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Hunas
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Approximate extent of theAlchon Huns,andfind spotsof inscriptions related to their local control (map of theIndian subcontinent)[1]
RegionUttar Pradesh,Punjab,Rajasthan,Gujarat,Himachal Pradesh,Haryana,Jammu and Kashmir,Bihar,Sindh,Gilgit-Baltistan,Nuristan,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Balochistan,Maharashtra,Delhi

HunasorHuna(MiddleBrahmiscript:Hūṇā) was the name given by theancient Indiansto a group ofCentral Asiantribes who, via theKhyber Pass,entered theIndian subcontinentat the end of the 5th or early 6th century. The Hunas occupied areas as far south asEranandKausambi,greatly weakening theGupta Empire.[2]The Hunas were ultimately defeated by a coalition of Indian princes[3]that included an Indian king Yasodharman and the Gupta emperor,Narasimhagupta.They defeated a Huna army and their rulerMihirakulain 528 CE and drove them out of India.[4]The Guptas are thought to have played only a minor role in this campaign.[3]

The Hunas are thought to have included theXioniteand/orHephthalite,theKidarites,theAlchon Huns(also known as the Alxon, Alakhana, Walxon etc.) and theNezak Huns.Such names, along with that of theHarahunas(also known as the Halahunas or Harahuras) mentioned in Hindu texts, have sometimes been used for the Hunas in general; while these groups (and theIranian Huns) appear to have been a component of the Hunas, such names were not necessarily synonymous. Some authors suggest that the Hunas were Ephthalite Huns from Central Asia.[3]The relationship, if any, of the Hunas to theHuns,a Central Asian people who invaded Europe during the same period, is also unclear.

In its farthest geographical extent in India, the territories controlled by the Hunas covered the region up toMalwaincentral India.[5]Their repeated invasions and war losses were the main reason for the decline of the Gupta Empire.[6]

History[edit]

See also:Origin of the Huns
The Indian word "Huna" (Hūṇā) in line 12 (Verse 16) of theRīsthal inscription,6th century CE.[7]

Chinese sources link theCentral Asiantribes comprising the Hunas to both theXiongnuof north east Asia and theHunswho later invaded and settled in Europe.[8]Similarly, Gerald Larson suggests that the Hunas were aTurkic-Mongoliangrouping from Central Asia.[6]The works ofPtolemy(2nd century) are among the first European texts to mention the Huns, followed by the texts by Marcellinus and Priscus. They too suggest that the Huns were aninner Asianpeople.[9]

Hephthalitehorseman onBritish Museumbowl, 460–479 CE.[10]According toProcopius of Caesarea,they were of the same stock as European Huns "in fact as well as in name", but sedentary and white-skinned.

The 6th-centuryRomanhistorianProcopius of Caesarea(Book I. ch. 3), related the Huns of Europe with theHephthalitesor "White Huns" who subjugated theSassanidsand invaded northwesternIndia,stating that they were of the same stock, "in fact as well as in name", although he contrasted the Huns with the Hephthalites, in that the Hephthalites were sedentary, white-skinned, and possessed "not ugly" features:[11][12]

The Ephthalitae Huns, who are called White Huns [...] The Ephthalitae are of the stock of the Huns in fact as well as in name, however they do not mingle with any of the Huns known to us, for they occupy a land neither adjoining nor even very near to them; but their territory lies immediately to the north of Persia [...] They are not nomads like the other Hunnic peoples, but for a long period have been established in a goodly land... They are the only ones among the Huns who have white bodies and countenances which are not ugly. It is also true that their manner of living is unlike that of their kinsmen, nor do they live a savage life as they do; but they are ruled by one king, and since they possess a lawful constitution, they observe right and justice in their dealings both with one another and with their neighbours, in no degree less than the Romans and the Persians[13]

TheKidarites,who invaded Bactria in the second half of the 4th century,[14]are generally regarded as the first wave of Hunas to enter Indian Subcontinent.

The Gupta empire underSkandaguptain the 5th century had successfully repulsed one Hun attack in the northwest in 460 CE. However, over the period of the next several years, the Hunas under successive kings were able to make inroads into the subcontinent.

They were initially based in theOxusbasin in Central Asia and established their control over Gandhara in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent by about 465 CE.[15]From there, they fanned out into various parts of northern, western, and centralIndia.The Hūṇas are mentioned in several ancient texts such as theRāmāyaṇa,Mahābhārata,Purāṇas,and Kalidasa’sRaghuvaṃśa.[16]

In 528 CE, another campaign led by a coalition of Indian kings finally defeated kingMihirakulaand his Huna army. The victory was inscribed on a stone pillar and erected in honor of (and in praise for) one of the leaders of the coalition, king Yashodharman, inMandasaurin Central India. Huna kings in this inscription are described as 'rude and cruel'. They were also responsible for the destruction of Buddhist monasteries and centers of learning in the Northwest regions of the country.

The Mongolian-Tibetan historianSumpa Yeshe Peljor(writing in the 18th century) lists the Hunas alongside other peoples found in Central Asia since antiquity, including theYavanas(Greeks),Kambojas,Tukharas,KhasasandDaradas.[17][18]

Gurjara-Pratiharas[edit]

Gurjara-Pratiharacoinage ofMihira Bhoja,King ofKanauj.[19][20]

TheGurjara-Pratiharassuddenly emerged as a political power in north India around sixth century CE, shortly after theHunasinvasion of that region.[21]The Gujara-Pratihara were "likely" formed from a fusion of theAlchon Huns( "White Huns" ) and native Indian elements, and can probably be considered as aHunnicstate, although its precise origins remain unclear.[22][23]InBana'sHarshacharita(7th century CE), theGurjarasare associated with the Hunas.[23]

.[22] Some of the Hunas may also have contributed to the formation of the warlikeRajputs.[22]

Religion[edit]

The religious beliefs of the Hunas is unknown, and believed to be a combination of ancestor worship,totemismandanimism.[24]

SongyunandHuisheng,who visited the chief of theHephthalitenomads at his summer residence inBadakshanand later inGandhara,observed that they had no belief in theBuddhistlaw and served a large number of divinities. "[25]

Gallery[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Hans Bakker24th Gonda lecture
  2. ^India: A History by John Keay p.158
  3. ^abcHaywood, John (2002).Historical Atlas of the Classical World 500BC-600AD.New York: Barnes & Noble Books. p. 2.23.ISBN0-7607-1973-X.
  4. ^Dani, Ahmad Hasan (1999).History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750.Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 175.ISBN9788120815407.
  5. ^Kurbanov, Aydogdy(2010)."The Hephthalites: Archaeological and Historical Analysis"(PDF).p. 24.Retrieved17 January2013.The Hūnas controlled an area that extended from Malwa in central India to Kashmir.
  6. ^abGerald James Larson (1995).India's Agony Over Religion.State University of New York Press. pp. 78–79.ISBN978-1-4384-1014-2.
  7. ^Tewari, S.P.; Ramesh, K.V. (1983).JOURNAL OF THE EPIGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA VOL 10.THE EPIGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA, DHARWAR. pp.98-99.
  8. ^Hyun Jin Kim,The Huns,Abingdon, Routledge,passim.
  9. ^Joseph Kitagawa (2013).The Religious Traditions of Asia: Religion, History, and Culture.Routledge. p. 229.ISBN978-1-136-87597-7.
  10. ^British Museum notice
  11. ^Procopius of Caesarea: Tyranny, History, and Philosophy at the End of Antiquity, Anthony Kaldellis, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012,p.70
  12. ^Staying Roman: Conquest and Identity in Africa and the Mediterranean, 439–700, Jonathan Conant Cambridge University Press, 2012p.259
  13. ^Procopius,History of the Wars.Book I, Ch. III, "The Persian War"
  14. ^History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Ahmad Hasan Dani, B. A. Litvinsky,Unescop.119 sq
  15. ^Atreyi Biswas (1971).The Political History of the Hūṇas in India.Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.ISBN9780883863015.
  16. ^Upendra Thakur (1967).The Hūṇas in India.Chowkhamba Prakashan. pp. 52–55.
  17. ^Sumpa Yeshe Peljor's 18th century workDpag-bsam-ljon-bzah(Tibetan title) may be translated as "The ExcellentKalpavriksha"):" Tho-gar yul dań yabana dań Kambodza dań Khasa [sic] dań Huna dań Darta dań... "
  18. ^Pag-Sam-Jon-Zang (1908), I.9, Sarat Chandra Das; Ancient Kamboja, 1971, p 66,H. W. Bailey.
  19. ^Smith, Vincent Arthur; Edwardes, S. M. (Stephen Meredyth) (1924).The early history of India: from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan conquest, including the invasion of Alexander the Great.Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. Plate 2.
  20. ^Ray, Himanshu Prabha (2019).Negotiating Cultural Identity: Landscapes in Early Medieval South Asian History.Taylor & Francis. p. 164.ISBN9781000227932.
  21. ^Puri 1957,p. 2.
  22. ^abcKim, Hyun Jin(19 November 2015).The Huns.Routledge. pp. 62–64.ISBN978-1-317-34091-1.Although it is not certain, it also seems likely that the formidable Gurjara Pratihara regime (ruled from the seventh-eleventh centuries AD) of northern India, had a powerfulWhite Hunnicelement. The Gurjara Pratiharas who were likely created from a fusion of White Hunnic and native Indian elements, ruled a vast Empire in northern India, and they also halted Arab Muslim expansion in India through Sind for centuries...
  23. ^abWink, André (1991).Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World.BRILL. p. 279.ISBN978-90-04-09249-5.
  24. ^Mircea Eliade; Charles J. Adams (1987).The Encyclopedia of religion.Macmillan. pp.530–532.ISBN978-0-02-909750-2.
  25. ^"The White Huns – The Hephthalites".Silkroad Foundation.Retrieved11 January2013.
  26. ^CNG Coins
  27. ^Iaroslav Lebedynsky, "Les Nomades", p172.

References[edit]

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