Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 34 Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple Publisher: Swati PublicationsPage 86
________________ 80 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. (APRIL, 1905. Great Yue-chi tribes which had remained in Bactria. It is interesting to know that the latter were forced to migrate south of the Hindukush by the invading onslaught of the Juan-Juan, later known in Europe as the Avar's. The Chinese Apnalists from this time forward apply the name Little Yuo-chi' to the people governed by the successors of Ki-to-lo from the capital of Gandhāra, Parushapura or the present Peshawar. But our authorities make it also quite clear that there was no change in the nationality of the dominant race. We have not, so far, broached the questions connected with the nationality of the Yue-chi; chiefly because it will be easier for us to form an opinion if we consider them in connection with the evidence bearing on the people who immediately succeeded them as conquerors in NorthWestern India. These were the White Hans or Ephthalites, whose part in Indian history commenced from about the middle of the fifth century and continued for about a hundred years. Concerning them, too, our earliest and most detailed records are gathered from Chinese sources.12 Wo learn from the Annals of the Hiang and Wei dynasties that that tribe, a section of the Great Yue-chi, originally dwelt to the north of the great wall of China. They then went by the name of Hoa or Hoa-tun and were in subjection to the Juan-Juan whom we have before mentioned. Little by little the Hoa grow from an insignificant tribe into a powerful nation. After the name of their ruling family they styled themselves Ye-ta-i-li-to or in an abbreviated form of the name, Ye-tha (just as the. Yue-chi took the name of Kushän). From this originated the name Ephthalites (Hephtbalites) subsequently applied to them by the Greeks, as well as the Armenian Haital and the Haythal of Persian and Arab writers. The Ye-tha pressed forward to the west of Khotan as far as the Oxus and Murgbab Rivers and set up a vast empire which extended from what is to-day Chinese Turkestan, to the confines of Persis and included more than thirty kingdoms. Among the latter mention is made of Ki-pin or the Upper Kābul Valley. The Chinese Annalists describe the Ye-tha as a war-hardeved and energetic race. Their customs, they declare, bore a close resemblance to those of the l'u-kiue or Turks. Originally they had no towns, but lived in felt tents ; being unacquainted with the art of writing thoy kept a record of transactions on wooden sticks, eto, Remarkable is their custom of polyandry, and the Chinese note this as a distinguishing feature. We possess fairly detailed information as to the part which the Ye-tha or Ephthalites played in the West during the course of the wars which they waged against the Persian Empire from the reign of the Sassanian Bahram Gür (420-438). Since they represented natural allies as it were of the Greek Empire, in the latter's struggle against the Sassaniana, they are often referred to by Byzantine historians. These know them by the name of White Huns. Procopius, who employs this designation in the middle of the sixth centary, distinctly reckons them as of the race of the Huns who figured in Europe, although they stood in no direct connection with the lacter and dwelt at a great distance from them on the Northern frontiers of Persia. Procopius praises them as having reached a far higher stage of civilisation than the Hung of Attila, and ascribes their epithet of White,' whether rightly or wrongly, to the lighter hue of their skin. Of the part played by this interesting people in Indian history our knowledge to within the last decennium was very scanty. Perhaps the most trustworthy piece of information previously available was furnished by a passage in the Topographia Christiana of Kosmas, an Alexandrian mercbant who visited the Western ports of India in about 530, and by this journey won the appellation of Indikopleustes. The notice of this carious old author, who later on became a monk, tells us that in his time the White Hans (Levko Oővrou were in possession of the north of India. At their head was their king called Gollas, "who marched to war with two thousand elephants and naraberless cavalry." His word was law to the whole of India, and he levied tribate on distant lands. * The Chinese notices regarding the Ephthalites were first discussed by V. de St. Martin in bis pioneer work Les Ephthalites (Paris, 1840, pp. 52 99.). They have since been collected from the original texts by M. Specht in his paper before mentioned; see Journal Asiatique, 1888, PP. 335 .Page Navigation
1 ... 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548