Alchon Huns

Alchon Huns
380–560
Tamga of the Alchon Huns
Alchon territories prior to 500 CE.
Capital		Kapisa
Languages		Brahmi and Bactrian (written)
Religion		Buddhism, Hinduism
Government		Nomadic empire
Tegin
•	430 – 461 CE	Khingila
•	461 – 493 CE	Mehama
•	493 – 515	Toramana
•	515 – 540 CE	Mihirakula
•	540 – 570 CE	Toramana II
Historical era		Late Antiquity
•	Established	380
•	Disestablished	560
Currency		Hunnic Drachm
Preceded by Succeeded by Sassanian Empire Kidarites Gupta Empire Nezak Huns Aulikaras Kabul Shahi
Today part of		Afghanistan  Pakistan  India

The Alchon Huns (Sanskrit: Hūṇas), were a group of nomads who established states in central and southern Asia. They were part of the four major "Hunic" states known collectively as Xionites or "Hunas", being preceded in southern Asia by the Kidarites and the Hephthalites, and succeeded by the Nezak Huns. The Alchons appeared in the Paropamisadae and later expanded into the Punjab and central India. We know of the names of the Alchon kings from their extensive coinage and from inscriptions in Buddhist stupas.

The Alchon Huns emerge in Kapisa around 380, taking over Kabulistan from the Sassanian Persians, at the same time the Kidarites (Red Huns) ruled in Bactria and Ghandara. Around 430 king Khingila, the most notable Alchon ruler, emerges and takes control of Ghandhara from the Kidarites. The rest of the 5th century marks a period of territorial expansion and eponymous kings (Tegins), several of which appear to have overlapped and ruled jointly. In 460, the Alchons conquered Taxila. They reached their maximum territorial extent around 500 CE, with king Toramana pushing deep into Indian territory, reaching Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and ultimately contributing to the downfall of the Gupta Empire.

The Alchons in India declined rapidly around the same time that the Hephthalites, another hunnic group to the North, were defeated by an alliance between the Sassanians and the Western Turkic Kaghanate. The Alchon king Mihirakula was defeated in 528 by an alliance of Indian principalities led by Yasodharman, the Aulikara king of Malwa, in the battle of Sondani, which resulted in the loss of Alchon possessions in the Punjab and north India by 542. The Alchons withdraw to Kashmir and back west across the Khyber pass, where coinage suggests that they merge with the Nezak Huns. Eventually, the Nezak-Alchons are replaced by the Turk shahi dynasty.