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 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 ...

was the heartland of the Turk Shahi domain, which at times included

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 ...

and

. During their rule, the Turk Shahi were in constant conflict against the eastward expansion of the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

. About 650 CE, the Arabs captured

Sistan Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan (N ...

, and started to attack Shahi territory from the west. They captured

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

(around

Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...

), as well as the region of

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 ...

as far as

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

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 Yazīd ibn Ziyād ibn Abīhi () (died 683/84) was a general of the Umayyad Caliphate responsible for the province of Sijistan during the reign of Caliph Yazid I between 680/81 and his death. He was appointed by one of his brothers Ubayd Allah or S ...

was killed in the action. In 719/20 CE, the Tegin of Kabulistan (Tegin Shah) and the Iltäbär of

sent a combined embassy to the Chinese Emperor of the

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 ...

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

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 Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The Sw ...

: 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 Elteber ( otk, 𐰃𐰠𐱅𐰋𐰼, elteber or ''(h)elitbär''; Chinese 頡利發 ''xié-lì-fā'' < EMCh: *''γεt-li^H-puat'') was the

of the Khalaj". In 720 CE, the ruler of

(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 Elteber ( otk, 𐰃𐰠𐱅𐰋𐰼, elteber or ''(h)elitbär''; Chinese 頡利發 ''xié-lì-fā'' < EMCh: *''γεt-li^H-puat'') was the

", 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: File:Western Turks. Shahi Tegin (Sri Shahi). After 679 CE.jpg, Coin of Shahi Tegin (Sri Shahi).

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{Afghanistan topics Turkic dynasties Dynasties of Afghanistan Kabul Shahi