[[File:Nezak Huns ruler Circa 460-560.jpg|thumb|Nezak Huns ruler, circa 460-560 CE.]]
[[File:Nezak Huns ruler Circa 460-560.jpg|thumb|Nezak Huns ruler, circa 460-560 CE.]]
The [[Sasanian Empire]], after toppling the [[Parthian Empire]] in 224 CE, probably captured eastern Parthian territories under [[Ardashir I]] (224-240 CE) and his son [[Shapur I]] (240-272 CE).<ref name="MA5"/> [[Sakastan]] was seized around 233 CE by Ardashir in his Great Eastern Campaign, who then captured [[Herat]], [[Nishapur]] and [[Merv]].<ref name="MA5"/> These territories became the basis for further expansion into Central Asia and India.<ref name="MA5">{{cite book |last1=Alram |first1=Michael |title=The Numismatic legacy of the Sasanians in the East (Sasanian Iran in the Context of Late Antiquity: The Bahari Lecture Series at the University of Oxford) |date=1 February 2021 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-46066-9 |pages=5-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5AcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |language=en}}</ref> Sasanian territories ultimately extended to areas south of the [[Hindu-Kush]].<ref name="MA5"/> In 484 CE, the Sasanian Emperor [[Peroz I]] was defeated by the [[Hephthalites]], and had to ceede the area to [[Bactria]] to them.<ref name="MA9"/> Around the same time, the [[Sasanian Empire]] probably also had to ceede the territory of [[Zabulistan]] to the Nezaks.<ref name="MA9">{{cite book |last1=Alram |first1=Michael |title=The Numismatic legacy of the Sasanians in the East (Sasanian Iran in the Context of Late Antiquity: The Bahari Lecture Series at the University of Oxford) |date=1 February 2021 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-46066-9 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5AcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |language=en}}</ref>
The Nezak Huns ruled over the State of [[Jibin]], commanding thirty principalities of unknown names. Jibin has been also referred to as [[Kapisi]] in Chinese sources; however, it does not appear that the regions were absolutely synonymous.{{Sfn|Kuwayama|2000|p=60}} Cao seem to have been the erstwhile name of Kapisi; however some scholars disagree with this identification.{{Sfn|Kuwayama|2000|p=30-32}} It is also assumed to correspond to [[Kabul]] of Arabic sources, which is also the modern name.{{Sfn|Inaba|2010|p=192}}
The Nezak Huns ruled over the State of [[Jibin]], commanding thirty principalities of unknown names. Jibin has been also referred to as [[Kapisi]] in Chinese sources; however, it does not appear that the regions were absolutely synonymous.{{Sfn|Kuwayama|2000|p=60}} Cao seem to have been the erstwhile name of Kapisi; however some scholars disagree with this identification.{{Sfn|Kuwayama|2000|p=30-32}} It is also assumed to correspond to [[Kabul]] of Arabic sources, which is also the modern name.{{Sfn|Inaba|2010|p=192}}
Revision as of 06:08, 10 April 2022
484–665 Huna state in the Hindu Kush region
It has been suggested that Ghar-ilchi be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2022.
The Nezak Huns (Pahlavi: 𐭭𐭩𐭰𐭪𐭩 nycky),[2] also Nezak Shahs,[1] were one of the four groups of Huna people in the area of the Hindu Kush, active from circa 484 to 665 CE. The Nezak kings, with their characteristic bull's-head crown, ruled over Zabulistan (from Ghazni) and Kabulistan (from Kapisa). While their history is obscured, the Nezak's left significant coinage documenting their polity's prosperity. They were the last of the four major "Hunic" states known collectively as Xionites or "Hunas", their predecessors being, in chronological order, the Kidarites, the Hephthalites, and the Alchon.
Etymology
In contemporary sources, the word "Nezak" either appears as the Arabic nīzak or the Pahlavinyčky.[3] The former was used only in describing the Nezak Tarkhans, while the latter was used in the coinage of the Nezak Huns.[3] Two Middle Chinese words have also been proposed as probable transcriptions of Nezak: Nasai (捺塞) and Nishu (泥孰), but they have phonetic dissimilarities.[4] From a comprehensive review of Chinese chronicles, Inaba concludes Nishu to have been both a personal name and epithet across multiple Turkic groups.[5]
Maria Magdolna Tatár compares Nezak to nizāk, a minor royal title of non-Turkic provenance,[6] borrowed and borne by Turks north of the Oxus, to the Western Turkic title 泥孰 níshú, in reconstructed Middle Chinese *niei-źiuk, and to ManichaeanUighurnïğošak "auditor", Sogdiannwgš’k, and Parthiann(y)gwš’g, nywš’g.[7] According to Gerard Clauson, the Uyghur title nïğošak "auditor" is of Iranian origin and means "hearer."[8] Meanwhile, János Harmatta connected *niźük to the unattested Saka *näjsuka- "fighter, warrior" from *näjs- "to fight".[3] Frantz Grenet sees a possible, yet not firmly established connection with Middle Persiannēzag "spear".[9]
Territories
Nezak Huns ruler, circa 460-560 CE.
The Sasanian Empire, after toppling the Parthian Empire in 224 CE, probably captured eastern Parthian territories under Ardashir I (224-240 CE) and his son Shapur I (240-272 CE).[10]Sakastan was seized around 233 CE by Ardashir in his Great Eastern Campaign, who then captured Herat, Nishapur and Merv.[10] These territories became the basis for further expansion into Central Asia and India.[10] Sasanian territories ultimately extended to areas south of the Hindu-Kush.[10] In 484 CE, the Sasanian Emperor Peroz I was defeated by the Hephthalites, and had to ceede the area to Bactria to them.[2] Around the same time, the Sasanian Empire probably also had to ceede the territory of Zabulistan to the Nezaks.[2]
The Nezak Huns ruled over the State of Jibin, commanding thirty principalities of unknown names. Jibin has been also referred to as Kapisi in Chinese sources; however, it does not appear that the regions were absolutely synonymous.[11] Cao seem to have been the erstwhile name of Kapisi; however some scholars disagree with this identification.[12] It is also assumed to correspond to Kabul of Arabic sources, which is also the modern name.[4]
Sources
The dynasty (or royal house) of the Nezak Huns is assumed to have existed primarily on the basis of a distinct coin series. They were the last of the four major "Hunic" states known collectively as Xionites or "Hunas", their predecessors being, in chronological order, the Kidarites, the Hephthalites, and the Alchons.[13] The period remains poorly understood.[14]
Literature
Literature from Nezak courts does not survive, and the only mentions are recorded in Chinese chronicles. The end of the dynasty is also recorded by Arabic historians. No epigraphic inscriptions are known apart from coinage.
Thirteen missions from Jibin to the Tang Court are recorded in the Cefu Yuangui and Old Book of Tang from 619 till 665;[a] though the specific name "Nezak Hun" is not used, historians assume them to be referring to the Nezak Huns.[15][16] The most comprehensive source among them, dated to 658 CE, comes from the Chinese record of the thirteenth mission, which declared Jibin as the "Xiuxian Area Command" and gave an account of a local dynasty of twelve rulers, starting from Xinnie (possibly "Khingila") and ending with Hexiezi ("Ghar-ilchi"):[17][18]
In the third year of the Xianqing reign [658 CE], when [Tang envoys] investigated the customs of this state [Jibin], people said: "From Xinnie, the founder of the royal house, up to the present [King] Hexiezi, the throne has been passed from father to son, [and by now] there have been twelve generations." In the same year, the city was established as Xiuxian Area Command.
The other significant description comes from the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang who had visited the king of Jibin in 643 CE.[22][b] He met him in Udabhandapura and then travelled with him to Ghazni and then to Kabul.[22] Xuanzang described the king as belonging to the shali (刹利) / suli (窣利) race,[c] and as a fierce and intelligent warrior commanding rude subjects.[24] Besides, miscellaneous compilations of the Tang Dynasty mention the Kings of Jibin to wear a Bull-head crown.[25][d] The last mention of the dynasty is believed to be in 661-662 CE, when the chronicles record that the king of Jibin received a formal investiture from the Chinese court, as Military Administrator and Commander-in-Chief of the Xiuxian Area and eleven prefectures.[19][20][27]
Coinage
Pahlavi legend: 𐭭𐭩𐭰𐭪𐭩𐭬𐭫𐭪, nycky MLK "Malik/ King of the Nezak", from right to left, on the obverse of Nezak coinage.[1][28]
The Nezaks started to mint their own coins on the model of Sasanian coinage, but also incorporated Alkhon iconography, as well as their own unique styles.[29] There were four types of drachms and obols.[29]
The symmetrically-winged crown of Sasanian ruler Peroz I was adopted on the obverse,[e] but was supplemented on top with a water buffalo-head,[29][f] which went on to become the defining characteristic of the Nezaks.[30][g] The vegetal appendage beneath the bust was certainly borrowed from Alchon coinage.[33] Similarly, the Sasanian-type reverse, consisting in the Zoroastrian fire-altar with two attendants carrying barsom-bundles, was adopted, but unique "sun-wheels" were added above their heads.[34] A Pahlavi legend (𐭭𐭩𐭰𐭪𐭩𐭬𐭫𐭪, nycky MLK "Malik/ King of the Nezak") was introduced.[1][h] This legend was always completed by an "ā" (Pahlavi: 𐭠) or a "š" (Pahlavi: 𐭮), which has led to suggestions that they might correspond to the mints of Ghazni and Kabul respectively or vice versa.[35]
Coins exhibit progressive debasement, as silver decreased in favour of alloys incorporating more and more copper.[32]
The Nezak Huns managed to take control of Zabulistan sometime after the defeat and eventual death of Sassanian Emperor Peroz I (r. 459–484) against the Hephthalites.[30][36] The name of the founder of the dynasty is given by the 658 CE Chinese chronicle as Xinnie (馨孽) and can be reconstructed as "Khingal" (from Old Chinese: *xäŋ-ŋär < *henger < Khingar/Khingal), who may have been identical with the Khingila (430-495 CE) of the Alchon Huns, thereby pointing to a possible connection between the two groups.[32] The presence of Nezak bull's head[i] in some Alchon coins minted at Gandhara supports such a linkage, too.[33]
In contrary, Kuwayama—primarily depending on Xuanzang's recording the rulers of Kapisi as Kshatriya, about two centuries hence and absence of Hunnic identifiers in coinage—ascribes an indigenous origin to the dynasty, naming it after "Khingal".[37] Vondrovec finds his arguments to be unpersuasive in light of coinage records prominently bearing "Nezak Shah"[38] while Inaba proposes a nuanced reading: the Nezaks were indeed indigenous but being a tributary state of the Hephthalites, had to accept Turkish titles.[14]
Chinese chronicles notes the Nezaks (specifically the "House of Khingal") to have ruled for twelve generations; the names of the ten intermediary rulers remain unknown.[32]
Overlap with Alchons (mid-late 6th century onward)
Alchon-Nezak crossover coinage: Nezak-style bust on the obverse, and Alchontamga () within double border on the reverse.[39] Alram believes the "double border" design to have been borrowed from Khosrow II (r. 590-628 CE) or later Sassanians.[39][40] However, the design was only reintroduced by Khosrow II; it was first used by Balash (r. 484-488 CE).[40] Coin type 231; copper.[41]
Around 528/532 CE, the Alchons underwent a reversal in fortunes and had to withdraw from mainland India into Kashmir and Gandhara under Mihirakula.[38] Göbl proposes that a few decades hence, they migrated via the Khyber pass into Kabulistan either merging with the Nezak Huns or nominally subduing them or submitting to them; Vondrovec as well as Alram agree.[38][j]
Hoards exclusively containing Alchon overstrikes against Nezak flans have been discovered around Kabul.[42] A class of drachms and coppers of unprecedented denomination—since termed the Alchon-Nezak crossover and assumed to have been minted around these times—have their obverse featuring Nezak busts adorned in Alchon-styled crowns alongside a corrupted version of the Pahlavi legend and a small Alchon tamgha ().[43][44] However, classical Nezak coinage, even if temporally interrupted, did not fall out of fashion and influenced coinage throughout the seventh century and later.[45]
Conflict with the Sassanians
Around 560 CE, the Sasanian Empire under Khosrow I allied with the Western Turks to defeat the Hepthalites, and took control of Bactria.[46] They may also have usurped control of Zabulistan from the Nezaks on the same occasion, as suggested by the creation of Sasanian coin mints in the area of Kandahar during the reign of Ohrmazd IV (578-590 CE).[46] The Alchon-Nezaks apparently took back Zabulistan from the Sasanians at the end of the 6th century CE.[39]
The last king can be reconstructed as Ghar-ilchi (Chinese: 曷撷支 Héxiézhī, reconstructed from Old Chinese: *γarγär-tśiě < *ghar-ilči < *Qarγïlacï). In 653 CE, a Tang diplomatic mission recorded that the crown-prince of Jibin had become the new king; this prince is assumed to be Ghar-ilchi.[20] He was likely to be the ruler who was confirmed as Governor of Jibin under the newly formed Chinese Anxi Protectorate, in 661 CE.[19][37]
In 664-665 CE, Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura launched a new expedition to reconquer[k]Arachosia and Zabulistan, capturing Bost and other cities. Kabul was occupied in 665 CE after a siege of a few months. Kabul soon revolted but was reoccupied after another year-long siege.[l] Abd al-Rahman's capture and plunder of Kabul mortally weakened the rule of Ghar-ilchi though his life was apparently spared upon converting to Islam.[51]
Replacement by the Turk Shahis (c. 666 CE)
Eventually, the Nezak-Alchons were replaced by the Turk Shahis, first in Zabulistan and then in Kabulistan and Gandhara.[52] The first known Turk Shahi ruler of Kapisi, named Barha Tegin, may have been initially a vassal in the service of Ghar-ilchi, who usurped the throne.[53] His name was recorded by the Arab historian Al-Biruni.[52] The Korean monk Hyecho who visited the region about 50 years after the events and wrote his account in 726 CE, described how a Turkic king (thought to be Barha Tegin) was in the service of the king of Kapisi (thought to be Ghar-ilchi), but then assassinated him and usurped the throne:[20][54]
Account of Gandhara by Hyecho (first three lines given here).
From Kashmir I travelled further nortwest. After one month's journey accross the mountains I arrived at the country of Gandhara. The king and military personnel are all Turks. The natives are Hu people; there are Brahmins. The country was formerly under the influence of the king of Kapisa. A-yeh [alternatively "The father"][m] of the Turkish King took a defeated cavalry [alternatively "led an army and a tribe" or "led troops of his entire tribe"][n] and allied himself to the king of Kapisa. Later, when the Turkish force was strong, the prince assassinated the king of Kapisa [possiblyGhar-ilchi] and declared himself king. Thereafter, the territory from this country to the north was all ruled by the Turkish king, who also resided in the country.
Early coin of Turk Shahi ruler Barha Tegin, in the style of the Nezak Huns, whom he displaced. On the obverse, new legend in the Bactrian script: σριο Þανιο (Srio Shaho, "Lord King") with tamgha. Late 7th century CE.[39]
Despite, the Nezaks might have survived as a local chieftaincy in or around Kapisi for a few more decades.[11] With the rise of the Turk Shahis, the coinage of the region started to incorporate a new legend, using the Indian honorific "Shri" ("Perfection") with the royal title "Shahi" in the Bactrian language (σριο ϸανιο, Srio šauoi) and in Sanskrit (Śri Sāhi), but the bull's head crown of the Nezaks remained popular in the coinage of the region well into the 8th century CE.[32][39]
Link with Nezak Tarkhans
"Nezak Tarkhan" was used as an appellation by at least two rulers in Western Tokharistan;[3] Tarkhan was a popular title (like Shah) in Central Asia.[58] One Nezak Tarkhan played an important role in leading a revolt against the Arab commander Qutayba ibn Muslim circa 709/710 CE.[32][3] Historians have speculated about possible relations with the eponymous Hunas, but Nezak Tarkhan operated in areas quite remote from the usual Huna realms, and may have been unrelated.[1]
Society
Xuanzang noted the polity to exhibit religious pluralism.[59]Buddhism was the dominant religion with over a hundred monasteries yet there were also "ten temples of the Devas [Brahmins -?]", and many devoted to heretic ascetics who wore animal bones and roamed about smeared with ashes.[60][o] Xuanzang also alluded to a conflict between two heretic sects—those who worshipped "Zhuna" and those who worshipped Sun—resulting in the migration of former to Zabul, southward.[62][p]
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nezak Huns.
^These missions were in the years 619, 629, 637, 640, 642, 647, 648, 651, 652, 653, 654, 658, and 665.
^Dharmagupta, a South-Indian Buddhist monk, visited the kingdom in his travels; however, his biography by Yan Cong is now lost.[23]
^The former term has been used in Buddhist Sutras to mean "Kshatriya". Some manuscripts use the latter, which refers to inhabitants of Sogdia.[24]
^Mentioned to be worn by the King of Cao in the chapter on Western Regions in the Běishǐ (659 CE); repeated in the section on Jibin in the Tongdian (766-776 CE).[26] Both the descriptions were likely borrowed from the chapter on Western Regions in the Suishu (629-630 CE); however, extant editions replace bull-head with fish-head.[25] This scribal error was also carried into the Cefu Yuangui, edited c. 11th century.[25]
^Göbl emphasizes that the wings were attached to the diadem in Nezak coinage. Despite, both Vondrovec and Alram consider the feature to be an adoption from the third crown of Peroz and imposes a terminus post quem of about 474 CE.[30]
^The animal was a water-buffalo given the ribbed appearance of the horns; not a bull or zebu. This buffalo-head was also mentioned in Chinese sources as an attribute of the Nisai (phonetic for "Nezak") king of Kabul.[31]
^Such coins appear well into the 8th century, the design continuing more or less unchanged for a period of about 150 years.[32]
^This legend was misread by some historians as "Napki Malka", who was assumed to be a Nezak King. The use of Pahlavi may reflect the importance of Middle Persian as the primary language of their territories at that time rather than origins.[1]
^However, there remained stylistic differences: there was no neck and the ribbed nature of horns is unclear.
^This might have been Toramana himself or a Toramana II. Alram had misread a Brahmi legend as Sri Nara, leading to him and others introducing an Alchon King called Narendra based on Kalhana.
^Ibn A'tham al-Kufi notes the ruler of Kabul to have mounted periodic resistances against Samura before retreating into the city.[49] This ruler is unfavorably compared to Samura, who had persisted in the seize despite difficulties.[50]
^According to Shōshin Kuwayama, "A-yeh" (阿耶) is not a personal name but means "father"; refers to Barha Tegin, father of then-King Tegin Shah (680-739 CE).[55]
^The original Chinese segment is "領一部落兵馬", which Kuwayama translates in Japanese: "軍と一部落とを領有し" "He led an army and a tribe"; Fuchs translates "mit den Truppen seines ganzen Stammes" "with the troops of his entire tribe".[55]
^ This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Chinese original: 显庆三年，访其国俗，云“王始祖馨孽，至今曷撷支，父子传位，已十二代。”其年，改其城为修鲜都督府。龙朔初，授其王修鲜等十一州诸军事兼修鲜都督。"旧唐书/卷198 - 维基文库，自由的图书馆". zh.wikisource.org (in Simplified Chinese).
^"At the beginning of the Lonshuo reign [661-662], the king [of Jibin] was invested with the title Military Administrator of Xiuxian and eleven prefectures, and Xiuxian Commander-in-Chief" Original Chinese: "龙朔初，授其王修鲜等十一州诸军事兼修鲜都督。" in Old Book of Tang: "国学原典·史部·二十四史系列·旧唐书·卷二百一十". www.guoxue.com., translation by Balogh, p.104
Alram, Michael (2014). "From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush". The Numismatic Chronicle. 174: 261–291. JSTOR44710198. (registration required)
Payne, Richard (2016). "The Making of Turan: The Fall and Transformation of the Iranian East in Late Antiquity". Journal of Late Antiquity. 9. Johns Hopkins University Press: 4–41. doi:10.1353/jla.2016.0011.
_Vertical_layout.jpg)
Coin minted in Ghazni
Billon drachm
Bronze drachm
) within double border on the reverse.[39] Alram believes the "double border" design to have been borrowed from Khosrow II (r. 590-628 CE) or later Sassanians.[39][40] However, the design was only reintroduced by Khosrow II; it was first used by Balash (r. 484-488 CE).[40] Coin type 231; copper.[41]
.jpg)
._After_679_in_the_style_of_the_Nezak_Huns.jpg)
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Chinese original: 显庆三年，访其国俗，云“王始祖馨孽，至今曷撷支，父子传位，已十二代。”其年，改其城为修鲜都督府。龙朔初，授其王修鲜等十一州诸军事兼修鲜都督。"旧唐书/卷198 - 维基文库，自由的图书馆". zh.wikisource.org (in Simplified Chinese).
