDATION}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitfield |first1=Susan |title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith |year=2004 |publisher=British Library. Serindia Publications, Inc. |isbn=978-1-932476-13-2 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArWLD4Qop38C&pg=PA110}}</ref> Chaganian was an "Hephthalite buffer principality" between [[Denov]] and [[Termez]].{{sfn|Dani|Litvinsky|Zamir Safi|1996|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA177 177]}}]]
{{Main|Western Turks|Tokhara Yabghus}}
From 625 CE, the territory of the Hephthalites from [[Tokharistan]] to [[Kabulistan]] was taken over by the [[Western Turks]], forming an entity ruled by Western Turk nobles, the [[Tokhara Yabghus]].<ref name="CB99" /> The Tokhara Yabghus or "Yabghus of Tokharistan" ({{Lang-zh|c=吐火羅葉護|s=|t=|p=Tǔhuǒluó Yèhù}}), were a dynasty of [[Western Turks|Western Turk]] sub-kings, with the title "[[Yabghu]]s", who ruled from 625 CE south of the [[Oxus river]], in the area of [[Tokharistan]] and beyond, with some smaller polities surviving in the area of [[Badakhshan]] until 758 CE. Their legacy was extended to the southeast until the 9th century CE, with the [[Turk Shahis]] and the [[Zunbils]].

==== Arab invasion (c.651 CE) ====
Circa 650 CE, during the Arab conquest of the Sasanian Empire, the Sasanian Empire ruler [[Yazdegerd III]] was trying to regroup and gather forces around Tokharistan and was hoping to obtain the help of the Turks, after his defeat to the Arabs in the [[Battle of Nahavand|Battle of Nihâvand]] (642 CE).{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=123}} Yazdegerd was initially supported by the Hephthalite [[Principality of Chaghaniyan]], which sent him troops to aid him against the Arabs. But when Yazdegerd arrived in [[Merv]] (in what is today's [[Turkmenistan]]) he demanded tax from the ''[[Marzban]]'' of Marw, losing his support and making him ally with the Hephthalite ruler of [[Badghis Province|Badghis]], [[Nezak Tarkan]]. The Hepthalite ruler of Badghis allied with the ''Marzban'' of Merv attack Yazdegerd and defeated him in 651.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=123}} Yazdegerd III barely escaped with his life but was murdered in the vicinity of Merv soon after, and the Arabs managed to capture the city of Merv the same year.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=123}}

In 652 CE, following the [[Siege of Herat (652)]] to which the Hephthalites participated, the Arabs captured the cities of northern Tokharistan, [[Balkh]] included, and the Hepthalites principalities were forced to pay tribute and accept Arab garrisons.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=123}} The Hephthalites again rebelled in 654 CE, leading to the [[Battle of Badghis]].

In 659, Chinese chronicles still mentioned the "Hephtalite Tarkans" (悒達太汗 ''Yida Taihan'', probably related to "[[Nezak Tarkan]]"), as some of the rulers in Tokharistan who remained theoretically subjects to the Chinese Empire, and whose main city was Huolu 活路 (modern [[Mazār-e Sherif]], Afghanistan).<ref name="FG1">{{cite encyclopedia |postscript=. Citing Tangshu XLIII, B, pp. 6–9 and Chavannes, Documents, p. 69, n. 2 |last1=Grenet |first1=F. |title=NĒZAK |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nezak}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Theobald |first1=Ulrich |date=2011-10-23|title=The Western Territories (xiyu 西域) |website=ChinaKnowledge.de |url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/xiyu.html}}</ref>

The city of [[Merv]] became the base of the Arabs for their Central Asian operations.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=123}} The Arabs weakened during the 4-year civil war leading to the establishment of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] in 661, but they were able to continue their expansion after that.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=123}}

===== Hephthalite revolts against the Ummayad Caliphate (689–710 CE) =====
[[File:Hephthalites. Circa 700 CE. With crowned facing head and tamgha.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Hephthalite copy of a Sasano-Arab coin of [[Abd Allah ibn Khazim al-Sulami|Abd Allah ibn Khazim]] with [[Hijri year|AH]] 69 (688 CE) date. In the margin: a Hephthalite countermark with crowned facing head and a late [[tamgha]] [[File:Hephtalites(An-mu-lu-chjen).gif|20px]]. Circa 700 CE.]]
Circa 689 CE, the Hephthalite ruler of [[Badghis]] and the Arab rebel Musa ibn Abd Allah ibn Khazim, son of the [[Zubayrid]] governor of Khurasan [[Abd Allah ibn Khazim al-Sulami]], allied against the forces of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]].{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=132}} The Hepthalites and their allies captured [[Termez]] in 689, repelled the Arabs, and occupied the whole region of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] for a brief period, with Termez as the capital, described by the Arabs as "the headquarters of the Hephthalites" (''dār mamlakat al-Hayāṭela'').<ref name="CEB">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Bosworth |first1=C.E. |title=BĀḎḠĪS |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/badgis-region}}</ref>{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|pp=243–254}} The Arabs of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] under [[Yazid ibn al-Muhallab]] re-captured [[Termez]] in 704.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=132}}<ref name="FG1"/> [[Nezak Tarkan]], the ruler of the Hephthalites of Badghis, led a new revolt in 709 with the support of other principalities as well as his nominal ruler, the [[Yabghus of Tokharistan|Yabghu of Tokharistan]].<ref name="CEB" /> In 710, [[Qutaiba ibn Muslim]] was able to re-establish Muslim control over Tokharistan and captured Nezak Tarkan who was executed on [[Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf|al-Hajjaj]]'s orders, despite promises of pardon, while the Yabghu was exiled to [[Damascus]] and kept there as a hostage.{{sfn|Gibb|1923|pp=36–38}}{{sfn|Shaban|1970|pp=66–67}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Esin |first1=E. |title=Tarkhan Nīzak or Tarkhan Tirek? An Enquiry concerning the Prince of Badhghīs Who in A. H. 91/A. D. 709–710 Opposed the 'Omayyad Conquest of Central Asia |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=1977 |volume=97 |issue=3 |page=330 |doi=10.2307/600737 |jstor=600737 |issn=0003-0279}}</ref>

In 718 CE, Chinese chronicles still mention the Hephthalites (悒達 ''Yida'') as one of the polities under the suzerainty of the Turkic [[Tokhara Yabghus]], capable of providing 50,000 soldiers at the service of its overlord.<ref name="FG1"/> Some remnants, not necessarily dynastic, of the Hephthalite confederation would be incorporated into the [[Göktürks]], as an [[Old Tibetan]] document, dated to the 8th century, mentioned the tribe ''Heb-dal'' among 12 ''Dru-gu'' tribes ruled by [[Eastern Turkic]] khagan ''Bug-chor'', i.e. [[Qapaghan Qaghan]]<ref>{{cite journal|last= Venturi|first=Federica|title= An Old Tibetan document on the Uighurs: A new translation and interpretation|journal= Journal of Asian History|issue= 42|volume= 1|page= 21|date= 2008}}</ref> Chinese chronicles report embassies from the "Hephtalite kingdom" as late as 748 CE.<ref name="FG1"/><ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |last1=Nicholson |first1=Oliver |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |date=19 April 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-256246-3 |page=708 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A09WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA708 |language=en}}</ref>

== Military and weapons ==
{{multiple image|perrow=3|total_width=500|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| image1   = Mural with warriors, Cave of the Painters, Kizil Caves (detail).jpg
| image2   = Donors from Kumtura Caves.jpg
| image3 = Maya Cave, section3, Kizil Caves Turk knight, 2nd half of 6th century CE.jpg
| footer=Swords with ornate cloisonné designs, found in the paintings of the [[Kizil Caves]], may be versions of daggers produced under Hephthalite influence.{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|pp=200–205}} The sword guards of the knights ([[File:Mural with warriors, Cave of the Painters, Kizil Caves (sword details).jpg|50px]]) depicted in the "[[Kizil Caves|Cave of the Painters]]" at Kizil have typical [[Hunnish]] designs of rectangle or oval shapes with [[cloisonné]] ornamentation, and are dated to the 5th century CE.<ref name="AK143">{{cite journal |last1=Kubik |first1=Adam |title=The Kizil Caves as an terminus post quem of the Central and Western Asiatic pear-shape spangenhelm type helmets The David Collection helmet and its place in the evolution of multisegmented dome helmets, Historia i Świat nr 7/2018, 141-156. |pages=143–144 |url=https://www.academia.edu/36969235|journal=Histïria I Swiat |date=2008 |volume=7}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Gyerim-ro dagger (Korea), cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|[[Gyerim-ro dagger]]]]
The Hephthalites were considered to be a powerful military force.<ref name="HCCA139">{{harvnb|Litvinsky|1996|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FcKtIPVQ6REC&pg=PA139 139–140]}}</ref> Depending on sources, their main weapon was the bow, the mace or the sword.<ref name="HCCA139"/> Judging from their military achievements, they probably had a strong cavalry.<ref name="HCCA139"/> In Persia, according to the 6th-century Armenian chronicler [[Ghazar Parpetsi|Lazar Parpetsi]]:

{{blockquote|Even in time of peace the mere sight or mention of a Hephthalite terrified everybody, and there was no question of going to war openly against one, for everybody remembered all too clearly the calamities and defeats inflicted by the Hephthalites on the king of the Aryans and on the Persians.<ref name="HCCA139"/>}}

"Hunnic" designs in weaponry are known to have influenced Sasanian designs during the 6th–7th century CE, just before the Islamic invasions.<ref name="MMA">{{cite web |title=Metropolitan Museum of Art (item 65.28a, b) |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/325710 |website=www.metmuseum.org |access-date=2020-12-13}}</ref> The Sasanians adopted Hunnish nomadic designs for straight iron swords and their gold-covered scabbards.<ref name="MMA" /> This is particularly the case of two-straps suspension design, in which straps of different lengths were attached to a P-shaped projection on the scabbard, so that the sword could be held sideways, making it easier to draw, especially when on horseback.<ref name="MMA" /> The two-point suspension system for swords is considered to have been introduced by the Hephthalites in Central Asia and in the Sasanian Empire and is a marker of their influence, and the design was generally introduced by them in the territories they controlled.{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|pp=200–205}} The first example of two-suspension sword in Sasanian art occurs in a relief of [[Taq-i Bustan]] dated to the time of [[Khusro II]] (590–628 CE), and is thought to have been adopted from the Hepthalites.{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|pp=200–205}}

Swords with ornate cloisonné designs and two-straps suspensions, as found in the paintings of [[Penjikent]] and [[Kizil Caves|Kizil]] and in archaeological excavations, may be versions of the daggers produced under Hephthalite influence.<ref>{{harvnb|Kageyama|2016|p=200}}. "Its scabbard is beautifully decorated with cloisonné and has a trapezoidal shape that widens at the end. The same dagger style is found in Kazakhstan, and similar works also appear in paintings from Pendzhikent and Kizil as well as Sogdian funerary reliefs from Anyang19. These highly decorated works may be more elaborate versions of the dagger with two suspension mounts produced under Hephthalite influence."</ref> Weapons with Hunnic designs are depicted in the "Cave of the Painters" in the [[Kizil Caves]], in a mural showing armoured warriors and dated to the 5th century CE.<ref name="AK143"/> Their sword guards have typical [[Hunnish]] designs of rectangle or oval shapes with [[cloisonné]] ornamentation.<ref name="AK143"/> The [[Gyerim-ro dagger]], found in a tomb in Korea, is a 5-6th century highly decorated dagger and scabbard of "Hunnic" two-straps suspension design, introduced by the Hephthalites in Central Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kagayama|first=Etsuko|date=2016|title=Change of suspension systems of daggers and swords in eastern Eurasia: Its relation to the Hephthalite occupation of Central Asia|url=https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/209942/1/zinbun_46_199.pdf|journal=Institute for Research in the Humanities Kyoto University|volume=46|pages=199–212|via=ZINBUN}}</ref> The Gyerim-ro dagger is thought to have reached Korea either through trade or as a diplomatic gift.<ref>{{cite web |title=Imported Luxuries and Exotic Imagery |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2013/koreas-golden-kingdom/about-the-exhibition/imported-goods |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref>

[[Lamellar helmet]]s were also popularized by the steppe nomads, and were adopted by the [[Sasanian Empire]] when they took control of former Hephthalite territory.<ref name="PS2017" /> This type of helmet appears in sculptures on [[capital (architecture)|pillar capitals]] at [[Ṭāq-e Bostān]] and [[Behistun]], and on [[:File:Coin of the Iranian goddess Anahita, minted during the reign of Khosrow II.jpg|the Anahita coinage]] of [[Khosrow II]] (r. 590–628 CE).<ref name="PS2017">{{cite book |last1=Skupniewicz |first1=Patryk |chapter=Crowns, hats, turbans and helmets. The headgear: 'On the Helmet on the Capital at Ṭāq-e Bostān again' |title=Iranian history volume I: Pre-Islamic Period |date=2017 |editor-last1=Maksymiuk |editor-first1=Katarzyna |editor-last2=Karamian |editor-first2=Gholamreza |publisher=Publishing House of Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities |location=Tehran |page=221 |isbn=978-83-62447-19-0 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323545452}}</ref>

[[File:Sword and scabbard, Sasanian, 7th century CE.jpg|upright=2.5|thumb|center|Sasanian sword and scabbard derived from "Hunnic" two-straps suspension designs, Sasanian Empire, 7th century CE.<ref name="MMA" />{{sfn|Kageyama|2016|pp=200–205}}]]

== Religion and culture ==
[[File:The Hunter King from Kakrak, a valley next to Bamiyan. Wall paintings from the 7th-8th century, Kabul Museum.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|The Buddhist "Hunter King" from [[Kakrak Valley, Bamyan Province|Kakrak]], a valley next to [[Bamyan]] is often presented as a result of Hephthalite influence, especially in reference to the "triple-crescent crown". Wall paintings from the 7th–8th century, Kabul Museum.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Compareti |first1=Matteo |title=The Painting of the "Hunter-King" at Kakrak: Royal Figure or Divine Being? |journal=Studio Editoriale Gordini |date=2008 |page=133 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283346535}}</ref>{{sfn|Kurbanov|2014|pp=329–330}}]]
They were said to practice [[polyandry]] and [[artificial cranial deformation]]. Chinese sources said they worshiped 'foreign gods', 'demons', the 'heaven god' or the 'fire god'. The Gokturks told the Byzantines that they had walled cities. Some Chinese sources said that they had no cities and lived in tents. Litvinsky tries to resolve this by saying that they were nomads who moved into the cities they had conquered. There were some government officials but central control was weak and local dynasties paid tribute.{{sfn|Litvinsky|1996|pp=144-147}}

According to [[Song Yun]], the Chinese Buddhist monk who visited the Hephthalite territory in 540 and "provides accurate accounts of the people, their clothing, the empresses and court procedures and traditions of the people and he states the Hephthalites did not recognize the Buddhist religion and they preached pseudo gods, and killed animals for their meat."<ref name="Habibi">{{cite web |url=http://alamahabibi.net/English_Articles/E-Chinese_Travelers.htm |title=Chinese Travelers in Afghanistan |work=[[Abdul Hai Habibi]] |publisher=alamahabibi.com |year=1969 |access-date=August 9, 2012}}</ref> It is reported that some Hephthalites often destroyed Buddhist monasteries but these were rebuilt by others. According to [[Xuanzang]], the third Chinese pilgrim who visited the same areas as Song Yun about 100 years later, the capital of [[Chaghaniyan]] had five monasteries.{{sfn|Litvinsky|1996|pp=138–154}}

[[File:Panjikent mural, Hermitage Museum.jpg|thumb|The triple-crescent crown in this [[Penjikent murals|Penjikent mural]] (top left corner), is considered as a Hephthalite marker. 7th-early 8th century.{{sfn|Kageyama|2007|p=20, drawing e|ps=. The drawing referenced by Kageyama is located in {{cite journal |last1=Maršak |first1=Boris |title=Les Fouilles de Pendjikent |journal=Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |date=1990 |volume=134 |page=298 |doi=10.3406/crai.1990.14842 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1990_num_134_1_14842}}}}]]
According to historian André Wink, "...in the Hephthalite dominion [[Buddhism]] was predominant but there was also a religious sediment of [[Zoroastrianism]] and [[Manichaeism]]."<ref name="Al-Hind">''Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early medieval India''. André Wink, p. 110. E. J. Brill.</ref> [[Balkh]] had some 100 [[Buddhist]] monasteries and 30,000 monks. Outside the town was a large Buddhist monastery, later known as [[Nava Vihara|Naubahar]].{{sfn|Litvinsky|1996|pp=138–154}}

There were [[Christians]] among the Hephthalites by the mid-6th century, although nothing is known of how they were converted. In 549, they sent a delegation to [[Aba I]], the [[patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon|patriarch]] of the [[Church of the East]], asking him to consecrate a priest chosen by them as their bishop, which the patriarch did. The new bishop then performed obeisance to both the patriarch and the Sasanian king, [[Khosrow I]]. The seat of the bishopric is not known, but it may have been [[Badghis]]–Qadištan, the bishop of which, Gabriel, sent a delegate to the synod of Patriarch [[Ishoyahb I]] in 585.<ref>Erica C. D. Hunter (1996), "The Church of the East in Central Asia", ''Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester'' '''78'''(3): 129–142, at 133–134.</ref> It was probably placed under the [[Merv (East Syriac ecclesiastical province)#The diocese of Herat|metropolitan of Herat]]. The church's presence among the Hephthalites enabled them to expand their missionary work across the Oxus. In 591, some Hephthalites serving in the army of the rebel [[Bahram Chobin]] were captured by [[Khosrow II]] and sent to the [[Roman emperor]] [[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]] as a diplomatic gift. They had [[Nestorian cross]]es tattooed on their foreheads.<ref name=DW>{{cite book |author=David Wilmshurst |title=The Martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East |publisher=East and West Publishing |year=2011 |pages=77–78}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Mehmet Tezcan |chapter=On 'Nestorian' Christianity Among the Hephthalites or the White Huns |editor1=Li Tang |editor2=Dietmar W. Winkler |name-list-style=amp |title=Artifact, Text, Context: Studies on Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia |publisher=Lit Verlag |year=2020 |pages=195–212}}</ref>

== Hephthalite seals ==
[[File:Stamp seal (BM 119999) composite.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Stamp seal with a bearded figure in Sasanian dress, wearing the [[kulāf]] denoting nobility and officials; and a figure with radiate crown,{{efn|The radiate crown is comparable to the crown of the king on the ''"[[:File:Seal of a Hephthalite king with the Bactrian inscription The Lord (Yabgu) of the Hephthalites. End 5th century early 6th century CE.jpg|Yabghu of the Hephthalites]]"'' seal.{{sfn|Lerner|Sims-Williams|2011|pp=35–36}} }} both with royal ribbons. Attributed to the Hephthalites,{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p=69, item 1}} and recently dated to the 5th–6th century CE.<ref name="VAL48">{{cite journal |last1=Livshits |first1=V. A. |title=Sogdian Sānak, a Manichaean Bishop of the 5th–Early 6th Centuries |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=2000 |volume=14 |page=48 |jstor=24049013 |issn=0890-4464}}</ref> According to earlier sources, Bivar (1969) and Livshits (1969), repeated by the British Museum, the seal was dated to the 300–350 CE.<ref name="SSB"/>{{sfn|Naymark|2001|p=167}} [[Stamp seal (BM 119999)]], [[British Museum]].]]
Several seals found in Bactria and Sogdia have been attributed to the Hephthalites.
* The "''[[:File:Seal of a Hephthalite king with the Bactrian inscription The Lord (Yabgu) of the Hephthalites. End 5th century early 6th century CE.jpg|Hephthalite Yabghu seal]]''" shows a Hephthalite ruler with a radiate crown, royal ribbons and a beardless face, with the [[Bactrian script]] title "Ebodalo [[Yabghu]]" (<sup>[[File:Ebodalo (Bactrian cursive).jpg|60px]] [[File:Yabghu in Bactrian script.jpg|45px]]</sup> ηβοδαλο ββγο, "The Lord of the Hephthalites"), and has been dated to the end of the 5th century-early 6th century CE.<ref name="KHM10"/><ref name="KR209Q"/>{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=135}} This important seal was published by Judith A. Lerner and [[Nicholas Sims-Williams]] in 2011.{{sfn|Lerner|Sims-Williams|2011|pp=83–84}}
* ''[[Stamp seal (BM 119999)]]'' in the [[British Museum]] shows two facing figures, one bearded and wearing the Sasanian dress, and the other without facial hair and wearing a radiate crown, both being adorned with royal ribbons. This seal was initially dated to 300–350 CE and attributed to the [[Kushano-Sasanians]],<ref name="SSB">{{cite web |title=Stamp-seal; bezel British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1870-1210-3 |website=The British Museum}}</ref>{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p=320|ps=. "A cornelian in the British museum, showing two facing busts with an inscription written in Ancient Sogdian of the period AD 300–350 and which was the seal of Indamīč, Queen of Začanta"}} but has been more recently attributed to the Hephthalites,{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p=69, item 1}} and dated to the 5th–6th century CE.<ref name="VAL48"/> Paleographically, the seal can be attributed to the 4th century or first half of the 5th century.{{sfn|Naymark|2001|pp=167–169}}
* The "''[[Seal of Khingila]]''" shows a beardless ruler with radiate crown and royal ribbons, wearing a single-lapel caftan, in the name of Eškiŋgil (εϸχιγγιλο), which could correspond to one of the rulers named Khingila (χιγγιλο), or may be a Hunnic title meaning "Companion of the Sword", or even "Companion of the God of War".<ref>{{harvnb|Kurbanov|2014|pp=319–320, page 320 note 1}}, quoting [[Étienne de la Vaissière]] (2003) "Is There a "Nationality of the Hephtalites"", p.&nbsp;129.</ref>{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=129}}

== Local populations under the Hephthalites ==
The Hephthalites governed a confederation of various people, many of whom were probably of Iranian descent, speaking an Iranian language.<ref>{{harvnb|Frye|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=g3JhKNSk8tQC&pg=PA49 49]}}. "Just as later [[nomadic]] empires were confederations of many peoples, we may tentatively propose that 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."</ref> Several cities, such as [[Balkh]], [[Kobadiyan]] and possibly [[Samarkand]], were allowed to send regional embassies to China while under Hephthalite control.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}} Several portraits of regional ambassadors from the territories occupied by the Hephthalites ([[Tokharistan]], [[Tarim Basin]]) are known from Chinese paintings such as the ''[[Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang]]'', originally painted in 526–539 CE.<ref name="DB52"/> They were at that time under the overlordship of the Hephthalites, who led the embassies to the [[Liang dynasty|Southern Liang]] court in the early 6th century CE.<ref name="Interpreters"/><ref name="DB73"/> A century later, under the [[Tang dynasty]], portraits of the local people of Tokharistan were again illustrated in ''[[The Gathering of Kings]]'', circa 650 CE. [[Etienne de la Vaissière]] has estimated the local population of each major oasis in [[Tokharistan]] and [[Western Turkestan]] during the period to around several hundreds of thousands each, while the major oasis of the [[Tarim Basin]] are more likely to have had populations ranging in the tens of thousands each.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=de la Vaissière |first1=Étienne |title=Early Medieval Central Asian Population Estimates |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |year=2017 |volume=60 |issue=6 |page=788 |doi=10.1163/15685209-12341438 |url=https://www.academia.edu/29974601 |issn=0022-4995|doi-access=free }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="170px" perrow="4">

File:Kabadiyan ambassador to the Southern Liang court 516-520 CE.jpg|[[Kabadiyan]] ambassador to the Chinese court of [[Emperor Yuan of Liang]] in his capital [[Jingzhou]] in 516–520 CE. ''[[Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang]]'', 11th century Song copy. He accompanied the Hephthalite ambassador to China.
File:Kumedh ambassador to the Southern Liang court 516-520 CE.jpg|[[Kunduz|Kumedh]] ambassador to the Chinese court of [[Emperor Yuan of Liang]] in his capital [[Jingzhou]] in 516–520 CE. ''[[Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang]]'', 11th century Song copy.
File:Kucha ambassador to the Southern Liang court 516-520 CE.jpg|Ambassador from [[Kucha]] (龜茲國 ''Qiuci-guo''), one of the main [[Tocharians|Tocharian]] cities in the [[Tarim Basin]], visiting the Chinese [[Liang dynasty|Southern Liang]] court in [[Jingzhou]] circa 516–520 CE. ''[[Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang]]'', 11th century Song copy.
File:Ambassadors from Kabadiyan (阿跋檀), Balkh (白題國) and Kumedh (胡密丹), visiting the court of the Tang Dynasty. The Gathering of Kings (王会图) circa 650 CE.jpg|Ambassadors from [[Kabadiyan]] (阿跋檀), [[Balkh]] (白題國) and [[Kunduz|Kumedh]] (胡密丹), visiting the court of the [[Tang dynasty]]. ''[[The Gathering of Kings]]'' (王会图), circa 650 CE
</gallery>

== The Alchon Huns (formerly considered as a branch of the Hephthalites) in South Asia ==
{{Main|Alchon Huns}}
{{Location map+
|South Asia
|float      = right
|width      = 300
|caption    = [[Find spot]]s of epigraphic inscriptions (red dots) indicating local control by the Alchon Huns in India between 500–530 CE.<ref>{{cite speech |title=Monuments of Hope, Gloom, and Glory in the Age of the Hunnic Wars: 50 years that changed India (484–534) |last=Bakker |first=Hans T. |author-link=Hans T. Bakker |date=26 November 2016 |location=Amsterdam |event=24th Gonda Lecture |doi=10.5281/zenodo.377032 |url=https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2016/11/monuments-of-hope-gloom-and-glory |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180708221146/https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2016/11/monuments-of-hope-gloom-and-glory |archive-date=8 July 2018 |access-date=8 July 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|nodiv      = 1
|mini       = 1
|relief=yes
|places     =
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=21|N |long=79|E |label=|position= |label_size=0|mark=Map of the Southern Hunas (territory).png|marksize=300 }}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=23.83|N |long=74.25|E |label=[[Sanjeli inscriptions|Sanjeli]]|position=left |label_size=70 }}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=23.5|N |long=78.16|E |label=[[Eran boar inscription of Toramana|Eran]] |position=top |label_size=70}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=26.22|N |long=78.17|E |label=[[Gwalior inscription of Mihirakula|Gwalior]] |position=top |label_size=70 }}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=24.07|N |long=75.08|E |label=[[Sondani inscription|Sondani]]|position=bottom |label_size=70}}
{{location map~ |South Asia|lat=24.38|N |long=74.70|E |label=[[Choti Sadri]]|position=top |label_size=70}}
{{location map~ |South Asia|lat=32.40|N |long=72.47|E |label=[[Salt Range|Kura]]|position=top |label_size=70}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=25.33|N |long=81.39|E |label=[[Kausambi]]<br>([[Toramana]] seals)|position=bottom |label_size=70}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=22.1106152|N |long=75.3033907|E |label=[[Rīsthal inscription|Rīsthal]]|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |India |lat=29|N |long=76.25|E |label={{center|'''[[Alchon Huns|ALCHON<br>HUNS]]'''}}|label_size=70|mark=1000x1.png|marksize=0 }}
{{location map~ |India |lat=36|N |long=67|E |label='''HEPHTHALITES'''|label_size=80|mark=1000x1.png|marksize=0 }}
{{location map~ |India |lat=32|N |long=72|E |label=[[Nezak Huns|{{center|NEZAK<br>HUNS}}]]|label_size=70|mark=1000x1.png|marksize=0 }}
{{location map~ |India |lat=30|N |long=67|E |label=[[Sasanian Empire|{{center|SASA-<br>NIANS}}]]|label_size=80|mark=1000x1.png|marksize=0 }}
{{location map~ |India |lat=24|N |long=95|E |label=[[Gupta Empire|GUPTAS]]|label_size=80|mark=1000x1.png|marksize=0 }}
{{location map~ |India |lat=18|N |long=78|E |label=[[Vakataka dynasty|VAKATAKAS]]|label_size=80|mark=1000x1.png|marksize=0 }}
{{location map~ |India |lat=31|N |long=90|E |label={{center|[[Zhangzhung|ZHANGZHUNG<br>KINGDOM]]}}|label_size=70|mark=1000x1.png|marksize=0 }}
{{location map~ |India |lat=36.5|N |long=100|E |label=[[Northern Wei|{{center|Northern Wei}}]]|label_size=80|mark=1000x1.png|marksize=0 }}
{{location map~ |India |lat=36.5|N |long=90|E |label=[[Tocharians|{{center|Tocharians}}]]|label_size=80|mark=1000x1.png|marksize=0 }}
}}
The [[Alchon Huns]], who invaded northern India and were known there as "[[Huna people|Hūṇas]]", have long been considered as a part or a sub-division of the Hephthalites, or as their eastern branch, but now tend to be considered as a separate entity, who may have been displaced by the settlement of the Hephthalites in Bactria.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 105–124]}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Compareti |first1=Matteo |title=Some Examples of Central Asian Decorative Elements in Ajanta and Bagh Indian Paintings|date=2014 |publisher=The Silk Road Foundation |url=http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol12/Compareti_SR12_2014_pp39_48+PlatesIII_IV.pdf}}</ref>{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017a|p=207}} Historians such as [[Christopher I. Beckwith|Beckwith]], referring to [[Étienne de la Vaissière]], say that the Hephthalites were not necessarily one and the same as the Hunas (''Sveta Huna'').{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=406}} According to de la Vaissiere, the Hephthalites are not directly identified in classical sources alongside that of the Hunas.<ref>{{cite journal |last=de la Vaissiere |first=Etienne |date=2005 |title=Huns et Xiongnu |journal=[[Central Asiatic Journal]] |volume=49 |pages=3–26 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1476535}}</ref> They were initially based in the [[Oxus]] basin in Central Asia and established their control over Gandhara in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent by about 465 CE.<ref>{{cite book |author=Atreyi Biswas |date=1971 |title=The Political History of the Hūṇas in India |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |isbn=9780883863015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ohwdAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> From there, they fanned out into various parts of northern, western, and central [[India]].

In India, these invading people were called [[Hunas]], or "Sveta Huna" (''White Huns'') in [[Sanskrit]].<ref name="Alexander Berzin"/> The Hūṇas are mentioned in several ancient texts such as the [[Ramayana|Rāmāyaṇa]], [[Mahabharata|Mahābhārata]], [[Puranas|Purāṇas]], and Kalidasa's [[Raghuvaṃśa]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Upendra Thakur |date=1967 |title=The Hūṇas in India |publisher=Chowkhamba Prakashan |pages=52–55 |url=https://archive.org/download/dli.ernet.429146}}</ref> The first ''Hunas'', probably [[Kidarites]], were initially defeated by Emperor [[Skandagupta]] of the [[Gupta Empire]] in the 5th century CE.<ref>''Ancient India: History and Culture'' by [[Balkrishna Govind Gokhale]], p.69.{{full citation needed|date=July 2021}}</ref> In the early 6th century CE, the [[Alchon Hun]] ''Hunas'' in turn overran the part of the Gupta Empire that was to their southeast and had conquered Central and [[North India]].{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}} Gupta Emperor [[Gupta Empire|Bhanugupta]] defeated the Hunas under [[Toramana]] in 510, and his son [[Mihirakula]] was repulsed by [[Yashodharman]] in 528 CE.<ref>''Ancient Indian History and Civilization'' by Sailendra Nath Sen, p.220.{{full citation needed|date=July 2021}}</ref><ref>''Encyclopaedia of Indian Events and Dates'' by S. B. Bhattacherje, p.A15.{{full citation needed|date=July 2021}}</ref> The ''Hunas'' were driven out of India by the kings [[Yasodharman]] and [[Narasimhagupta]], during the early 6th century.<ref>''India: A History'' by John Keay, p.158.{{full citation needed|date=July 2021}}</ref><ref>''History of India, in Nine Volumes: Vol. II'' by Vincent A. Smith, p.290.{{full citation needed|date=July 2021}}</ref>

== Possible descendants ==
A number of groups may have descended from the Hephthalites.{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|pp=238–243}}{{sfn|West|2009|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA275 275–276]}}
* Avars: suggestions have been made that the [[Pannonian Avars]] were Hepthalites who went to Europe after their collapse in 557 CE, but this is not adequately supported by archaeological or written sources.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Graff |first1=David A. |title=The Eurasian Way of War: Military Practice in Seventh-Century China and Byzantium |date=10 March 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-23709-9 |pages=139–149 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sga4CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA139}}</ref>
* Pashtuns: The Hephthalites may have contributed to the ethnogenesis of [[Pashtuns]]. Yu. V. Gankovsky, a Soviet historian on Afghanistan, stated: "Pashtun began as a union of largely [[Eastern Iranian languages|East Iranian]] tribes, which became the initial ethnic stratum of the Pashtun ethnogenesis dating from the middle of the first millennium CE, and is connected with the dissolution of the Hephthalite confederacy."<ref>{{cite book |last=Gankovsky |first=Yu. V. |display-authors=et al |title=A History of Afghanistan |location=Moscow |publisher=[[Progress Publishers]] |year=1982 |page=382}}</ref> According to [[The Cambridge History of Iran]] the descendants of Hephthalites are [[Pashtuns]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fisher |first1=William Bayne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ko_RafMSGLkC&dq=the+cambridge+history+of+iran+pashtun+hephthalites&pg=PA216 |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |last2=Yarshater |first2=Ehsan |date=1968 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-20092-9 |page=216}}</ref>
** Durrani: The [[Durrani]] Pashtuns of Afghanistan were called "Abdali" before 1747. According to linguist [[Georg Morgenstierne]], their tribal name ''Abdālī'' may have "something to do with" the Hephthalite.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Morgenstierne |first=Georg |title=The Linguistic Stratification of Afghanistan |journal=Afghan Studies |volume=2 |date=1979 |pages=23–33}}</ref> This hypothesis was endorsed by historian [[Aydogdy Kurbanov]], who indicated that after the collapse of the Hephthalite confederacy, they likely assimilated into different local populations and that the Abdali may be one of the tribes of Hephthalite origin.{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}}
[[File:Tegin Shah (obverse).jpg|thumb|Coin of [[Tegin Shah]], self-described as "[[Elteber|Iltäbar]] (sub-King) of the Khalaj", dated to the year 728 CE, on the [[Hephthalite]] model, imitating Sasanian king [[Peroz I]] (438–457).<ref name="KTS">{{cite web |url=http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/coins/coin105?language=en |title= The Countenance of the other (The Coins of the Huns and Western Turks in Central Asia and India) 2012-2013 exhibit: Chorasan Tegin Shah|date= 2012–2013 |author= |publisher=Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna |accessdate= July 22, 2017}}</ref><ref name="MA279">{{cite journal |last1=ALRAM |first1=MICHAEL |title=From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush |journal=The Numismatic Chronicle |date=2014 |volume=174 |page=279 |jstor=44710198 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44710198 |issn=0078-2696}}</ref>]]
* Khalaj: The [[Khalaj people]] are first mentioned in the 7th–9th centuries in the area of [[Ghazni]], [[Qalati Ghilji]], and [[Zabulistan]] in present-day [[Afghanistan]]. They spoke [[Khalaj language|Khalaj Turkic]]. [[Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khwarizmi|Al-Khwarizmi]] mentioned them as a remnant tribe of the Hephthalites. However, according to linguist [[Nicholas Sims-Williams|Sims-Williams]], archaeological documents do not support the suggestion that the Khalaj were the Hephthalites' successors,<ref>{{cite journal|last= Bonasli|first= Sonel|title= The Khalaj and their language|journal= Endangered Turkic Languages II A|location= Aralık|year=2016|pages= 273–275}}</ref> while according to historian [[Vladimir Minorsky|V. Minorsky]], the Khalaj were "perhaps only politically associated with the Hephthalites." Some of the Khalaj were later [[Pashtunization|Pashtunized]], after which they transformed into the Pashtun [[Ghilji]] tribe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/articles/2005/TheKhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml|access-date=2007-01-10 |last=Minorsky |first=V. |website=Khyber.ORG |url-status=usurped |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110613145756/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2005/TheKhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml |archive-date=2011-06-13 |title=The Khalaj West of the Oxus [excerpts from "The Turkish Dialect of the Khalaj", Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, Vol 10, No 2, pp 417–437]}}</ref>
* Kanjina: a Saka tribe linked to the [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] [[Komedes|Kumijis]]{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=83}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Bosworth |first=C.E. |chapter=The Rulers of Chaghāniyān in Early Islamic Times |title=Iran |volume=19 |year=1981 |page=20}}</ref> and incorporated into the Hephthalites. Kanjinas were possibly Turkicized later, as [[Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi|al-Khwarizmi]] called them "Kanjina Turks". However, [[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|Bosworth]] and [[Gerard Clauson|Clauson]] contended that al-Khwarizmi was simply using "Turks" "in the vague and inaccurate sense".<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Bosworth|first1= C.E.|last2= Clauson|first2= Gerard|title= Al-Xwārazmī on the Peoples of Central Asia|journal= The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |issue=1/2 |date= 1965|pages= 8–9}}</ref>
* Karluks: (or [[Qarlughids]]) were reported as settled in Ghazni and Zabulistan, present-day Afghanistan, in the thirteenth century. Many Muslim geographers identified "Karluks" ''Khallukh'' ~ ''Kharlukh'' with "Khalajes" ''Khalaj'' from confusion, as the two names were similar and these two groups dwelt near each other.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=387}}<ref>Minorsky, V. "Commentary on [[Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam]]'s "§&nbsp;15. The Khallukh" and "§&nbsp;24. Khorasanian Marches" pp. 286, 347–348</ref>
* Abdal is a name associated with the Hephthalites. It is an alternate name for the [[Äynu people]].
** According to [[Köprülü family|Orhan Köprülü]], [[Abdal of Turkey]] might be descended from the Hepthalites. [[Albert von Le Coq]] mentions the relation between Abdals of [[Adana]] and Äynus of [[East Turkestan]], by them having some common words, and by both referring to themselves as Abdals and speaking an exclusive language among themselves.<ref>{{cite book|title=Current Topics in Social Sciences|editor1=Hülya YALDIR|editor2=Recep EFE|editor3=Elżbieta ZUZAŃSKA-ŻYŚKO|editor4=Mehmet ARSLAN |isbn=978-954-07-4135-2 |chapter=Abdals in Cultural Geography of Anatolia |publisher=ST. KLIMENT OHRIDSKI UNIVERSITY PRESS |location=Sofia|year=2016|author=Nilüfer Köşker |page=585}}</ref> Some Abdal elements can also be found in the composition of [[Azerbaijanis]], Turkmen (Ata, [[Chowdur]], [[Ersary]], [[Saryk]]), Kazakhs, Uzbek-Lokays, [[Turkish people|Turks]] and Volga Bulgars ([[Sabir people|Savirs]]).{{sfn|Kurbanov|2010|pp=241-242}}

== Hephthalite rulers ==
{{History of Central Asia}}
* [[Akhshunwar]], circa 458 CE
* Kun-khi, circa 484 CE<ref name="STA36"/>
* Yandai Yilituo, circa 516 CE (only known from his Chinese name 厭帶夷栗陁){{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|p=130, note 31}}{{sfn|Balogh|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 88, I.072]}}
* Hwade-gang (only known from the archives of the [[Kingdom of Rob]]).<ref name="SS313"/>
* Ghadfar/Ghatifar, circa 567–568 CE.{{sfn|Adylov|Mirzaahmedov|2006|p=37}}
* [[Faghanish]] (568-) (ruling in [[Chaghaniyan]])
* [[Nezak Tarkan]] (circa 650–710)

== See also ==
* [[History of Afghanistan]]
* [[Huna people]]
* [[Kidarites]] (Red Huns)
* [[Alchon Huns]]
* [[Kushan Empire]]
* [[Xionites]]
* [[Nezak Huns]]
* [[Iranian Huns]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
{{clear}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Sources ==
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* {{cite book |last=West |first=Barbara A. |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC |date=2009 |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7 |access-date=January 18, 2015 }}
* {{cite journal |author=Yu Taishan |date=2018 |title=The Illustration of Envoys Presenting Tribute at the Liang Court |journal=Eurasian Studies |volume=VI |pages=68–122 |url=https://www.academia.edu/38799949 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Zeimal |first=E.V. |title=The Circulation of Coins in Central Asia during the Early Medieval Period (Fifth–Eighth Centuries A.D.) |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=1994 |volume=8 |pages=245–267 |jstor=24048777 |issn=0890-4464}}
* {{harvc |last=Zeimal |first=E.V. |year=1996 |c=The Kidarite kingdom in Central Asia |in1=Litvinsky |in2=Guang-da |in3=Samghabadi |pages=119–134 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA119}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{ODLA|last=Dickens|first=Mark|title=Hephthalites (White Huns, Abdelai, Hayatila, Hua)|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-2200?rskey=sTgHue&result=10}}
* {{cite journal|last=Grignaschi|first=M.|title=La Chute De L'Empire Hephthalite Dans Les Sources Byzantines et Perses et Le Probleme Des Avar|journal= Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungarica |volume=28 |publisher= Akademiai Kiado |location=Budapest|year=1980}}
* {{cite book|last=Haussig|first= Hans Wilhelm|title= Die Geschichte Zentralasiens und der Seidenstraße in vorislamischer Zeit|location= Darmstadt|publisher= Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft |year=1983|isbn= 3-534-07869-1}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Morony |first=M. |article=ʿARAB ii. Arab conquest of Iran |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arab-ii |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 2 |pages=203–210 |year=1986}}
* {{cite book |author=Theophylaktos Simokates |title=Geschichte |editor=P. Schreiner}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Hephthalites}}
* [http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/Tezcan_Apar.pdf "The Ethnonym Apar in the Turkish Inscriptions of the VIII. Century and Armenian Manuscripts" Dr. Mehmet Tezcan.]
* [http://www.historicalchina.net/admin/WebEdit/UploadFile/AfrasiabXH.pdf The Anthropology of Yanda (Chinese)] pdf
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040710093544/http://www.geocities.com/pak_history/hephthalites.html The Silkroad Foundation]}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Ephthalites | volume= 9 |last= Eliot |first=Charles Norton Edgcumbe |author1-link= Charles Eliot (diplomat) | page = | pages = 679&ndash;680 |short=1}}
* [http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/Hephthalite Columbia Encyclopedia: Hephthalites]
* [http://www.anythinganywhere.com/commerce/coins/coinpics/indi-heph.htm Hephthalite coins]
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027002731/http://geocities.com/ziadnumis/home |date=27 October 2009 |title=Hephthalite History and Coins of the Kashmir Smast Kingdom- Waleed Ziad }}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130310060957/http://www.rick-heli.info/silkroad/eph.html The Hephthalites of Central Asia – by Richard Heli]}} (long article with a timeline)
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050209163941/http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/exhibit/hephthalites/essay.html |date=9 February 2005 |title=The Hephthalites }} Article archived from the University of Washington's Silk Road exhibition – has a slightly adapted form of the Richard Heli timeline.
* [http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/Tezcan_Apar.pdf (pdf)] The Ethnonym Apar in the Turkish Inscriptions of the VIII. Century and Armenian Manuscripts – Mehmet Tezcan
* [https://www.academia.edu/38822653/Records_Relevant_to_the_Hephthalites_in_Ancient_Chinese_Historical_Works Records Relevant to the Hephthalites in Ancient Chinese Historical Works], collected by Yu Taishan (2016).

{{Central Asian history}}
{{Rulers of the Ancient Central Asia}}
{{Empires}}
{{Huns}}

[[Category:Hephthalites| ]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]
[[Category:Former countries in Central Asia]]
[[Category:Former countries in South Asia]]
[[Category:Former countries in Chinese history]]
[[Category:History of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Medieval Khorasan]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 440s]]
[[Category:670 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Former empires]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 560s]]