View source for Kidarites

{{Short description|320–467 CE dynasty of nomads in Central and South Asia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = Kidarites
| common_name            = Kidarites
| currency               = 
| government_type        = [[Monarchy]]
| era                    = [[Late Antiquity]]
| year_start             = 320 CE
| year_end               = 467 CE 
| p1                     = Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom
| p2                     = Kushan Empire
| s2                     = Hephthalites
| s1                     = Alchon Huns
| image_flag             = 
| flag_type              = Kidarite Tamga
| image_coat             = Kidarite_Tamga.png
| symbol_type            = [[Tamga]] of the Kidarites
| image_map              = 
{{Continental Asia in 400 CE|center|||Map of the Kidarites.png|none}}
| image_map_caption      = Territory of the Kidarite kingdom, and main Asian polities {{circa|400}}
| image_map2             = 
{{Location map+
|Kidarites
|float      = center
|width      = 300 <!-- DO NOT CHANGE MAP SIZE (300) AS THIS WILL DISPLACE THE LABELS -->
|border     =none
|nodiv      = 1
|mini       = 1
|relief=yes 
|places     =
{{Annotation|235|165|[[Gupta Empire|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">GUPTA<br>EMPIRE</span>]]|text-align=center|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=9|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|157|30|[[Xionites|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">XIONITES</span>]]|text-align=center|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|157|140|[[Sasanian Hind|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">SASANIAN<br>HIND</span>]]|text-align=center|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|83|35|[[Afrighids|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">AFRIGHIDS</span>]]|text-align=center|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|50|105|[[Sasanian Empire|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">SASANIAN<br>EMPIRE</span>]]|text-align=center|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=9|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|250|55|[[Tocharians|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">TOCHARIANS</span>]]|text-align=center|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
|caption= 
}}
| image_map2_caption     = Territory of the Kidarites, {{circa|400}}
| common_languages       = [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]] (written)
| capital                = [[Bactria]]
| religion               = [[Buddhism]]<br>[[Hinduism]]
| title_leader           = [[Kushanshah]]
| leader1                = [[Kidara]]
| year_leader1           = fl. 320
| leader2                = Varhran I
| year_leader2           = fl. 425
| leader3                = Kandik
| year_leader3           = fl. 500
| today                  = 
}}
The '''Kidarites''', or '''Kidara Huns''',<ref>{{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=17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |language=en}}</ref> were a dynasty that ruled [[Bactria]] and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Kidarites belonged to a complex of peoples known collectively in India as the [[Huna people|Huna]], and in Europe as the [[Chionites]] (from the [[Iranian language|Iranian]] names ''Xwn''/''Xyon''), and may even be considered as identical to the '''Chionites'''.<ref>{{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=10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 |language=en}}</ref> The 5th century [[Byzantine]] historian [[Priscus]] called them Kidarite Huns, or "Huns who are Kidarites".{{sfn|Cribb|2010|p=91}}<ref name="Litvinsky119">{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Litvinsky |first2=B. A. |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |date=1996 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=9789231032110 |pages=119–120 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA119 |language=en}}</ref> The Huna/Xionite tribes are often linked, albeit controversially, to the [[Huns]] who invaded Eastern Europe during a similar period. They are entirely different from the [[Hephthalites]], who replaced them about a century later.<ref name="Litvinsky119"/>

The Kidarites were named after [[Kidara]] (Chinese: 寄多羅 ''Jiduoluo'', ancient pronunciation: ''Kjie-ta-la''){{sfn|Cribb|2010|pp=95–96}}{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=17}} one of their main rulers. The Kidarites appear to have been a part of a Huna horde known in Latin sources as the "Kermichiones" (from the Iranian ''Karmir Xyon'') or "Red Huna". The Kidarites established the first of four major Xionite/Huna states in Central Asia, followed by the [[Alchon]], the [[Hephthalites]] and the [[Nezak]].

In 360–370 CE, a Kidarite kingdom was established in Central Asian regions previously ruled by the [[Sasanian Empire]], replacing the [[Kushano-Sasanians]] in [[Bactria]].<ref name="SSS"/><ref name="Maas">The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila, Michael Maas, Cambridge University Press, 2014 [https://books.google.com/books?id=e0dcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA284 p.284sq]</ref> Thereafter, the Sasanian Empire roughly stopped at [[Merv]].<ref name="Maas"/> Next, circa 390-410 CE, the Kidarites invaded northwestern India, where they replaced the remnants of the [[Kushan Empire]] in the area of [[Punjab]].

==Origins==
{{see also|Origins of the Huns}}
[[File:Kidara I portrait.jpg|thumb|upright=1|left|Portrait of [[Kidara]], king of the Kidarites, circa 350–386. The coinage of the Kidarites imitated [[Sasanian coinage|Sasanian imperial coinage]], with the exception that they displayed clean-shaven faces, instead of the beards of the Sasanians, a feature relating them to [[Altaic]] rather than [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] lineage.<ref name="Maas"/><ref name="EI"/>]]

A nomadic people, the Kidarites appear to have originated in the [[Altai Mountains]] region. On Kidarite coins their rulers are depicted as beardless or clean-shaven – a feature of [[Altai Mountains|Altaic]] cultures at the time (as opposed, for example, to the Iranian cultures of South Central Asia).<ref name="EI">Encyclopaedia Iranica, article Kidarites: "On Gandhāran coins bearing their name the ruler is always clean-shaven, a fashion more typical of Altaic people than of Iranians" in {{cite journal |title=KIDARITES – Encyclopaedia Iranica |website=www.iranicaonline.org |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kidarites}}</ref> They may have been [[Oghuric]] speakers originally, as may have been the [[Chionites]] and the [[Hephthalites]], before adopting the [[Bactrian language]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=DE LA VAISSIÈRE |first1=ÉTIENNE |title=Is There a "Nationality of the Hephtalites"? |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=2003 |volume=17 |page=124 |jstor=24049310 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24049310 |issn=0890-4464}}</ref> The Kidarites were depicted as [[mounted archery|mounted archers]] on the [[Obverse and reverse|reverse]] of coins.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA120 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |last2=Litvinsky |first2=B. A. |last3=Unesco |date=1996-01-01 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0 |language=en}}</ref> They were also known to practice [[artificial cranial deformation]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila |first=Michael |last=Maas |page=185 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=67dUBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA185 |isbn=9781107021754 |year=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref>

The Kidarites appear to have been synonymous with the ''Karmir Xyon'' ("Red Xionites" or, more controversially, "Red Huns"),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mitterwallner |first=Gritli von |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uufVAAAAMAAJ |title=Kuṣāṇa Coins and Kuṣāṇa Sculptures from Mathurā |date=1986 |publisher=Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of U.P., Lucknow |language=en}}</ref><ref>Ancient Coin Collecting VI: Non-Classical Cultures, Wayne G. Sayles, p. 79, https://books.google.com/books?id=YTGRcVLMg6MC&pg=PA78</ref> – a major subdivision of the [[Chionites]] (Xionites), alongside the ''[[Spet Xyon]]'' ("White Xionites"). In a recently discovered seal with the image of a ruler similar to those of the Kidarite coins, the ruler named himself in Bactrian "King of the Huns and Great Kushan Shah" (''uonano shao o(a)zarko (k)oshanoshao''). The discovery was reportedly made in [[Swat District|Swat]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |title=A Hunnish Kushanshah |journal=Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology |date=2006 |pages=125–131 |url=https://www.academia.edu/24463151 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Cribb|2010|p=97}}

[[File:Fire attendants wearing the kaftan and holding swords on the coinage of Kidara.jpg|thumb|upright|Fire attendants with the [[kaftan]] tunic worn over trousers tucked into knee-high boots, and holding swords, on the coinage of Kidara]]
The name of their eponymous ruler ''[[Kidara]]'' ([[flourished|fl.]] 350–385) may be cognate with the [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] word ''Kidirti'' meaning "west", suggesting that the Kidarites were originally the westernmost of the Xionites, and the first to migrate from Inner Asia.<ref name="Hyun">The Huns, Hyun Jin Kim, Routledge, 2015 [https://books.google.com/books?id=mcf4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT50 p.50 sq]</ref> Chinese sources suggest that when the [[Hephthalite Empire#Uar|Uar]] (滑 ''Huá'') were driven westward by the [[Later Zhao]] state, circa 320, from the area around [[Linfen|Pingyang]] (平陽; modern [[Linfen]], [[Shanxi]]), it put pressure on Xionite-affiliated peoples, such as the Kidarites, to migrate. Another theory is that climate change in the Altai during the 4th century caused various tribes to migrate westward and southward.<ref name="Hyun"/>

Contemporary Chinese and Roman sources suggest that, during the 4th century, the Kidarites  began to encroach on the territory of [[Greater Khorasan]] and the [[Kushan Empire]] – migrating through [[Transoxiana]] into [[Bactria]],<ref name="HCCE 119">History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Ahmad Hasan Dani, B. A. Litvinsky, [[UNESCO|Unesco]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA119 p.119 sq]</ref> where they were initially [[vassal]]s of the Kushans and adopted many elements of Kushano-Bactrian culture. The Kidarites also initially  put pressure on the [[Sasanian Empire]], but later served as mercenaries in the Sassanian army, under which they fought the Romans in Mesopotamia, led by a chief named [[Grumbates]] (fl. 353–358 CE).  Some of the Kidarites apparently became a ruling dynasty of the Kushan Empire, leading to the epithet "Little Kushans".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Coins of the Tochari, Kushâns, or Yue-Ti |first=A. |last=Cunningham |journal=The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society |volume=9 |pages=268–311 |jstor=42680025 |year=1889 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=A Note on Kidara and the Kidarites |first=William |last=Samolin |journal=Central Asiatic Journal |volume=2 |issue=4 |year=1956 |pages=295–297 |quote=The Yueh-chih origin of Kidara is clearly established... |jstor=41926398 }}</ref>

==Kidarite kingdom==
===First appearance in literary sources===
{{multiple image
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=Inclusion of the Kidarite tamgha
| total_width=320
| image1   = Kushano-Sasanian ruler Vahrām (Bahram) I Balkh mint Struck under Kidarite kings Yasada and Kirada, circa CE 340-345.jpg
| image2   = Kidarite tamgha symbol on coins of Varahran I.jpg
| footer=Coin in the name of [[Kushano-Sasanian]] king  [[Varahran Kushanshah|Varahran]], struck under Kidarite ruler [[Kirada]], circa 340-345. The Kidarite [[tamga]] symbol ([[File:Kidarite_Tamga.png|15px]]) appears to the right of the standing king. [[Balkh]] mint.
| footer_align = center
}}
The first evidence are gold coins discovered in [[Balkh]] dating from the mid-4th century. The [[Kushano-Sasanian]] ruler [[Varahran Kushanshah|Varahran]] during the second phase of his reign, had to introduce the Kidarite [[tamga]] ([[File:Kidarite_Tamga.png|15px]]) in his coinage minted at [[Balkh]] in [[Bactria]], circa 340-345.{{sfn|Cribb|2010|p=99}} The tamgha replaced the [[nandipada]] symbol which had been in use since [[Vasudeva I]],{{sfn|Cribb|2010|p=99}} suggesting that the Kidarites had now taken control, first under their ruler [[Kirada]].{{sfn|Cribb|2018|p=23}} Then ram horns were added to the effigy of Varahran on his coinage for a brief period under the Kidarite ruler [[Peroz (Kidarite)|Peroz]], and raised ribbons were added around the crown ball under the Kidarite ruler [[Kidara]].{{sfn|Cribb|2010|p=109}}{{sfn|Cribb|2010|p=123}}{{sfn|Cribb|2010|p=99}}{{sfn|Cribb|2018|p=23}} In effect, Varahran has been described as a "puppet" of the Kidarites.{{sfn|Cribb|Donovan|2014|p=4}} By 365, the [[Kidarite]] ruler [[Kidara I]] was placing his name on the coinage of the region, and assumed the title of Kushanshah.{{sfn|Cribb|2018|p=23}} In Gandhara too, the Kidarites minted silver coins in the name of Varahran, until Kidara also introduced his own name there.{{sfn|Cribb|2018|p=23}}

Archaeological, numismatic, and sigillographic evidence demonstrates the Kidarites ruled a realm just as refined as that of the Sasanians. They swiftly adopted Iranian imperial symbolism and titulature, as demonstrated by a seal; "Lord Ularg, the king of the Huns, the great Kushan-shah, the Samarkandian, of the Afrigan (?) family."{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=285}}

Most other data we currently have on the Kidarite kingdom are from Chinese and Byzantine sources from the middle of the 5th century. The Kidarites were the first Huna to bother India. Indian records note that the ''Hūna'' had established themselves in modern [[Afghanistan]] and the [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|North-West Frontier Province]] by the first half of the 5th century, and the Gupta emperor [[Skandagupta]] had repelled a ''Hūna'' invasion in 455. The Kidarites are the last dynasty to regard themselves (on the legend of their coins) as the inheritors of the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] empire, which had disappeared as an independent entity two centuries earlier.{{original research inline|date=May 2021}}

===Migration into Bactria===
[[File:Kidara coin.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Kidara]], circa 425–457. AR Drachm (29mm, 3.76 g, 3h). Mint C in [[Gandhara]]. Crowned bust facing slightly right. [[Brahmi]] legend around the head: [[File:Gupta_allahabad_ki.jpg|13px]][[File:Gupta ashoka d.svg|13px]][[File:Gupta allahabad r.svg|13px]][[File:Gupta allahabad ku.jpg|15px]][[File:Gupta_gujarat_ss.svg|13px]][[File:Gupta ashoka nn.svg|13px]][[File:Gupta_gujarat_ss.svg|13px]] ''Ki-da-ra Ku-ṣa-ṇa-ṣa''/ Fire altar flanked by attendants.<ref>[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=359788 A similar coin with reading of the legend]</ref> The use of the 3/4 portrait is sometimes attributed to the influence of [[:File:Arcadius.gif|the coinage]] of [[Byzantine Empire]] ruler [[Arcadius]] (377–408 CE).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lerner |first1=Judith A. |title=Observations on the Typology and Style of Seals and Sealings from Bactria and the Indo-Iranian Borderlands, in Coins, Art and Chronology II. The First Millennium CE in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands |date=210 |publisher=ÖAW |location=Vienna |page=246, note 7 |url=https://www.academia.edu/743914 |language=en}}</ref>]] 
{{South Asia in 350 CE|right|South Asian polities circa 350 CE, and location of the Kidarites in [[Bactria]], on the eve of their expansion into the Indian subcontinent.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |pages=25, 145 |isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=062 |archive-date=7 February 2025 |access-date=6 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250207024910/https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=062 |url-status=dead }}</ref>|{{Annotation|2|2|[[File:Long Rectangle (plain).png|44px]]}}}}
Around 350, the Sasanian Emperor [[Shapur II]] (ruled 309 to 379) had to interrupt his conflict with the Romans, and abandon the siege of [[Nisibis]],<ref name="Hyun"/> in order to face nomadic threats in the east: he was attacked in the east by [[Scythians|Scythian]] [[Massagetae]] and other Central Asian tribes.{{sfn|Daryaee|2009}} Around this time, [[Xionite]]/[[Huna people|Huna]] tribes, most likely the Kidarites, whose king was [[Grumbates]], make an appearance as an encroaching threat upon Sasanian territory as well as a menace to the [[Gupta Empire]] (320–500).{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=17}}

After a prolonged struggle (353–358) they were forced to conclude an alliance, and their king [[Grumbates]] accompanied [[Shapur II]] in the war against the Romans, agreeing to enlist his light cavalrymen into the Persian army and accompanying Shapur II. The presence of "Grumbates, king of the Chionitae" and his Xionites with Shapur II during campaigns in the Western [[Caspians|Caspian]] lands, in the area of [[Corduene]], is described by the contemporary eyewitness [[Ammianus Marcellinus]]:<ref name="HCCE 38">History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Ahmad Hasan Dani, B. A. Litvinsky, [[Unesco]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA38 p.38 sq]</ref>

{{blockquote|''Grumbates Chionitarum rex novus aetate quidem media rugosisque membris sed mente quadam grandifica multisque victoriarum insignibus nobilis''.<br>"Grumbates, the new king of the Xionites, while he was middle aged, and his limbs were wrinkled, he was endowed with a mind that acted grandly, and was famous for his many, significant victories."|[[Ammianus Marcellinus]], 18.6.22.<ref>[[Ammianus Marcellinus]] [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ammianus_18_book18.htm 18.6.22]</ref>}}

The presence of Grumbates alongside Shapur II is also recorded at the successful [[Siege of Amida (359)|Siege of Amida]] in 359, in which Grumbates lost his son:<ref name="Hyun"/>

{{blockquote|"Grumbates, king of the Chionitae, went boldly up to the walls to effect that mission, with a brave body of guards; and when a skilful reconnoitrer had noticed him coming within shot, he let fly his balista, and struck down his son in the flower of his youth, who was at his father's side, piercing through his breastplate, breast and all; and he was a prince who in stature and beauty was superior to all his comrades. "|[[Ammianus Marcellinus]], 19.1.7.<ref>[[Ammianus Marcellinus]] [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ammianus_19_book19.htm 18.6.22]</ref>}}

Later the alliance fell apart, and by the time of [[Bahram IV]] (388–399) the Sasanians had lost numerous battles against the Kidarites.<ref name="Hyun"/> The migrating Kidarites then settled in [[Bactria]], where they replaced the [[Kushano-Sasanids]], a branch of the [[Sasanids]] that had displaced the weakening [[Kushans]] in the area two centuries before.<ref name="SSS">Sasanian Seals and Sealings, Rika Gyselen, Peeters Publishers, 2007, [https://books.google.com/books?id=RjWAXVYNIzkC&pg=PA1 p.1]</ref> It is thought that they were in firm possession of the region of Bactria by 360.<ref name="Hyun"/> Since this area corresponds roughly to [[Kushanshahr]], the former western territories of the [[Kushans]], Kidarite ruler [[Kidara]] called himself "Kidara King of the Kushans" on his coins.<ref name="CC">The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila, Michael Maas [https://books.google.com/books?id=e0dcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA286 p.286]</ref>

According to [[Priscus]], the [[Sasanian Empire]] was forced to pay tribute to the Kidarites, until the rule of [[Yazdgird II]] (ruled 438–457), who refused payment.<ref name="CC287">The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila, Michael Maas [https://books.google.com/books?id=e0dcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA287 p.287]</ref>

The Kidarites based their capital in [[Samarkand]], where they were at the center of [[Central Asian]] trade networks, in close relation with the [[Sogdians]].<ref name="Maas"/> The Kidarites had a powerful administration and raised taxes, rather efficiently managing their territories, in contrast to the image of barbarians bent on destruction given by Persian accounts.<ref name="Maas"/>

====Fortresses====
[[File:Kafir-kala.jpg|thumb|left|Fortress of [[Kafir-kala (Uzbekistan)|Kafir-kala]] ([[Uzbekistan]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Antiquities of Samarkand. Kurgan in the Vicinity of Samarkand. Location of Kafir Kala |url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/3709/ |website=wdl.org |language=en |date=1868}}</ref>]]
[[Kafir-kala (Uzbekistan)|Kafir-kala]] is an ancient fortress 12 kilometers south of the city center of [[Samarkand]] in [[Uzbekistan]], protecting the southern border of the Samarkand oasis.<ref name="SM">{{cite journal |last1=Mantellini |first1=Simone |title=Change and Continuity in the Samarkand Oasis: Evidence for the Islamic Conquest from the Citadel of Kafir Kala |journal=Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology |date=2012 |volume=7 |pages=227–253 |doi=10.1484/J.JIAAA.4.2017012 |hdl=11585/572547 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317108188|hdl-access=free }}</ref> It consists in a central citadel built in mud-bricks and measuring 75 × 75 meters at its base has six towers and is surrounded by a moat, still visible today.<ref name="SM"/> Living quarters were located outside the citadel.<ref name="SM"/> The citadel was first occupied by the Kidarites in the 4th-5th century, whose coinage and bullae have been found.<ref>{{cite web |title=Administration, law and urban organization in the Late Antique and Early Medieval period |url=https://www.uib.no/fg/rames/111875/administration-law-and-urban-organization-late-antique-and-early-medieval-period |website=Universitetet i Bergen |language=nb |access-date=18 October 2020 |archive-date=18 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018141329/https://www.uib.no/fg/rames/111875/administration-law-and-urban-organization-late-antique-and-early-medieval-period |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Kidarites in Bactria |url=http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase3?language=en |website=pro.geo.univie.ac.at |publisher=Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna |access-date=18 October 2020 |archive-date=18 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018102415/http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase3?language=en |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Expansion to northwest India===
[[File:HUNNIC TRIBES Kidarites Kidara Circa CE 350-385.jpg|thumb|290px|[[Kidara]] gold coin, circa 350–385, derived from the [[Kushans]]. Vertical [[Brahmi]] legends from right to left: ''Kushana'' ([[File:Gupta allahabad ku.jpg|14px]][[File:Gupta_gujarat_ss.svg|14px]][[File:Gupta_ashoka_nn.svg|14px]] ''Ku-shā-ṇa'') ''Kidara'' ([[File:Gupta allahabad ki.jpg|16px]][[File:Gupta allahabad d.svg|14px]][[File:Gupta ashoka r.svg|14px]] ''Ki-da-ra'') ''Kushana'' ([[File:Gupta allahabad ku.jpg|14px]][[File:Gupta_gujarat_ss.svg|14px]][[File:Gupta_ashoka_nn.svg|14px]] ''Ku-shā-ṇa''). Enthroned goddess [[Ardoxsho]] on the back.]]
The Kidarites consolidated their power in Northern Afghanistan before conquering [[Peshawar]] and parts of northwest India including [[Gandhara]] probably sometime between 390 and 410,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Litvinsky |first2=B. A. |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |date=1996 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=9789231032110 |page=122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA122 |language=en}}</ref> around the end of the rule of Gupta Emperor [[Chandragupta II]] or beginning of the rule of [[Kumaragupta I]].<ref>"The entry of the Kidarites into India may firmly be placed some time round about the end of rule of Candragupta II or beginning of the rule of Kumaragupta I (circa 410-420 a.d.)" in {{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Parmeshwari Lal |last2=Kulashreshtha |first2=Sarojini |title=Kuṣāṇa Coins and History |date=1994 |publisher=D.K. Printworld |isbn=9788124600177 |page=122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1caAAAAYAAJ |language=en}}</ref> It is probably the rise of the Hephthalites and the defeats against the Sasanians which pushed the Kidarites into northern India.

====Economy====
The Kidarites issued gold coins on the model of Kushan coinage, inscribing their own names but still claiming the Kushan heritage by using the title "Kushan".<ref name="INCC"/> The volume of Kidarite gold coinage was nevertheless much smaller than that of the Great Kushans, probably owing to a decline of commerce and the loss of major international trade routes.<ref name="HCCA167">{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Litvinsky |first2=B. A. |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |date=1996 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=9789231032110 |page=167 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA167 |language=en}}</ref>

Coins with the title or name [[Gadahara]] seem to be the first coins issued by the invading Kidarites in the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] realm in India.<ref name="RF128">{{cite book |last1=Agrawal |first1=Ashvini |title=Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas |date=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=9788120805927 |page=128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC&pg=PA128 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="INS112"/> The additional presence of the names of foreign rulers such as the [[Kushano-Sassanian]] [[Peroz III Kushanshah|Piroz]] or the [[Gupta Empire]] [[Samudragupta]] on the coins may suggest some kind of suzerainty at a time when the remnants of Kushan power were torn between these two powers.<ref name="RF128"/><ref name="INS112"/> The "Gadahara" issues seem to come chronologically just before the issues of the famous Kidarite ruler [[Kidara]].<ref name="CH253">{{cite book |title=A Comprehensive History of India |date=1957 |publisher=Orient Longmans |page=253 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQ9uAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name="INS112">"Gadahara. The last branch, in course of time, yielded to Samudragupta, as is borne out by certain coins of this branch having the name Samudra. There is a good deal of similarity between the coins of the Gadaharas and the Kidara Kushanas." in {{cite book |last1=Bajpai |first1=K. D. |title=Indian Numismatic Studies |date=2004 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=9788170170358 |page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&pg=PA112 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="INCC">{{cite journal |last1=Tandon |first1=Pankaj |title=An Important New Copper Coin of Gadahara |journal=Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society |date=2009 |issue=200 |page=19 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2771790 |language=en}}</ref>

====Religion====
[[File:Miracle of Sravasti.2.jpg|thumb|The ''Miracle of Sravasti'' from [[Paitava]], possibly belongs to the Kidarite period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cambon |first1=Pierre |title=Fouilles anciennes en Afghanistan (1924-1925). Païtāvā, Karratcha |journal=Arts Asiatiques |date=1996 |volume=51 |page=20 |doi=10.3406/arasi.1996.1383 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arasi_0004-3958_1996_num_51_1_1383}}</ref>]]
It seems [[Buddhism]] was rather unaffected by Kidarite rule, as the religion continued to prosper.<ref name="HCCA167"/> The Chinese pilgrim [[Fa-hsien]] visited the region {{circa|400 CE}}, and described a wealthy Buddhist culture.<ref name="HCCA167"/> Some aspects of the [[Greco-Buddhist art|Buddhist art of Gandhara]] seem to have incorporated [[Zoroastrian]] elements conveyed by the Kidarites at that time, such as the depiction of fire altars on the bases of numerous Buddhist sculptures.<ref name="HCCA167"/>

It has been argued that the spread of Indian culture and religions as far as [[Sogdia]] corresponded to the rule of the Kidarites over the regions from Sogdia to Gandhara.{{sfn|Cribb|2010|pp=95–96}}

Some Buddhist works of art, in a style marking some evolution compared to the art of [[Gandhara]], have been suggested as belonging to the Kidarite period, such as the sculptures of [[Paitava]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cambon |first1=Pierre |title=Fouilles anciennes en Afghanistan (1924-1925). Païtāvā, Karratcha |journal=Arts Asiatiques |date=1996 |volume=51 |page=20 |doi=10.3406/arasi.1996.1383 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arasi_0004-3958_1996_num_51_1_1383}}</ref>

[[File:Kushan or Kidarite devotees around Maitreya.jpg|thumb|upright=2|center|Devotees around [[Maitreya]], the Buddha of the future (center). [[Paitava]]. The sculptures of Paitava may belong to the period of the Kidarites.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cambon |first1=Pierre |title=Fouilles anciennes en Afghanistan (1924-1925). Païtāvā, Karratcha |journal=Arts Asiatiques |date=1996 |volume=51 |page=20 |doi=10.3406/arasi.1996.1383 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arasi_0004-3958_1996_num_51_1_1383}}</ref>]]

====Conflicts with the Gupta Empire====
[[File:Ajanta Cave 17 horseman holding recurve bow.jpg|thumb|The Buddhist paintings of [[Ajanta Caves|Ajanta]], dated to {{circa|460}}–480, are contemporary of the end of the Kidarite invasion of northwestern India, and some scenes probably received the influence of the Kidarites or the [[Hephthalites]] after them.<ref>"The figures represented here, although given a Buddhist significance, are probably modelled on the Hephthalites or earlier Kidarites who had conquered India's northwest provinces" {{cite book |last1=Duchesne-Guillemin |first1=Jacques |title=Hommage universel: actes du congrès de Shiraz 1971, et autres études rédigées à l'occasion du 2500e anniversaire de la fondation de l'empire perse |date=1974 |publisher=Bibliothèque Pahlavi |isbn=9789004039025 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYtCAAAAYAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Brancaccio |first1=Pia |title=The Buddhist Caves at Aurangabad: Transformations in Art and Religion |date=2010 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004185258 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_4pXm7dD78C |language=en}}</ref>]]
The Kidarites may have confronted the [[Gupta Empire]] during the rule of [[Kumaragupta I]] (414–{{circa|455}}) as the latter recounts some conflicts, although very vaguely, in his [[Mandsaur]] inscription.<ref>Malwa Through the Ages, from the Earliest Times to 1305 A.D by Kailash Chand Jain [https://books.google.com/books?id=_3O7q7cU7k0C&pg=PA242 p.242]</ref> The [[Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta]], inscribed by his son [[Skandagupta]] ({{circa|455|467}}), recalls much more dramatically the near-annihilation of the Gupta Empire, and recovery though military victories against the attacks of the [[Pushyamitras]] and the [[Hunas]].<ref name="Hyun"/> The Kidarites are the only Hunas who could have attacked India at the time, as the [[Hephthalites]] were still trying to set foot in [[Bactria]] in the middle of the 5th century.<ref name="HCCE 119"/> In the Bhitari inscription, Skandagupta clearly mentions conflagrations with the Hunas, even though some portions of the inscription have disappeared:

{{blockquote|"(Skandagupta), by whose two arms the earth was shaken, when he, the creator (of a disturbance like that) of a terrible whirlpool, joined in close conflict with the [[Huna people|Hûnas]]; . . . . . . among enemies . . . . . . arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . proclaimed . . . . . . . . . . . . just as if it were the roaring of (the river) [[Ganges|Ganga]], making itself noticed in (their) ears."|[[Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta]] L.15}}

Even after these encounters, the Kidarites seem to have retained the western part of the Gupta Empire, particularly central and western [[Punjab]], until they were displaced by the invasion of the [[Alchon Huns]] at the end of the 5th century.<ref name="HCCC123">{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Litvinsky |first2=B. A. |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |date=1996 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=9789231032110 |pages=123–126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA123 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Hyun"/> While they still ruled in [[Gandhara]], the Kidarites are known to have sent an embassy to China in 477.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Litvinsky |first2=B. A. |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |date=1996 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=9789231032110 |page=141 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA141 |language=en}}</ref>

The Huna invasion are said to have seriously damaged [[Indo-Roman trade relations]], which the Gupta Empire had greatly benefited from. The Guptas had been exporting numerous luxury products such as [[silk]], leather goods, fur, iron products, [[ivory]], [[pearl]] or pepper from centers such as [[Nasik]], [[Paithan]], [[Pataliputra]] or [[Benares]] etc. The Huna invasion probably disrupted these trade relations and the tax revenues that came with it.<ref>Longman History & Civics ICSE 9 by Singh [https://books.google.com/books?id=EXPouL4BYTMC&pg=PA81 p.81]</ref> These conflicts exhausted the [[Gupta Empire]]: the gold coinage of Skandagupta is much fewer and of a lesser quality than that of his predecessors.<ref name="HCCC123"/>

The Kidarites were cut from their Bactrian nomadic roots by the rise of the [[Hephthalites]] in the 450s. The Kidarites also seem to have been defeated by the Sasanian emperor [[Peroz I|Peroz]] in 467 CE, with Peroz reconquering [[Balkh]] and issuing coinage there as "Peroz King of Kings".<ref name="Maas"/>

====Conflict with Sasanian emperor Peroz I and the Hephthalites====
[[File:Seal of lord Uglarg, the King of the Huns, the great Kushanshah, the Afshiyan of Samarkand.jpg|thumb|Seal of "lord Uglarg, the King of the Huns, the great [[Kushanshah]], the [[Afshin|Afshiyan]] of [[Samarkand]]" ([[Bactrian language|Bactrian]]: βαγο ογλαρ(γ)ο – υονανο þ(α)ο οα(ζ)-αρκο κο(þανοþ)[αοσαμαρ] /-κανδο – αφþιιανο). This ruler has "characteristic features identifying him as a Kidarite".<ref>{{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=270 |jstor=44710198 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44710198 |issn=0078-2696}}</ref> Private collection of Aman ur Rahman.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lerner |first1=Judith A. |last2=Sims-Williams |first2=Nicholas |author-link2=Nicholas Sims-Williams|title=Seals, sealings and tokens from Bactria to Gandhara : 4th to 8th century CE |date=2011 |publisher=Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften |location=Wien |isbn=978-3700168973 |pages=72–75}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bakker |first1=Hans |author-link=Hans Bakker|title=Masters of the Steppe: The Impact of the Scythians and Later Nomad Societies of Eurasia: Proceedings of a conference held at the British Museum, 27-29 October 2017 |date=21 January 2021 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-78969-648-6 |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W6MWEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rezakhani |first1=Khodadad|author-link=Khodadad Rezakhani |title=ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity |date=15 March 2017b |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-0030-5 |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Kidarites ruler King B Late 4th-early 5th century CE.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Kidarites ruler "King B", late 4th–early 5th century. A vase has been placed to the right of the Zoroastrian fire altar, the Indian/Hindu ''[[purnaghata]]'', or "Vase of plenty".{{sfn|Alram|2014|p=272}}]]
Since the foundation of the Sasanian Empire, its rulers had demonstrated the sovereignty and power of their realm through collection of tribute, particularly from the Romans.{{sfn|Payne|2016|p=18}} However, the Sasanian efforts were disrupted in the early 5th century by the Kidarites, who forced [[Yazdegerd I]] ({{reign|399|420}}), [[Bahram V]] ({{reign|420|438}}), and/or [[Yazdegerd II]] ({{reign|438|457}}) to pay them tribute.{{sfn|Payne|2016|p=18}}{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=287}} Although this did not trouble the Sasanian treasury, it was nevertheless humiliating.{{sfn|Bonner|2020|p=100}} Yazdegerd II eventually refused to pay tribute, which would later be used as the ''[[casus belli]]'' of the Kidarites, who declared war against the ruling Sasanian king [[Peroz I]] in {{circa}} 464.{{sfn|Potts|2018|pp=291, 294}}{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=287}} Peroz lacked manpower to fight, and therefore asked for financial aid by the Byzantine Empire, who declined his request.{{sfn|Zeimal|1996|p=130}} He then offered peace to the king of the Kidarites, Kunkhas, and offered him his sister in marriage, but sent a woman of low status instead. After some time Kunkhas found about Peroz's false promise, and then in turn tried to trick him, by requesting him to send military experts to strengthen his army.{{sfn|Zeimal|1996|p=130}}

When a group of 300 military experts arrived to the court of Kunkhas at Balaam (possibly [[Balkh]]), they were either killed or disfigured and sent back to Iran, with the information that Kunkhas did this due to Peroz's false promise.{{sfn|Zeimal|1996|p=130}} Around this time, Peroz allied himself with the Hephthalites or the [[Alchon Huns]] of [[Mehama]], the ruler of Kadag in eastern Bactria.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=102, 121}} With their help, he finally vanquished Kidarites in 466, and brought Bactria briefly under Sasanian control, where he issued gold coins of himself at Balkh.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=102, 121, 127}}{{sfn|Payne|2015|p=285}} The style of the gold coin was largely based on the Kidarite coins, and displayed Peroz wearing his second crown.{{sfn|Cribb|2018|p=23}}{{sfn|Alram|2014|p=271}} The following year (467), a Sasanian embassy arrived to the Byzantine capital of [[Constantinople]], where the victory over the Kidarites was announced. The Sasanian embassy sent to the [[Northern Wei]] in 468 may have likewise done the same.{{sfn|Bonner|2020|p=126}}

[[File:Kidarites. Goboziko. Circa mid 5th century CE (facing).jpg|thumb|A coin of the late ruler [[Goboziko]], imitating Sasanian king [[Bahram IV]], in the [[Bactrian script]]. Crowned bust right; tamgha before. Fire altar with attendants. Circa mid 5th century CE.]]
Although the Kidarites still controlled some places such as [[Gandhara]] and [[Punjab]], they would never be an issue for the Sasanians again.<ref name="SSS"/> But in India itself, the Kidarites may also have been losing territory to the Gupta Empire, following the victories of [[Skandagupta]] of 455.<ref name="HTB">{{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=18|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 |language=en}}</ref> This created a power vacuum, which the [[Alchon Huns]] were then able to fill, allowing them to reclaim the lost territories of the Kidarites.<ref name="HTB"/>

====Continental synchronism of Hunnic wars====
There is an astounding synchronism between, on the one hand, the conflicts between the Kidarite Huns and the [[Sasanian Empire]] and the [[Gupta Empire]], and, on the other hand, the campaigns of the [[Huns]] under [[Attila]] in Europe, leading to their defeat at the [[Catalaunian Plains]] in 451.<ref name="HB14"/> It is almost as if the imperialist empire in the east and west had combined their response to a simultaneous Hunnic threat across Eurasia.<ref name="HB14"/> In the end, Europe succeeded in repelling the Huns, and their power there quickly vanished, but in the east, both the Sasanian Empire and the Gupta Empire were left much weakened.<ref name="HB14">{{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 |pages=14–15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 |language=en}}</ref>

A few gold coins of the Kidarites were also found as far as [[Hungary]] and [[Poland]] in Europe, as a result of Asiatic migrations.{{sfn|Alram|2014|p=271}}

===Kidarite successors===
[[File:Yinayaditya of Kashmir Late 5th century CE.jpg|thumb|Coin of king Yinayaditya (also Vinayaditya), one of the "Kidarite successors", late 5th century, [[Jammu]] and [[Kashmir]].]]
Many small Kidarite kingdoms seem to have survived in northwest India, and are known through their coinage. They were particularly present in [[Jammu]] and [[Kashmir]], such as king [[Vinayaditya (Kidarite ruler)|Vinayaditya]], but their coinage was much debased. They were then conquered by the [[Alchon Huns]], sometimes considered as a branch of the [[Hephthalites]], during the last quarter of the 5th century.<ref name=Rene>{{Cite book |last=Grousset |first=Rene |title=The Empire of the Steppes |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=1970 |isbn=0-8135-1304-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/68 68–69] |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/68 }}</ref><ref name="HCCE 38"/> The [[Alchon Huns]] followed the Kidarites into India circa 500, invading Indian territory as far as [[Eran]] and [[Kausambi]].

The numismatic evidence as well as the so-called "Hephthalite bowl" from [[Gandhara]], now in the [[British Museum]], suggests a period of peaceful coexistence between the Kidarites and the Alchons, as it features two Kidarite noble hunters wearing their characteristic crowns, together with two Alchon hunters and one of the Alchons inside a medallion.{{sfn|Alram|2014|pp=274–275}} At one point, the Kidarites withdrew from Gandhara, and the Alchons took over their mints from the time of [[Khingila]].{{sfn|Alram|2014|pp=274–275}} By 520, Gandhara was definitely under Hephthalite (Alchon Huns) control, according to Chinese pilgrims.<ref name="Hyun"/>

{{clear}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=600|caption_align=center
| align    = center
| direction =horizontal
| image1   = SilverBowlNFPPakistan5-6thcenturyCE.JPG
| caption1=Silver bowl, showing an [[Alchon]] horseman
| image2   = Two Kidarite Princes. Silver bowl 460-479 CE. Swat District, Pakistan. British Museum 1963,1210.1.jpg
| caption2=Two Kidarite princes on the bowl
| footer=The so-called "[[Hephthalite bowl]]" from [[Gandhara]], features two Kidarite royal hunters wearing their characteristic horned crowns (right), similar to those in Kidarite coins (see [[Peroz (Kidarite)|Peroz]]), as well as two Alchon hunters (one of them shown here (left), with [[skull deformation]]), suggesting a period of peaceful coexistence between the two entities.{{sfn|Alram|2014|pp=274–275}} [[Swat District]], [[Pakistan]], 460–479. [[British Museum]].<ref>Iaroslav Lebedynsky, "Les Nomades", p172.</ref><ref name="British Museum notice">[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1963-1210-1 British Museum notice]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sims |first1=Vice-President Eleanor G. |last2=Sims |first2=Eleanor |last3=Marshak |first3=Boris Ilʹich |last4=Grube |first4=Ernst J. |last5=I |first5=Boris Marshak |title=Peerless Images: Persian Painting and Its Sources |date=January 2002 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-09038-3 |pages=13–14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XUyajzkDJ50C&pg=PA14 |language=en}}</ref>
| footer_align=center
}}

[[Anania Shirakatsi]] states in his ''[[Ashkharatsuyts]]'', written in 7th century, that one of the [[Bulgars|Bulgar]] tribes, known as the ''Kidar'' were part of the Kidarites. The ''Kidar'' took part in Bulgar migrations across the [[Volga]] into [[Europe]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Bulgarians: From Pagan Times to the Ottoman Conquest |year=1976 |first=David Marshall |last=Lang |pages=31 and 204 |publisher=Westview Press |quote=Armenian geographer states that the principal tribes of Bulgars were called Kuphi-Bulgars, Duchi-Bulgars, Oghkhundur-Bulgars, and Kidar-Bulgars, by the last-named of which he meant the Kidarites, a branch of the Huns. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8EppAAAAMAAJ&q=kidar |isbn=9780891585305 }}</ref>

====Ushrushana====
[[File:Rakhanch coin portrait.jpg|thumb|Portrait of ruler [[Rakhanch]] of the [[Principality of Ushrusana]], from his coinage, 7th century CE]]
{{main|Principality of Ushrusana}}
Remnants of the Kidarites in Eastern Sogdiana may have been associated with the [[Principality of Ushrusana]].<ref name="KR100"/><ref name="KR101"/> The Kidarites may have survived and possibly established a Kidarite kingdom in [[Usrushana]].<ref name="KR100">{{cite book |last1=Rezakhani |first1=Khodadad |author-link=Khodadad Rezakhani|title=ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity |date=15 March 2017b |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-0031-2 |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 |language=en|quote=Apart from Gandhara, however, a Kidarite kingdom may have survived in Sogdiana, possibly in the area of Ustrushana.}}</ref> This connection may be apparent from the analysis of the coinage,<ref name="KR100"/> and in the names of some Ushrusana rulers such as [[Khaydhar ibn Kawus al-Afshin]], whose personal name is attested as "Khydhar", and was sometimes written wrongly as "Haydar" in Arabic. In effect, the name "Kydr" was quite popular in Usrushana, and is attested in many contemporary sources.<ref name="KR101">{{cite book |last1=Rezakhani |first1=Khodadad |title=ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity |date=15 March 2017b |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-0031-2 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VjVYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT145 |author-link=Khodadad Rezakhani|language=en|quote=However, we should not assume that the Kidarite presence in eastern Sogdiana disappeared quickly after their demise in Tokharistan. Indeed, centuries later, in the early ninth century, the local king of Ustrushana and the Abbasid general Al-Afshin bore the personal name of Khydhar...}}</ref> The title ''[[Afshin]]'' used by the rulers of Usrushana is also attested in the Kidarite ruler of [[Samarkand]] of the 5th century named [[:File:Seal of lord Uglarg, the King of the Huns, the great Kushanshah, the Afshiyan of Samarkand.jpg|Ularg]], who bore the similar title ''"Afshiyan"'' ([[Bactrian script]]: αφϸιιανο).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rezakhani |first1=Khodadad |title=ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity |date=15 March 2017b |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-0031-2 |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 |language=en}}</ref>

==Main Kidarite rulers==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Kidara.jpg|thumb|300px|Coin of [[Kidara]] (reigned c. 360–380), founder of the '''Kidarite Kingdom'''<br>
'''Obv:''' King Kidara standing.<br>
'''Rev:''' Goddess [[Ardoksho]] seated.]] -->
{| class="wikitable"
|Yosada||c.335 CE{{sfn|Cribb|Donovan|2014|p=4}}
|-
|[[Kirada]]||c.335-345{{sfn|Cribb|Donovan|2014|p=4}}
|-
|[[Peroz (Kidarite)|Peroz]]||c.345-350{{sfn|Cribb|Donovan|2014|p=4}}
|-
|[[Kidara]]||c.350-390{{sfn|Cribb|Donovan|2014|p=4}}
|-
|[[Grumbates]]||c.359
|-
|Kungas||? 
|-
|Brahmi Buddhatala||fl. c. 370 
|-
|Piro||fl. 388/400 
|-
|Varhran (II)||fl. c. 425 
|-
|[[Goboziko]]||fl. c. 450 
|-
|Salanavira||mid 400s 
|-
|Vinayaditya||late 400s 
|-
|Kandik||early 500s 
|}

== See also ==
{{History of Tajikistan}}
{{History of Turkmenistan}} 
{{History of Afghanistan}} 
* [[Uar (tribe)]]
* "[[Iranian Huns]]"
* [[Sasanian - Kidarite Wars]]

== References and notes ==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite journal |last=Alram|first=Michael|year=2014 |title=From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush |journal=The Numismatic Chronicle |volume=174 |pages=261–291|jstor=44710198 }} {{Registration required}}
* {{cite book | last = Bonner | first = Michael | title = The Last Empire of Iran | year = 2020 | publisher = Gorgias Press | location = New York | pages = 1–406 | isbn = 978-1463206161 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Cribb |first1=Joe |author-link=Joe Cribb| editor-last1 = Rienjang | editor-first1 = Wannaporn | editor-last2 = Stewart| editor-first2 = Peter |title=Problems of Chronology in Gandhāran Art: Proceedings of the First International Workshop of the Gandhāra Connections Project, University of Oxford, 23rd-24th March, 2017 |isbn=978-1-78491-855-2 |date=2018 |publisher=University of Oxford The Classical Art Research Centre Archaeopress |url=https://archive.org/details/ProblemsOfChronologyInGandharanArt/page/n27}} {{free access}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Cribb|first1=Joe|editor-last =  Alram | editor-first = M. | title=The Kidarites, the numismatic evidence.pdf |journal= Coins, Art and Chronology Ii, Edited by M. Alram et al|date=2010 |pages=91–146|publisher= Coins, Art and Chronology II|url=https://www.academia.edu/38112559}} {{free access}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cribb |first1=Joe |last2=Donovan |first2=Peter |title=Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian, and Kidarite Coins A Catalogue of Coins From the American Numismatic Society by David Jongeward and Joe Cribb with Peter Donovan |date=2014 |page=4 |url=https://www.academia.edu/11049999 |language=en}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = Šāpur II | last = Daryaee | first = Touraj | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shapur-ii | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica | year = 2009 }}
* {{cite book | title = Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire | year = 2014 | publisher = I.B.Tauris | last = Daryaee| first = Touraj | author-link = Touraj Daryaee | pages = 1–240 | isbn = 978-0857716668 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LU0BAwAAQBAJ }}
* {{cite book |last=Payne |first=Richard|title=The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-107-63388-9 |editor-last=Maas |editor-first=Michael |pages=282–299|chapter=The Reinvention of Iran: The Sasanian Empire and the Huns}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Payne|first1=Richard|title=The Making of Turan: The Fall and Transformation of the Iranian East in Late Antiquity |journal=Journal of Late Antiquity |date=2016 |volume=9 |pages=4–41 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|doi=10.1353/jla.2016.0011|s2cid=156673274}}
* {{cite book |first1=Daniel T. |last1=Potts|editor1-last=Mass|editor1-first=Michael|editor2-last=Di Cosmo|editor2-first=Nicola|title=Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |chapter=Sasanian Iran and its northeastern frontier |pages=1–538|isbn=9781316146040|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/empires-and-exchanges-in-eurasian-late-antiquity/4E63CF99C760BDCF906093F021984D34}}
* {{cite book | title = ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity | year = 2017 | publisher = Edinburgh University Press | last = Rezakhani | first = Khodadad | pages = 1–256 | isbn = 9781474400305 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&q=false}}
* {{cite book | title = History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume III: The Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. | year = 1996 | publisher = UNESCO | location = Paris | last = Zeimal | first = E. V. | chapter = The Kidarite kingdom in Central Asia | pages = 119–135 | isbn = 92-3-103211-9 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&q=false}}
* ENOKI, K., « On the Date of the Kidarites (I) », Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko, 27, 1969, p.&nbsp;1–26.
* GRENET, F. « Regional Interaction in Central Asia and North-West India in the Kidarite and Hephtalite Period », in SIMS-WILLIAMS, N. (ed.), Indo-Iranian Languages and Peoples, (Proceedings of the British Academy), London, 2002, p.&nbsp;203–224.

==Further reading==
* {{ODLA|last=Angelov|first=Alexander|title=Kidarites|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-2653?rskey=sTgHue&result=1}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Wan |first1=Xiang |title=寄多罗人年代与族属考 (On the dates and the nationality of the Kidarites) |url=https://www.academia.edu/1483234 |language=zh}}
{{Rulers of Ancient Central Asia}}
{{Huns}}
[[Category:Kidarites| ]]
[[Category:Former monarchies in Pakistani history]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of India]]
[[Category:Bactria]]
[[Category:Dynasties of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]
[[Category:Historical Iranian peoples]]
[[Category:Iranian nomads]]
[[Category:Huns]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:320 establishments]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of Asia]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 5th century]]