Early Hunic Invaders of Central Asia That Influenced the History of India China and Eurasia. the...

7/27/2019 Early Hunic Invaders of Central Asia That Influenced the History of India China and Eurasia. the Erection of Great

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Early Hunic Invaders of Central Asia that influenced the history of India, China,

And Eurasia, the Erection of Great Wall and Dark Period of Indian History:

By: Bipin Shah

Dark Period of Indian history:

During my world travel and visit to the Great Wall of China, I could not help wonder the real

reasons for building such a massive wall at great cost of life and sacrifices? We always admire

such monumental structure and cataloged them as Great wonder of the world . This and

the pyramids are similar topics of the history that are often unknown to the public and never

questioned or taught in the school. This type of subject not only intrigues me but compels me

to investigate further. I decided to investigate further and found out how neatly this world

event indirectly fits in to the puzzle of Indian subcontinents history, when Purana writers and

the history keepers lost control of the Indian history and their genealogy of the Indian rulers.The Indian historian considers this to be the dark period of Indian history that began with the

fall of Mauryan Empire and lasted until the rise of Gupta Empire. This is a total period of 500

to 550 years.

During this period of uncertainty, India witnessed a massive influx of the foreign tribes from

its borderland that was displaced as a result of chain reaction that started in the Northern

China. India unwittingly became a melting pot of various ancient ethnicities during this dark

period of the Indian history for which much remains unknown. Purana dismisses this event

with one simple sentence: Mlechha will rule India.

A similar melting process is now taking place in countries like America, Australia, Canada and

South America but in a peaceful and orderly ways and the key driver for modern migration is

the same that is just economics. However, during pre historical period, it was not orderly

and civilized. The attacking invaders were savage and brutal soldiers of army who plundered

everything and took the women. This resulted in the formation of mixed ethnicities and gene

pools between various ancient races and ethnicities with the different anthropological and

physical characteristics. This should serve as a reminder that the humanity is so mixed that

there is no clear gene pool of the old world that exists today.

The Great Walls of China:

The Great Wall of China stretches from Shanhaiguan the east, to Lop Lake in the west that

roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. According to Chinese archaeological

survey, using satellite imageries have concluded that the China emperor Mings walls

measure roughly 5,475 miles. This is made up 3,885 miles sections of actual wall, 225 miles of

trenches and 1,390 miles of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. Once

everything is taken into account, the entire defensive structure will measure out to be


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approximately 13,170 miles. The oldest section of the wall is dated to 5th century BC to

prevent fellow Chinese ruling states to attack each others. The Han emperor Huangdi (220-

206 BC) built the western section to prevent the Mongolian Xiongnu tribe from North

attacking the farmlands of Han kingdom. The successive emperors over several centuries

used the slaves, soldier, criminals serving sentences and ordinary people to build this massive

wall. The great wall is now designated as UNESCO world heritage site and one of the wonderof the ancient world. It serves as a reminder of the human spirit and effort that equates to no

lesser value than sending a man to the moon during 20th century AD.

Obviously many sacrificed their life in building this and other monuments of the world like

pyramids ,Taj Mahal, Grand Mosque, coliseum, and countless other ancient monuments. The

individual personal stories of the builders are unknown is now buried with them.

Warring States Of Ancient china:

In a Comparative chronology of India and china, when India emerged as a united countryunder Mauryan rule, the china was factionalized into warring states. Much of Northern part

of China was inhabited by wild tribes of Mongol, Hun and Turkic ethnicities that constantly

menaced their southern agriculturalist states of the south. This period of instability continued

in China during 476 BC - 221 BC. During this initial stage, the ruling powers of individual

southern warring states had began to build the defensive walls to protect themselves against

each others. The state of Chu was the first to build a wall, followed by the Yan, Wei, Zhao and

Qin Shi Huang (Huangdi).

During warring state days, Qin Shi Huang (259 BC 210 BC), personal name Zhao Zheng or

Chao Cheng was the king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC. He became the

first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC. He ruled until his death in 210 BC at the young ageof 49. He called himself as the First Han emperor Sh Huangdi or Huangdi. Huangdi, (Qin Shi

Huang) became a pivotal figure in Chinese history. After unifying China, he and his chief

advisor Li Si passed a series of major economic and political reforms. He undertook gigantic

projects, including building and unifying various sections of the Great Wall of China, the now

famous city-sized mausoleum guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army, and a massive

national road system, all at the expense of numerous lives. To ensure stability, Qin Shi Huang

outlawed and burned many books and buried some scholars alive, he ordered General Meng

Tian to connect the existing walls and to extend them further as a front line defense against

possible invasion of the Hunic barbarians. This Hunic confederacy of Xiongnu tribes of Inner

Mongolia of the north steppe was mostly made up of amalgam of Sino-Tibetan origin of Altaic(Turkic) and Mongoloid Hunic tribes.


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Great Wall of China- at Mutianyu section near Beijing, China- Picture from the authors visit in 2009

Today, the best known and most visited sections of the wall are at Badaling, Mutianyu,

Simatai and Jinshanling and these were built during the later Ming Dynasty. They were all

built to protect the people and territories situated south of the wall from a perpetual threat

of raids and invasion by the enemies such as Mongols and later Huns.

Initially, these walls among warring states were made mostly by stamping earth and gravel

between board frames. Up on consolidation of warring states into a single Chinese empire by

the first Han emperor, the walls were reinforced with stones from nearby mountains and

subsequent Ming emperors continue to improve the fortification and construction

techniques.


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Chinese worker Building wall Chinese soldier Guarding the wall Barbarian Xiongnu Hunic Tribe of North

Stretch of Wall covering Massive Terrain


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Panoramic view of the walls

Xiongnu-Early Hunic Tribe referred as Barbarian of the North Mangolia

Strabo, a Greek historian applied a generic label to all western central Asian tribes of Steppe

beyond Anatolia as Scythians, based on similarity of customs and practices that he found

on horse riding, bow shooting and other behaviors found consistent with the nomadic

warrior group. However, Strabo did not travel beyond Persian borders to Eastern nomadic

steppes. All horse riding pastoral nomads employed similar military tactics although their

worshipping and cultural habits vary. Greeks, had very shallow and limited knowledge

beyond east of Pamir mountain, therefore, Alexander, the great, who received the map form

Archimedes, showed the end of the world near the valleys of the Afghanistan.

The early Historians of middle ages relied heavily on similar characterization while ignoring

the more precise identification made by neighboring regional countries like Persia, India and

China. The access, availability and data from earlier historical texts of China and India have

redefined some early observation. It is also should be noted that early Sanskrit Purana

scholars were guilty of same crime by applying generic labels such as Mlecchas to all

foreign tribes. The Romans and Persians employed the same labeling to equate all alientribes that were not like them.

The Xiongnu (Mongolian-Hsiung-nu); Chinese, or , Khn or Khnn;; pinyin:

Xingn; Guangyun (Middle Chinese): Xiongnu (English),Xwn for Sogdinians, probably OldTurkic Qun were ancient pastoral nomadic-tribe that formed a state and confederacy located

north of China in Inner Mongolia. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from

Chinese sources. Very little are known of their titles and names and whatever the

information that are presented from Chinese translation of ancient records and other

observers of the past that are the subject to reinterpretation. An outside observer renders

the verdict on other people they never encountered before based on their own personal

experience and unseen alien behavior of others rather than understanding their culture in its

totality.

These nomadic tribes of North china depended on grazing lands for their animals with limited

vegetation and agricultural resources. Their survival dependent on the access of grazing lands

for their domesticated animals. The meat and dairy products from the animal provided the


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food while skin hide provided clothing and tents for nomads. Primarily of Bronze Age culture,

they were fierce and warlike nomads and excelled in horse riding and hit and run military

strategy. Later they developed the access to the Iron Age weapons that produces devastating

effect on other neighbors.

Hans Kingdom was one of the most effected kingdoms of the warring states to suffer fromHunic raids. In order to counter the barbarians from the north, they sought military alliance

with Yueh-Chinh. Yueh-Chinh for its own reasons declined the offer. They either did not want

to be a target of the barbarians or risk alienating the warring states that were fighting Han

emperor. They also had a bad experience of Xiongnu few hundred years earlier; that forced

them to their present location at oasis in Tarim basin.

Ultimately their strategy of non-alignment did not help Yueh-Chinh. Xiongnu Hun still

attacked them under pressure from Chinese army. Xiongnu must have realized that daily hunt

for food stealing is not the final solution to their problem but to find alternate sites for

grazing lands that Yueh-Chinh had control over. They struck their first blow and chased Yueh-

Chinh all across central Asia. The stratagem that followed and its interpretation by this author

is summarized is documented here from various sources:

Xionhnu warrior leading attack

Xiongnu people did not have any extensive writing so where ever they went they had to

adapt to other peoples writing system. The ethnic identity of these people is a subject ofgreat controversy because they have not defined them for themselves in any writing. Other

people who observed them have defined them at different times. The people only have

minimum knowledge of them such as their titles and personal names that were preserved in

the Chinese annals. Some historians have applied various labels to them such as Proto-Turkic,

Proto-Mongolic, Proto-Yeniseian (Siberian-Altaic) and Proto-Uralic descent with a touch of

Tocharian (Turanian-Kushan of India), Iranian or Indian tribe of Saka Khabar living on


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Northern side of Kaibar pass, or near Khorasan. This hypothesis can be checked out by recent

genetic and forensic research on ancient mummies. It is believed that they also possibly

practiced Tengriism (religion of Mongols). The name Xiongnu may be cognate to the name

Huns, but that claim is still being debated. The difficulties lies with the facts thatas time

passed, the name Xiongnu was applied to the Xiongnu subjects too that included the people

who they conquered or intermarried with and they soon became mixed origins tribe ofTurkic, Mongolic, Tocharians and Iranics people. Therefore, the ancient observers observing

them at the different time in the history found differences in their physical characteristics and

accordingly they defined them differently. We hope to add some additional information that

may clarify this amalgam of allied group of Huns.

The literary sources that are used are from various sources that include the Han dynastic

historians that includes the Shnji chronicle of the late 2nd to early 1st centuries BC

(Translated by Sima Qian 1959), the Hanshu compiled in the late 1st to early 2nd centuries

AD (Translated by Ban Gu 1962), and the Hou Hanshu compiled in the 5th

century AD

(Translated by Fan Ye 1965). The former two sources are contemporary observations while

later are collection of various written sources and observations made after the events took

place. Last write-up by the Hou Hanshu loses some of its relevance since it is written very

late when the events and peoples of the Xiongnu Empire have gone through significant

Genetic mixing and ethnographic changes and did not reflect the original nomads of Xiongnu

empire. However, it gives further important details on lives, culture and movements of

nomads and reconstructing the social, economic, and political dynamics of the Xiongnu

Empire.

The modern archeologies also have become very useful. Presently, there exist four fully

excavated sites that have published results of their findings:

1. Ivolga region (Davydova 1996).

2. Dyrestui (Miniaev 1998).

3. Burkhan Tolgoi (Trbat et al. 2003)

4. Dao-Dunzi (Ningxia et al. 1988).

This archeology covers the entire eastern steppe of Eurasia. Aside from the unique features of

these sites, thousands of tombs have been discovered and catalogued in Transbaikalia

(Konovalov 1976) and all others mentioned above are in present state of Mongolia. The

recent information and images from older excavations conducted in Mongolia have recently

been compiled in handbooks called (Xiongnu tombs of 2008) and catalogues of Xiongnuarchaeology.

Transbaikalia especially contains the characteristics of Royal Tomb of Xiongnu due to its

large burial chambers. This empire stretched beyond the borders of modern-day Mongolia.

The Xiongnu conquest started at the end of third century B.C. and caused the movement of

large populations as well as vigorous interaction among various cultural groups in the eastern

steppe zone.


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Reigns of Chief -Touman and Modu Xiongnu:

The earliest known Xiongnu ruler was Touman, who reigned approximately between 225 BC

and 210 BC. He spent much of his rule over uniting the various nomadic components living in

Mongolia such as Mongols and Turkic elements of nomads and he invaded Northern China to

acquire more pastoral land important for them. These domesticated animals provided them

all essential foods for survival. With those newly-acquired pastures, the Xiongnu economy

prospered, partly due to the fact that the nomadic economy was greatly dependent on grassy

plains and grazing lands. He also had an eye on lucrative trades of Silk Road between China

and the west. He raided the caravans at his leisure. The General Meng of previous Qin

dynasty ruler had forced Chanyu Touman out of the Ordos Desert in 215 BC. The Chanyu

means the magnificent like an imperial title of the clan.


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Xiongnu Empire 4th

century BC under Chief Modu

Next Xin Gaozu Emperor thus enacted a trade embargo against the Xiongnu. To compensate

the Chinese border merchants of the northern kingdoms of Dai and Yan for lost trade, he

made them government officials with handsome salaries. Outraged by this embargo, Modu

Chanyu planned to attack Han. The Xiongnu invaded Taiyuan in 200 BCE and were aided by

the defected fiduciary allies; Xin Emperor Gaozu (Shin Huangdi) personally led his forces

through the snow to Pingcheng (near modern Datong, Shanxi). In the ensuing Battle of

Baideng, Gaozu's forces were heavily surrounded for seven days; running short of supplies, he

was forced to flee. After this defeat, the court adviser Liu Jing convinced the emperor tocreate a peace treaty and marriage alliance with the Xiongnu Chanyu called the Heqin

agreement. By this arrangement established in 198 BCE, the Han hoped to modify the

Xiongnus violent cultural values with luxury goods given as tribute (silks, wine, and

foodstuffs, ivory) and to make Modu's future children born of Huangdi daughter, a Chinese

successor and a subordinate to grandfather Huangdi. The exact amounts of annual tribute as

promised by Emperor Gaozu- Huangdi given to the Xiongnu in the 2nd century BC after the

defeat are unknown. The emperor was known with many names such as Gaozu, Huangdi,

shuangadi etc. Emperor Gaozu was initially set to give his only daughter to Modu, but under

the opposition of Empress L, Gaozu (Sinn Huangdi) made a female relative, a princess and

married her to Modu. The offering of princess brides and tributary items scarcely satisfied theTouman who often raided Han's northern frontiers and violated the 162 BC treaty that

established the Great Wall as the border between Han and Xiongnu.

Tarim

Basin-incl.

Kushan


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The Emperor that united china was called with various names such as Wudi, Huangdi, Gaozu and Sin Huangdi

Toumans son and successor Modu Chanyu built the Xiongnu into a powerful empire bysubjugating many other tribes. By the time of Modu's death in 174 BC, the Xiongnu domains

stretched from what is now Manchuria of Mongolia to the Altai and Tian Shan mountain

ranges of Central Asia. The Chinese feared incursions by the Xiongnu under the guise of trade

and were concerned that Han-manufactured iron weapons would fall into Xiongnu hands.

Modu, son of Touman was sent to exile at the urging of Toumans new wife. We do not know

for sure it this was a way for Touman to learn of Yuezhi oasis for search of better pastoral

grounds or court intrigue supported by his Hans wife. Modu went to the Yuezhi, and even

married Yuezhi woman. The nomadic, Yuezhi Tocharians were Indo-European people settled

in Gansu region (now Uighur province). Several hundred years earlier, Yuezhi were driven

away to Gansu region by Xiongnu group from Northern steppe. We do not know for sure

Toumans motive or strategy. After exiling Modu for few years to Yuezhi camp, Touman

decided to march to Yuezhi kingdom and asked them to return Modu. Up on receipt of Modu,

Touman gave him a unit of 10,000 cavalries under his command. One can then safely

conclude that he was sent either as a spy to learn of Yuezhi military capacity or his

relationship with Huangdi deteriorated that he decided not to follow his new wifes advise.

Modu trained his men like a special force, expert in hit and run guerrilla warfare. Modu

was very ambitious and he started coveting his fathers throne. In one of the hunting

expedition with his father Touman, he staged and later claimed that he "accidently" shot his

father with an arrow in 209 BC. After crowning himself as the new Xiongnu ruler, he earnedthe title of Chanyu himself. Modu consolidated his kingdom by eliminated nearby tribes of

the Donghu, the Xiongnu eastern neighbor, and brought them under his rule in 208 BC. After

his Donghu campaign, the Donghu confederacy split into two branches: Xianbei and Wuhuan.

It is believed that the Mongols descended from Xianbei. Modu also defeated the Turkic

peoples living in Northern Mongolia known by Chinese as the tribe of Dingling.


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Orlat Battle Plaque of Yueh-Chinh defenders

Now, he was ready to take on the Yuezhi tribe of Tarim Basin (Kushan of India). He attacked

them in 203 BC. These unexpected but bold victories allowed Modu to gain the control of the

important Silk trade roads between east and west at strategic junction of Wusun territories.This control and power supplied the Xiongnu with great incomes and threatened the Han

emperor. This prompted Han emperor to expedite the construction of the wall that still

stands today as UNESCO heritage. The folklore says that Toumans son Modu not only killed

the king of Yuezhi but used his skull as a drinking cup.

The loss of trade and continuous raid on Chinese farm land created a scarcity of goods for

Hanss kingdom and the Han ruler Gaodi felt trapped. After giving his relative in marriage

alliance and signing the peace treaty and paying annual tributes to the Xiongnu, Gaodi saw no

end to Chanyus demands. Modu never tried to physically invade China completely as he

knew that he will never be able to hold it permanently over a hostile territory. His repeated

incursions and raids created chaos in the empire. After Modus death, he was succeeded by

his son Jiyu who ruled around 175 BC and 160 BC. During his reign, the Xiongnu kept their

power and control; Jiyu managed to penetrate deep into Central China near ancient

Chang'an, capital city of Han emperor but finally entered into a peace treaty by marrying

another Han princess as a part of old treaty devised by Han emperor. Under new

arrangement, the Han Chinese citizens were allowed to enter into the Xiongnu territories.


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The Han emperor sent spies disguised as officers and diplomats. In 89 BC, however, Hulugu

Chanyu requested a renewal of the Heqin agreement with the increased amount of annual

tribute at 400,000 Liter of wine, 100,000 Liter (2,840 U.S. bushels) of grain, and 10,000 bales

of silk; much higher amount than what was previously agreed upon. Although the treaty

acknowledged both Huangdi and chanyu are equals as chiefs, Han emperor in fact was

treated as the inferior partner since it was forced to pay tribute to appease the militarilypowerful Xiongnu.

These spies provoked the non-Xiongnu subjects to revolt against their masters, which later

resulted in the breakup of the vast Xiongnu Empire. Zhang Qian, the General of the Han

emperor was famous from his expedition to tract the Yuezhi. After 10 years of his following

and learning of these people gave the Chinese wealth of information to expand their

presence in these new territories of the west and expand further. Xiongnus empire reached

its zenith during Jiyus rule, the territory of Xiongnu extended from Korea to the East, Lake

Balkash to the West, Lake Baikal to the North and Tibet to the South.

Xiongnu controlled the oasis city-states of the Tarim Basin as they forced Yuezhi more west

towards the kingdom of Bactria. Xiongnus military tactics and organizations skills were so

successful that it served as a blue print for other successive nomadic warriors. Attila, Chengiz,

Tamer Lane, Mogul and Turkic invaders followed the same blue prints.

Hans emperor strategy finally came to fruitation when Xiongnu empire broke up within itself

with internal strife and rebellion. Xiongnu lost Tarim Basin and silk road cities like Tian Shan,

Jungaria and Turfan to Hans armies thereby Xiongnu lost complete control of Silk Road to

Chinese. The attack and threat and raid from the North were getting dissipated with

completion of the Great wall by 85 BC. The tributaries Wuhuan and the Dingling rebelled and

became independent. The victorious Dingling Turk split into two groups, western andeastern branch. The west branch became the forerunner of Turks and Tartars. In 54 BC, the

Eastern Xiongnu withdrew to Ordos while the Western Xiongnu migrated to Sogdiana in

Transoxiana, where they set up a new empire near the River Talas with Yuezhi on the run

again.

During 51 BC, under another tribe of Xiongnu, the Western Xiongnu conquered Wusun by

dislodging another tribe of Yehzhi (Indo-European), Western Dingling (Turkic), Jiankun (Kirgiz)

and the Kingdom of Kangguo (Samarkand) and made them tributaries. In 41 BC, Zhizhi

Chanyu built a fortified capital in the valley of Talas. However, the Han attacked Zhizhi

Chanyu in 36 BC, destroyed his capital and killed him. Thus, the Western Xiongnu Empirecame to an end. It's been claimed that they also captured Roman legionnaires who were

working for Zhizhi Chanyu's army. Please watch the U-Tube movie describing part of the

events:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J3EsF4T_ms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQaGjXvdTGo


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An essential transformation of the anthropological and cultural aspects of Xiongnu peoples in

the Asian steppe began long time ago. This process continued for several hundred years and

ended not earlier than the fifth century A.D.

Break up and disintegration of Xiongnu (first Hunic) Empire after the death of Jiyu

The archeologists now find that typical Xiongnu cultural complexes were distributed over

their formerly held territory of eastern steppe of Asia. This territory, however, did not include

the initial homeland of the Xiongnu. They had already lost that area by the end of the second

century B.C. after a long war with the Han Empire. Dr. Ryan Schmidt, a site anthropologist

observer who participated in excavation of archeological burial site of Xiongnu at Baaga

Gazariin- Chullu valley of Gobi desert of Mongolia summarizes his finding:

Xiongnu burial examination of bones and skeleton suggested that this people were not

entirely biologically homogeneously related to either Chinese or Siberian population. The

artifacts found at the grave included silk, jade items, bronze mirrors, Grave items and Chinese

lacquer indicated a tributary status of Hanss emperor to the royals Xiongnu. Their material

culture was typical of pastoral nomads and included potteries, ceramics and paleobotanical

remains. Their chronometric measurement of skull showed close proximity to the current

population of Mangolia.

After defeating the previously dominant Indo-European Yuezhi tribe in Tarim basin in the 2nd

century BC, Xiongnu became a dominant power on the steppes of central and eastern Asia.

They were active in regions of what are now southern Siberia, Mongolia, Southern Mongolia,

Gansu and Xinjiang. Relations between early Chinese dynasties and the Xiongnu were

complex, with repeated periods of military conflict and intrigue alternating with exchanges of

tribute, trade, and marriage treaties, common in ancient cultures to preserve peace among

tribes.


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Wigers translation of Chinese description of Xiongnu is described below:

Xiongnu are short, with a stocky body and a very large round head, broad face, prominent

cheekbones, wide nostrils, a fairly bushy mustache and no beard except for a tuft of stiff hair

on the chin; their long ears are pierced and adorned with a ring. The head is usually shaved,

except for a tuft on top. The eyebrows are thick, the eyes almond-shaped with a very fierypupil. They wear a loose robe to the calf, split at the sides and gathered in by a girdle whose

ends hang down in front. Because of the cold the sleeves are gathered in tightly at the wrists.

A short fur cape covers their shoulders, and they have wide trousers strapped in at the ankle.

The sheet of the bow hangs from the belt in front of the left thigh. The quiver, also suspended

from the belt, hangs across the small of the back, the barbs of the arrows to the right.

Plots from Dr. Ryan Schmidt on skull measurement of mummies

The traditional beliefs among ancient historians were that this ancient Hunic tribe had no

agriculture and writing system. The recent archeological discovery of Xiongnu tribes in

Mangolia and Russia shows their culture in different light. Over the past ten years,


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excavations of several first-century B.C. sites in the Buryatia region of central Asia have

revealed certain amount of the habits, customs and lifestyle of the Xiongnu. The discovery of

their fortresses and settlements reveals a complex economic structure. The Ivolga fortress,

the Dureny settlement and the other fortresses and settlements of the Xiongnu constitute

incipient forms of town, or "proto-towns", whose inhabitants did, engaged in the early form

of agriculture and metallurgy. Chinese written sources also refer to these Xiongnu towns.Sima Qian refers to them in passing as, "Xiongnu constructed a town for storing the grain".

But Ban Gu describes this in more detail. In the Han shu chronicle, there is the description of

the capital of the Zizi Chanyu. This description matches the construction of the lvolga fortress.

This archeological discovery contradicts some of the early written sources particularly when

Xiongnu lived under nomadic state and their observation of them as: "the Xiongnu had no

towns.

As such, the period when the Xiongnu Empire matured in Central Asia represented the first

step of the urbanization of areas previously characterized by nomadism. The process of

urbanization of the Xiongnu tribes was not unique; as it is possible that the model of

urbanization created by the Xiongnu was repeated by other nomadic societies such as the

Uyghur and Mongols who went on the same route learning from agricultural community.

.Recreation and Mummy of Xiongnu people with original discovery of A. stein

Archaeogenetics and Anthropology Of Xiongnu People:

Dr. Ryan Schmidt while summarizing his works of various biologist and Archaeogeneticexperts summarizes the evolution of Xiongnu as follows:

1. Keyser TracquiKim et al. (2010) extracted ancient DNA from three Xiongnu skeletons from

the elite cemetery of Duurlig Nars. They found for one male skeleton the presence of a

distinct paternal Indo-European lineage known to be associated with the Kurgan expansion

model, which explains the origin and eastward migration of Indo-European speaking peoples

from the Volga region in modern-day central Russia. These findings tentatively support the


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archaeological evidence of material and mate exchanges between the Xiongnu and other

Central Asian groups. Interestingly, researchers working in southern Siberia have also found

evidence for the Indo-European lineage in a sample of ancient remains from the Krasnoyarsk

area of Russia dated from between the middle of the second millennium BC to the fourth

century CE (Keyser et al., 2009).

Xiongnu Attacking Chinese settlements and their westward march toward middle central Asia

2. Ricaut et al. (2011) compared dental traits with genetic data for the Egiin Gol necropolis.

Interestingly, their results show that this population was highly homogenous, similar

to the previous studies (Keyser-Tracqui et al.2003), indicting the necropolis was occupied

by the same people over five centuries of continuous use (300 BC 200 CE). The Egiin

Gol necropolis (known as Borkhan Tolgoi) has been extensively investigated. The necropolis

contains the skeletal remains of 99 individuals, considered a pretty good sample size. The

necropolis was organized into three main sections (A, B, C) that have been carbon dated. The

oldest part of the cemetery is sector A, followed by B and then C. The sector A & B proves

closer proximity to Mongoloid people. The development of sector C corresponds to the end

of the necropoliss use and appears to reflect a Turkish influence on the Xiongnu. This finding

is based on genetic evidence found in present-day Turkish individuals. The Ricaut et al. (2011)

study also found a similar distinction in sector C, indicating a possible demographic transition

toward the end of the Xiongnu Empire. As seen from the Touman marrying the daughter of

Great

Wall Of

China


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Han emperor serves testimonials of large degree of intermingling between various races and

ethnicities of Asia.

Great wall during the time of Han dynasty and subsequent expansion

3. The molecular biologists have confirmed through their study of ancient DNA left behind by

ancient Xiongnu people of a large settlement of Elgin Gol (Keyser-Torque ,20003 et al) that

earlier remains more in conformity of the genetic similarities of current population of

Mongolia. One can safely conclude that the generic term applied by Chinese sources to

describe Xiongnu was similar to Strabos definition of Scythians. Xiongnu started out as

Mongolian confederacy during early Touman life but as the empire expanded across Asia itincluded Turkic , Indo-Iranian , Yueh-chih elements along with Chinese and Eastern Eurasian

elements. The present DNA analysis of Mag-har people of Hungary shows similar complex

genetics.

Several indicators suggest that the cemetery of Borkhan Tolgoi represented only a subset

of the Xiongnu community, who appear to have been high-status individuals. Other items

that were found with funerary artifacts, elaborate rituals were the use of carved coffins and

chests, and the depth of the graves (two to five meters). The genetic analysis performed by

Keyser-Tracqui et al. found that the majority of the Xiongnu MtDNA (mitochondrial DNA,

inherited along the maternal line) sequences belong to predominately Asian genetic lineages,however a few belong to predominately European lineages. This would suggest that

European and Asian contacts were being made prior to the development of the Xiongnu

culture, as seen in other studies (Clisson et al., 2002; Bennett and Kaestle, 2010).

The Egiin Gol valley also contains sites composed of kurgan-style graves and range in

the time from the Bronze Age until the period of Genghis Khan. Crubezy et al. (1996) discuss


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an interesting finding in the Egiin Gol valley related to the practice of kurgan graves. Further

details can be found at:

http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/07_03/ancient.shtml

Kurgans (a Russian word for tumuli) are barrows characteristic of a culture arisingon the steppes of southern Russia around 5000 BC and later spread into eastern, central,

and northern Europe between 4400 and 2800 BCE (Keyser et al., 2009, Proto-Goths, Gauls,

Celtic). Most of the kurgan style graves found in the Egiin Gol valley date to the Bronze Age,

however Crubezy et al. (1996) describe an isolated kurgan dated to around the 9th century

AD, probably suggesting a Uighur- Tocharian origin (Last Indo-European west of Subcontinent

who stayed behind in Tarim basin).

Yeh-chih (Yuezhi) and Kushans of India:

While Scythian designation for western central Asian nomads comes from Greek and Romanrecords (Herodotus and Pliny), the Yueh-chih and Ye-tai designations comes from Chinese

records for eastern central nomads. Gua-Di-Ahi, a Chinese envoy of Han dynasty observed

them and reported to Hans Emperor of Yueh-chin of theirs migratory movements.

The Yeh-chih or Yuezhi people were in fact driven away from Western China (Turfan and

Tarim basin) by the Xiongnu branch of tribe. Yueh-chih people (Tocharian or Turanian to

Indians and Greeks) were Indo-European people and spoke Tocharian language. Tocharian is

a language closer to Mitanni than Satum group of Indo-Iranians languages. This Tocharian

language was similar to Mitanni language of Anatolia. Mitanni worshipped Vedic Gods but

Tocharians did not and thereby some experts are suggesting that Yueh-chih must have lived

in the same area of Western china by second millennium BC. These people were believed to

be linked to those Caucasian mummies that were dug up in Loulan areas very recently.

The Yuezhi people, who earlier resided near the border of the agricultural part of China and

later migrated on the Eurasian steppe all the way to north India, forming a migratory path

resembling a semi circle arch. They eventually became the rulers of the vast agricultural

based trading empire of India and Central Asia. The Kushan Empire of India had a very large

geographical stretch. They did not dislodge Hindu and Saka rulers of South and West but

made them fiduciary. They used their new allies Saka Satraps as a fiduciary to control

Western India and Madhya Pradesh. The present population of Saurashtra, Gujarat, Kuchha

and Rajasthan, contains many genetic and cultural elements of these new immigrants andother group of people that migrated with them. Thus the migration and settlement of the


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Early Silk Road Trade

Tocharian (Turanians) were Indo European with red hairs and Tall stature-Lulian, Tarim basin

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/chinamum/taklamakan.html

Yuezhi-Kushan people in India may be productive in understanding the contributions of

nomadic people to Indian civilizations in general. It is interesting to note that they followed

the same military strategy of the Xingnu people who drove them out of their original homes

in the area that is now part of Uyghur province of Peoples Republic of China.

As modeled in Genetic map, shown below, one can stipulate that Sino-Tibetan group left via

India along the coast Lines towards china perhaps 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. According to

Chinese scholar, Prof Wei Chu-Hsien's interpretation of ancient classics "Shi-zi"


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Sino-Tibetan-speaking Qiangic San- Miao people first reached the He-xi (west of the

Yellow River) Corridor of today's Gansu Province 4000 years ago and onward to the Khotan

area of southern Chinese Turkistan (as well as crossed the Kumtag Desert to arrive at the

Tianshan Mountain Range via today's Loulan). The Yueh-Chinh (Tokharai) possibly related to

the Indo-European-Scythic group, reached the areas of the Lake Koko not later than Khams

proto-Tibetan Qiangs about 2000 BC (and might had never reached the Tunhuang Grotto atall). It is quite possible that descriptions of Non-Mongolian Physiques among the various

groups of nomadic peoples who had co-existed and commingled with mongoloid Chinese may

have existed long time ago before acknowledged by scholars after the discoveries of Lulian

mummies.

The terracotta soldiers dug out of Qin Emperor Shihuangdi's tomb provides evidence of the

Mixing of the gene pools and milder features

.


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Doctorate Li Hui from Fudan University of China had analyzed the DNA of Asians to derive a

conclusion that the ancestors of the Mongoloid Asians possessed a distinctive Mark M89 by

the time they arrived in Southeast Asia. About 30,000 years ago, from the launching pad of

South Asia, the early Mongoloids went through a genetic mutation to Marker M122. A branch

continued to travel non-stop to reach the area of Manchuria where they developed into what

the national Geographic map below labeled them as the Altaic-speaking people, i.e. ancestors

of the Turks and the Mongols. The west group became Han Chinese and later on to Japanese

with additional gene mutation.

3rd

through 1st

Century BC-Effect On Subcontinent:

The approximate timeline of Yueh-Chinh works out like this as per Ah Ziang who has studied

various Chinese chronicles to arrive at his own conclusion as summarized below:

This multiple attacks on Yueh-Zhi triggered the chain reaction against the Wusun and otherIndo-Iranian tribes who Indians may have known as Khotanese, Khumani, Kamboj and

other names. The Yueh-chih killed the Wusun king, and the Huns possibly took control of the

Western Corridor. Modu Chanyu took custody of the Wusun prince and allocated the land in

western territories to the Wusun; however, the new Wusun king, after growing up, distanced

himself from the Huns. The Xiongnu also attacked from west against the Yuezhi around 176

B.C., hence defeating Loulan, Wusun and Hujie etc, in a battle near today's Yiwu per Yu

Taishan, and taking control of 26 helmets in Chinese Turkistan. This war was relayed to the

Chinese emperor in Modu's letter, stating that he had to execute his vassal kings as

punishment for disturbing peace with China and insulting the Hun Empire. This was an

invented lie.


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This did not stop Xiongnu even after this event but during 174 B.C., the newly-enthroned

Chanyu Laoshang sent scouts in search of the Yuezhi and mounted another campaign againstthe Yuezhi. The Yuezhi queen acted as a regent and led her people in a further move to the

west. The Yuezhi, in turn, attacked the Scythians in today's Ili River area and the Chu-he River

(otherwise known as the Syr and Amu-darya). The country of Bacteria that was Indo-Greek

fell to Yueh Chinh. In 172 BC, Jia-Yi, a counselor for Hans Emperor Huangdi, in light of the fact

that the Huns had become too powerful after defeating the Yuezhi, suggested that he finds a

way to pacify the Xiongnu by allowing them to stay along the Great Wall for better

management and control under watchful eyes. During the rule of Junchen Chanyu, the Yuezhi


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again were subjected to the attack under the Wusun-Xiongnu alliance that forced them to

relocate south towards the Indian subcontinent including Afghanistan. Yueh-Chinh again

evicted various Indo-Iranian tribes of Gete, Massagate, Gurjara and saka. The displaced tribes

moved southward into the subcontinent displacing other inhabitants. The exact date and

timings of these dislocations are not precise but described in various genealogy folklores of

various castes. Indian historians often assign Indian names to foreigners thus making itimpossible to trace their origin. The examples are Greek-Milinda and Huna-Mihirkula or

Kaniska as Kanaksen.

The cat and mouse game between Xiongnu and Yueh-Chinh that lasted over several

generation and killed number of people and resulted into massive displacement of the tribes

from their original homeland and subsequent influx into subcontinent that was clearly

unprecedented and partly explains How Indian Purana failed to track the Genealogy and

migration of various rulers of tribes and clans into India after the fall of Mauryan empire.

These are fast moving events. The lack of unity and apathy among the Indian nations made

this possible until the rise of Gupta Empire. This is often called the beginning of dark period of

the history that started with the collapse of Mauryan and that ended sometimes after Gupta

Empire, when the age of the Rajput began.

The Kushans were one the royal tribe of Yueh-Chih. Interestingly Kushan derives its name

from the Chinese term Guishang.The Various Saka and other tribes of Bactria, Siestan and

Afghanistan crossed the various eastern Khyber passes to enter India and in turn dislodged

habitants of Kashmir, Sindh, Punjab and North West frontiers of Pakistan and dislocating

some of them to move south to Indian heartlands of Rajasthan, Malwa and Saurashtra.

The maps below illustrates the movements of the people lasting over 200 years in central

Asia and Western Europe lasting over 300 years and playing a role in defining thecomplicated DNA profiles of Sub-continent, Eurasia and Eastern Europe.

The Da- Yuezhi (Ta Yeh-chih) means moon People the way Mahabharata defined

Yadavas and Yudisthra clans. There is a pending claim that a branch of Yadavas who were

Indo-Aryans left India after Mahabharatas war and settled somewhere in central Asia! There

are also claims that Yiddish (Jewish) clan originated from Yadav clans. Although, this is a part

of the folk lore or tradition, it gives you a pose that how Yuezhi people calling themselves

moon people?


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Yueh-Chih Migration (3rd

Century BC-3st

Century AD)

Attack and displacement of Yuezhi (Kushan) and subsequent displacement of Parthians, Yavanas, Kambojas

and saka and Gete tribes into Indian sub continents.


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Early Yuezhi Portraits-Reconstruct Wall painting Fresco Silk Road Trading caravans

Indo-Iranian Borderland areas and Siestan- capture of cities bu Kushans


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Vima Kaphdise-Mathura Lion capital Portrait of Huviska Coins-Kaphdise

Head of a Kushan prince (Khalchayan-palace-Uzbekistan), a Buddhist devotee in Kushan dress, Mathura,

2nd century BC. (Kushan was the royal tribe of Yueh-chih)

Kushan (Guishang () were very different and adoptive people. They made a tremendous

transition from their ancestors nomadic status to the rulers of urbanized and civilized

empire. Up on arrival in the subcontinent of Asia, the art and culture of Gandhara grew and

they build many Buddhist monasteries and stupas. They also showed their acumen for trades

but increased to three folds with Roman empire via maritime routes from western coast of

India. Roman historian Elder Pliny vouched for that in his commented concern for adverse

trade balance with India. This Roman claim received considerable support when the hordes ofRoman coins were unearthed at southern ports of south India. This also weakens the hold of

Xiongnu as maritime trade links were simultaneously developed through western coast of

India and Indonesia.

They embraced the Buddhism and became the staunch followers of Buddhism. Buddhism

entered Han China via the Silk Road, beginning in the 1st or 2nd century CE. The first


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documented translation efforts by Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE

possibly as a consequence of the embassy of Asoka to the east.Buddhism entered Han China

via the Silk Road through Tarim Basin.

Blue- eyed Central Asian monk teaching Mongoloid East-Asian monk. A fresco from the Bezeklik Thousand

Buddha Caves dated to the 9th or 10th century (Kara-Khoja Kingdom).Kumarajiva of Kashmir Followed during

Kushan rule. Rabatak Inscription of Kushan

Kumarajiva (Sanskrit: ; simplified Chinese: (chiu-Moto-loto-shito); was ann Buddhist monk, scholar, and translator born in Indian Kashmir. He became a Mahayana

Buddhist following the doctrine of Nagarjuna. Kumarajiva settled in Chang'an, which was the

imperial capital of China. He spent his adult life in translating Sanskrit Pali Buddhist texts in

Chinese.

We do not know if Yueh-Chinh or Kushan had any direct control of jade mines but they did

not have any trouble travelling through Silk Road into the territory controlled by Hans

Empire. The wondering movement of Yueh-chih was unintended consequences of Chinese

effort to free themselves of predator Xiongnu Huns who were raiding and stealing from

Chinese peasantry. Chinese emperor was concerned enough for the welfare of Yueh-Chinh

that he dispatched its envoy to Yueh-chih confederacy and the records preserved during Han

dynasty becomes an important source of the knowledge for many central nomads and

providing evidence of early Indo-Europeans presence in Uighur province.

This chain reaction of this magnitude of major human migration and its related complicationcan be best explained in the following ways:

1. The stationary Sedentary civilization of India, Persia, Egypt and China with urban culture

and developed agriculture near river delta were prospering while Northern nomads were

experiencing scarcity of agriculture and pastoral land either driven by long drawn draught or

climatic change. The southern agriculturalists were widely spread out and broken in to

smaller units forming smaller to larger population centers like farms, villages or cities.


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2. The nomadic warrior tribes in large number on horseback cavalry with Iron Age weapons

first overrun small border settlements and then gather momentum after consolidation to

plans further inroads towards the major urban areas and capital cities for plunder and riches.

3. They also captured slaves, cuts off food supplies and disrupts trades to the capital ofkingdom. They start controlling important resources to capital cities such as food, water and

other necessary items for survival so the urbanized settlement capitulate and surrender their

wealth and food.

4. The kingdom often plagued with internal intrigues, dissention and lack of preparedness for

defense became victims of this aggression that was executed as a surprise attacks.

5. The women and children were taken captive and the people were getting intermixed.

When men were getting killed, the women had no choice but to survive to keep their children

alive. This phenomenon gets repeated time after time throughout the middle ages.

Source: Joe Crib web page - Kushan Kushan Gold Coins

Kujula Kaphdise united the five Yeh-chih tribes to establish the Kushan rule in Bactria in 50

AD. Kanishka after Vima Kaphdise became the emperor around 126- 164 AD after conquest

of India with empire stretching from Persia to Transoxiana to the Upper Indus. This Kushan

Empire had its base in modern Afghanistan and Pakistan extending to central Asian cities of

Sogdiana (Samarkand) and it had continued for hundreds of years until the Hephthalites

(White Huns) or the Ye-tais came along. By all indication, Hephthalites (Red and White) who

came along were the mixed origin of Xiongnu and many other Eurasian primitive tribes that


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exist in DNA form in various nationalities of today in its primitive form but remain hard to

decipher as various ancient tribes of humans went through genetic mutation that altered

their physical characteristics.

Kanishka-1, first Kushan ruler of India and descendant of Kujula Kaphdise who ruled Bactria,

established his empire stretching from India to most of Central Asia covering wide areas ofCentral Asia. Kushan kings ruled from Purushapura (Peshawar) and Lehkot (Lahore) with

fiduciary ruling from Mathura and Ujjain after establishing their control. Ay Khanum an old

Hellenistic city (130 BC) at the junction of Kokcha and Oxus River is believed to be the ancient

Balkh, the Central Asian capital of Greek rulers that was overrun by Yueh-chih confederacy

that included Kushan. The earlier Yueh-Chinh queen establishes the rule in Bactria (Balkh)

after overrunning the Greek empire. The first official ruler as per numismatic was Kujula

Kaphdise probably the son of queen, followed by Vima Taktu per coins and also inscriptions.

The Kushans rulers themselves left large number of archeological and numismatic evidence.

Influx Of Immigrants in India:

We have no clear ideas as to how many ancient tribes living on north side of India-Iran

borderlands were affected and migrated to India. We have caste based indicators that

suggests their central Asian origin. Indian DNA studies show the same results. The family

genealogy charts also supports that hypothesis based on ancestors naming convention.

We have Huna, Kasan, Kamboj, Khuman, Gurjara, Rajputs, Jat and other castes that show

their wide geographical dispersal stretching from Afghanistan to India suggesting their central

Asian roots. There is still lack of understanding and conviction among historians on

interrelationship of various tribes who penetrated India? Were they allies of Yueh-chih? Did

they join them after Yueh-chins conquest of Bactria? Are there archeological evidence that

suggests the presence of other tribes and nomads prior to Yueh-chins arrival ?. Obviously,

Yueh-chin proved weaker than Chinese and Xiongnu after suffering successive routes!

This also brings out the lack of precision and surety to the relationship of various groups and

caste of India to those people from the north that entered India prior to Kushan Era. This is

where Indian Purana is silent. They can give extensive details on tribes of Janpada and

Mahabharata period but not about what happened after collapse of Mauryan empire.

Archaeogenetics of Yuezhi:

The Yuezhi mummies had Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA) characteristic of western Eurasia in the

area of East-Central Europe, Central Asia and Indus Valley. This also shows up in North

western population of India as one of the gene marker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_R1a_%28Y-DNA%29


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A team of Chinese and American researchers working in Sweden tested DNA from 52

separate mummies, including the mummy identified as from Tarim basin related to Yueh-

Chinh referred as Loulan Mummies." The features of the Loulan relics have been described

as Nordic or East Eurasian in appearance. The female 45 years old mummies fitted this

category. Victor Mair, a University of Pennsylvania professor commented on this study:

Extremely important because they link up eastern and western Eurasia at a formative stage

of civilization (Bronze Age and early Iron Age) in a much closer way than has ever been done

before.

Earlier study by Jilin University also had found an MtDNA haplotype characteristic of Western

Eurasian populations with Europoid genes.

In 2007 the Chinese government allowed a National Geographic Society team headed by

Spencer Wells to examine the mummies' DNA. Wells was able to extract non-degraded DNA

from the internal tissues. The scientists extracted enough material to suggest that the Tarim

Basin was continually inhabited from 2000 BC to 300 BC and preliminary results indicate the

people, rather than having a single origin, originated from Europe, Mesopotamia, Indus

Valley and other regions yet to be determined.

It has been asserted that the textiles found with the mummies are of an early European

textile type based on close similarities to fragmentary textiles found in salt mines in Austria,

dating from the second millennium BCE. Anthropologist Irene Good, a specialist in early

Eurasian textiles, noted the woven diagonal twill pattern indicated the use of a rather

sophisticated loom and, she says, the textile is "the easternmost known example of this kind

of weaving technique."

Mair claims that "the earliest mummies in the Tarim Basin were exclusively Caucasoid or

Europoid" with East Asian migrants arriving in the eastern portions of the Tarim Basin around

3,000 years ago while the Uyghur peoples arrived around the year 842 AD. In trying to trace

the origins of these populations, Victor Mair's team suggested that they may have arrived in

the region by way of the Pamir Mountains about 5,000 years ago. Mair also added that The

new finds are also forcing a reexamination of old Chinese books that describe historical or

legendary figures of great height, with deep-set blue or green eyes, long noses, full beards,

and red or blond hair. Scholars have traditionally scoffed at these accounts, but it now seems

that they may be accurate.

The Buddhist painting shown above with Caucasoid monk above confirms his observation.

Indian Texts and other sub-continents records including the Mathura archeological finds

lends more support to Mairs claims that Yuezhi looked more Caucasoid in origin and negates

whatever other claims may be out there . Kushan Statue in Mathura museum clearly shows

Caucasoid feature wearing long snow boot and possessing more than average height of

Indians. However, successive generations allowed the intermixing. Many Sassanian kings

were of mixed origin and were called Kushan Shah or Shah-en-Shah comprising of Persian and


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Yueh-Chinh origin. Similarly, the mixing took place in India as well. Khusure-1, Ardeshir (the

just ) had a Hephthalites wife. The Tarim basin was the part of the silk road network and

intermingling would have taken place long before Loulan mommies discovered. So, the

conflicting findings should be of no surprise as Modu had no trouble marrying a Yueh-Chinh

bride.

Presently, China is engaged into number of boundary disputes with many neighborhood

countries, so it may be politically difficult for Chinese to admit the presence of Indo-European

and Indus valley people in Tarim basin area. However, it is clear from the records that the

mixture of genes between Caucasoid, Indus valley, Siberian and Mongolian people did take

place in early ancient histories as long as 20,000 years ago. The Xiongnu wave expedited the

process of intermingling. Attila, Chengiz, Tamerlane and Moguls further added to this genetic

imprints that everyone to a degree are mixed origin group of ethnicities . The differentiation

of western Chinese and eastern Chinese is depicted in two statues.

The DNA and Genetic profiles support this observation. The various matrimonial alliances

between Xiongnu, Yuezhi, Chinese, Wusun(Scythian) and other Turkic tribes provides a

testimonials to mixing of genes with intermarriages and brides trading. The large reach ofXiongnu Empire followed by many Mongolian originated waves like Attila, Chengiz Khan,

Tamer Lane and Toramana-white Hun, it is hard to imagine that the admixture did not

result as exhibited by various faces of Asia (See pictures below).


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Archeology Of Kushans In Afghanistan and India:

The excavations at illya-tepe of modern Afghanistan dated around 1st

century BC has

revealed the rich tombs of Kushan royalty. The six excavated tombs were burial sites of

Kushan princes and princesses. The more than 20,000 pieces include gold vessels, plates,

buckles and decorative pieces of clothing and illustrate that some of the nomadic customs

were kept. The Kushan rulers established their summer capital at Kapisa near Begram in

Afghanistan. Kushans conquest of Persia and India gave them a control of strategic portion of

Silk Road trades between east and west. One Chinese scholar who summarized Sima Qians

history describes the Yuezhi Kushan as:

The great Yuezhi-Kushan is located 7000 li north of India, in remote region, their land is at

high altitude and climate is dry (probably in reference to Balkh). The king calls himself Son of

heaven or Dev Putra. There are many riding horses exceeding several thousand horses.

The city layout of street and houses are similar to Roman Empire (Hellenistic influence). The

skin of the people is reddish white. People are skillful at horse archery. Local products,rarities, treasures, clothing and upholstery are very good.

It is difficult to verify this source since the ancient text is now lost. However, the excavation

at Al-Kanoun provides a comprehensive picture of Greek life with a theater, Gymnasium,

temple, palace and well marked streets, very typical of ancient Greek and Roman plans as

described in Chinese text. The beautiful city Goddess Charsada excavated at Purushapura

(Modern Peshawar) demonstrates Hellenistic influence during Kushan period. The Greek and

Roman cities in ancient time always had similar patron deity of cities. Similar cultural

elements in Fergana, Bactria and Gandhara indicate that the invasion of Kushan nomads was

not sudden or brutal but a gradual process and was very mild on people. This is the main

reasons why we see long lasting Kushan legacy in Indian history as if Kushans were local

people and so Purana given them Indian names. They quickly adapted to urbanized culture

and language of India, Persia and Bactria.

The allied tribes that entered India during this period adopted Buddhism, Jainism and

Hinduism and were quickly assimilated in their adopted country. India became the worlds

melting pot during this period. Kushan coins depict variety of cults and Gods. Kushan rulers

were very secular minded people in spite of what they had endured from the hands of

Xiongnu barbarians. During Kushan rules, all religions enjoyed the patronage of rulers. The

people practiced Shaivism, Buddhism, and Jainism and Zoroastrianism.Jain religious

monuments along with Buddhist monuments were erected in India.

During the Kushan rule (1st-3rd century AD) some of the largest and finest Jain and Buddhist

caitya and stupas and were built at Mathura and other places. Mathura and Ujjain became

the great commercial and artistic centre of northern India. Several Buddhist monasteries

were named after Kushan rulers. A number of surviving architectural segments and sculptural


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images, most carved from Mathura's distinctive mottled red sandstone, once adorned the

region's temples and stupas.

Kushan-Yuezhi believed in the divine origin of kinship (very similar belief of Vedic Aryan.)

They also worshipped their dead ancestors. The dead ancestor became deva as they were

always Deva putra. The Number of Dev Kula is discovered of Kushans Royal family. Mostnoteworthy are Surkh Kotal in Southern Bactria (Afghanistan) and Mathura in India. The

Devkula contained the sculpture of former Kushan rulers. The statues of Kanishka from

Mathura and Surkh kotal are similar. The Dev Kula at Surkh kotal was built by Kanishka as

evidence from inscription found there and mentions earlier ancestor kings such as Vima

Takuta Kaphdise and Huvishka. Rabatak inscription that was found not far from Surkh kotal

was in a temple that houses deities and Devkula kings. The deities in this case were

Zoroastrian God Sroshard and Narasa and the kings were ancestors of Kanishka. The tradition

of Dev Kula and worship of dead ancestors is still widespread in Gujarat, Rajasthan,

Saurashtra, Kuchha and other parts of India.

Kushan Dynasty AD Rabatak Inscription-Kushan Buddhist Stupa Afghanistan Kanishka-Kushan ruler

Yueh-chih Kushans traded for Chinese silk with many other commodities like precious stones.

There was a long standing trading relationship with east and west. Up on conquest of Bactria

and Fergana they attained the major control of silk trade and Central Asian war horse trades.

The Bactria, Sogdiana and Fergana were the major breeding and training grounds of the best

of the best war horses and were exported to Persia, India, and China and far reach of West all

the way to Roman Empire for the use of military. Yueh-chih thus expanded the Silk trade and

developed the Silk Road connecting east to west.

Western Hunic Tribe associated with Attila-The Hun:

As seen from the Chinese sources, early Xiongnu was confederacy of various tribes and as

they marched west, they started evolving into various branches with Multi-ethnicities.

Although, the original Xiongnu empire had dissolved by 376 AD but new Hunic Empire of west

and south was born with multi ethnic composition involving initial ferocity of Xiongnu

combined with Turkic, scythic , Carpathian basin and mongoloid elements. Their leader Attila

the Hun attacked and destroyed Alanis- sarmatians at Danube River. Attila threatened the

mighty empire of Rome. Jordanes, 6th

century Roman historian and Bureaucrat describes


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Attila as follows:

Short of stature, with a broad chest and a large head; his eyes were small, his beard thin and

sprinkled with grey; and he had a flat nose and tanned skin, showing evidence of his origin.

This implies his Asiatic origin.

Portrait of Attila Hun Soldier Hun cavalry

Western Hunic tribe that evolved from Xiongnu-Tocharian-Alanis-Sarmatians-Ionian- Greeks-

Scythic people pushed Ostro-Gothic (Gaul) people out more to the west. They first camped ineastern Anatolia and then moved in to Western Europe. This ultimately brought about the

collapse of Roman Empire.Attila, the Hun was the famous lord of this amalgamation of so

called Hunic tribe (a generic label) that went through like a wave of the locust.

Since Attila became very famous in history and he commanded various nomadic people of

Eurasia who hated Romans, he became their idol and various groups of people lay their claim

to his ethnicity. No one knows his exact ethnicity. The mixed ethnicity is the only answer

considering the history of Hun people who first arose from inner Magnolia. Most likely, he

had mongoloid as well as Indo-European genes. Linguistically, his name is ascribed to Turkic

origin but that does not rule out his multiple ethnicities. Ostrogoth, German, Hungarian,

Turkic, Uyghur and other historians can claim him but there is no historical evidence tosupport one claim against another except the folklores. He was the only one who humbled

the Roman Empire and therefore he became the lord of all the oppressed tribes of Eurasia.

Byzantine sources mention that the Magyars were also known as the Sabirs. Indian sources

also confirm the existence of Sivi tribe as mentioned in Indian Purana texts. The origin of

such a tribe is attributed to the present state of Turkmenistan. This land of Shivastan


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(Indian) or Sabir-ki (Sumerians) may have existed in central Asia. Numerous Greek sources

consider the Sivi tribe to be of scythic group or Indo-Iranian group. Later period historians

of Middle Ages define them as part of Huns, Avars, Khazar and Magyars tribes of the Central

Asia. This defines them as people of complex genetics identity of nomadic group of people.

The Khazar-Avar themselves were followers of Judaism. Is there any pre-historic connection

of Yadu clan of India or Yiddish clan of Israel? We do not know yet but Magyar geneticsshows the gene marker also common to Indus valley region.

At the height of their power, the Western Attila-Huns absorbed a number of different racial

strains in their armies and assimilated the characteristics of the populations of their

environment, so while in Europe they gradually lost their distinct Asian character; but even in

their pre-European period they were highly variable in their physical characteristics, and

cannot be easily assigned any specific ethnic or linguistic identity. All accounts, however,

agree in describing them as an aggressive nomadic people of great energy with low material,

language and cultural values. They had developed considerable skill in the techniques of

warfare, particularly in military horsemanship like earlier Xiongnu people.

Some scythic tribes have left number of archeological evidence, however such is not the case

to trace the Magyar or Hun identity far back in to the history. So you have to rely on DNA

map and then try to match it with the known history. The recent discovery of Jewish presence

in Afghanistan and Uyghur province is also very perplexing and revealing as regards to the

connection that is mentioned above. Yadu clans of India after Great War had migrated back

to central Asia after devastating Tsunami that submerged Krishnas city.


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Later Hunas-White-Hephthalites of Greek or Ye-tai of Chinese:

Approximately a century later after Kushans rule in India, the Sassanians overthrew theParthians in Persia in 226AD. The scarcity of records of Hephthalites (Epthalites) provides us

fragmentary picture of their civilization and empire. Their background and origin still remain

uncertain. A different group probably emerged from Tarim basin area that was originally

occupied by Yueh-chih. Mongoloid Xiongnu, Turks and another group of Indo-European and

Tibetan origin banded together. There was a striking resemblance in the deformed heads of

the early Yueh-chih and Hephthalites kings on their coinage.

According to Procopius's (Byzantium historian) of the 6th century AD describes this group of

Hephthalites or white Huns as follows:

The Hephthalites are of the stock of the Huns in fact as well as in name; however they donot mingle with any of the Huns known to us. They are the only ones among the Huns who

have white bodies." This makes the stark difference between Red Hun and White Hun.

The Epthalites was the name given to them by Byzantine historians as Hayathelaites.

Persian historian Mirkhond called them Hua. Indians called them Huna and Chinese

historians called them Ye-tai. They are also known as the White Huns different from the

Red Huns Attila who invaded the Roman Empire. They are described as a kindred steppe

people originally occupied the pasture-lands in the Altai Mountain of southwestern Mongolia

and later on Tarim basins. This particular group had higher contents of Indo-European genes

than Attila Group. This defined their physical characteristics.

Origin of the White Epthalites:

Their origin can be attributed to a tribe called Rouran (Mongolian- , Ruanruan

Chinese. Rouran was a nomadic Mongolian empire on the northern borders of Inner China

from the late 4th century until the middle 6th century AD. They arose from the disintegration

of Xiongnus empire. According to the Chinese sources, the Rouran were a confederation led

by Xianbei people who were split during Xiongnu period and were descendants of Donghu.

After the Donghu were defeated by Modu Chanyu around 208 BC the Xianbei and Wuhuan

survived as the main remnants of the confederation. The Hou Hanshu says that the languageand culture of the Xianbei are the same as the Wuhuan but remained in the Mongolian

steppes after most Xianbei migrated south to Northern China and set up various kingdoms.

They were first noted as having defeated the Tiele and establishing an empire extending all

the way to the Hulun, in eastern Inner Mongolia. To the west of the Rouran was a horde

known in the west as the Xionite (Hephthalites) who originally, until the beginning of the 5th

century, were a vassal horde of the main Rouran branch. Xianbei of Chinese may be the same

as Xionite of Persian or Greek as different people named them differently. They approached


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to the Indian border and captured part of Northern India. This Huna group of India was a

branch of White Epthalites that evolved from Xianbei of Mongolia and steppe people of Indo-

Iranian-scythic tribes. The Alchon group may be part of this larger group of Xianbei that

definitely a mixed origin people of various tribes banded together. During 460 AD, Khingila I

united the Avar with the Xionite of the west (Tarim basin, Khorasan).

Further inroad of Hunas into India was halted by Skanda Gupta and as Hindu coalition of

fiduciary kings of Gupta marched their armies against Hunas. The Indians defeated Tegin, the

commander of Huna, and drove them away from India around 470-480 AD. But the Hunas

were relentless bunch and they continued their attacks over several years. Puru Gupta who

succeeded Skanda Gupta could not stop the new overlord of Huna called Toramana and

Gupta were defeated and the collapse of Gupta Empire was complete around 480-500 AD.

During their invasion of Persia, the Hunas managed to capture the Sassanian king Feroz I, and

exchanged him for a ransom. They used the coins of the ransom monies to counter mark and

copy them, thereby initiating a coinage inspired from Sassanian designs. The complete

collapse of the Persian opposition to Huna invaders must have greatly facilitated the crossing

of Hunas to the Indian frontier. Hunas presence in India is a process that covered at least

about 50 to 80 years from 425 to 500 A.D., with a short break for about ten years due to their

first defeat at the hands of Skanda Gupta.

Huna Empire-India, Iran, Afghanistan Mihirkula Coin (Huna) Map of Gupta Empire 465-480 AD

Hunas established an extensive empire that stretched from Gandhara to Malwa and also

covering the part of Ganga valley by 500 A.D. The discovery and spread of coins of the Huna

Chief Toraman indicate his rule over parts of Uttar-Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Kashmir.

He assumed the title of "Maharajadhiraj". He adopted Hinduism and was a Shiva worshipper

and allowed the administration of the Guptas to continue under his sway as before. The


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duration of Huna-Empire in India seems to be too short; at the most no more than thirty

years.

The Alchon Chief Toraman was succeeded by his son Mihirkula in 520 AD and he ruled from

Sakata or modern day city of Sialkot of the Pakistani Punjab. The Guptas continued to resist

the Hunas by establishing allies with the rulers of the neighboring Indian states and otherformer fiduciary. It was Yashovarman of Malwa who with Baladitya Gupta and other allies

defeated Mihirkula in 528 AD. Mihirkula retreated and took refuge in Kashmir and by 542 AD

Mihirakulas remnanents had been driven off from the plains of northern India. After a brief

tyrannical rule In Kashmir, he was defeated again by Baladitya Gupta, Mukhari and others

Indian fiduciaries of main Gupta clan. Huna rule thereafter disappeared from India by 542 AD

and he is thought to have died soon after. Mihirkula is remembered in contemporary Indian

and Chinese histories for his cruelty and his destruction of temples and monasteries, with

particular hostility towards Buddhism. The Huna rule thereafter disappeared from India.

The power of the Alchon in central Asia was shattered in the 560 AD's by a combination of

Sassanid and proto-Turkic forces, the last Hephthal king Narana managed to maintain some

kind of rule between 570 and 600 AD. The remainder survival tribe of the 'Napki' became

known as the Avars. The remainder of Alchon disappeared in subcontinent, Persia and

Anatolia and blended with local. India has the caste named Huna. Some Royals married Huna

bride and offer the protection to invading Huna by intermarrying with them.

Together with the Huns many experts believe a number of central Asian tribes and peoples

may have came, some of whom remained in northern India and others moved further to the

south and the west. Among them were the Gurjaras, who rose to eminence a few centuries

later. Some of the tribes who lived in Rajasthan fled from their homeland when they were

displaced by the new tribes who became the ancestors of some of the Rajput families, and

again were to dominate the history of the north in later centuries.


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In Late 6th century, the branch of Hephthalites were said to have moved west to the Russian

steppe to form the Avars Khanate. The identities of Hunas, Avars, and Yueh-Chinh were

group of tribes with multiple ethnicities. Russian experts Arutinov and Alekseev on Steppe

nomads believe that very often similar names are applied to slightly or totally different

people. The term Huna applied to at least four groups of people by different historians ofthe past that can be classified by some historians as follows:

1. Red Hun the fame of Attila who sacked the Roman Empire (Chionites).

2. The Hungarian Magyars.- Another Xionite Group based in Carpathian basins.

The Hungarian historians mention the tribe of Kabar and Magyar as being the

tribe that formed the Hungarian nation. Kabar can mean the Indo-Iranian people

leaving north of Khyber Pass that was occupied by mixed origin people of Mongoloid

and Indo-European origin

3. White Epthalites who fought Persian Indians and Sassanians. Hunas mixed with

Turks, Turanians, Saka, Indian and nomads are often called Indian Huna. The 'Indian'

Huns, or Hunas as they are called by Indian writers, were not entirely independent,

since they ruled as viceroys for a Huna overlord in Central Asia. The Hun (Xionite of

west) dominion extended from Persia to Khotan, the main capital being Bamiyan in

Afghanistan.

Another tribe called Kidarites who accompanied Kushans to India and took over the power

from them are also referred to as the little Chionites, (from the Middle Persian word xiyon,

'Hun'). They were a mixed origin Yueh-Chinh people who intermarried with Xiongnu Mongols

and stayed in Tarim basin area. They were the first Hunic tribe that crashed into the easternfrontiers of Iran and the northern ones of the Kushans around 320 A.D. A people different

from the Hephthalites, the Chionites were also called 'Red' Huns and the Hephthalites 'White'

Huns. An enigmatic leader Kidaras pushed the Kushans out of northern Pakistan around 340

AD and gave his name to this short-lived dynasty. The Chinese historians identified and

named the central Asian Hunic tribes differently than others due to its close proximity.

It is uncertain as what language various Hunic tribes spoke. Some say it was Mongolian while

some say it was either Turkic or Iranian. This is indicative of the mixed origin group. According

to the Buddhist pilgrims Sung Yun and Hui Sheng, who visited them in 520 AD, Hunas had no

script, and the Liang shu specifically states that they have no letters but use tally sticks. Atthe same time there is numismatic and epigraphic evidence to show that a debased form of

the Greek alphabet was used by the Hephthalites. Since the Kushans were conquered by

Hephthalites, it is possible they retained many aspects of Kushan culture, including the

adoption of the Greek alphabet or defaced the ransom coins by defacing them.

The Hunas who invaded India spoke Tocharian, the language of Yueh-chih Kushans (Yueh-

Chih) and some Hunas were familiar with Khotanese (the language of Sakas from the region


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of Khotan). This is indicative of their mixed ethnicity and their genetic components. These

Hunas initially conquered the dominion stretching from Persia to Khotan with Bamiyan as

capital where we find today Hazara of modern Afghanistan. According to Chinese account

these Hunas were uncouth in manner and an iconoclast, especially hostile to Buddhism

expressed in a way of mass killings of monks and monasteries in North India. However, some

Indian records describe Mihirkula as Shiva worshipper not an iconoclast. It is interesting tonote that Buddhist and Brahmin Texts agrees with the above and portrays last Huna ruler

Mihirkula as arrogant, tyrannical and mass murderer.

Sung Yun and Hui Sheng, two Buddhist monks reported that the Hephthalites did not believe

in Buddhism, though there is ample archaeological evidence that this religion was allowed to

be practiced in territories under Hephthalites control. According to Liang shu the Hephthalites

worshiped Heaven and also a fire - a clear reference to Zoroastrianism. While Jaina text treats

him as the one who respected Jainism and avoids mentioning his tyrannical rule. This is a bit

contradiction and makes you wonder which tribe of Huna they are referring to?.

Colonel Tod in his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan makes the following observation of

Hunas (1829 AD).

White Huns who occupied India must have in all likelihood set up colonies into Saurashtra

and Mewar (Part of Western Rajasthan). It is on the eastern bank of the Chambal, ancient

Barolli, the tradition assigns a residence to the Hun and one of the celebrated temple at that

place called the Singar Chaori is the marriage hall of the Hun Prince, who is also declared to

have been possessed of lordship on the opposite bank, occupying the site of the present town

of Bhainsror.

All above discussions has some relevance to present make up various caste of India as theycontain many Huna elements. It is now believed by some experts that Agni Kula legend was

organized to authenticate these mixed and foreign origin warrior tribes to the Kshatriya

status. This undoubtedly will include all of the foreign tribes discussed above and who settled

themselves in India and often intermarried with locals. Romila Thapar an eminent historian

has suggested that many Rajput clans descended from Hunas.

As far as the culture and living style of the Hephthalites, the eyewitness of report of the

Buddhist monks:

The Hephthalites have no cities, but roam freely and live in tents. They do not live in towns;their seat of government is a moving camp. They move in search of water and pasture,

journeying in summer to cool places and in winter to warmer ones....They have no belief in

the Buddhist law and they serve a great number of divinities." Here they are referring to

Huna of Inner Mangolia. This further serves as testimonial that Huna were fast evolving group

of multi ethnicities so different observers who saw them can describe them differently and

at variance with other observers.


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The other interesting feature of the Hephthalites was that they practiced Polyandry. The

record of brother marrying his brothers wife or sharing together was common. This has been

reported also from Chinese source.

Magyar, Hungarian and Khazar

At the height of Hunic Empire, that was stretched all the way from Turkey to eastern part of

Mongolia, Hungary was most likely founded by Magyar an

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