Ghar-ilchi

Ghar-ilchi (Chinese: 曷撷支 Hexiezhi, also transliterated as Ko-chieh-chih,[2] 653-661 CE) was, according to Chinese and Arab sources, a local king of Kapisi and the twelfth and last known ruler of the Nezak Huns. Ghar-ilchi may have been the last member of a local "Khingal dynasty" founded by Khingila, the Alchon Hun ruler.[3]

Ghar-ilchi
King
A crossover Alchon-Nezak coin with pseudo-Pahlavi legend 𐭭𐭩𐭰𐭪𐭩𐭬𐭫𐭪 (nycky MLK "King of the Nezaks"). Minted around the time of Ghar-ilchi.[1]
Reign6th-7th century
DynastyNezak Huns

Chinese confirmation

In the Chinese annals of 658 CE Ghar-ilchi appears as "Hexiezhi" (Chinese: 曷撷支, reconstructed from Old Chinese: *γarγär-tśiě < *ghar-ilči), reconstructed as the Turkic "Ghar-ilchi" (*Qarγïlacï, 653-c.665 CE), 12th king of his dynasty from the founder "Xinnie" (馨孽, reconstructed from Old Chinese: *xäŋ-ŋär < *henger < Khingar/ Khingal):[4][5][6]

In the third year of the Xianqing reign [658 CE], when [Tang envoys] investigated the customs of this state, people said: "From Xinnie, the founder of the royal house, up to the present [King] Hexiezi, the throne has been passed from father to son, [and by now] there have been twelve generations. In the same year, the city was established as Xiuxian Area Command

— Old Book of Tang, 198.[7][8]

Ghar-ilchi was formally installed as king of Jibin (former Kapisi/ Kabulistan) by the Chinese Tang dynasty emperor in 653 CE, and again as Governor of Jibin under the newly formed Chinese Anxi Protectorate, the "Protectorate of the Western Regions", in 661 CE.[9][3]

Arab invasion (665 CE)

In 665 CE, general Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura launched an expedition to Arachosia and Zabulistan, capturing Bost and other cities. Kabul was occupied in 665 CE after a siege of a few months.[10] Kabul soon revolted but was reoccupied after a month-long siege. Abd al-Rahman's capture and plunder of Kabul mortally weakened the rule of Ghar-ilchi.[11] Ghar-ilchi, following his defeat, apparently was spared his life upon converting to Islam.[12]

Account of Gandhara by Hyecho (first three lines given here).

The powerful Turkic prince Barha Tegin took this opportunity to capture Kabul, and, according to the 726 CE account of the Korean monk Hyecho who visited the region, the ruler of Kabul (Kapisa), probably Ghar-ilchi, was eventually killed by the Turkic prince:[2]

From Kashmir I travelled further northwest. After one month's journey across the mountains I arrived at the country of Gandhara. The king and military personnel are all Turks. The natives are Hu people; there are Brahmins. The country was formerly under the influence of the king of Kapisa. A-yeh (阿耶), the Turkish prince, took a defeated calvalry and allied himself to the king of Kapisa. Later, when the Turkish force was strong, the prince assassinated the king of Kapisa and declared himself king. Thereafter, the territory from this country to the north was all ruled by the Turkish king, who also resided in the country.

— Hyecho on Gandhara, "An account of travel to the five Indian kingdoms".[13][14]

Rise of the Turk Shahis (665-666 CE)

Ghar-ilchi was succeeded by Barha Tegin, who took the throne in 665-666 CE and founded the dynasty of the Turk Shahis.[11]

References
  1. Rezakhani 2017, p. 162.
  2. Rehman 1976, p. 63.
  3. Rahman, Abdur (2002). "New Light on Khingal, Turk and Hindu Shahis" (PDF). In Landes, Christian; Bopearachchi, Osmund; Boussac, Marie-Françoise (eds.). Afghanistan, Ancien Carrefour entre l'Est et l'Ouest. Vol. XV. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. pp. 37–41. ISBN 2-503-51681-5.
  4. Rezakhani 2017, p. 164.
  5. Petrie, Cameron A. (28 December 2020). Resistance at the Edge of Empires: The Archaeology and History of the Bannu basin from 1000 BC to AD 1200. Oxbow Books. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-78570-304-1.
  6. Journal asiatique (in French). Société asiatique. 1991. pp. 276–277.
  7. Balogh, Dániel (12 March 2020). Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia: Sources for their Origin and History. Barkhuis. p. 104. ISBN 978-94-93194-01-4.
  8. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Chinese original: 显庆三年，访其国俗，云“王始祖馨孽，至今曷撷支，父子传位，已十二代。”其年，改其城为修鲜都督府。龙朔初，授其王修鲜等十一州诸军事兼修鲜都督。"旧唐书/卷198 - 维基文库，自由的图书馆". zh.wikisource.org (in Simplified Chinese).
  9. 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: 13. The Turk Shahis in Kabulistan". Pro.geo.univie.ac.at. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  10. Rehman 1976, pp. 59.
  11. Baumer, Christoph (18 April 2018). History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-83860-868-2.
  12. Rehman 1976, pp. 59, 64.
  13. Ch'o, Hye; Ch'ao, Hui; Yang, Han-sŭng (1984). The Hye Ch'o Diary: Memoir of the Pilgrimage to the Five Regions of India. Jain Publishing Company. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-89581-024-3Also published by the Asian Humanities Press, 1986, Issue 2 of Religions of Asia series Unesco collection of representative works {{cite book}}: External link in |postscript= (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  14. Original Chinese: 又從迦葉彌羅國西北隔山一月程至建馱羅。此王及兵馬。總是突厥。土人是胡。兼有婆羅門。此國舊是罽賓王王化。為此突厥王阿耶領一部落兵馬。投彼罽賓王。於後突厥兵盛。便殺彼罽賓王。自為國主。因茲國境突厥覇王此國已北。並住中。 in "遊方記抄 第1卷 CBETA 漢文大藏經". tripitaka.cbeta.org.

Sources
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