Ghar-ilchi (Chinese: 曷撷支 ''Hexiezhi'', also transliterated as ''Ko-chieh-chih'', 653-661 CE) was, according to Chinese and Arab sources, a local king of

Kapisi Kapisi (, ) or Kapisa was the capital city of the former Kingdom of Kapisa (now part of modern Afghanistan). While the name of the kingdom has been used for the modern Kapisa Province, the ancient city of Kapisa was located in Parwan Province, ...

and the twelfth and last known ruler of the

Nezak Huns The Nezak Huns ( Pahlavi: 𐭭𐭩𐭰𐭪𐭩 ''nycky''), also Nezak Shahs, formed a major principality in the south of the Hindu Kush region, active from circa 484 to 665 CE. Despite being traditionally identified as the last of the Hunnic stat ...

. Ghar-ilchi may have been the last member of a local "Khingal dynasty" founded by

Khingila Khingila I ( Bactrian: χιγγιλο ''Khingilo'', Brahmi script: ''Khi-ṇgi-la'', Middle Chinese: 金吉剌 ''Jīnjílà'', Persian: شنگل ''Shengel''; c.430-490) was the founding king of the Hunnic Alkhan dynasty ( Bactrian: αλχανο ...

, the

Alchon Hun The Alchon Huns, ( Bactrian: αλχον(ν)ο ''Alchon(n)o'') also known as the Alchono, Alxon, Alkhon, Alkhan, Alakhana and Walxon, were a nomadic people who established states in Central Asia and South Asia during the 4th and 6th centuries CE. ...

ruler.

Chinese confirmation

In the Chinese annals of 658 CE Ghar-ilchi appears as "Hexiezhi" (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

: 曷撷支, reconstructed from Old Chinese: ''*γarγär-tśiě'' < ''*ghar-ilči''), reconstructed as the Turkic "Ghar-ilchi" (''*Qarγïlacï'', 653-c.665 CE), 12th king of his dynasty from the founder "Xinnie" (馨孽, reconstructed from Old Chinese: ''*xäŋ-ŋär'' < ''*henger'' < Khingar/

Khingal Khingala, also transliterated Khinkhil, Khinjil or Khinjal, ( Sharada script: ''khiṃ-gā-la'', ruled circa 775-785 CE) was a ruler of the Turk Shahis. He is only known in name from the accounts of the Muslim historian Ya'qubi and from an epigr ...

): Ghar-ilchi was formally installed as king of

Jibin Jibin (, Old Chinese: Eastern Han Chinese: *''kɨas-pin'') is the name of an ancient state in central Asia, in the area of Gandhara and the Kabul river, but the exact location of which is unknown. Location There are several possibilities for the ...

(former

Kabulistan Kabulistan (Pashto: کابلستان) is a historical regional name referring to the territory that is centered on present-day Kabul Province of Afghanistan. In many Greek and Latin sources, particularly editions of Ptolemy's ''Geography'', the ...

) by the Chinese

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

emperor in 653 CE, and again as Governor of Jibin under the newly formed Chinese

Anxi Protectorate The Protectorate General to Pacify the West (Anxi Grand Protectorate), initially the Protectorate to Pacify the West (Anxi Protectorate), was a protectorate (640 – ) established by the Chinese Tang dynasty in 640 to control the Tarim Basin. Th ...

, the "Protectorate of the Western Regions", in 661 CE.

Arab invasion (665 CE)

In 665 CE, general

Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Samura ( ar, عبد الرحمن بن سمرة, died in Basra) was a general of the Rashidun caliphate and the succeeding Umayyad Caliphate, and caliphal governor of Sijistan in the 7th century CE. Biography According to I ...

launched an expedition to

Arachosia Arachosia () is the Hellenized name of an ancient satrapy situated in the eastern parts of the Achaemenid empire. It was centred around the valley of the Arghandab River in modern-day southern Afghanistan, and extended as far east as the In ...

and

Zabulistan Zabulistan ( fa, زابلستان ''Zābulistān''/''Zābolistān''/''Zāwulistān'' or simply ''Zābul'', ps, زابل ''Zābəl''), was a historical region in southern Afghanistan roughly corresponding to the modern provinces of Zabul and G ...

, capturing Bost and other cities.

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

was occupied in 665 CE after a siege of a few months. Kabul soon revolted but was reoccupied after a month-long siege. Abd al-Rahman's capture and plunder of Kabul mortally weakened the rule of Ghar-ilchi. Ghar-ilchi, following his defeat, apparently was spared his life upon converting to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. The powerful Turkic prince

Barha Tegin Barha Tegin (665 - 680 CE) was the first ruler of the Turk Shahis. He is only known in name from the accounts of the Muslim historian Al-Biruni and reconstructions from Chinese sources, and the identification of his coinage remains conjectural. R ...

took this opportunity to capture Kabul, and, according to the 726 CE account of the Korean monk

Hyecho Hyecho (; 704–787), Sanskrit: Prajñāvikrama; pinyin: Hui Chao, was a Buddhist monk from Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Hyecho studied esoteric Buddhism in Tang China, initially under Śubhakarasiṃha and then under the famous In ...

who visited the region, the ruler of Kabul ( Kapisa), probably Ghar-ilchi, was eventually killed by the Turkic prince:

Rise of the Turk Shahis (665-666 CE)

Ghar-ilchi was succeeded by

, who took the throne in 665-666 CE and founded the dynasty of the

Turk Shahis The Turk Shahis or Kabul Shahis were a dynasty of Western Turk, or mixed Turko- Hephthalite, origin, that ruled from Kabul and Kapisa to Gandhara in the 7th to 9th centuries AD. They may have been of Khalaj ethnicity."The new rulers of Kabu ...

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Huns Huns