Hindu Shahi
| Kabul Shahi | |||||
| शाही Kabul Shahi |
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| Capital |
Kabul Waihind (870–1010) |
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| Languages | Sanskrit | ||||
| Religion |
Buddhism Hinduism |
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| Government | Monarchy | ||||
| Kshayathiya Shah Shahanshah |
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| • | 700s | Khingala of Kapisa | |||
| • | 964–1001 | Jayapala | |||
| • | 1001–1010 | Anandapala | |||
| Historical era | Early Medieval India | ||||
| • | Established | c. 500 CE | |||
| • | Disestablished | c. 1010/1026 CE | |||
| Today part of |
 Afghanistan Pakistan
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The Kabul Shahi dynasties also called Shahiya ruled the Kabul Valley (in eastern Afghanistan) and the old province of Gandhara (northern Pakistan) during the Classical Period of India from the decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century. They are split into two eras the Buddhist-Shahis and the later Hindu-Shahis with the change-over occurring around 870.
When Xuanzang visited the region early in the 7th century, the Kabul region was ruled by a Kshatriya king, who is identified as the Shahi Khingal, and whose name has been found in an inscription found in Gardez.
These Hindu kings of Kabul and Gandhara may have had links to some ruling families in neighboring Kashmir and other areas to the east. The Shahis were rulers of predominantly Buddhist and Hindu populations and were thus patrons of numerous faiths, and various artifacts and coins from their rule have been found that display their multicultural domain. The last Shahi emperors Jayapala, Anandapala and Tirlochanpala fought the Muslim Turk Ghaznavids of Ghazna and were gradually defeated. Their remaining army were eventually exiled into northern India.
Xuanzang describes the ruler of Kapisa/Kabul, whom he had personally met, as a devout Buddhist and a Kshatriya. The 11th-century Persian Muslim scholar Alberuni recorded folklore concerning the early history of the Kabul Shahi rulers, including beliefs that:
Thus the folklore accounts recorded by Alberuni connect the earlier Shahis of Kabul/Kapisa to Turkish extraction and also claim their descent from Kanik (or Kanishaka of Kushana lineage). At the same time it is also claimed that 'their first king Barahatigin (Vrahitigin?) had originally come from Tibet and concealed in a narrow cave in Kabul area (and here is given a strange legend which we omit).' One can easily see the above account of Shahi origin as totally fanciful and fairy tale-like. These statements taken together are very confusing, inconsistent and bear the express marks of a folklore and vulgar tradition, hence unworthy of inspiring any confidence in the early history of Shahis. The allegation that the first dynasty of Kabul was Turki is plainly based on the vulgar tradition, which Alberuni himself remarked was clearly absurd.
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Wikipedia