Kidarites
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Kidarites (किदार) were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries. They were a branch of Kushanas.[1]
Variants
- Chionites (from the Iranian names Xwn/Xyon)
- Kiddara Kushans
Origin
- The Kidarites were named after Kidara
History
The Kidarites belonged to a complex of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna, and in Europe as the Chionites (from the Iranian names Xwn/Xyon), and may even be considered as identical to the Chionites.[2]The 5th century Byzantine historian Priscus called them Kidarite Huns, or "Huns who are Kidarites". The Huna/Xionite tribes are often linked, albeit controversially, to the Huns who invaded Eastern Europe during a similar period. They are entirely different from the Hephthalites, who replaced them about a century later.[3]
The Kidarites were named after Kidara (Chinese: 寄多羅 Jiduoluo, ancient pronunciation: Kjie-ta-la)[4][5] one of their main rulers. The Kidarites appear to have been a part of a Huna horde known in Latin sources as the "Kermichiones" (from the Iranian Karmir Xyon) or "Red Huna". The Kidarites established the first of four major Xionite/Huna states in Central Asia, followed by the Alchon, the Hephthalites and the Nezak.
In 360–370 CE, a Kidarite kingdom was established in Central Asian regions previously ruled by the Sasanian Empire, replacing the Kushano-Sasanians in Bactria.[6] Thereafter, the Sasanian Empire roughly stopped at Merv.[7]
Next, circa 390-410 CE, the Kidarites invaded northwestern India, where they replaced the remnants of the Kushan Empire in the area of Punjab.
Buddha Prakash
Buddha Prakash [8]The conquest of western Panjab, Kabul Valley and Bactria ensured peace in that region for about half a century. But, in 437 A.D., a branch of the Kushanas, called Kidarites, spread their sway in Gandhara. Under their chief, Kungkas, son of Kidara, they consolidated their power. At that time another branch of Iranic or Scythic people, called the- Hephthalites or Hunas, pressed into Bactria. Menaced by them the Sassanids and the Kidarites came close to each other. By 455 they and the Hephthalites or Hunas, following and some even accompanying them, invaded the Panjab. In that crisis the Gupta emperor entrusted the command of the army to his gallant son Skandagupta.
Jat History
Bhim Singh Dahiya[9]writes that we will try to show that the Kidarites and the so-called Haphthalite kings like Kunga, etc. took the names of their clans and it was by their clanish names that they were known in history. This does not mean that they were not Jats because all these clans are still found to be very much in existence among the Jats in India.
B S Dahiya[10] writes: 35. Katariya/Katar - The Chinese work Pei-She, refers to a king of a Ta Yue-che (i.e., Great Jats) and called him Ki-to-lo which has been rendered by historians as Kidara, perhaps, because in the Chinese language, 't' is used for 't', 'th', 'd', etc. But, the Chinese name She-ki-lo is rendered as Sakala where both Ki and Lo are rendered as Ka and La. So, Ki-to-lo can be rendered, as Katara with equal justification. In fact the word Kedara, was taken as Ketara in Eastern India, as per Brihat-Kalpa Sutra Bhasya.[11] Paul Pelliot supposed that they (the Kidarites) were a clan of Tukhars (Takkhars), perhaps, because they were settled in Turkharistan area.[12] It is generally agreed that Ki-to-lo (Katara or Kidara) is a dynastic name. In fact, it is a clan name and Katariya Jats are even now found in Rohtak district, e.g., in village Samchana. This is further proved from the Chinese annals Pei She itself as it says that Ki-to-lo, the king, was attacked by Jujuan and further it says that another Ki-to-lo was pressed westwards by the Hiungnu (Hunas or Henga Jats). Again Ki-to-lo is the name of a country
Page-260: whose ambassador visited China in 477 A.D. according to Wei Shu. This is the same story of a clan name used for the king as well as for the people and the country over which he ruled. This thing happened, with Kasvans (Kusanas) the Gorayas, the Takkhars and so on. But the important thing is that this clan name Katara/Kidara, was used for a very long time on coins in Kashmir, by king Pravarasen II, son of Toramana and also in Punjab by kings named Bhasvan, Kusala, Prakasa, Siladitya, Kritavirya, etc., about whom nothing else is known. Only their coins show that they were Kidarites or Katariya Jats. The first Jat king called Ketara/Kidara, when pressed by another Jat tribe, named Janjuan (Jujuan of the Chinese), came to Balkh and from there attacked. India, occupying Gandhara and four other kingdoms, while his son took Purushpura, i.e., Peshawar, before 436 A.D. Altekar however, holds on numismatic evidence, that Kidarites rose to power in about 340 A.D. In 356/57 A.D. Shahpuhr II of Iran attacked them in Gandhara and the Katariya Jats sought help from Dharan Jats under Samudragupta, and in 367/68 A.D. they crushed the power of the Iranian king in a fierce battle. In 375 A.D. the first king Kidara/Kitara was succeeded by his son, named Piru, who extended his power further into India and again Piru is a Jat clan. He was succeeded by Varaharan. Barhana a village in Rohtak district, seems to have been named after him. Piru and Kedar are personal names of many Jats of today.
Bhim Singh Dahiya[13] writes... Thus we find that 'Sung-yun was correct in naming the ruler of Gandhara but, as often, he gave the clan name and not the personal name of the ruler, the latter being Ramanila of the coins. This however, does not mean that Gandhara, Kabul and Gazni were not under the Jats earlier. We know that up to the first century B.C. it was continuously ruled by them and the Jaulas had only replaced the Kasvan Jats, the so-called later Kushana/Kidarites.
External links
References
- ↑ Buddha Prakash: Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Panja, XI. The Era of Consolidation and Expansion, p.118
- ↑ Bakker, Hans T. (12 March 2020). The Alkhan: A Hunnic People in South Asia. Barkhuis. p. 10. ISBN 978-94-93194-00-7.
- ↑ Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A. (1996). History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750. UNESCO. pp. 119–120. ISBN 9789231032110
- ↑ Cribb, Joe (2010). Alram, M. (ed.). "The Kidarites, the numismatic evidence.pdf". Coins, Art and Chronology Ii, Edited by M. Alram et al. Coins, Art and Chronology II: 91–146. Free access icon pp. 95–96.
- ↑ Daryaee, Touraj (2014). Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–240. ISBN 978-0857716668. p.17
- ↑ Sasanian Seals and Sealings, Rika Gyselen, Peeters Publishers, 2007, p.1; The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila, Michael Maas, Cambridge University Press, 2014 p.284sq
- ↑ The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila, Michael Maas, Cambridge University Press, 2014 p.284sq
- ↑ Buddha Prakash: Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Panja, XI. The Era of Consolidation and Expansion, p.118
- ↑ Jats the Ancient Rulers (A clan study)/The Jats,p.9
- ↑ Jats the Ancient Rulers (A clan study)/Jat Clan in India,p. 259-260
- ↑ VIJ, Vol, XVI, pt. I, p. 86; ancl JNSI, 1950,12 p. 199,
- ↑ JA, 1934, p. 42,
- ↑ Bhim Singh Dahiya: Jats the Ancient Rulers (A clan study)/Harsha Vardhana : Linkage and Identity,p.222