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The term Iranian Huns is sometimes used for a group of different tribes that lived in Central Asia, in the historical regions of Transoxiana, Bactria, Tokharistan, Kabul Valley, and Gandhara, overlapping with the modern-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Eastern Iran, Pakistan, and Northwest India, between the fourth and seventh centuries.Khodadad Rezakhani (2025). 9781474400305, Edinburgh University Press, DeGruyter. . ISBN 9781474400305 They also threatened the Northeast borders of Sasanian Empire and forced the Shahs to lead many ill-documented campaigns against them.
The term was introduced by Robert Göbl in the 1960s and is based on his study of coins. The term "Iranian Huns" coined by Göbl has been sometimes accepted in research, especially in German academia, and reflects how some of the namings and inscriptions of the Kidarites and Hephthalites used an Iranian language,Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft: Alter Orient-Griechische Geschichte-Römische Geschichte. Band III,7: The History of Ancient Iran, Richard Nelson Frye, C.H.Beck, 1984 p.346 and the bulk of the population they ruled was Iranian.Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective, Robert L. Canfield, Cambridge University Press, 2002 p.49 Their origin is controversially discussed. Huns in Encyclopædia Iranica. Göbl describes four groups: Kidarites, Alchon Huns, Nezak Huns, and Hephthalites as the Iranian Huns based on numismatic evidence available at his time. But recent descriptions also put the Xionites as a fifth group. In recent research, it is debated whether the new arrivals came as one wave or several waves of different peoples.Baumer, v2, p94, note 75
They are roughly equivalent to the Hunas . Related to the Iranian Huns are the Pannonian Avars, Hunas and uncertain terms from various languages like "White Hun", "Red Hun" and others.
In the fourth century various central Asian tribes began to attack the Persian Sasanian Empire. The sources sometimes call these people 'Huns', but their origin is unclear. It is probable that they were not related to the Huns who appeared on the south Russian steppe about 375 and attacked the Roman Empire. The two terms should be clearly separated. Like 'Scythian', ‘Hun’ in its various forms was used loosely by ancient historians to refer to various steppe tribes of which they knew little. In modern research, it is often accepted that the term 'Hun' was often used, because of its fame, for various mixed groups and is not to be understood as the name of a concrete ethnic group.
Ca. 350Cf. e.g. Boris A. Litvinsky (ed): The crossroads of civilizations. A.D. 250 to 750 (= History of Civilizations of Central Asia Bd. 3). Paris 1996, p. 120. a group called the Xionites began to attack the Sassanid Empire. They conquered Bactria, but Shapur II eventually reconciled them. Later they allied with the Persians, participated in the Roman-Persian War and joined in the Siege of Amida (359) under their king Grumbates. Written reports come from Ammianus Marcellinus, among others. The Middle Persian term Xyon seems to be related to both 'Xionite' and 'Hun' but does not imply that all groups with this name were related or ethnically homogenous. Among the Iranian Huns, except possibly the Xionites, we can recognize definite Iranian elements, notably the Bactrian language as an administrative language and coin inscriptions.
The name Kidarites comes from their first known ruler, Kidara I (circa 350–385). They made coins in imitation of the Kushano-Sasanids who had previously ruled the area. Many coin-hoards have been found in the Kabul area which allows us to date the start of their rule to about 380. Kidarite coins found in Gandhara suggest that their rule sometimes extended into northern India. Their coins are inscribed in Bactrian, Sogdian and Middle Persian and in the Brahmi script.
Their power fell in the later fifth century. Their capital, Balkh, fell in 467 probably after a great victory of Peroz I over their king Kunkhas. Their rule in Gandhara lasted until at least 477, for in that year they sent an embassy to the Northern Wei dynasty. They seem to have held out in Kashmir a little longer, and then all traces disappear. By this time the Hephthalites had established themselves in Bactria and the Alkhons had driven the Kidarites out of the land south of the Hindu Kush.
Under their king Khingila (died about 490) they attacked Gandhara and drove out the Kidarites. Their following attacks on Indian princes seem to have been unsuccessful. In the early sixth century they expanded from Gandhara to northwest India and practically destroyed the rule of the Guptas, whose coins they imitated. This claim of an Alkhon invasion is based entirely on coin-finds since Indian sources call all of the northern invaders 'Hunas', including perhaps the Hephthalites.Among others Boris A. Litvinsky: The Hephthalite Empire. In: Boris A. Litvinsky (Hrsg.): The crossroads of civilizations. A.D. 250 to 750. =UNESCO, volume iii, Paris 1996, p. 141–143. Compare to A. D. Bivar: Hephthalites. In: Encyclopædia Iranica, who emphasizes the difficulty of a clear distinction. Under Toramana and his son Mihirakula (515-540/50?) they were especially aggressive. Mihirakula is portrayed negatively and is accused of persecuting Buddhists. Around the middle of the sixth century their power in north India broke down. Mihirakula suffered a serious defeat in 528 and thereafter his power was limited. His capital was Sialkot in Punjab which was once an important Indo-Greek center. After his death (550?) they stopped pressing their attacks. Despite its short duration the Huna invasion was politically and culturally devastating for India. Later some of the Alkhons seem to have returned to Bactria.
Their coins are strongly based on Sassanid models but are clearly recognizable by their distinctive bulls-head crowns which allow the coins to be divided into types. It seems that returning Alkhon groups met the Nizaks and produced an Alkhon-Nizak mixed language.
It is certain that they expanded to Gandhara and minted coins there. Chinese sources from the early seventh century prove that their capital was Kapisa. Their remnants south of the Hindu Kush seem to have been destroyed by the Arab conquest in the late seventh century.
To the end of the fifth century they had spread from eastern Tocharistan (Bactria) and brought several neighboring areas under control. They expanded not to India but to Transoxana. The Hunas reported from Indian sources were probably Alkhons (see above). By the beginning of the sixth century they controlled a significant area in Bactria and Sogdia.
The Hephthalites had many conflicts with the Persians. In 484 Peroz I fell in battle against the Hephthalites, who had defeated him before. In 498/99 they restored Kavadh I to the throne. The Persians seem to have paid tribute, at least some of the time. Among the Iranian Huns the Hephthalites were the most serious threat to the Persians. Syrian and Armenian sources report repeated Sassanid attempts to secure their northeast border which led to disaster for Peroz I who had previously defeated the Kidarites. According to Procopius they had an effective ruling system with a king at the top and, at least after the conquest of Bactria and Sogdia, were no longer nomads. They used Bactrian language as an administrative language and used the urban centers of their realm, notably Gorgo (location?) and Balkh. Around 560 their realm was destroyed by an alliance of Persians and Gokturks. Hephthalite remnants lasted until the Arab conquest in the late seventh and early eighth centuries.
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