Nezak Huns

Nezak Huns
𐭭𐭩𐭰𐭪𐭩 nycky
484–665 CE
Royal Bull's-head crown of the Nezak kings of Nezak Huns
Royal Bull's-head crown of the Nezak kings
The Nezak Huns and contemporary continental Asian polities c. 500 CE.
CapitalGhazna
Kapisa
Common languagesPahlavi script (written)[1]
Middle Persian (common)[1]
Religion
Buddhism
Hinduism
GovernmentNomadic empire
Nezak Shah 
• 653 - 665
Ghar-ilchi
Historical eraLate Antiquity
• Established
484
• Disestablished
665 CE
CurrencyHunnic Drachm
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Sasanian Empire
Alchon Huns
Turk Shahis
Zunbils
Today part ofAfghanistan
Pakistan

The Nezak Huns (Pahlavi: 𐭭𐭩𐭰𐭪𐭩 nycky), also Nezak Shahs,[1] was a significant principality in the south of the Hindu Kush region of South Asia from circa 484 to 665 CE. Despite being traditionally identified as the last of the four Hunnic states in South asia, their ethnicity remains disputed and speculative. The dynasty is primarily evidenced by coinage inscribing a characteristic water-buffalo-head crown and an eponymous legend.

The Nezak Huns rose to power after the Sasanian Empire's defeat by the Hephthalites. Their founder Khingal may have been from a Hunnic group, allied to the Hephthalites, or an indigenous ruler who accepted tributary status. Little is known about the rulers who followed him; they received regular diplomatic missions from the Tang dynasty, and some coexisted with the Alchon Huns from about the mid-sixth century.

The polity collapsed in the mid-seventh century after experiencing increasingly frequent invasions from the Arab frontier; the last ruler was Ghar-ilchi. A vassal Barha Tegin usurped the throne and established the Turk Shahis. Half-a-century later, two rulers in Western Tokharistan, who used the appellation "Nezak Tarkhan", played significant roles in opposing a Governor of the Umayyad Caliphate; their links with the Nezak Huns remain speculative.

  1. ^ a b c Rezakhani 2017, p. 159.

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