View source for Alkhis

{{Short description|Ruler of Ancient Afghanistan}}
[[File:Sero. Contemporary of Sahi Tigin. Circa late 7th-early 8th century CE. Göbl, Hunnen Em. 243.jpg|thumb|300px|Type of the coins excavated in Tang-i Safedak (Göbl, Hunnen Em. 243), next to the inscription of Alkhis. [[Bactrian script]] legend ''σηρο'' "''Sero''" (contemporary of [[Sahi Tigin]]). Circa late 7th-early 8th century CE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Jonathan L. |last2=Sims Williams |first2=Nicholas |title=Bactrian Inscription from Yakawlang sheds new light on history of Buddhism in Afghanistan |journal=Silk Road Art and Archaeology |date=2003 |volume=9 |url=https://www.academia.edu/4091971 |language=en|pages=172-172}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Late Hunnic, Turkic and Arab-Hephthalite Issues, page 7 |url=http://grifterrec.org/y/hunnic/arab-eph_turkic_7.html |website=grifterrec.org}}</ref>]]
{{Location map+
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'''Alkhis''' was a ruler of the area of [[Zabul]], with its capital at Gazan ([[Ghazni]]) in [[Afghanistan]] in the early decades of the 8th century CE.<ref name="GV433"/> He was the son of [[Khuras]].<ref name="GV433"/> He expanded his territory as far north of the region of [[Band-e Amir]], west of [[Bamiyan]].<ref name="GV433">{{cite journal |last1=Verardi |first1=Giovanni |last2=Paparatti |first2=Elio |title=From Early to Late Tapa Sardār: A Tentative Chronology |journal=East and West |date=2005 |volume=55 |issue=1/4 |page=433 |jstor=29757657 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29757657 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref> Although not listed in contemporary Chinese sources, Alkhis may have been a member of the [[Zunbils|Zunbil]] ruler of [[Zabulistan]], and was probably of the same ethnicity as the nearby [[Turk Shahis]] ruling in Kabul at that time.<ref name="JLL"/>

Alkhis is known to have sent a message to the [[Tang dynasty]] emperor in 724 CE.<ref name="GV433"/> Before 726 CE, he made the territory of [[Zabul]] independent from the kingdom of [[Jibin]]-[[Kabul]] ruled by the [[Turk Shahis]].<ref name="GV433"/>

Alkhis is considered as the patron of the second period of florescence of the Buddhist sanctuary of [[Tapa Sardar]], characterized in this period by the creation of hybrid Sinicized-Indian Buddhist art.<ref name="GV433"/>

The Bactrian inscription of the stupa at Tang-i Safedak ({{coord|34.737663|N|66.763899|E|display=inline}}), dated to around 715/716 CE or 710/724 CE, mentions the dedication of a stupa by Alkhis:<ref name="MA13">{{cite book |last1=Alram |first1=Michael |title="The Numismatic Legacy of the Sasanians in the East", in 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=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5AcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |language=en}}</ref>

{{quote|[[File:Tang-i Safedak inscription.jpg|left|thumb|Tang-i Safedak inscription]]"(It was) the year 492, the month Sbol, when I, Alkhis son of Khuras, lord of [[Ghazni|Gazan]], established this stupa (as) a (pious) foundation(?) in Ragzamagan(?). (At that time) when there was a Turkish ruler and an Arab ruler, the deyadharma (meritorious gifts) made by me were kept . . . , and afterwards I made this Zinaiaka-deyadharma in the willing belief which I had towards the huddha-sastra and in great faith (Sraddha) and in ... Whatever merit (''punya'' ) may arise hereby, now and (in) the future, may I, Alkhis, and my parents and wife and brothers (and) sons and (other) relatives too-may each (and) every one (of us) attain (his) own desire. Homage to the buddhas."|Bactrian inscription of Tang-i Safedak. translation by [[Nicholas Sims-Williams]].<ref name="JLL">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Jonathan L. |last2=Sims Williams |first2=Nicholas |title=Bactrian Inscription from Yakawlang sheds new light on history of Buddhism in Afghanistan |journal=Silk Road Art and Archaeology |date=2003 |volume=9 |url=https://www.academia.edu/4091971 |language=en}}</ref>}}

==External links==
* [http://grifterrec.org/y/hunnic/arab-eph_turkic_7.html Two coins excavated at Tang-i Safedak]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Afghanistan topics}}

[[Category:Dynasties of Afghanistan]]