Kushano-Hephthalites

Hephthalite Empire
Nomadic empire
408–670
The Hephthalites (green), c. 500.
Capital		Kunduz (Walwalij, Drapsaka, or Badian) Balkh (Pakhlo)
Languages		Middle Bactrian Gandhari (Gandhara) Sogdian (Sogdiana) Chorasmian Sanskrit Turkic
Religion		Buddhism Hinduism Manichaeism Zoroastrianism
Political structure		Nomadic empire
Tegin
•	430/440 – ≈490	Khingila
•	490/500 – 515	Toramana
•	515–528	Mihirakula
Historical era		Late Antiquity
•	Established	408
•	Disestablished	670
Preceded by Succeeded by Kushan Empire Sassanid Empire Gupta Empire Kidarites Kabul Shahi Göktürk Empire Zunbils Principality of Chaghaniyan
Today part of		Afghanistan  China  India  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Pakistan  Tajikistan  Turkmenistan  Uzbekistan

Hephthalites (or Ephthalites) was the Latinised exonym for a people of Central Asia who were militarily important circa 450-560. They were based in Bactria and expanded east to the Tarim Basin, west to Sogdia and south through Afghanistan to northern India. They were a tribal confederation and included both nomadic and urban, settled communities.

The Sveta Huna or White Huns who invaded northern India are probably the Ephthalites, but the exact relation is not clear.

The stronghold of the Hephthalites was Tokharistan on the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush, in what is present-day northeastern Afghanistan. By 479, the Hephthalites had conquered Sogdia and driven the Kidarites westwards, and by 493 they had captured parts of present-day Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin in what is now Northwest China.

The sources for Hepthalite history are poor and historians' opinions differ. We have no king-list and are not sure how they arose or what language they spoke.

The name Hephthalites originated with Ancient Greek sources, which also referred to them as Ephthalite, Abdel or Avdel.

To the Armenians the Hephthalites were Haital, to the Persians and Arabs they were Haytal or Hayatila, while their Bactrian name was Ebodalo (ηβοδαλο).

In Chinese chronicles, the Hephthalites are usually called Ye-ta-i-li-to (or Yediyiliduo), or the more usual modern and abbreviated form Yada (嚈噠 Yàdā). The latter name is been given various Latinised renderings, including Yeda, Ye-ta, Ye-Tha; Ye-dā and Yanda. The corresponding Cantonese and Korean names Yipdaat and Yeoptal (Korean: 엽달) are more consistent with the Greek Hephthalite. Some Chinese chroniclers suggest that the root Hephtha- (as in Ye-ta-i-li-to or Yada) was technically a title equivalent to "emperor", while Hua was the name of the dominant tribe.