320?467 CE dynasty of nomads in Central and South Asia
The
Kidarites
, or
Kidara Huns
,
[1]
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
, and in Europe as the
Chionites
(from the
Iranian
names
Xwn
/
Xyon
), and may even be considered as identical to the
Chionites
.
[2]
The 5th century
Byzantine
historian
Priscus
called them Kidarite Huns, or "Huns who are Kidarites".
[4]
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.
[4]
The Kidarites were named after
Kidara
(Chinese: 寄多羅
Jiduoluo
, ancient pronunciation:
Kjie-ta-la
)
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
.
[7]
[8]
Thereafter, the Sasanian Empire roughly stopped at
Merv
.
[8]
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
[
edit
]
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
Altaic
cultures at the time (as opposed, for example, to the Iranian cultures of South Central Asia).
[9]
They may have been
Oghuric
speakers originally, as may have been the
Chionites
and the
Hephthalites
, before adopting the
Bactrian language
.
[10]
The Kidarites were depicted as
mounted archers
on the
reverse
of coins.
[11]
They were also known to practice
artificial cranial deformation
.
[12]
The Kidarites appear to have been synonymous with the
Karmir Xyon
("Red Xionites" or, more controversially, "Red Huns"),
[13]
[14]
? 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
.
[15]
The name of their eponymous ruler
Kidara
(
fl.
350?385) may be cognate with the
Turkic
word
Kidirti
meaning "west", suggesting that the Kidarites were originally the westernmost of the Xionites, and the first to migrate from Inner Asia.
[17]
Chinese sources suggest that when the
Uar
(滑
Hua
) were driven westward by the
Later Zhao
state, circa 320, from the area around
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.
[17]
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
,
[18]
where they were initially
vassals
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".
[19]
[20]
Kidarite kingdom
[
edit
]
First appearance in literary sources
[
edit
]
The first evidence are gold coins discovered in
Balkh
dating from the mid-4th century. The
Kushano-Sasanian
ruler
Varahran
during the second phase of his reign, had to introduce the Kidarite
tamga
(
) in his coinage minted at
Balkh
in
Bactria
, circa 340-345.
The tamgha replaced the
nandipada
symbol which had been in use since
Vasudeva I
,
suggesting that the Kidarites had now taken control, first under their ruler
Kirada
.
Then ram horns were added to the effigy of Varahran on his coinage for a brief period under the Kidarite ruler
Peroz
, and raised ribbons were added around the crown ball under the Kidarite ruler
Kidara
.
In effect, Varahran has been described as a "puppet" of the Kidarites.
By 365, the
Kidarite
ruler
Kidara I
was placing his name on the coinage of the region, and assumed the title of Kushanshah.
In Gandhara too, the Kidarites minted silver coins in the name of Varahran, until Kidara also introduced his own name there.
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."
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
H?na
had established themselves in modern
Afghanistan
and the
North-West Frontier Province
by the first half of the 5th century, and the Gupta emperor
Skandagupta
had repelled a
H?na
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, which had disappeared as an independent entity two centuries earlier.
[
original research?
]
Migration into Bactria
[
edit
]
South Asia
350 CE
South Asian polities circa 350 CE, and location of the Kidarites in
Bactria
, on the eve of their expansion into the Indian subcontinent.
[29]
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
,
[17]
in order to face nomadic threats in the east: he was attacked in the east by
Scythian
Massagetae
and other Central Asian tribes.
Around this time,
Xionite
/
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).
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
Caspian
lands, in the area of
Corduene
, is described by the contemporary eyewitness
Ammianus Marcellinus
:
[31]
Grumbates Chionitarum rex novus aetate quidem media rugosisque membris sed mente quadam grandifica multisque victoriarum insignibus nobilis
.
"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."
The presence of Grumbates alongside Shapur II is also recorded at the successful
Siege of Amida
in 359, in which Grumbates lost his son:
[17]
"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. "
Later the alliance fell apart, and by the time of
Bahram IV
(388?399) the Sasanians had lost numerous battles against the Kidarites.
[17]
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.
[7]
It is thought that they were in firm possession of the region of Bactria by 360.
[17]
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.
[34]
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.
[35]
The Kidarites based their capital in
Samarkand
, where they were at the center of
Central Asian
trade networks, in close relation with the
Sogdians
.
[8]
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.
[8]
Fortresses
[
edit
]
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.
[37]
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.
[37]
Living quarters were located outside the citadel.
[37]
The citadel was first occupied by the Kidarites in the 4th-5th century, whose coinage and bullae have been found.
[38]
[39]
Expansion to northwest India
[
edit
]
The Kidarites consolidated their power in Northern Afghanistan before conquering
Peshawar
and parts of northwest India including
Gandhara
probably sometime between 390 and 410,
[40]
around the end of the rule of Gupta Emperor
Chandragupta II
or beginning of the rule of
Kumaragupta I
.
[41]
It is probably the rise of the Hephthalites and the defeats against the Sasanians which pushed the Kidarites into northern India.
Economy
[
edit
]
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".
[42]
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.
[43]
Coins with the title or name
Gadahara
seem to be the first coins issued by the invading Kidarites in the
Kushan
realm in India.
[44]
[45]
The additional presence of the names of foreign rulers such as the
Kushano-Sassanian
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.
[44]
[45]
The "Gadahara" issues seem to come chronologically just before the issues of the famous Kidarite ruler
Kidara
.
[46]
[45]
[42]
Religion
[
edit
]
It seems
Buddhism
was rather unaffected by Kidarite rule, as the religion continued to prosper.
[43]
The Chinese pilgrim
Fa-hsien
visited the region
c.
400 CE
, and described a wealthy Buddhist culture.
[43]
Some aspects of the
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.
[43]
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.
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
.
[48]
Conflicts with the Gupta Empire
[
edit
]
The Kidarites may have confronted the
Gupta Empire
during the rule of
Kumaragupta I
(414?
c.
455
) as the latter recounts some conflicts, although very vaguely, in his
Mandsaur
inscription.
[52]
The
Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta
, inscribed by his son
Skandagupta
(
c.
455
? c.
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
.
[17]
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.
[18]
In the Bhitari inscription, Skandagupta clearly mentions conflagrations with the Hunas, even though some portions of the inscription have disappeared:
"(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
Hunas
; . . . . . . among enemies . . . . . . arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . proclaimed . . . . . . . . . . . . just as if it were the roaring of (the river)
Ganga
, making itself noticed in (their) ears."
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.
[53]
[17]
While they still ruled in
Gandhara
, the Kidarites are known to have sent an embassy to China in 477.
[54]
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.
[55]
These conflicts exhausted the
Gupta Empire
: the gold coinage of Skandagupta is much fewer and of a lesser quality than that of his predecessors.
[53]
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
in 467 CE, with Peroz reconquering
Balkh
and issuing coinage there as "Peroz King of Kings".
[8]
Conflict with Sasanian emperor Peroz I and the Hephthalites
[
edit
]
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.
However, the Sasanian efforts were disrupted in the early 5th century by the Kidarites, who forced
Yazdegerd I
(
r.
399?420
),
Bahram V
(
r.
420?438
), and/or
Yazdegerd II
(
r.
438?457
) to pay them tribute.
Although this did not trouble the Sasanian treasury, it was nevertheless humiliating.
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
c.
464.
Peroz lacked manpower to fight, and therefore asked for financial aid by the Byzantine Empire, who declined his request.
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.
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.
Around this time, Peroz allied himself with the Hephthalites or the
Alchon Huns
of
Mehama
, the ruler of Kadag in eastern Bactria.
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.
The style of the gold coin was largely based on the Kidarite coins, and displayed Peroz wearing his second crown.
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.
Although the Kidarites still controlled some places such as
Gandhara
and
Punjab
, they would never be an issue for the Sasanians again.
[7]
But in India itself, the Kidarites may also have been losing territory to the Gupta Empire, following the 455 victories of
Skandagupta
.
[70]
This created a power vacuum, which the
Alchon Huns
were able to fill, allowing them to reclaim the lost territories of the Kidarites.
[70]
Continental synchronism of Hunnic wars
[
edit
]
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.
[71]
It is almost as if the imperialist empire in the east and west had combined their response to a simultaneous Hunnic threat across Eurasia.
[71]
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.
[71]
A few gold coins of the Kidarites were also found as far as
Hungary
and
Poland
in Europe, as a result of Asiatic migrations.
Kidarite successors
[
edit
]
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
, 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.
[72]
[31]
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.
At one point, the Kidarites withdrew from Gandhara, and the Alchons took over their mints from the time of
Khingila
.
By 520, Gandhara was definitely under Hephthalite (Alchon Huns) control, according to Chinese pilgrims.
[17]
Silver bowl, showing an
Alchon
horseman
Two Kidarite princes on the bowl
Anania Shirakatsi
states in his
Ashkharatsuyts
, written in 7th century, that one of the
Bulgar
tribes, known as the
Kidar
were part of the Kidarites. The
Kidar
took part in Bulgar migrations across the
Volga
into
Europe
.
[77]
Ushrushana
[
edit
]
Remnants of the Kidarites in Eastern Sogdiana may have been associated with the
Principality of Ushrusana
.
[78]
[79]
The Kidarites may have survived and possibly established a Kidarite kingdom in
Usrushana
.
[78]
This connection may be apparent from the analysis of the coinage,
[78]
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.
[79]
The title
Afshin
used by the rulers of Usrushana is also attested in the Kidarite ruler of
Samarkand
of the 5th century named
Ularg
, who bore the similar title
"Afshiyan"
(
Bactrian script
: αφ?ιιανο).
[80]
Main Kidarite rulers
[
edit
]
Yosada
|
c.335 CE
|
Kirada
|
c.335-345
|
Peroz
|
c.345-350
|
Kidara
|
c.350-390
|
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
[
edit
]
Uar (tribe)
"
Iranian Huns
"
Sasanian - Kidarite Wars
References and notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Bakker, Hans T. (12 March 2020).
The Alkhan: A Hunnic People in South Asia
. Barkhuis. p. 17.
ISBN
978-94-93194-00-7
.
- ^
Bakker, Hans T. (12 March 2020).
The Alkhan: A Hunnic People in South Asia
. Barkhuis. p. 10.
ISBN
978-94-93194-00-7
.
- ^
a
b
Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A. (1996).
History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750
. UNESCO. pp. 119?120.
ISBN
9789231032110
.
- ^
a
b
c
Sasanian Seals and Sealings, Rika Gyselen, Peeters Publishers, 2007,
p.1
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila, Michael Maas, Cambridge University Press, 2014
p.284sq
- ^
a
b
Encyclopaedia Iranica, article Kidarites: "On Gandh?ran coins bearing their name the ruler is always clean-shaven, a fashion more typical of Altaic people than of Iranians" in
"KIDARITES ? Encyclopaedia Iranica"
.
www.iranicaonline.org
.
- ^
DE LA VAISSIERE, ETIENNE (2003).
"Is There a "Nationality of the Hephtalites"?"
.
Bulletin of the Asia Institute
.
17
: 124.
ISSN
0890-4464
.
JSTOR
24049310
.
- ^
Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A.; Unesco (1 January 1996).
History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750
. UNESCO.
ISBN
978-92-3-103211-0
.
- ^
Maas, Michael (2015).
The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila
. Cambridge University Press. p. 185.
ISBN
9781107021754
.
- ^
Mitterwallner, Gritli von (1986).
Ku???a Coins and Ku???a Sculptures from Mathur?
. Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of U.P., Lucknow.
- ^
Ancient Coin Collecting VI: Non-Classical Cultures, Wayne G. Sayles, p. 79,
https://books.google.com/books?id=YTGRcVLMg6MC&pg=PA78
- ^
Grenet, Frantz (2006).
"A Hunnish Kushanshah"
.
Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology
: 125?131.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
The Huns, Hyun Jin Kim, Routledge, 2015
p.50 sq
- ^
a
b
History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Ahmad Hasan Dani, B. A. Litvinsky,
Unesco
p.119 sq
- ^
Cunningham, A. (1889). "Coins of the Tochari, Kushans, or Yue-Ti".
The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society
.
9
: 268?311.
JSTOR
42680025
.
- ^
Samolin, William (1956). "A Note on Kidara and the Kidarites".
Central Asiatic Journal
.
2
(4): 295?297.
JSTOR
41926398
.
The Yueh-chih origin of Kidara is clearly established...
- ^
A similar coin with reading of the legend
- ^
Lerner, Judith A. (210).
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
. Vienna: OAW. p. 246, note 7.
- ^
Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978).
A Historical atlas of South Asia
. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 25, 145.
ISBN
0226742210
.
- ^
a
b
History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Ahmad Hasan Dani, B. A. Litvinsky,
Unesco
p.38 sq
- ^
Ammianus Marcellinus
18.6.22
- ^
Ammianus Marcellinus
18.6.22
- ^
The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila, Michael Maas
p.286
- ^
The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila, Michael Maas
p.287
- ^
"Antiquities of Samarkand. Kurgan in the Vicinity of Samarkand. Location of Kafir Kala"
.
www.wdl.org
. 1868.
- ^
a
b
c
Mantellini, Simone (2012).
"Change and Continuity in the Samarkand Oasis: Evidence for the Islamic Conquest from the Citadel of Kafir Kala"
.
Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology
.
7
: 227?253.
doi
:
10.1484/J.JIAAA.4.2017012
.
hdl
:
11585/572547
.
- ^
"Administration, law and urban organization in the Late Antique and Early Medieval period"
.
Universitetet i Bergen
(in Norwegian Bokmal). Archived from
the original
on 18 October 2020
. Retrieved
18 October
2020
.
- ^
"The Kidarites in Bactria"
.
pro.geo.univie.ac.at
. Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. Archived from
the original
on 18 October 2020
. Retrieved
18 October
2020
.
- ^
Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A. (1996).
History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750
. UNESCO. p. 122.
ISBN
9789231032110
.
- ^
"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
Gupta, Parmeshwari Lal; Kulashreshtha, Sarojini (1994).
Ku???a Coins and History
. D.K. Printworld. p. 122.
ISBN
9788124600177
.
- ^
a
b
Tandon, Pankaj (2009).
"An Important New Copper Coin of Gadahara"
.
Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society
(200): 19.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A. (1996).
History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750
. UNESCO. p. 167.
ISBN
9789231032110
.
- ^
a
b
Agrawal, Ashvini (1989).
Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas
. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 128.
ISBN
9788120805927
.
- ^
a
b
c
"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
Bajpai, K. D. (2004).
Indian Numismatic Studies
. Abhinav Publications. p. 112.
ISBN
9788170170358
.
- ^
A Comprehensive History of India
. Orient Longmans. 1957. p. 253.
- ^
Cambon, Pierre (1996).
"Fouilles anciennes en Afghanistan (1924-1925). Pait?v?, Karratcha"
.
Arts Asiatiques
.
51
: 20.
doi
:
10.3406/arasi.1996.1383
.
- ^
Cambon, Pierre (1996).
"Fouilles anciennes en Afghanistan (1924-1925). Pait?v?, Karratcha"
.
Arts Asiatiques
.
51
: 20.
doi
:
10.3406/arasi.1996.1383
.
- ^
Cambon, Pierre (1996).
"Fouilles anciennes en Afghanistan (1924-1925). Pait?v?, Karratcha"
.
Arts Asiatiques
.
51
: 20.
doi
:
10.3406/arasi.1996.1383
.
- ^
"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"
Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques (1974).
Hommage universel: actes du congres de Shiraz 1971, et autres etudes redigees a l'occasion du 2500e anniversaire de la fondation de l'empire perse
. Bibliotheque Pahlavi.
ISBN
9789004039025
.
- ^
Brancaccio, Pia (2010).
The Buddhist Caves at Aurangabad: Transformations in Art and Religion
. BRILL.
ISBN
9789004185258
.
- ^
Malwa Through the Ages, from the Earliest Times to 1305 A.D by Kailash Chand Jain
p.242
- ^
a
b
Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A. (1996).
History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750
. UNESCO. pp. 123?126.
ISBN
9789231032110
.
- ^
Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A. (1996).
History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750
. UNESCO. p. 141.
ISBN
9789231032110
.
- ^
Longman History & Civics ICSE 9 by Singh
p.81
- ^
ALRAM, MICHAEL (2014).
"From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush"
.
The Numismatic Chronicle
.
174
: 270.
ISSN
0078-2696
.
JSTOR
44710198
.
- ^
Lerner, Judith A.;
Sims-Williams, Nicholas
(2011).
Seals, sealings and tokens from Bactria to Gandhara : 4th to 8th century CE
. Wien: Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. pp. 72?75.
ISBN
978-3700168973
.
- ^
Bakker, Hans
(21 January 2021).
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
. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. p. 18.
ISBN
978-1-78969-648-6
.
- ^
Rezakhani, Khodadad
(15 March 2017b).
ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity
. Edinburgh University Press. p. 100.
ISBN
978-1-4744-0030-5
.
- ^
a
b
Bakker, Hans T. (12 March 2020).
The Alkhan: A Hunnic People in South Asia
. Barkhuis. p. 18.
ISBN
978-94-93194-00-7
.
- ^
a
b
c
Bakker, Hans T. (12 March 2020).
The Alkhan: A Hunnic People in South Asia
. Barkhuis. pp. 14?15.
ISBN
978-94-93194-00-7
.
- ^
Grousset, Rene (1970).
The Empire of the Steppes
. Rutgers University Press. pp.
68?69
.
ISBN
0-8135-1304-9
.
- ^
Iaroslav Lebedynsky, "Les Nomades", p172.
- ^
British Museum notice
- ^
Sims, Vice-President Eleanor G.; Sims, Eleanor; Marshak, Boris Il?ich; Grube, Ernst J.; I, Boris Marshak (January 2002).
Peerless Images: Persian Painting and Its Sources
. Yale University Press. pp. 13?14.
ISBN
978-0-300-09038-3
.
- ^
Lang, David Marshall (1976).
The Bulgarians: From Pagan Times to the Ottoman Conquest
. Westview Press. pp. 31 and 204.
ISBN
9780891585305
.
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.
- ^
a
b
c
Rezakhani, Khodadad
(15 March 2017b).
ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity
. Edinburgh University Press. p. 100.
ISBN
978-1-4744-0031-2
.
Apart from Gandhara, however, a Kidarite kingdom may have survived in Sogdiana, possibly in the area of Ustrushana.
- ^
a
b
Rezakhani, Khodadad
(15 March 2017b).
ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity
. Edinburgh University Press. p. 101.
ISBN
978-1-4744-0031-2
.
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...
- ^
Rezakhani, Khodadad (15 March 2017b).
ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity
. Edinburgh University Press. p. 100.
ISBN
978-1-4744-0031-2
.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Alram, Michael (2014). "From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush".
The Numismatic Chronicle
.
174
: 261?291.
JSTOR
44710198
.
(
registration required
)
- Bonner, Michael (2020).
The Last Empire of Iran
. New York: Gorgias Press. pp. 1?406.
ISBN
978-1463206161
.
- Cribb, Joe
(2018). Rienjang, Wannaporn; Stewart, Peter (eds.).
Problems of Chronology in Gandh?ran Art: Proceedings of the First International Workshop of the Gandh?ra Connections Project, University of Oxford, 23rd-24th March, 2017
. University of Oxford The Classical Art Research Centre Archaeopress.
ISBN
978-1-78491-855-2
.
- Cribb, Joe (2010). Alram, M. (ed.).
"The Kidarites, the numismatic evidence.pdf"
.
Coins, Art and Chronology Ii, Edited by M. Alram et al
. Coins, Art and Chronology II: 91?146.
- Cribb, Joe; Donovan, Peter (2014).
Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian, and Kidarite Coins A Catalogue of Coins From the American Numismatic Society by David Jongeward and Joe Cribb with Peter Donovan
. p. 4.
- Daryaee, Touraj (2009). "??pur II".
Encyclopaedia Iranica
.
- Daryaee, Touraj
(2014).
Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire
. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1?240.
ISBN
978-0857716668
.
- Payne, Richard (2015). "The Reinvention of Iran: The Sasanian Empire and the Huns". In Maas, Michael (ed.).
The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila
. Cambridge University Press. pp. 282?299.
ISBN
978-1-107-63388-9
.
- 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
.
S2CID
156673274
.
- Potts, Daniel T. (2018).
"Sasanian Iran and its northeastern frontier"
. In Mass, Michael; Di Cosmo, Nicola (eds.).
Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity
. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1?538.
ISBN
9781316146040
.
- Rezakhani, Khodadad (2017).
ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity
. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 1?256.
ISBN
9781474400305
.
- Zeimal, E. V. (1996).
"The Kidarite kingdom in Central Asia"
.
History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume III: The Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750
. Paris: UNESCO. pp. 119?135.
ISBN
92-3-103211-9
.
- ENOKI, K., ≪ On the Date of the Kidarites (I) ≫, Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko, 27, 1969, p. 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. 203?224.
Further reading
[
edit
]
|
---|
History
| |
---|
Rulers
| |
---|
Military leaders
| |
---|
Noblemen
| |
---|
Diplomats
| |
---|
Other notable Huns
| |
---|
Culture
| |
---|
Wars
| |
---|
Other Hunnic peoples
| |
---|
Related topics
| |
---|