Shahi Tegin, Tegin Shah or Sri Shahi (ruled 680-739 CE, known to the Chinese as 烏散特勤灑 ''Wusan Teqin Sa'' "Tegin Shah of Khorasan") was a king 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 ...
, a dynasty of
Western Turk
The Western Turkic Khaganate () or Onoq Khaganate ( otk, 𐰆𐰣:𐰸:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, On oq budun, Ten arrow people) was a Turkic khaganate in Eurasia, formed as a result of the wars in the beginning of the 7th century (593–603 CE) after t ...
or mixed Western Turk-
Hephthalite
The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during th ...
origin who ruled from
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 ...
and
Kapisa to
Gandhara
Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...
in the 7th to 9th centuries.
Context
Kabulistan was the heartland of the Turk Shahi domain, which at times included
Zabulistan and
Gandhara
Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...
.
During their rule, the Turk Shahi were in constant conflict against the eastward expansion of the
Umayyad Caliphate.
About 650 CE, the Arabs captured
Sistan, and started to attack Shahi territory from the west.
They captured
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 ...
in 665 CE, but the Turk Shahis were able to mount a counter-offensive and repulsed the Arabs, taking back the areas of Kabul and
Zabulistan (around
Ghazni), as well as the region of
Arachosia as far as
Kandahar.
Rule
In 680 CE, Shahi Tegin succeeded
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 ...
.
The Arabs again failed to capture Kabul and Zabulistan in 697-698 CE, and their general
Yazid ibn Ziyad was killed in the action.
In 719/20 CE, the Tegin of Kabulistan (Tegin Shah) and the Iltäbär of
Zabulistan sent a combined embassy to the Chinese Emperor of the
Tang Dynasty in
Xi'an to obtain confirmation of their thrones.
The Chinese emperor signed an investiture decree, which was returned to the Turk rulers:
The word "''Geluodazhi''" in this extract (Chinese: 葛罗达支, pronounced in
Early Middle Chinese: kat-la-dat-tcǐe), is thought to be a transliteration of the ethnonym
Khalaj.
Hence Tegin Shah was "Tegin of the Khalaj".
This title also appears on his coinage in
Gupta script
The Gupta script (sometimes referred to as Gupta Brahmi script or Late Brahmi script)Sharma, Ram. '' 'Brahmi Script' ''. Delhi: BR Publishing Corp, 2002 was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the Gupta Empire of the Indian subcon ...
, where he is named "''hitivira kharalāča''", probably meaning "
Iltäbär of the Khalaj".
In 720 CE, the ruler of
Zabulistan (謝䫻, ''xieyu'') also received the title ''Gedaluozhi Xielifa'' (Chinese: 葛達羅支頡利發), ''Xielifa'' being the known Chinese transcription of the Turkish "
Iltäbär", hence "Iltäbär of the Khalaj". Overall, it seems that the Turk Shahi rulers were Khalaj Turks.
Tegin Shah abdicated in 739 CE in favour of his son
Fromo Kesaro
Fromo or Phromo Kesaro (Bactrian script: , phonetical transcription of "Rome Caesar") was a king of the Turk Shahis (also known as the Kabul Shahis), a dynasty of Western Turk or mixed Western Turk- Hephthalite origin, who ruled from Kabul an ...
and sent an embassy through Central Asia in 719 CE:
References
Notes
Sources
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{{Afghanistan topics
Turkic dynasties
Dynasties of Afghanistan
Kabul Shahi