Hephthalites or White Huns Napki Malka Silver Drachm Ancient Silver Coin i53467

Description

Item:
i53467
Authentic Ancient  Coin of:
Hephthalites
or "White Huns"
"Napki Malka" series
Silver Drachm 25mm (2.63 grams) circa 475-575 A.D.
Reference: M. 1503; Gobl 198
Bust of Napki Malka in winged bull's head crown right.
Fire altar flanked by two Hepthalite tankas.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,  provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of  Authenticity.
Napki Malka
was a
Hephthalite
king of the 6th-7th century, and  possibly the founder of a dynasty bearing the same name. On his coins, his name  appears in
Pahlavi script
as "npky MLK". He was ruling in  the area of
Kabul
, modern
Afghanistan
. His coins are rather numerous and  characteristic of the Kabul region, and have also been found in
Buddhist
stupas
and
monasteries
in
Taxila
.
His coins have been found in association with the Sasanian king
Khusrau I
in a hoard, suggesting possible  contemporaneity.
In 557, the Hephthalites were crushed by a coalition of Turks led by a  certain Sinbiju, or Sinzibul, and Sasanians, under their king
Khusrau I
. After their defeat, their land was  divided between the two victors along the line of the Oxus.
Later, during the Arab invasions of the 7th century, remaining communities of  Hephthalites, under a certain Tarkhan Nezak, are said to have staunchly resisted  the invaders. An alternative reading of Napki Malka's name on his coins has been  suggested by Harmatta, which would be
Nycky MLK
,
Nycky
being the  usual transcription of "Nezak", thereby suggesting a possible  identity between Napki Malka and Tarkhan Nezak, or the preservation of the "Napki  Malka" title down to the last Hephthalite rulers.
A temple appears on the back of the coins of Napki Malka, and has been  interpreted as a depiction of the temple of
Jabal Zur
for the worship of Shuna, a possible  instance of sun-worshipping before the arrival of Islam.
On his coins, Napki Malka wears a characteristic winged headdress, surmounted  by a bull's head.
The
Hephthalites
(or
Ephthalites
), also known as the
White  Huns
, were a
nomadic
confederation in
Central Asia
during the
late antiquity
period
. The stronghold of the Hephthalite power  was
Tokharistan
on the northern slopes of the
Hindukush
. By 479, the Hephthalites had conquered
Sogdiana
and driven the
Kidarites
westwards, and by 493 they had  captured areas of present-day northwestern
China
(
Dzungaria
and the
Tarim Basin
). By the end of the 5th century,  the Hephthalites overthrew the Indian
Gupta Empire
to their southeast and conquered  northern and central
India
. But later they were defeated and driven  out of India by the Indian kings
Yasodharman
and Narasimhagupta in the 6th  century.
In
Chinese
chronicles, the Hephthalites are called
Yanda
or
Ye-ti-i-li-do
, while older Chinese sources of c. 125 AD  call them
Hoa
or
Hoa-tun
and describe them as a tribe living  beyond the
Great Wall
in Dzungaria. Elsewhere they were  called the "White
Huns
", known to the Greeks as
Ephthalite
,
Abdel
or
Avdel
, to the Indians as
Sveta Huna
("white  Huns"),
Chionite
or
Turushka
, to the
Armenians
as
Haital
, while their
Bactrian
name is ηβοδαλο (
Ebodalo
).  According to most specialist scholars, the spoken language of the Hephthalites  was different from the  Bactrian language that was utilized as the "official language" and minted on  coins. They may be the eponymous ancestors of the modern
Pashtun
tribal union of the
Abdali
, the largest tribal union in
Afghanistan
.
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