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EPHTHALITES, or WHITE HUNS

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 680 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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EPHTHALITES, or WHITE HUNS

EPHTHALITES, or See also:
WHITE
WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)
WHITE See also:
HUNS
HUNS . This many-named and enigmatical tribe was of considerable importance in the See also:

HISTORY

history of See also:

India and See also:

PERSIA

Persia in the 5th and 6th centuries, and was known to the See also:

BYZANTINE

Byzantine writers, who See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call them 'Ec OaXiroy EbOa'yfroe, Ne4BaXirot or 'A/36eXot. The last of these is an See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to render the See also:

ORIGINAL

original name, which was probably There were originally 77, but 5 have perished. ' Inter-tribal feuds during the See also:

period of the See also:

MONARCHY (Fr. monarchic, from Lat. monarchia, Gr. uovapXia, rule of one, µbvos, alone, apXi7, rule)

monarchy may underlie the events mentioned in i See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

Kings xvi. 9 sq., 21 sq.; 2 Kings xv. IC, I4. something like Aptal or Haptal, but the initial N of the third is believed to be a clerical See also:

ERROR (Lat. error, from errare, to wander, to err)

error. They were also called Aeu,See also:

coL 0uvvoc or Xoiivot, White (that is See also:

FAIR

fair-skinned) Huns. In Arabic and See also:

Persian they are known as Haital and in Armenian as Haithal, Idal or Hepthal. The See also:

CHINESE, JAPANESE AND

Chinese name Yetha seems an attempt to represent the same See also:

sound. In India they were called Hunas. Ephthalite is the usual See also:

ORTHOGRAPHY (from Gr. Opeoc, correct, right or straight, and yp&cbecv, to write)

orthography, but Hephthalite is perhaps more correct.

Our earliest See also:

INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information about the Ephthalites comes from the Chinese See also:

CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF

chronicles, in which it is stated that they were originally a tribe of the See also:

GREAT

great Yue-Chi (q.v.), living to the See also:

north of the Great See also:

Wall, and in subjection to the Jwen-Jwen, as were also the See also:

TURKS

Turks at one See also:

time. Their original name was Hoa or Hoa-See also:

tun; subsequently they styled themselves Ye-tha-i-li-to after the name of their royal See also:

FAMILY

family, or more briefly Ye-tha. Before the 5th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century A.D. they began to move westwards, for about 420 we find them in Transoxiana, and for the next 130 years they were a menace to Persia, which they continually and successfully invaded, though they never held it as a See also:

CONQUEST

conquest. The See also:

SASSANID, or SASSANIAN DYNASTY (Or SASANIAN)

Sassanid See also:

king, Bahram V., fought several See also:

CAMPAIGNS

campaigns with them and succeeded in keeping them at See also:

bay, but they defeated and killed See also:

PEROZ (Peirozes, Priscus, fr. 33; Perozes, Procop. Pers. i. 3 and Agath. iv. 27; the modern form of the name is Feroz, Firuz, cf. FIRUZABAD)

Peroz (Firuz), A.D. 484. His son See also:

KAVADH (KABADES, KAUADES)

Kavadh I. (Kobad), being driven out of Persia, took See also:

REFUGE

refuge with the Ephthalites, and recovered his See also:

THRONE

throne with the assistance of their See also:

KHAN (from the Turki, hence Persian and Arabic Khan)

khan, whose daughter he had married, but subsequently he engaged in prolonged hostilities with them. The Persians were not quit of the Ephthalites until 557 when See also:

CHOSROES

Chosroes Anushirwan destroyed their See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power with the assistance of the Turks, who now make their first See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance in western See also:

ASIA

Asia. The Huns who invaded India appear to have belonged to the same stock as those who molested Persia. The headquarters of the See also:

HORDE

horde were at See also:

BAMIAN

Bamian and at See also:

BALKH

Balkh, and from these points they raided See also:

south-See also:

east and south-See also:

west. Skandagupta repelled an invasion in 455, but the defeat of the Persians in 484 probably stimulated their activity, and at the end of the 5th century their See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief Toromana penetrated to See also:

MALWA

Malwa in central India and succeeded in holding it for some time. His son Mihiragula (c.

510–54o) made Sakala in the See also:

PUNJAB

Punjab his'See also:

INDIAN

Indian See also:

capital, but the See also:

CRUELTY (through the O. Fr. crualte, mod. cruaute, from the Lat. crudelitas)

cruelty of his See also:

RULE

rule provoked the Indian princes to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form a See also:

CONFEDERATION (Fr. confederation, Lat. confoederatio, from foedus, a league, foederare, to form a league)

confederation and revolt against him about 528. He was not, however, killed, but took refuge in See also:

KASHMIR, or CASHMERE

Kashmir, where after a few years he seized the throne and then attacked the neighbouring See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom of Gandhara, perpetrating terrible massacres. About a See also:

YEAR

year after this he died (c. 540), and shortly afterwards the Ephthalites collapsed under the attacks of the Turks. They do not appear to have mpved on to another See also:

SPHERE (Gr. vclsa?pa, a ball or globe)

sphere, as these nomadic tribes often did when defeated, and were probably gradually absorbed in the surrounding populations. Their See also:

POLITICAL

political power perhaps continued in the Gurjara See also:

EMPIRE

empire, which at one time extended to See also:

Bengal in the east and the See also:

NERBUDDA, or NARBADA

Nerbudda in the south, and continued in a diminished form until A.D. 1040. These Gurjaras appear to have entered India in connexion with the Hunnish invasions. Our knowledge of the Indian Hunas is chiefly derived from coins, from a few See also:

INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

inscriptions distributed from the Punjab to central India, and from the See also:

account of the Chinese See also:

PILGRIM

pilgrim Hsuan Tsang, who visited the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country just a century after the See also:

DEATH

death of Mihiragula. The See also:

Greek See also:

monk See also:

COSMAS

Cosmas Indicopleustes, who visited India about 530, describes the ruler of the country, whom he calls Gollas, as a White Hun king, who exacted an oppressive See also:

TRIBUTE (Lat. tributurn, a stated payment, contribution)

tribute with the help of a large See also:

army of See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry and See also:

war elephants. Gollas no doubt represents the last See also:

PART

part of the name Mihiragula or Mihirakula. The accounts of the Ephthalites, especially those of the Indian lianas, dwell on their ferocity and cruelty.

They are represented as delighting in massacres and See also:

TORTURE (from Lat. torquere, to twist)

torture, and it is said that popular tradition in India still retains the See also:

story that Mihiragula used to amuse himself by See also:

ROLLING

rolling elephants down a precipice and watching their agonies. Their invasions shook Indian society and institutions to the See also:

FOUNDATIONS

foundations, but, unlike the earlier Kushans, they do not seem to have introduced new ideas into India or have acted as other than a destructive force, although they may perhapshave kept up some communication between India and Persia. The first part of Mihiragula seems to be the name of the Persian deity Mithra, but his See also:

PATRON

patron deity was See also:

SIVA

Siva, and he See also:

LEFT

left behind him the reputation of a ferocious persecutor of See also:

BUDDHISM

Buddhism. Many of his coins See also:

bear the See also:

NANDI

Nandi See also:

bull (Siva's See also:

EMBLEM (Gr. Eµ3Xysa, something put in or inserted, from EµfiiXAew, to throw in)

emblem), and the king's name is preceded by the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title See also:

SAKI

saki (shah), which had previously been used by the Kushan See also:

DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

dynasty. Toramana's coins are found plentifully in Kashmir, which, therefore, probably formed part of the Rana dominions before Mihiragula's time, so that when he fled there after his defeat he was taking refuge, if not with his own subjects, at least with a kindred See also:

CLAN (Gaelic clann, O. Ir. cland, connected with Lat. planta, shoot or scion, the ancient Gaelic or Goidelic substituting k for p)

clan. Greek writers give a more flattering account of the Ephthalites, which may perhaps be due to the fact that they were useful to the East See also:

ROMAN

Roman empire as enemies of Persia and also not dangerously near. See also:

PROCOPIUS

Procopius says that they were far more civilized than the Huns of See also:

ATTILA (d. 453)

Attila, and the See also:

TURKISH

Turkish See also:

AMBASSADOR (also EMBASSADOR, the form sometimes still used in America; from the Fr. ambassadeur, with which compare Ital. ambasciatore and Span. embajador, all variants of the Med. Lat. ambassiator, ambassiator, ambasator, &c., derived from Med. Lat. amba

ambassador who was received by See also:

JUSTIN (JUNIANUS JUSTINUS)

Justin is said to have described them as acrrucoi, which may merely mean that they lived in the cities which they conquered. The Chinese writers say that their customs were like those of the Turks; that they had no cities, lived in See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt tents, were ignorant of See also:

writing and practised See also:

POLYANDRY (Gr. iroXus, many, and 6.vi7P, man)

polyandry. Nothing whatever is known of their See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language, but some scholars explain the names Toramana and Jauvla as Turkish. For the possible connexion between the Ephthalites and the See also:

EUROPEAN

European Huns see Hums. The Chinese statement that the Hoa or Ye-tha were a See also:

section of the great Yue-Chi, and that their customs resembled those of the Turks (Tu-Kiue), is probably correct, but does not amount to much, for the relationship did not prevent them from fighting with the Yue-Chi and Turks, and means little more than that they belonged to the warlike and energetic section of central Asian nomads, which is in any See also:

case certain. They appear to have been more ferocious and less assimilative than the other conquering tribes.

This may, how-ever, be due to the fact that their contact with See also:

CIVILIZATION

civilization was so See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short; the Yue-Chi .and Turks had had some See also:

commerce with more advanced races before they played any part in political history, but the Ephthalites appear as raw barbarians, and were annihilated as a nation in little more than a See also:

HUNDRED

hundred years. Like the Yue-Chi they have probably contributed to form some of the See also:

PHYSICAL

physical types of the Indian See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population, and it is noticeable that polyandry is a recognized institution among many Himalayan tribes, and is also said to be practised secretly by the See also:

JATS, or JUTS

Jats and other races of the plains. Among original authorities may be consulted Procopius, See also:

Menander See also:

PROTECTOR

Protector, Cosmas Indicopleustes (trans. McCrindle, See also:

HAKLUYT, RICHARD (c. 1553—1616)

Hakluyt Society, 1897), the Kashmir See also:

CHRONICLE (from Gr. Xpovos, time)

chronicle Rajatarangini (trans. See also:

Stein, 1900, and Yuan Chwang). See also A. Stein, White Huns and Kindred Tribes (1905); O. Franke, Beitrage aus chinesischen Quellen sur Kenntnis der Tiirkvolker and Skythen (1904); Ujfalvy, Memoire sur See also:

les Huns Blancs (1898) ; Drouin, Memoire sur les Huns Ephthalites (1895) ; and various articles by See also:

Vincent See also:

Smith, Specht, Drouin, and E. H. See also:

Parker in the See also:

Journal of the Royal See also:

ASIATIC

Asiatic Society, Journal asiatique, Revue numismatique, Asiatic Quarterly, &c. (C. EL.) $PI, the See also:

French architectural See also:

TERM

term for a See also:

LIGHT

light See also:

FINIAL (a variant of " final "; Lat. finis, end)

finial, generally of See also:

metal, but sometimes of terra-See also:

cotta, forming the termination of a See also:

SPIRE

spire or the See also:

ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

angle of a roof.

End of Article: EPHTHALITES, or WHITE HUNS

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