Turk Shahis

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Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)
Karkota Empire in the eighth century CE.

Turk Shahis or Kabul Shahis were a dynasty of Western Turk, or mixed Turko-Hephthalite, or a group of Hephthalites origin,[1] that ruled from Kabul and Kapisha to Gandhara in the 7th to 9th centuries AD.[2][3][4] The Gandhara territory may have been bordering the Kashmir kingdom and the Kannauj kingdom to the east.[5]

Variants

Ethnicity

They may have been of Khalaj ethnicity.[6][7][8]

History

From the 560s, the Western Turks had gradually expanded southeasterward from Transoxonia, and occupied Bactria and the Hindu Kush region, forming largely independent polities.[9] 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).[10]

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.[11] The Ghaznavids then finally broke through into India after overpowering the declining subsequent Hindu Shahis and Gurjaras.[12]

Kabulistan was the heartland of the Turk Shahi domain, which at times included Zabulistan and Gandhara.[13]

Territorial extents

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.[14][15]

Overall, the territory of the Turk Shahi extended from Kapisi to Gandhara, with a Turkic branch becoming independent in Zabulistan at one point.[16] The Gandhara territory may have been bordering the Kashmir kingdom and the Kanauj kingdom to the east.[17] The Turk Shahi capital of Gandhara, which possibly functioned as a winter capital alternating with the summer capital of Kabul, was Udabhandapura.[18] The Korean pilgrim Hui Chao, visiting the area in 723–729 AD, mentioned that these regions were ruled by Turk kings.

Turk Shahi rulers

Turk Shahi rulers (665-822 CE) Turk Shahi tamgha

The Turks of Tukharistan and the Kabul Valley were Buddhists

Buddha Prakash[19] mentions .... The Turks of Tukharistan and the Kabul Valley were, however, devout and pious Buddhists. The Chinese pilgrim Wuk’ong, who stayed in Gandhara for well over forty years in the latter half of the eighth century, reported that the Turki ruler, his queen, his eldest son and other members of his family and,

[p.130]: following them, his generals and administrative officers undertook to repair the shrines and sanctuaries destroyed by the Hephthalites and launched a programme of founding new endowments and establishments and extended their constructive activity to Kashmira also (E. Chavannes et S. Levi, 'L' itineraire de Wouk‘ong'Journal Asiatique (1895) p. 356). That they were Indianized is manifest from the remarks of many authors. To their house probably belonged Shri Spalapati Deva whose coins, bearing legends in Brahmi and Tukharian, have been found up to the village Tatarski Tolkish in the Tartar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and in Niederlandin in the Angermunde district (DDR). (Spalapati = Warlord)

Account of Korean Buddhist Hui Chao

Buddha Prakash[20] mentions .... [p.130]: The Panjab became independent under a ruling house with its capital at Jullundur. In the first quarter of the-eighth century, the Korean pilgrim Hui Ch’ao (704–787) toured through this country and noted that its king had 300 war-elephants and lived at a city which he built on hill side. His account shows that, this king of Jullundur was an important power in North India, but the kings of Kashmira and Middle India frequently invaded and annexed his territory forcing him to retire to the hill retreat. One drawback of this kingdom, according to him, was the dearth and scarcity of horses, the king having only 100 and the chiefs three to five. This may be due to the fact that the sources of horse supply were cut in the north by the Turki Shahis and in the west by the Muslim invaders of Sind as well as by the king of Middle India Yashovarman, who had conquered and controlled Rajasthan and Hariyana, as Vakpati states in his Gaudavaho.

The Korean pilgrim states that the kings of Kashmira and Middle India frequently invaded and annexed the territory of the kingdom of Jullundur. The king of Kashmira at that time was Chandrapida (713-722) of the Naga or Karkota dynasty, who also possessed a force of 300 elephants according to that pilgrim, and the king of Middle India, having his capital at Ke-na-chi-tzta (Kanauj), was Yashovarman, about whom he writes as follows ;

“The territory of this Central Indian king is very broad, the inhabitants here are populous. The king possesses 900 elephants, the rest of great chiefs, each possesses two to three hundred elephants. The king himself often led troops
[p.131] in battles, frequently fought with other rulers and the Central Indian king is always victorious” (Fujita Toyohaohi, Hui-Ch'ao wong wu-t'ien-chu-kuo chuan chien-shih, p. 10) translated by Jan Yun-hua, ‘Some Fresh Reflections on Yashovarman of Kanauj and Muktapida of Kashmira, Journal of Indian History, Vol. XLV (April 1967.)

This king, called Yi-sha-fu-mo, is reported to have sent one Bhadanta, named Po-ta-hsin (Bhaṭṭasena ?) to the court of the Tang in China between November 4 and December 3, 731 A.D. with presents of local products. The Gaudavaho represents him as a conqueror of the whole of India.

Yashovarman followed a vigorous policy in regard to the Panjab also. The Gaudavaho (verse 484) refers to his conquest of Rajasthan (Marudesha), and Hariyana (Shrikantha-Kurukshetra). Hui Ch’ao mentions his frequent invasions of the kingdom of Jullundur and annexations of its territory and the Nalanda Inscription (Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XX, pp.37-46) suggests his conquest of Western Panjab after which he appointed a governor with the title of Udicipati (lord of the north) and mārgapati (warden of the marches) there. This Udicipati-mārgapati is called pratita-tikina (one who has rivalled or excelled the tikin) showing that he took arms against the Turki Shahi rulers of the North-West. The discovery of Yashovarman’s coin in the Manikyala stapa also indicates his influence over that region. In spite of a clash of interests over the Panjab, particularly the kingdom of Jullundur, Yashovarman maintained workably good relations with the kings of Kashmira, obviously to stem and stave off the menace of the Tibetans who were pressing on Baltistan. This is clear from the account of an embassy under Bhadanta Wu-li-to sent by Lalitaditya Muktapida, who came to the throne of Kashmira after his brother Tarapida in 726, to the court of the Tang emperor Hiuen-Tsung on May 10, 733. The Hsin Tang-slut (New History of the T’ang Dynasty) states that the envoy of Kashmira presented a memorial to the Chinese emperor conveying the following message of Lalitaditya:

“I, an humble subject of Your Majesty, along with the king of Central India, control the five principal routes of communication of Tibet having fought against the Tibetans with constant victories. If Your Majesty, the Heavenly Khan, will despatch the Imperial armies to Po-lu (Baltistan), I
[p.132] would be able to supply food to two hundred thousand soldiers. Moreover, there is a dragon pool in the country named Mo-ho-poto-mo ( Mahapadma). I wish to build a memorial building for Your Majesty, the Heavenly Khan. I, therefore, pray for an Imperial appointment by proclamation”.

Relations between Kanauj and Kashmir

Buddha Prakash[21] mentions .... This communication shows that, up to 733, the relations between Kanauj and Kashmira were good and they even collaborated in checking the Tibetans. But Lalitaditya Muktapida was cast in a different mould. He was pushing and aggressive and intolerant of rivals. Besides this, some of the Turki Sahi princes, menaced by Yashovarman in the North-West, took refuge in Kashmira and rose to high positions there. One of them Caṅkuṇa ( Tsiang-kiun or Tegin), seems to have instigated Lalitaditya to march against Yashovarman and put an end to his supremacy in the Panjab and the North-West. On his advice Lalitaditya led an expedition against Yashovarman, Kalhana says that Cankuna played a leading part in this campaign. Starting in the rainy season, he somehow negotiated the flooded rivers of the Panjab and reached the doab of the Ganga and the Yamuna (Rajatarangini, IV, p.132). After prolonged hostilities parleys of peace started but broke down on the ticklish question of the precedence of names in the preamble to the treaty. Hence fighting flared up, Yashovarman was defeated and “the land of Kanauj from the bank of the Yamuna to that of the Kalika (Kali Nadi) was so much in the power of Lalitaditya as the courtyard of his palace” (Rajatarangini, IV, p.145) The result of the victory was that Panjab, Jullundur and Kangra were wrested by Lalitaditya and given over to his attendants, probably the Turki Shahi princes. So the outcome of the conflict between Kashmira and Kanauj was the establishment of the Turki Shahis over the Panjab.

Lalitaditya was for the time being the paramount sovereign of India. But the pressure of the Tibetans mounted and they conquered Baltistan in 744. The Tibetan prince LJan-tsa-lha-bdon,who is probably Shalya of the Rajatarangini, led an army of 8,00,003 against Kashmira whereupon Lalitaditya committed suicide in discomfiture. (K.K.Datta Shastri, ‘A Note on Rajatarangini/Vishveshvaranand Indological Journal, Vol.III (Sept. 1965) p. 243). After him came a succession of weak kings. Hence the Turki Sahis became dominant in the Panjab.

Turki-Shahi kings of the Kabul and Huna Kings of Zabul

Buddha Prakash[22] mentions .... [p.132]: The Turki-Shahi kings of the Kabul Valley and the Huna Kings of Zabul, called Zambil by Muslim writers, often fought

[p. 133]: among themselves. This is clear from the fact that sometimes these writers refer to Zambil as the king of Kabul which implies the conquest by him of the Turki Sahi realm. Naturally the resistance from their side must have also been quite stubborn. But the story of their heroic struggle with the Muslims eclipses the episodes of conflict and tension among them, On some occasions we also hear of some collaboration among them.

Few events in history are more stirring than the grim resistance offered by the people of Zabul and Kabul to Muslim invaders over a long period of time. In 650, when the Arab general Abdullah-ibn-Amir set out for Khurasan, he despatched Al-Rabi- ibn-Ziyad to Sijistan or Seistan, the lowlands lying round and to the east, of the Zarah Lake. Al-Rabi reached the Helmund and appeared before Zaranj, the capital of the country. The people of the city opposed him fiercely and wounded a number of Muslims, but had to retire into the city. Baladhuri states that the satrap of the city was so terrified as to allow the Arab general to enter the city. But, from the fact that two and a half years later Abdur-Rahman-ibn- Samurah compelled the satrap to pay 2,000.000 dirhams, it appears that that region was not annexed to the Muslim kingdom. On receiving the tribute from him, Abdur-Rahman marched on Az-zur where he plundered the temple cutting off the hand and taking out the two rubies from the eyes of the golden idol to shake the faith of the people. Then he is said to have obtained control of Bust and Zabul. But there is something fishy about the account for it is said that he made no prisoners. In view of some agreement entered into by the Caliph Uthman. However the people expelled his successor Umar-ibn-Ahmar from Seistan and closed the town Zaranj. During the reign of Muawiyah, Abur-Rahman was sent again as governor of that region, but he was faced with a formidable task, for it is said that the people of Seistan had apostatized and those of Zabul broken their treaties. Yet he controlled the situation defeating the people of Zabul and reducing those of Kabul taking with him slaves captured there. Before his death in 670 A.D. Al-Rabi-ibn-Ziyad was appointed governor. During his term Kabul and Zabul again revolted. The king of Kabul assembled a force to oppose the Muslims and drove out those, who were in Kabul, while the king of Zabul recovered his kingdom up to Bust. Al-Rabi had to lead an expedition against the king of Zabul and throw him back even from Al-Dawar. The next governor Ubaidul iah-ibn-

[p.134]: abi-Bakrah continued, the war and reached Razan. However, negotiations were opened, Ubaidullah demanded 12,00,000 dirhams, for letting Zabul and Kabul live in peace, but they offered less, at last the bargain was struck at 10,00,000 and the treaty was confirmed by the governor of Basrah. But, in 680, the people of Kabul again rose and imprisoned Abu-Ubaidah-ibn-Ziyad. The governor of Seistan proceeded against the insurgents, but he and many of his followers were killed and the rest put to flight. Even leaders like Zayd-ibn-Abdullah and Silah-ibn-Ashtam-Abussabha perished. The Arabs had to ransom Abu-Ubaidah for 5,00,000 dirhams. Asa result the cities of Seistan became free from the Caliph’s control.

In 683 Abdul-Aziz-ibn-Abdullah-ibn-Amir arrived as the governor of Seistan, but had to stop at Zaranj owing to the war with the king of Zabul. But soon Abu-Afra-Umar-al-Mazim killed the king of Zabul. Yet the war did not end with the death of that prince.

In 692 the new governor Abdullah had to continue the war. Talks for peace were opened. The king of Zabul was ready to pay 10,00,000 dirhams. But Abdullah wanted that his tent be filled with gold. Hence hostilities were resumed. The Arab army penetrated deep into the country. The Zabulites retreated and entrapped the invaders. At last Abdullah was compelled to be content with the payment of 3,00,000 dirhams only. On this he was dismissed by the Caliph Abdul Malik. During the viceroyalty of Al-Hajjaj (694-713) Ubaidullah-ibn- Abi-Bakrah was appointed the governor of Seistan. Immediately on joining he advanced on Kabul. The king of Kabul blocked a mountain path. The king of Zabul also joined him. The Arab army was in a crisis. Ubaidullah had to make peace and agreed not to disturb them against a payment of 5,00,000 dirhams. In token of the treaty, he sent his three sons, Nahar, Al-Hajjaj and Abu Bakrah, as hostages to Kabul. This humiliating peace sent ashudder in the Arab camp. Some generals did not reconcile themselves to it. One Shuraih rejected the treaty and led a charge against Kabul. But he was killed and his army perished. Ubaidullah died of grief. Al-Hajjaj sent another army to avenge the defeat. It defeated the king of Zabul, but its movements were slowed by his retreat. Al-Hajjaj recalled its general Abdur-Rahman. But he rebelled and joined the king of Zabul. On this Al-Hajjaj had to make peace with the king of Zabul agreeing not to make war on him for seven years and remained friendly with him till his death in 714. In 710 the governor of Khurasan, Qutyba, undertook a cam-

[p.135]: paign against Zabul, but it proved abortive. In the reign of the Caliph Sulairaan (715-17) the king of Zabul ceased to pay the contribution. For well over forty years Zabul enjoyed a spell of peace. In the reign of the Caliph, Al-Mansur (754-75), steps were again taken against it. Man-ibn-Zaidah took over as governor of Seistan and demanded tribute from Zabul. Its king replied by sending some camels, Turkish tents and slaves reckoning each at double its value. This enraged the Arab governor to resume war. When he marched on ar-Rukhaj, the king withdrew to Zabul. Ar-Rukhaj fell to the invader and 30,000 slaves came to his lot, but his success was pyrrhic. During the Caliphate of Al-Mahdi (775-85) and Al-Rashid (786-808) also Seistan was not completely subjugated, as Baladhuri states, and their officers continued to collect tribute as well as they could. In 792-3 an army under Ibrahim-ibn Jibul crossed the Hindukush and stormed Kapishi forcing its king to retire to Kabul When the next caliph, Al-Mamun (808-818), was in Khurasan, the king of Kabul is said to have professed Islam and offered allegiance. But the gains were not lasting. The Zambil (king of Zabul) was in Kabul giving shelter to Nasr and Salih, the sons of Darhim, in 867 on the conquest of Seistan by Yaqub-bin Layth. Yaqub turned against Zabul and conquered Kabul in 870 but his dynasty was replaced by that of the Samanids who did not make any serious effort to extend their authority in the Kabul Valley.

With the conquest of Kapishi by the Arabs in 792-3, its Turki Shahi ruler moved to Kabul. This event seems to underly the tradition of the entering of Barhatikin in a cave at Kabul recorded by Al Biruni (E.C. Sachau, Al-Beruni's India, Vol II p. 10). However, on account of the confused account, transmitted to him, Al-Biruni observed that sixty generations of rulers had intervened between Barhatikin and his own time.

Turki Sahi of Kabul displaced by Lalliya of Hindu Shahi

Buddha Prakash[23] mentions .... [p.135]: As said above, in the ninth century the Arabs exercised relentless pressure on Kabul. From the east the Pratihara rulers of Kanauj struck at them. Nagabhata II (795-833) wrested some territory in the Panjab from them and Mihira Bhoja (836-90) sent an expedition under Harsharsja Guhila against them (Chatsu Inscription, Epigraphia Indica, XII, p.13). As a result of these moves, East Panjab was annexed to the Pratihara empire and West Panjab was placed under the viceroyalty of Alakhana with his capital at or near Gujarat. Almost at the same time the people revolted against the tyranny of the Turki ruler

[p.136]: Laghturman who, according to Al-Biruni, had ‘bad manners and a worse behaviour’. (E. C. Sachau, Al-Berun's India, Vol. II p. 13). Under these blows and pressures, external as well as internal, the Turki Sahi kingdom of Kabul fell and the Brahmana minister of the king, Laghturman, whom Kalhana calls Lalliya and Al Biruni, Kallar, staged a coup'd’ etat and shifted his capital to Ohind or Udbhandapura on the Indus. His kingdom included the lower Kabul Valley from Laghman (Lampaka) to Gandhara and also parts of western Panjab. He was a powerful ruler, “whose mighty glory outshone the kings of the north just as the sun-disc outshines the stars in heaven”, as Kalhana states (Rajatarangini V, 154). ‘In his capital of Udbhandapura other kings found safety, just as the mountains in the ocean, when threatened by the danger of having their wings cut by Indra ” (Ibid,, V, 153). That he was friendly to the Pratiharas is clear from the fact that he gave shelter to the Pratihara chief Alakhana when he was defeated by the king of Kashmira, Shankaravarman, and compelled to surrender the Takka country to him.

It appears that the Turki Sahi rulers, displaced by Lalliya, took refuge with the king of Kashmira while he made friends with the Pratiharas. Thus the entente of the Brahmana Sahis and the Pratiharas was confronted with the alliance of the Turki Sahis and the king of Kashmira. But there seems to have been no encounter between them on account of their respective problems. However H. C. Ray suggests that the violent death of the king of Kashmira, Shankaravarman, in the hills of Hazara, may be due to the complicity of the Sahis (Dynastic History of Northern India, Vol. I, p. 75).

External links

References

  1. ↑ Wink, Andre (2020). The Making of the Indo-Islamic World C.700–1800 CE. Cambridge University. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-108-28475-2.
  2. ↑ "Contained within a clay urn were a gold bracteate with the portrait of a ruler, three early drachms of the Turk-Shahis (Type 236, one of which is countermarked), and a countermarked drachm of the Sasanian king Khusro II dating from year 37 of his reign (= 626/7). The two countermarks on Khusro 's drachm prove that the urn could only have been deposited after 689" Alram 2014, pp. 282–285
  3. ↑ Kim, Hyun Jin (19 November 2015). The Huns. Routledge. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-1-317-34090-4.
  4. ↑ "The advance of Islamic forces both into Tokharistan in the north and into Zabulistan farther south was opposed by local rulers of probably Western Turkish identity" in Vondrovec, Klaus. "Coinage of the Nezak": 181.
  5. ↑ Inaba, Minoru (2010). Khotan in the last quarter of the first millennium: is there artistic evidence of the interrelation between Khotan and Tibet? A preliminary survey, Coins, Art and Chronology II: From Kesar the Kābulšāh and Central Asia. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. pp. 443–444.
  6. ↑ "The new rulers of Kabul, who according to me were Khalaj Turks, extended their rule over the former territory of the Kapisi kingdom [Kapisa to Gandhara], while a branch of them became independent in Zabulistan. A Korean monk Huichao (慧超) who visited these regions in the third decade of the 8th century, reported that both regions were ruled by the Turkish kings." Inaba, Minoru. "From Kesar the Kābulšāh and Central Asia": 443–444.
  7. ↑ Rezakhani, Khodadad (2017-03-15). ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh University Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-4744-0030-5. A Bactrian Document (BD T) from this period brings interesting information about the area to our attention. In it, dated to BE 476 (701 AD), a princess identified as `Bag-aziyas, the Great Turkish Princess, the Queen of Qutlugh Tapaghligh Bilga Sävüg, the Princess of the Khalach, the Lady of Kadagestan offers alms to the local god of the region of Rob, known as Kamird, for the health of (her) child. Inaba, arguing for the Khalaj identity of the kings of Kabul, takes this document as a proof that the Khalaj princess is from Kabul and has been offered to the (Hephthalite) king of Kadagestan, thus becoming the lady of that region. The identification of Kadagestan as a Hephthalite stronghold is based on Grenet's suggestion of the survival of Hephthalite minor stares in this region...
  8. ↑ "Ḵalaj i. Tribe – Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org.
  9. ↑ "The period from 560 CE onwards would be that of the Western Turks, although it is not clear how and foremost when they gained power over Bactria and the Hindukush-region. Minoru Inaba states that "gradually having extended their power, they came to be independent ..."" in Vondrovec, Klaus. "Coinage of the Nezak": 173.
  10. ↑ Kim, Hyun Jin (19 November 2015). The Huns. Routledge. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-1-317-34090-4.
  11. ↑ Alram, Michael (1 February 2021). Sasanian Iran in the Context of Late Antiquity: The Bahari Lecture Series at the University of Oxford. BRILL. p. 21. ISBN 978-90-04-46066-9.
  12. ↑ Kim, Hyun Jin (19 November 2015). The Huns. Routledge. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-1-317-34090-4.
  13. ↑ "The Countenance of the other (The Coins of the Huns and Western Turks in Central Asia and India) 2012-2013 exhibit: 15. The Rutbils of Zabulistan and the "Emperor of Rome"". Pro.geo.univie.ac.at. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.
  14. ↑ Klaus Vondrovec (2014). Coinage of the Iranian Huns and Their Successors from Bactria to Gandhara (4th to 8th Century CE). Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. ISBN 978-3-7001-7695-4.
  15. ↑ Laet, Sigfried J. de; Herrmann, Joachim (January 1996). History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. UNESCO. p. 475. ISBN 978-92-3-102812-0.
  16. ↑ Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A. (January 1996). History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750. UNESCO. p. 375. ISBN 978-92-3-103211-0.
  17. ↑ Inaba, Minoru (2010). Khotan in the last quarter of the first millennium: is there artistic evidence of the interrelation between Khotan and Tibet? A preliminary survey, Coins, Art and Chronology II: From Kesar the Kābulšāh and Central Asia. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. pp. 443–444.
  18. ↑ "The capital of the state of Kapisa–Gandhara (possibly, its winter capital) was Udabhandapura, now the settlement of Hund, situated on the right bank of the Kabul river. Most of the city was surrounded by a defensive rampart." in Harmatta, J.; Litvinsky, B. A. (1992). History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Tokharistan and Gandhara under Western Türk Rule (650–750). Unesco. p. 391. ISBN 978-92-3-103211-0.
  19. ↑ Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Panjab, XII. The Guard on the North Western Frontier,p.129-130
  20. ↑ Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Panjab, XII. The Guard on the North Western Frontier,p.130-132
  21. ↑ Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Panjab, XII. The Guard on the North Western Frontier,p.132
  22. ↑ Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Panjab, XII. The Guard on the North Western Frontier,p.132-135
  23. ↑ Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Panjab, XII. The Guard on the North Western Frontier,p.135-136
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