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Zunbils

Zunbils
680–870[1][2]
Approximate location of the Zunbils (), and contemporary polities c. 800
Ghazni, the capital, and other important cities of the Zunbils (brown dots), c. 725
CapitalGhazni
Common languagesBactrian
Religion
Hinduism
Buddhism
Zoroastrianism
Historical eraEarly Middle Ages
• Established
680
• Disestablished
870[1][2]
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Alchon Huns
Nezak Huns
Tokhara Yabghus
Turk Shahis
Saffarid dynasty
Samanid dynasty
Lawik dynasty
Today part ofAfghanistan

Zunbil, also written as Zhunbil, or Rutbils of Zabulistan,[3] was a royal dynasty south of the Hindu Kush in present southern Afghanistan region. They were a dynasty of Hephthalite origin.[4] They ruled from circa 680 AD until the Saffarid conquest in 870 AD.[3][2] The Zunbil dynasty was founded by Rutbil (Turkic: Iltäbär), the elder brother of the Turk Shahi ruler (either Barha Tegin or Tegin Shah), who ruled over the Hephthalite kingdom from his capital in Kabul.[3][5][6][7][8][9] The Zunbils are described as having Turkish troops in their service by Arabic sources like Tarikh al-Tabari and Tarikh-i Sistan.[10] However the term "Turk" was used in an inaccurate and loose way.[4]

The faith of this community has not been researched as much. According to the interpretation of Chinese sources by Marquarts and de Groots in 1915, the king of Ts'ao is said to have worn a crown with a golden fish head and was related to the Sogdians. The Temple of the Zun was recognizable by a large fish skeleton on display; this would indicate a related merchantry deity.[11] In addition to that Marquarts states the Zunbils to have worshipped a solar deity which might have been connected to Aditya (Surya). However, according to Shōshin Kuwayama there was a clear dichotomy between worshipers of the Hindu god Surya and followers of Zhun. This is exemplified by the conflict between Surya and Zhun followers, which led to the followers of Zhun migrating southwards towards Zabulistan from Kapisa.[12][1] According to André Wink the god Zhun was primarily Hindu, though parallels have also been noted with pre-Buddhist religious and monarchy practices in Tibet and had Zoroastrian influence in its ritual.[13][14] Other scholars such as H. Schaeder and N. Sims-William have connected it with Zurvan.[15]

Their territory included between what is now the city of Zaranj in southwestern Afghanistan and Kabulistan in the northeast, with Zamindawar and Ghazni serving as their capitals.[16] In the south their territory reached at times the cities of Rakhwad (al-Rukhkhaj) and Bost (near Kandahar).[3]

The title Zunbil can be traced back to the Middle-Persian original Zūn-dātbar, 'Zun the Justice-giver'. The geographical name Zamindawar would also reflect this, from Middle Persian 'Zamin-i dātbar' (Land of the Justice-giver).[17]

  1. ^ ALRAM, MICHAEL (2014). "From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush" (PDF). The Numismatic Chronicle. 174: 282–285. ISSN 0078-2696. JSTOR 44710198.
  2. ^ a b "16. THE HINDU SHAHIS IN KABULISTAN AND GANDHARA AND THE ARAB CONQUEST". Pro.geo.univie.ac.at. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Alram, Michael; Filigenzi, Anna; Kinberger, Michaela; Nell, Daniel; Pfisterer, Matthias; Vondrovec, Klaus. "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. Archived from the original on 5 September 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  4. ^ a b Wink, Andre. The Making of the Indo-Islamic World C.700–1800 CE. Cambridge University Press. p. 63.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference KHM14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Andre Wink, Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Vol.1, (Brill, 1996), 115;""The Zunbils of the early Islamic period and the Kabulshahs were almost certainly epigoni of the southern-Hephthalite rulers of Zabul."
  7. ^ History of Civilizations of central Asia, B A Litivinsky Zhang Guang-Da, R Shabani Samghabadi, p.376
  8. ^ Petrie, Cameron A. (2020-12-28). Resistance at the Edge of Empires: The Archaeology and History of the Bannu basin from 1000 BC to AD 1200. Cambridge University Press. p. 69. ISBN 9781785703065.
  9. ^ Rehman, Abdur (1979). The Last Two Dynasties of the Śahis: An Analysis of Their History, Archaeology, Coinage and Palaeography. Centre for the Study of the Civilizations of Central Asia, Quaid-i-Azam University. pp. 58–67.
  10. ^ Raphael Israeli, Anthony Hearle Johns (1984). Islam in Asia: South Asia. Magnes Press. p. 15.
  11. ^ H. Miyakawa und A. Kollautz: Ein Dokument zum Fernhandel zwischen Byzanz und China zur Zeit Theophylakts In: Byzantinische Zeitschrift, S. 14 (Anhang). De Gruyter Januar 1984. ISSN 1868-9027.
  12. ^ Kuwayama, Shoshin (2000). Historical Notes on Kāpiśī and Kābul in the Sixth-Eighth Centuries (PDF).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wink118 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference CE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference sinoplatonic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ André Wink, "Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World", Brill 1990, p. 118
  17. ^ Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. 2002. The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden: Brill. Zamindawar. p.439.

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