White Huns: Map & History
The Hephthalites or Ephthalites, sometimes called the White Huns, were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to 8th centuries CE, and were a part of what numismatist Robert Göbl calls Iranian Huns.
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The Hephthalites or Ephthalites, sometimes called the White Huns, were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to 8th centuries CE, and were a part of what numismatist Robert Göbl calls Iranian Huns. They formed an empire, the Imperial Hephthalites, and were militarily important from 450 CE, when they defeated the Kidarites, to 560 CE, when combined forces from the First Turkic Khaganate and the Sasanian Empire defeated them. After 560 CE, they established "principalities" in the area of Tokharistan, under the suzerainty of the Western Turks and of the Sasanian Empire, before the Tokhara Yabghus took over in 625.
Modern Countries Once Part of White Huns
At its mapped extent, White Huns covered territory in 9 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
- Afghanistan451–560 CE · nearly all
- Kyrgyzstan410–560 CE · nearly all
- Tajikistan410–560 CE · nearly all
- Uzbekistan410–560 CE · nearly all
- Pakistan451–560 CE · nearly all
- Turkmenistan490–560 CE · most
- India490–533 CE · a small part
- Kazakhstan410–560 CE · a small part
- Iran490–522 CE · a small part
States and Provinces
- Punjab, Pakistan
- Rajasthan, India
- N.W.F.P., Pakistan
- Sind, Pakistan
- Punjab, India
- South Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan
- Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Ahal, Turkmenistan
- Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan
- Jammu and Kashmir, India
- Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan
- Leninabad, Tajikistan
- Zhambyl, Kazakhstan
- Baluchistan, Pakistan
- Haryana, India
- Balkan, Turkmenistan
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside White Huns's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
White Huns in Depth
History
The Hephthalites were a vassal state to the Rouran Khaganate until the beginning of the 5th century. There were close contacts between them, although they had different languages and cultures, and the Hephthalites borrowed much of their political organization from Rourans. In particular, the title "Khan", which according to McGovern was original to the Rourans, was borrowed by the Hephthalite rulers. The reason for the migration of the Hephthalites southeast was to avoid a pressure of the Rourans.
The Hephthalites became a significant political entity in Bactria around 450 CE, or sometime before.
Origins and characteristics
There are several theories regarding the origins of the Hephthalites, with the Iranic and Altaic theories being the main ones. The most prominent theory at present seems to be that the Hephthalites were of Turkic origin, and later adopted the Bactrian language.
According to most specialists, the Hephthalites adopted Bactrian as their official language, just as the Kushans had done, following their settlement in Bactria/Tokharistan. Bactrian was an Eastern Iranian language which was written in the Greek alphabet, a legacy of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in the 3rd–2nd century BCE. Bactrian, beyond being an official language, was also the language of the local populations ruled by the Hephthalites.
Military and weapons
Even in time of peace the mere sight or mention of a Hephthalite terrified everybody, and there was no question of going to war openly against one, for everybody remembered all too clearly the calamities and defeats inflicted by the Hephthalites on the king of the Aryans and on the Persians.
"Hunnic" designs in weaponry are known to have influenced Sasanian designs during the 6th–7th century CE, just before the Islamic invasions. The Sasanians adopted Hunnish nomadic designs for straight iron swords and their gold-covered scabbards. This is particularly the case of two-straps suspension design, in which straps of different lengths were attached to a P-shaped projection on the scabbard, so that the sword could be held sideways, making it easier to draw, especially when on horseback.
Religion and culture
Polyandry was the Hephthalites most noteworthy social custom. Brothers had one wife in common and the children were considered as belonging to the oldest brother. The number of ‘horns’ on a married woman’s headdress corresponded to the number of her husbands. They were also said to practice artificial cranial deformation. Chinese sources said they worshiped 'foreign gods', 'demons', the 'heaven god' or the 'fire god'. The Gokturks told the Byzantines that they had walled cities. Some Chinese sources said that they had no cities and lived in tents. Litvinsky tries to resolve this by saying that they were nomads who moved into the cities they had conquered.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Hephthalites (CC BY-SA 4.0).
White Huns Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which White Huns appears, with the other states of the time.
White Huns Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 3,300,430 km² in 506 CE.
White Huns: Frequently Asked Questions
When did White Huns exist?
White Huns is dated to 410 CE – 560 CE, in the Classical Antiquity era.
How large was White Huns at its peak?
At its peak in 506 AD White Huns covered about 3,300,430 km².