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Turk Shahis
The Turk Shahis were a dynasty of Western Turk, or mixed Turco-Hephthalite origin, that ruled from Kabul and Kapisa to Gandhara in the 7th to 9th centuries AD. They may have been of Khalaj ethnicity. The Gandhara territory may have been bordering the Kashmir kingdom and the Kannauj kingdom to the east. From the 560s, the Western Turks had gradually expanded southeasterward from Transoxonia, and occupied Bactria and the Hindu Kush region, forming largely independent polities. The Turk Shahis may have been a political extension of the neighbouring Western Turk Yabghus of Tokharistan. In the Hindu Kush region, they replaced the Nezak Huns – the last dynasty of Bactrian rulers with origins among the Xwn (Xionite) and/or Huna peoples (who are sometimes also referred to as "Huns" who invaded Eastern Europe during a similar period).
The Turk Shahis arose at a time when the Sasanian Empire had already been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate. The Turk Shahis then resisted for more than 250 years the eastward expansion of the Abbasid Caliphate, until they fell to the Persian Saffarids in the 9th century AD. The Ghaznavids then finally broke through into India after overpowering the declining subsequent Hindu Shahis and Gurjaras.
Kabulistan was the heartland of the Turk Shahi domain, which at times included Zabulistan and Gandhara.
The Turks under the Western Turk ruler Tong Yabghu Qaghan crossed the Hindu-Kush and occupied Gandhara as far as the Indus River from circa 625 AD. Overall, the territory of the Turk Shahi extended from Kapisi to Gandhara, with a Turkic branch becoming independent in Zabulistan at one point. The Gandhara territory may have been bordering the Kashmir kingdom and the Kanauj kingdom to the east. The Turk Shahi capital of Gandhara, which possibly functioned as a winter capital alternating with the summer capital of Kabul, was Udabhandapura. The Korean pilgrim Hui Chao, visiting the area in 723–729 AD, mentioned that these regions were ruled by Turk kings.
The last extant Nezak ruler Ghar-ilchi was recorded as the king of Jibin (former Kapisi/ Kabulistan) by the Tang dynasty in 653 AD. He was also likely to be the unnamed ruler who was confirmed as Governor of Jibin under the newly formed Chinese Anxi Protectorate in 661 CE and would broker a peace-treaty with the Arabs, the same year. Nonetheless, in 664-665 CE, Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura launched an expedition to reconquer the territories lost during the Caliphate Wars. Kabul was occupied in 665 CE after a siege of a few months but soon revolted, only to be reoccupied after another year-long siege. These events mortally weakened the Nezaks though their ruler — not named in sources — was spared upon converting to Islam.
Sometime soon (666/667?), the Nezaks were replaced by the Turk Shahis, first in Zabulistan and then in Kabulistan and Gandhara. Their ethnic identity remains unclear and the name might be a misnomer. According to Hyecho, who visited the region about 50 years after the events, the first Shahi ruler of Kapisi — named Barha Tegin by Al-Biruni — was an usurper, who used to be a military commander in the service of the last Nezak King. Al-Biruni provides a rather legendary account of Barhategin's rise, extrapolating from multiple mythological motifs, and the precise circumstances surrounding the dawning of the Turk Shahis remain unclear.
The Turk Shahis, like the rest of the Western Turks, were nominally part of a protectorate under the Chinese Tang dynasty since circa 658 AD. The territory of the Turk Shahis was nominally partitioned into several Chinese Commanderies under administration of the Anxi Protectorate: the city of Yege (modern Mihtarlam) east of Kabul was considered as the seat of a Chinese Commandery for the Jibin country, and named the Xiuxian Commandery (修鮮都督府, Xiūxiān Dūdùfû), the city of Yan at the border with Gandhara was the seat of the Yuepan Commandery (悅般都督府, Yuèpān Dūdùfû), Ghazni was the seat of the Tiaozhi Commandery (條枝都督府, Tiáozhī Dūdùfû).
According to Chinese sources, in particular the chronicles of the Cefu Yuangui, the Turks in Kabul were vassals of the Yabghus of Tokharistan, who in turn swore allegiance to the Tangs. A young brother of the Tokhara Yabghu Pantu Nili — named Puluo (僕羅 púluó) in Chinese sources — visited the court of the Tang dynasty in Xi'an in 718 AD and gave an account of the military forces in the Tokharistan region, explaining that "two hundred and twelve kingdoms, governors and prefects" had been recognizing the authority of the Yabghus (specifically mentioning among them that "the king of Zabul rules two hundred thousand soldiers and horses, the king of Kabul two hundred thousand"), since the time of his grandfather, that is, probably since the time of their establishment.
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Turk Shahis
The Turk Shahis were a dynasty of Western Turk, or mixed Turco-Hephthalite origin, that ruled from Kabul and Kapisa to Gandhara in the 7th to 9th centuries AD. They may have been of Khalaj ethnicity. The Gandhara territory may have been bordering the Kashmir kingdom and the Kannauj kingdom to the east. From the 560s, the Western Turks had gradually expanded southeasterward from Transoxonia, and occupied Bactria and the Hindu Kush region, forming largely independent polities. The Turk Shahis may have been a political extension of the neighbouring Western Turk Yabghus of Tokharistan. In the Hindu Kush region, they replaced the Nezak Huns – the last dynasty of Bactrian rulers with origins among the Xwn (Xionite) and/or Huna peoples (who are sometimes also referred to as "Huns" who invaded Eastern Europe during a similar period).
The Turk Shahis arose at a time when the Sasanian Empire had already been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate. The Turk Shahis then resisted for more than 250 years the eastward expansion of the Abbasid Caliphate, until they fell to the Persian Saffarids in the 9th century AD. The Ghaznavids then finally broke through into India after overpowering the declining subsequent Hindu Shahis and Gurjaras.
Kabulistan was the heartland of the Turk Shahi domain, which at times included Zabulistan and Gandhara.
The Turks under the Western Turk ruler Tong Yabghu Qaghan crossed the Hindu-Kush and occupied Gandhara as far as the Indus River from circa 625 AD. Overall, the territory of the Turk Shahi extended from Kapisi to Gandhara, with a Turkic branch becoming independent in Zabulistan at one point. The Gandhara territory may have been bordering the Kashmir kingdom and the Kanauj kingdom to the east. The Turk Shahi capital of Gandhara, which possibly functioned as a winter capital alternating with the summer capital of Kabul, was Udabhandapura. The Korean pilgrim Hui Chao, visiting the area in 723–729 AD, mentioned that these regions were ruled by Turk kings.
The last extant Nezak ruler Ghar-ilchi was recorded as the king of Jibin (former Kapisi/ Kabulistan) by the Tang dynasty in 653 AD. He was also likely to be the unnamed ruler who was confirmed as Governor of Jibin under the newly formed Chinese Anxi Protectorate in 661 CE and would broker a peace-treaty with the Arabs, the same year. Nonetheless, in 664-665 CE, Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura launched an expedition to reconquer the territories lost during the Caliphate Wars. Kabul was occupied in 665 CE after a siege of a few months but soon revolted, only to be reoccupied after another year-long siege. These events mortally weakened the Nezaks though their ruler — not named in sources — was spared upon converting to Islam.
Sometime soon (666/667?), the Nezaks were replaced by the Turk Shahis, first in Zabulistan and then in Kabulistan and Gandhara. Their ethnic identity remains unclear and the name might be a misnomer. According to Hyecho, who visited the region about 50 years after the events, the first Shahi ruler of Kapisi — named Barha Tegin by Al-Biruni — was an usurper, who used to be a military commander in the service of the last Nezak King. Al-Biruni provides a rather legendary account of Barhategin's rise, extrapolating from multiple mythological motifs, and the precise circumstances surrounding the dawning of the Turk Shahis remain unclear.
The Turk Shahis, like the rest of the Western Turks, were nominally part of a protectorate under the Chinese Tang dynasty since circa 658 AD. The territory of the Turk Shahis was nominally partitioned into several Chinese Commanderies under administration of the Anxi Protectorate: the city of Yege (modern Mihtarlam) east of Kabul was considered as the seat of a Chinese Commandery for the Jibin country, and named the Xiuxian Commandery (修鮮都督府, Xiūxiān Dūdùfû), the city of Yan at the border with Gandhara was the seat of the Yuepan Commandery (悅般都督府, Yuèpān Dūdùfû), Ghazni was the seat of the Tiaozhi Commandery (條枝都督府, Tiáozhī Dūdùfû).
According to Chinese sources, in particular the chronicles of the Cefu Yuangui, the Turks in Kabul were vassals of the Yabghus of Tokharistan, who in turn swore allegiance to the Tangs. A young brother of the Tokhara Yabghu Pantu Nili — named Puluo (僕羅 púluó) in Chinese sources — visited the court of the Tang dynasty in Xi'an in 718 AD and gave an account of the military forces in the Tokharistan region, explaining that "two hundred and twelve kingdoms, governors and prefects" had been recognizing the authority of the Yabghus (specifically mentioning among them that "the king of Zabul rules two hundred thousand soldiers and horses, the king of Kabul two hundred thousand"), since the time of his grandfather, that is, probably since the time of their establishment.