The 4th to 7th centuries are called the early Middle Ages in Central Asian history. After the decline of the Kushan state a series of nomadic dynasties — the Chionites, Kidarites, Hephthalites and Turks — ruled the region, yet local principalities largely kept their own government. In this period new social relations (dihqans, kadivars) took shape, Sogdian merchants came to dominate the Silk Road and the Turkic runic script appeared. The topic is the key to understanding the situation on the eve of the Arab conquest. Exams ask about the dates of the Chionites, Hephthalites and the Turkic Khaganate, the titles of local rulers and the meaning of “dihqan”.
§1. The Chionites and Kidarites
In the 3rd–4th centuries the Kushan state weakened and its western lands were taken by Iran’s Sasanian dynasty. Nomads from the north filled the vacuum.
The Chionites came from northern Central Asia in the mid-4th century and occupied Sogdiana and Bactria. They alternately allied with and fought Sasanian Iran: for example, the Chionite ruler Grumbates joined the Sasanian shah Shapur II on a campaign against Byzantium.
The Kidarites ruled Tokharistan and Gandhara in the 4th–5th centuries. On their coins they presented themselves as heirs of the Kushan tradition.
Local towns declined in this period and in places life shifted to the countryside, but trade and crafts continued.
Mid-4th century — the Chionites; 4th–5th centuries — the Kidarites
§2. The Hephthalite state
Mid-5th to mid-6th century; centre — Tokharistan
The Hephthalites (the “White Huns” of Greek and Byzantine sources) subdued Sogdiana, Chach, Fergana, northern India and part of Eastern Turkestan.
They defeated Sasanian Iran and forced it to pay tribute; the Sasanian shah Peroz was killed fighting them (484).
Their method of rule: local rulers stayed in place, paid tribute and supplied troops. As a result local dynasties and culture survived under the Hephthalites.
The Hephthalites minted their own coins and used the Bactrian script (based on Greek letters).
563–567 — an alliance of the Turkic Khaganate and the Sasanians destroyed the Hephthalites
Cause and effect: the Hephthalites were caught between two strong neighbours — the Turks to the east and Iran to the west; once these allied, the Hephthalite state was struck from both sides and fell.
§3. The Turkic Khaganate
552 — Bumin Khagan founded the Turkic Khaganate; 603 — it split into Eastern and Western khaganates
The Turks originally lived in the Altai and were famous ironworkers; they were subject to the Rouran. In 552 Bumin defeated the Rouran and founded an independent khaganate.
Bumin’s brother Istemi Yabgu conquered the western lands — Central Asia.
Central Asia became part of the Western Turkic Khaganate; the khagan’s seat was in Semirechye (the town of Suyab).
To control the silk trade, the khagans opened diplomatic relations with Byzantium, bypassing Iran: in 568 an embassy led by the Sogdian Maniakh reached Constantinople.
The Turkic runic (Orkhon-Yenisei) script appeared; famous monuments are the inscriptions for Kul Tegin and Bilge Khagan (8th century, Mongolia).
In the mid-7th century the khaganate weakened through internal strife and pressure from China (the Tang Empire).
568 — Maniakh’s embassy to Byzantium
§4. Local principalities
Under the Turkic Khaganate local dynasties kept power and paid tribute to the khagan, who seldom interfered in their internal affairs but sent his representatives, tuduns, to key places.
Sogdiana — ruler’s title ikhshid (centre Samarkand); Bukhara — Bukhar-khudat.
Panjikent — a Sogdian town; murals in wealthy houses (scenes from the Rustam epic and others).
Varakhsha (Bukhara oasis) — the palace of the Bukhar-khudats, with wall paintings.
Afrasiab (ancient Samarkand) — 7th-century murals in the “Hall of Ambassadors”, showing envoys of many countries arriving at the court of the Samarkand ikhshid Varkhuman.
Religions: Zoroastrianism was the main faith; there were also Buddhist (especially in Tokharistan), Christian and Manichaean communities. The Turks worshipped Heaven — Tengri.
Scripts: Sogdian, Khwarezmian and Bactrian, and the Turkic runic script.
Worked example
“Match: 1) ikhshid; 2) tudun; 3) afshin; 4) Khwarezmshah. a) Ustrushana; b) Sogdiana; c) Chach; d) Khwarezm.”
Ikhshid — ruler of Sogdiana: 1–b.
Tudun — in Chach: 2–c.
Afshin — ruler of Ustrushana: 3–a.
Khwarezmshah — Khwarezm: 4–d.
Answer: 1–b, 2–c, 3–a, 4–d.
Worked example
Chronology: “Order the events: the split of the Turkic Khaganate; Maniakh’s embassy; the founding of the Turkic Khaganate; the defeat of the Hephthalites.”
Turkic Khaganate founded — 552.
Hephthalites defeated — 563–567.
Maniakh’s embassy — 568.
Khaganate split — 603.
Answer: 552 → 563–567 → 568 → 603.
Worked example
Source analysis: “The wall shows envoys in different dress; a Sogdian inscription beside one of them says the envoy came to King Varkhuman and conveyed his ruler’s greetings.” Which monument is this, and what does it show?
Varkhuman was the 7th-century ikhshid of Samarkand.
A mural of envoys is the “Hall of Ambassadors” at Afrasiab.
The Sogdian inscription shows a local literate culture; the envoys show Samarkand’s international ties.
Answer: the Afrasiab “Hall of Ambassadors”; in the 7th century Samarkand had wide diplomatic contacts.
Check yourself
In what year was the Turkic Khaganate founded?
Who destroyed the Hephthalites?
Who was a “dihqan” in the early Middle Ages?
In what year did the Turkic Khaganate split?
What was the ruler of Chach called?
Which Sogdian led the embassy to Byzantium?
Which region did the Afrighids rule?
What was the title of the ruler of Ustrushana?
Common mistakes
Taking the medieval “dihqan” for an ordinary farmer (he was a landowner, a noble).
Dating the split of the Turkic Khaganate to 552 (552 — founding, 603 — split).
Reversing the Hephthalites and Chionites (the Chionites came first).
Calling a kadivar a landowner (he was a tenant).
Placing the “Hall of Ambassadors” in Panjikent (it is at Afrasiab, Samarkand).
Thinking the Hephthalites wiped out local dynasties: they left local rulers in place and demanded only tribute and troops.