Varkhuman, also Vargoman (

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 ...

: 拂呼缦 ''Fúhūmàn'', c. 640-670 CE) was an

Ikhshid ''Ikhshid'' ( sog, xšyδ, ) was the princely title of the Iranian rulers of Soghdia and the Ferghana Valley in Transoxiana during the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods. The title is of Iranian origin; scholars have derived it variously from ...

(King) of

Sogdia Sogdia (Sogdian language, Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also ...

, residing in the city of

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

in the 7th century CE. He succeeded King Shishpin. He is known from the

Afrasiab murals The Afrasiab murals, also called the Paintings of the Ambassadors, is a rare example of Sogdian art. It was discovered in 1965 when the local authorities decided to construct a road in the middle of Afrāsiāb mound, the old site of pre-Mongol Sam ...

of Afrasiyab in Samarkand, where is seen being visited by embassies from numerous countries, including

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. There is also an inscription in the murals directly mentioning him. His name is also known from Chinese histories. One of the murals show a Chinese Embassy carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons to the local Sogdian ruler. The scene depicted in the Afrasiyab murals probably occurred soon after 658 CE, when 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 ...

had conquered the Western Turkic Khaganate. Varkhuman was a nominal vassal to the Chinese. He is mentioned in the Chinese annals: Varkhuman's legacy was short-lived, as his palace was destroyed by the Arab general

Sa'id ibn Uthman Saʿīd ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān () (died ) was an Umayyad general and military governor of Khurasan in 676–677 during the reign of Caliph Mu'awiya I. He was a son of Caliph Uthman () and a one-time seeker of the caliphate in 675/76. Duri ...

between 675 and 677 CE. At that time, according to

Narshakhi Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Jafar Narshakhi (or Narshaki) (ca. 899–959), a Sogdian scholar from the village of Narshak in the Bukhara oasis is the first known historian in Central Asia. His unique ''History of Bukhara'' (''Tarikh-i Bukhara'') was writ ...

there was no king of Samarkand anymore.

Inscription mentioning Varhuman

In the murals of Afrasiab, an inscription mentioning Varhuman has been found. It is written in Sogdian:

Afrasiab murals

File:King Varkhuman on horse, Afrasiab remaining parts and reconstitution.jpg, King Varkhuman on horse, Afrasiab remaining parts and reconstitution. File:Ambassadors from Chaganian (central figure, inscription of the neck), and Chach (modern Tashkent) to king Varkhuman of Samarkand. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab, Samarkand.jpg, Ambassadors from Chaganian (central figure, inscription of the neck), and Chach (modern

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

) to king Varkhuman of

. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab murals, Samarkand. File:Korean ambassadors during a audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab, Samarkand.jpg, Korean ambassadors during an audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand. They are identified by the two feathers on top of their head. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab, Samarkand. File:Tang Dynasty emissaries at the court of Varkhuman in Samarkand carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons, 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab murals, Samarkand.jpg,

emissaries at the court of Varkhuman in Samarkand carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons, 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab murals, Samarkand

References

{{reflist Sogdian rulers 7th-century Iranian people