Nezak Huns

Nezak Huns
484–711
Royal Bull's-head crown of the Nezak kings
The Nezak kingdom in 565 CE
Capital		Ghazna, Kapisa
Languages		Pahlavi script (written)
Religion		Buddhism, Zoroastrianism
Government		Nomadic empire
Malka
•	6-7th century CE	Napki Malka
•	653-662	Ghar-ilchi
Historical era		Late Antiquity
•	Established	484
•	Disestablished	711
Currency		Hunnic Drachm
Preceded by Succeeded by Sassanian Empire Alchon Huns Sassanian Empire Kabul Shahi
Today part of		Afghanistan

The Nezak Huns were one of the four groups of Huna people in the area of the Hindu Kush. The Nezak kings, with their characteristic gold bull's-head crown, ruled from Ghazni and Kapisa. While their history is obscured, the Nezak's left significant coinage documenting their polity's prosperity. They are called Nezak because of the inscriptions on their coins, which often bear the mention "Nezak Shah". They were the last of the four major "Hunic" states known collectively as Xionites or "Hunas", their predecessors being, in chronological order, the Kidarites, the Hephthalites, and the Alchon.

The Nezak's first appear minting coins in Ghazni, previously controlled by the Sassanian Persians, the Indo-Sasanians. Their emergence may have been a consequence of the weakening of Persian influence in the region after the defeat of the Persian king Peroz by the Hephthalites, another Hunnic state, in Bactria in 484 CE. From that point, the Nezaks consolidated their power in Zabulistan and in the 6th century expanded into Kabulistan, deposing the Alchon Huns from Kapisa. Nezak coins with the bull's crown appear well into the 8th century, at which time it appears that a confederacy emerges between the Nezaks and the Alchons, possibly against Turkic invaders.

The Nezak huns are gradually deposed by the Kabul Shahi dynasty, first in Zabulistan and then in Kabulistan. The last Nezak king known by name was Ghar-ilchi, who was confirmed by the Chinese emperor. Between 661 and 665, Chinese and Arab sources indicate that a new Turkic ruler became Shah of Kabul. Having lost Ghazni and Kabul, the Nezak dynasty declined rapidly as indicated by the progressive elimination of Nezak symbols from the historical coin record.