Nezak Huns
[2] The etymology remains disputed; historian-cum-archaeologist Frantz Grenet sees a possible — yet not firmly established — connection with Middle Persian nēzag ("spear") while linguist János Harmatta traces back to the unattested Saka *näjsuka- "fighter, warrior" from *näjs- "to fight".[4] Nonetheless, from a review of Chinese chronicles, Minoru Inaba, a historian of medieval Central Asia at Kyoto University, concludes Nishu to have been both a personal name and titular epithet across multiple Turkic tribes.[11][14] The most-comprehensive listing among them, dating from 658, is the 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 and ending with Hexiezi:[15] 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 names of the ten intermediary rulers remain unknown — Waleed Ziad, a historian of Islam and numismatist specializing in South Asia, however, cautions the reference to twelve generations was probably not intended in the literal sense.[18][19] The last mention of the dynasty is in 661 when the chronicles record the king of Jibin received a formal investiture from the Chinese court as Military Administrator and Commander-in-Chief of Xiuxian Area and eleven prefectures.[24] The figure always adorns a symmetrically winged crown — derived from Sasanian ruler Peroz I's third phase of mints (c. 474 – c. 484) under Hephthalite captivity —[g] which is supplemented on top with a water buffalo-head;[23][h] this "buffalo-crown" became the defining characteristic of the Nezaks.[38][39] Further, a class of drachms and unprecedented coppers — termed the Alchon-Nezak crossover — have Nezak busts adorned in Alchon-styled crescent crowns alongside a contracted version of the Pahlavi legend and the Alchon tamgha () on the obverse.[42][m] Finds from around the Sakra region — a sacred complex in ancient Gandhara —[n] feature votive coins of these two kinds as well as derivatives where the structures on the reverse and the Alchon tamgha lose their meaning and degenerate into geometrical motifs but the design of the Nezak-inspired bust remains largely conserved.[17] In 654, an army of around 6,000 Arabs led by Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura of the Rashidun caliphate attacked Zabul and laid seize to Rukhkhaj and Zamindawar, eventually conquering Bost and Zabulistan—while records do not mention the names and dynastic affiliations of the subdued rulers, it is plausible that the Nezaks suffered severe territorial losses.[56] In 661, an unnamed ruler — possibly, Ghar-Ilchi — was confirmed as Governor of Jibin under the newly formed Chinese Anxi Protectorate, and would broker a peace treaty with the Arabs, who were reeling from the First Fitna and lost their gains.[61] According to Hyecho, a Korean Buddhist monk, who visited the region about 50 years after the events, the first Turk Shahi ruler of Kapisi — named Barha Tegin by Al-Biruni — was a usurper who served as a military commander (or vassal) in the service of the preceding king.[69][70] According to Kuwayama, the Nezaks probably survived as a local chieftaincy centred in or around the town of Kapisi for a few more decades; archaeological evidence obtained from the excavation of Begram points to a gradual decline.Nevertheless, Buddhism had declined south of the capital — monasteries in Gandhara bore a deserted look — and religious pluralism was evident in the hundreds of temples for the "Devas" (Hindu deities) and many "heretical" (non-Buddhist) ascetics.Congling as the shrine of Śunā/Zhuna, the principal deity of the Cao region;[x] thus, he reads Xuanzang's account as alluding to a recent conflict where the adherents of Surya (Aruna), the solar God, had wrested over the site from the worshippers of Zhuna.
) within double border on the reverse.
[
35
]
Alram believes the "double border" design to have been borrowed from
Khosrow II
(r. 590-628 CE) or later Sassanians.
[
35
]
[
36
]
However, the design was only
reintroduced
by Khosrow II; it was first used by
Balash
(r. 484-488 CE).
[
36
]
NUMH 231; copper; half-drachm (?).
[
37
]
CHAM-PASASANIANEMPIREBYZANTINEEMPIRENORTHERNWEIHYMYARSOUTHERNQIAlchonHunsTOCHA-RIANSZHANGZHUNGTUYUHUNGUPTAEMPIREHEPHTHALITESROURAN KHAGANATEKyrgyzsGaojuTurksYuebanMagyarsSabirsKutrigursVenedaeFinnishUgriansYakutsBashkirsGOGU-RYEOGhaznaKapisaPahlavi scriptMiddle PersianBuddhismHinduismNomadic empireGhar-ilchiLate AntiquityDrachmSasanian EmpireAlchon HunsTurk ShahisZunbilsAfghanistanPakistanPahlaviHindu KushSouth AsiaTang dynastyJános HarmattaMiddle ChineseKyoto UniversityKapisiLampāVarṇuNagarahāraGandharaJñānaguptaXuanzangUdabhandapuraGhazniKshatriyasCefu YuanguiOld Book of TangXiuxian Area CommandXianqingSasanian coinagedrachmsPeroz Iwater buffaloBrahmicorresponding to the mints of Ghazni and KabulZoroastrianbarsom bundlesAlchonKhosrow IIBalashToramana IItamghaBactrianHunnic states in South AsiaKidaritesAlchonsZabulistanBagramKhingilaShōshin KuwayamaKashmirMihirakulaKhyber PassKabulistanKhosrow IWestern TurksBactriaKandaharOhrmazd IVMuslim conquests of AfghanistanKunduzSamarkandTOKHARA YABGHUSBamiyanZamindawarGilgitPATOLA SHAHISKARKOTASCHACHASAbd al-Rahman ibn SamuraRashidun caliphateRukhkhajFirst FitnaHyechoBarha TeginAl-BiruniAl-BaladhuriSui ambassadorKhair KhanehWestern TokharistanQutayba ibn MuslimUmayyad CaliphateHistory of AfghanistanTimelineAncientIndus Valley civilisationOxus civilizationGandhara kingdomMedian EmpireAchaemenid EmpireMacedonian EmpireSeleucid EmpireMaurya Empire