THE RED HUNS

 

Kidarite Kingdom (335-480 CE)

The Kushan emperor, Mahi (300-305 CE), made an alliance with the Xionites against the Sassanid Persian Empire—the Sassanids had conquered most of the western regions of the Kushan Empire, while the eastern regions of the Kushan Empire had fallen to the Guptas (an Indo-Aryan imperial state), leaving the Kushans in control of a small rump state in Kabulistan/Zabulistan (the Kabul Valley in eastern Afghanistan), Gandhara (northwestern Pakistan), and the Khyber Pass that linked the two through the Hindu Kush Mountains. This alliance was maintained by the last two Kushan emperors—Shaka (305-335 CE) and Kipunada (335-350 CE)—and a Xionite horde was able to establish itself in Bactria (northern Afghanistan). This horde was called the Karmir-Xiyon ("Red Xionites") by the Persians, a name that was also subsequently applied to the Kidarites, Alxonites, and Nezaks. The last Persian governor of Bactria (kushanshah), Varahran/Warahran (330-365 CE), was defeated and made a vassal of Kipunada (ca. 335 CE), but in 345 CE Kipunada was overthrown by Kirada (335-345 CE), the chief of the Xionite horde in Bactria, although Kipunada was allowed to remain the governor of the city of Taxila in Gandhara until his death. For unknown reasons, Kirada and his successors—Peroz (350-360 CE), Kidara (350-390 CE), and Kungas (390-467 CE)—chose to assume the Persian title of Kushanshah ("King of the Kushans") rather than use the Kushan imperial title of Shaonanoshao ("King-of-kings"). The kingdom founded by Kirada is often called the Kidarite Kingdom (named after its third king) because Kidara was the first Hunnic ruler of Bactria to become well-known outside of Bactria (the first use of the term, Kidarite Kingdom, is credited to the Byzantine historian, Priskos/Priscus of Panion/Panium, in the late fifth century). The reason for Kidara's fame is that he repelled an invasion of Bactria (ca. 360-370 CE) by the otherwise militarily successful Sassanian emperor, Shapur II (309-379 CE), a defeat which proved to permanenlty end the Sassanids' territorial ambitions in Bactria. Kidara was followed by Kungas/Kunkhas, who expanded Kidarite dominion eastwards into Kashmir and southwards to encompass the Punjab (northern Pakistan). However, Kungas was defeated and killed in battle by the Sassanian emperor, Peroz I (459-484 CE). At that time, the Persian Empire was suffering through a major famine, and the cash-strapped Peroz had appealed to the Byzantines and Kidarites for financial aid—Kungas offered to help in return for a Persian princess. Peroz sent a low-born imposter, and when Kungas discovered the trick, he led an army into Iran in retaliation. Peroz hastily called together a small force to check Kungas, but he also formed an alliance with the Hephthalites. The Hephthalites had replaced the Xionites as the masters of the eastern Huns in Transoxania-Ferghana (ca. 442-467 CE)(see the White Huns page), and the Hephthalite king, Khushnawaz/Khushnavaz (450-488 CE), sent a horde to assist Peroz. The allies defeated and killed Kungas, Peroz returned to Tisfon (the Sassanian capital) in triumph, and the Hephthalites occupied most of Bactria. Kidarite governors still held Kapisa (northeastern Bactria), Kabulistan (eastern Bactria), Gandhara (northwestern Pakistan), Kashmir (northeastern Pakistan), and the provinces in the Punjab (northern Pakistan)(ca. 467-480 CE).

 

The Alxonites (480-670 CE)

At one time the Alxonites were thought to be an eastern horde that was part of the Hephthalite Empire—a horde sent across the Khyber Pass by Kushnawaz to crush the remnants of the Kidarites and confront the Gupta Empire in India. No more. Based largely on numismatic evidence (i.e., information on coins minted at that time), the Alxonites are now believed to have been the governors of the Kidarite province of Kapisa in northern Bactria (ca. 370-380 CE), then of the strategically important province of Kabulistan/Zabulistan (ca. 380-467 CE)(strategically important because it was the province that guarded the Khyber Pass between the two halves of the Kidarite Kingdom). When the Kidarite king, Kungas, was defeated and killed by Peroz and Khushnawaz (ca. 467 CE), the Hephthalites occupied most of Bactria, but the Alxonites in Kapisa and Kabulistan seem to have maintained their independence. The first Alxonite king was named Khingila/Kiggilo (430-490 CE)—he was governor of Kabulistan at the time of Kungas' defeat and death, and thereafter he seems to have assumed the diadem of a king. The evidence used to develop the chain of reasoning that leads to the conclusion that Khingilo was actually the founder of a new dynasty of the Red Huns rather than a leader of an eastern branch of the White Huns/Hephthalites is thin, but I think it is solid. Coins issued by the governors of Kapisa and then Kabulistan during the time periods cited above bear the legend, Alxono, in Bactrian script (Bactrian was the script adopted by the Hunnic rulers in southern Central Asia). Alxono is translated as "Red-Xionites," clearly the equivalent of the Middle Persian Karmir-Xiyon ("Red-Xionites"), originally used in reference to the Kidarites. Further, Khingila and several of his successors also have Alxono on their coins, linking them to the earlier governors of Kapisa and Kabulistan, and at least one—Pravarasena—included the legend, Kidara, on his coinage, which seems to imply a connection to the Kidarites. In addition, the tamga (an idiogram used on stamps/seals, coinage, horse brands, and other places as a kind of icon of identification) of the Alxonites—also present on their coins—was that of the lunar bull, which is different from the tamga of the Hephthalites, although it is also different than the tamga of the Kidarites. Finally, the Hephthalite rulers referred to themselves as Ebadolo (Bactrian, "White Huns") on their coinage, and contemporary Sanskrit writers also referred to them as Sveta Huna ("White Huns"), which begs the question, if the Hephthalites are the "White/Western Huns," who did they live to the west of? The obvious answer seems to be the Alxonites, and period sources clearly draw a distinction between the White/Western and Red/Southern Huns. Thus, after the fall of Kungas, the Kidarite governors in Kapisa and Kabulistan (Khingila), Gandhara (Mehama), Kashmir (Javukha), and the Punjab (Lakhana) all seem to have declared themselves kings of new dynasties, but only one ultimately made good on his claim—by 480 CE Khingila had emerged as the sole ruler of the Red Huns (we do not know whether he eliminated his rivals, gained their support, or some combination of the two). You can choose to view Khingila's elevation in two ways—either his use of Alxono on his coinage means his elevation marked the rise of a new dynasty, or his rule was simply a continuation of the Kidarite Kingdom—but either way amounts to much the same thing; the Red Huns remained a distinct socio-political entity from that dominated by the White Huns/Hephthalites.

 

Even if the Alxonites were not eastern vassals of the Hephthalites, they do seem to have reached some sort of détente with the Hephthalites (at that time, the Hephthalites were more concerned with the Sassanids and conquering the city-states of the Tarim Basin). Indeed, Khingila was not only able to secure his position as king of the Red Huns/Kidarites/Alxonites, but he then launched an invasion of the Indo-Aryan Kingdom of Sindh in southern Pakistan (ca. 480-496 CE) that was completed by Khingila's successor, Toramana I (490-515 CE). The only sour note for Khingila was that in 484 CE, while Khingila was engaged in Sindh, his governor of Kapisa-Kabulistan, Napki Malka, declared himself Nezak Shah (Middle Persian, "King of the Nezak"), and Kapisa-Kabulistan became an independent kingdom (see Nezaks below). Following the conquest of Sindh, Toramana launched a major invasion of the Gupta Empire (ca. 493-515 CE) that brought the western provinces of Gujarat, Madhaya Pradesh, and Malwa under Hunnic control. Toramana also raided deep into the Gupta Empire via the Ganges Basin, sacking the important city of Kausambi in Vatsa (ca. 497 CE) and the imperial capital of Pataliputra (ca. 500 CE). The Alxonite invasion was apparently particularly brutal—the Alxonites seem to have targeted Buddhist shrines and monuments, and to have massacred Buddhist monks everywhere they went, although they by no means spared the Hindus. Outrage at the wanton destruction, rapine, and murder committed by the Huns, coupled with anger at the Gupta emperors for failing to repulse the Huns, gave rise to a resistance movement that united various warrior caste clans under the cult of Agnivansha (whose focus was the Hindu god of fire, Agni). The Agnivanshi rose up all over the empire, overthrew the Gupta governors, and installed local dynasts loyal to the cult, and these Indo-Aryan kings also coordinated their efforts to drive out the Huns (they also persecuted the Buddhists, and it is during this time period that Buddhism virtually disappeared from India). Between 520 and 528 CE the Agnivanshi drove the Alxonites from Malwa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Sindh. Under Mihirakula (515-540 CE), the Alxonites again raided Malwa and Madhya Pradesh (ca. 520-528 CE), although they were again driven back into the Punjab. Yashodharman (515-545 CE), King of Malwa, is credited with decisively defeating and killing Mihirakula's successor, Toramana II (540-545 CE), driving the Huns out of the Punjab and leaving Mihirakula's successor, Pravarasena (545-590 CE), in control of Gandhara and Kashmir only. The last Alxonite king, Yudishthira (633-670 CE), was defeated and deposed by Pratapaditya, a prince of the Karkota Empire (625-885 CE)(a state that arose in Pakistan after the Alxonites were restricted to Gandhara-Kashmir).

 

The Nezaks (484-665 CE)

As mentioned above, when the Alxonite king, Khingila, invaded Sindh, his governor of Kapisa-Kabulistan, Napki Malka, declared himself Nezak Shah (Middle Persian, "King of the Nezak")(ca. 484 CE), creating an independent kingdom. The origin of the name, Nezak, is obscure—probably a clan name, but we do not know. It is also curious that the Nezak chose to use Middle Persian on their coinage, when the other Hunnic groups in southern Central Asia and southern Asia preferred Bactrian. There are only three known Nezak kings—Napki Malka (475-576 CE), Shri (560-620 CE), and Ghar-ilchi (653-665 CE)—known exclusively through their coinage, although as one can see from the regnal dates, the reign of Napki Malka is impossibly long (101 years), while that of Shri is also doubtful (60 years). This means that these dates are probably not entirely accurate, and that there were probably other kings that ruled for at least part of these time periods whose names we simply do not know because none of their coins survived. There is no historical documentation for any of the Nezak kings except to note the formation of the kingdom by Napki Malka and the loss of the kingdom by Ghar-ilchi. Thus, we may reconstruct some of the history, with Napki Malka serving as Khingila's governor of Kapisa-Kabulistan (ca. 475-484 CE), then an unknown series of kings that included one named Shri some time between the years 560 and 620 (but probably not for that entire period), and finally the reign of Ghar-ilchi, that is believed to have ended with a Turkic invasion from the north (the succeeding dynasty, which is also not well-attested, was called the Turk Shahi Dynasty). With the fall of the Nezaks, the history of the Huns in southern Central Asia comes to a close.