Balogh Dániel (ed.) Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia: Sources for their Origin and History

Groningen: Barkhuis, 2020. — xxx + 437 p. — ISBN 978-94-93194-01-4.This volume is a comprehensive compilation of primary textual sources pertaining to the history of Hunnic peoples in the vast area encompassing Central and South Asia. Sources in nearly a dozen languages have been carefully selected by scholars with a specialization in the particular language and relevant research experience. Each excerpt in the chrestomathy is presented in the original language, accompanied by an authoritative translation into a modern European language to make it accessible to specialists of other fields. Many texts are, moreover, accompanied by a commentary highlighting crucial points of interest, problematic issues and connections to the information revealed in other sources. The Sourcebook is the outcome of an interdisciplinary workshop held at Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary) in August 2017, organized by the project Beyond Boundaries and funded by the European Research Council. The initial compilation of source texts was selectively presented, analyzed and discussed at this workshop, culminating in the present volume, whose publication has also been supported by the ERC. The authors and the editor present the book to the community of scholars and enthusiasts in hopes that, by making pertinent primary sources accessible, it will serve as a solid foundation on which to base future research. The included commentaries are thus not intended to be exhaustive, but to instigate further inquiry. For in-depth discussion of many issues raised here, a Companion series is planned to follow the Sourcebook. The first companion volume, a study of the Alkhan by Hans Bakker, is released simultaneously by Barkhuis, Groningen.Preliminaries (Michael Willis)
Foreword (Hans Bakker)
Introduction
Credits
Editorial conventions
Huns in Central and South Asia: a timeline
Chinese Sources (Ching Chao-jung and Imre Galambos with contributions by Max Deeg and Inaba Minoru)
Introduction
Overview of sources
Background
Situation in the third century
The itinerary of Fǎxiǎn 法顯 from Khotan to Uḍḍiyāna in 401 CE
The Yuezhi in Kumārajīva’s terms, c. 402–406 CE
Attestation of Xi Yuezhi 西月氏 in the Gaoseng Faxian zhuan, c. 410–412 CE
The description of Ceylon in the Gaoseng Faxian zhuan...20
Tanwujie’s itinerary from Kashmir to Yuezhi, c. 421–422 CE
Dong Wan’s mission to the Western Regions in 437 CE
Gao Hui’s two missions to the Yeda in 515–525 CE
Song Yun’s mission to the Western Regions, 518/519–522 CE
King Jiduoluo 寄多羅 in the Weishu
The Xiongnu conquest of Sogdiana in the Weishu
Possible Kushan and Kidarite emissaries to the Northern Wei in the late fifth century
Entries on Western states adjacent to the Smaller Yuezhi in the Weishu
The Yeda 嚈噠, referred to in the Liangshu as Hua 滑
Ethnic name and origin
Location (of the capital)
Expansion
Population
Royal court, political system, economy and natural environment
Social and cultural characteristics of ordinary people
Language and script
Calendar
Religion and cults
Funeral
International Status
The states subjugated by the Yeda
Conflicts between the Rouran, Gaoju and Yeda
Final days of the Yeda
Yeda tribute payments to China
Analysis of the entry on the Yeda in the Weishu
Legends about Mihirakula in Chinese Buddhist texts
Legends about Himatala in Chinese Buddhist texts
The legend of Xinnie in the seventh and eighth centuries
Supplement: The Yueban and Gaoju in the WeishuKhotanese Sources (Mauro Maggi)
Overview of sources
Book of Zambasta 15.5–10
Hedin 20
Or. 11344/17
Pelliot chinois 2741 (= P 2741)Pahlavi Sources (Frantz Grenet)
Introduction
Zand ī Wahman Yasn 4.58
Bundahišn 33, 17–19Sogdian Sources (Nicholas Sims-Williams)
Letters
Miscellaneous ReferencesBactrian Sources (Nicholas Sims-Williams)
Payment of taxes to the Hephthalites
Payments to the Hephthalites and the Persians
Letters referring to the Hephthalites
Seals
AllusionsArmenian Sources (Giusto Traina)
Introduction (Frantz Grenet)
Armenian Agat‘angełos
Buzandaran Patmut‘îwnk‘ (P‘awstos Buzand)
Ełišē, History of Vardan and the Armenian war
Łazar P‘arpec‘i
Movsēs Dasxuranc‘i or Kałankatuac‘i
Movsēs Xorenac‘i, Patmut‘iwn Hayoc‘ (History of Armenia)
SebēosSyriac Sources (Mark Dickens with contributions by Christelle Jullien)
Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite
Severus of Antioch, Homily 30 (Syriac version) (513)
Biography of Peter the Iberian (Syriac version) (c. 528)
Chronicle of Arbela (c. 550?)
Biography of Mar Aba (after 552)
Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor, Ecclesiastical History (568/69)
Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor, Ecclesiastical History, Geographical appendix (554/55)
Synodicon Orientale (late 8th century), under the Synod of Išo‘yahb I (585)
Xi’an “Nestorian” Stele (781)
History of the Monastery of Qartamin (c. 797)
Michael the Great (Michael the Syrian), Chronicle (1195)
Anonymous Chronicle to 1234
Barhebraeus (Bar ‘Ebroyo), Ecclesiastical History (Chronicon Ecclesiasticum) (1286, cont. to 1496)
Barhebraeus (Bar ‘Ebroyo), Secular History (Chronicon Syriacum) (1286, cont. to 1297)Arabic Sources (
Étienne de La Vaissière, Mark Dickens and Orsolya Varsányi)
Islamic Sources (Selected by Étienne de La Vaissière)
Akhbār al-Ṭiwāl
Ṭabarī
Masʿūdī
Christian Sources (Selected by Mark Dickens, prepared and revised by Orsolya Varsányi)
Chronicle of Se‘ert
The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (Saʿid ibn Batriq)Greek and Latin Sources (Timo Stickler)
Introduction
Overview of Authors
Recommended Further Reading
Early history of Huns and the Hun way of life (before the fifth century CE)
Ptolemy 3, 5, 25: First mention of the Huns in a western source
Iordanes, Getica: Early history of the Huns
Agathias 5, 11, 1–4: Origins of the Huns east of Lake Maeotis
Ammianus 31, 2: General excursus on the Huns
Pseudo-Maurice, Strategicon 11, 2: The Hun way of life
Huns as allies of Persians and Romans in the fourth century CE
Ammianus: The Persian king Shapur II fights the Huns in the east
Ammianus: The siege of Amida by the Persians, participation of the Chionite king Grumbates
Huns as opponents of Persians and Romans in the fifth century CE
Priscus
Ioannes Antiochenus frg. 237, 9 Mariev: Huns and Persians in the time of emperor Zeno
Procopius, De Bellis: King Perozes, King Kabades and the Hephthalite Huns
Agathias: King Perozes and the Hephthalites
Pseudo-Maurice, Strategicon 4, 3: the Hephthalites
Theophanes: King Perozes, King Kabades and the Hephthalite Huns
Theophylact 4, 6, 9–11: King Kabades and the Hephthalites
Procopius, De Bellis 1, 9, 24: King Cabades and the Hephthalites
Huns as opponents of Persians and Romans in the sixth century CE
Procopius, De Bellis: the home of the Huns
Cosmas Indicopleustes: the land of the Huns
Procopius, De Aedificiis 2, 1, 5f: Persian war on Huns at the time of Anastasius
Procopius, De Bellis 1, 21, 26–28: The Huns are feared by the Persians at Martyropolis
Ioannes Lydus, De magistratibus 3, 52–53: Huns between Romans and Persians in the time of Anastasius
Procopius, De Bellis: Justinian attempts to win the Huns’ support
Procopius, De Bellis 2, 16, 3f.: The war of the Huns with Chosroes
Procopius, Historia Arcana: Justinian, Persians and Huns
Menander frg. 6, 1 (Blockley): Chosroes’s victories over the Huns
Theophylact 7, 7, 6–7, 8, 11: The Scythian excursusIndic Sources (Hans Bakker, Csaba Dezső, Gergely Hidas and Dániel Balogh)
Introduction (Hans Bakker)
Literary sources
Epigraphic sources
Literary sources (Csaba Dezső and Gergely Hidas, Buddhist texts)
Ethnological and geographical lists
Mahābhārata
The Lay of Lands in the Purāṇas
Other Purāṇic enumerations
Bṛhatsaṃhitā
Genealogies
Reconstructed Purāṇic genealogy
Viṣṇupurāṇa
Bhāgavatapurāṇa
Jinasena’s Harivaṃśapurāṇa 60
Guṇabhadra’s Uttarapurāṇa 76
Nemicandra, Trilokasāra
The Mahāvīracarita of Hemacandra
Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa 53
Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra Chapter 10
The Kashmir secular tradition
Introduction
Rājataraṅgiṇī
Miscellaneous references to Hūṇas
Raghuvaṃśa of Kālidāsa, 4:70–71 in Vallabhadeva’s version
Harṣacarita of Bāṇa
Kuvalayamālā of Uddyotana Sūri, p. 282. vv. 6–7
Nītivākyāmṛta of Somadeva Sūri, Durgasamuddeśa 8
Pādatāḍitaka of Śyāmilaka, a Hunnish horse
Cāndravṛtti of Candragomin, I.2.81 parokṣe liṭ
Subhāṣitas
Hunnic script in the Mahāvastu, Chapter 7
Hunnic script in the Lalitavistara, Chapter 10
Hārahūṇas in the Purāṇas
Hārahūra in the Arthaśāstra 2:25,24–25
Hārahaura in the Bṛhatsaṃhitā
Epigraphic Sources (Hans Bakker)
Bhitari stone pillar inscription of Skandagupta
Junagadh rock inscription of Skandagupta
Inscription on a silver bowl from Swat
Schøyen copper scroll.
Kurā stone inscription of the time of Toramāṇa Ṣāhi
Eran stone boar inscription of the time of Toramāṇa
Mandasor inscription of Gauri
The Sanjeli charters
Eran pillar inscription of Goparāja
Rīsthal inscription of Prakāśadharman
Gwalior stone inscription of Mihirakula
Mandasor stone inscription of Yaśodharman
Sondhni pillar inscription of Yaśodharman
Jaunpur inscription of Īśānavarman
Haraha inscription
Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena
Kabul inscription of Ṣāhi Khiṅgāla
Seals from India (Dániel Balogh)
Seal impressions excavated at Kauśāmbī
Seal impressions with a fragmentary genealogy from NālandāAppendix: Numismatic and Sigillary Evidence (Robert Bracey)
Relevant publications
The Göbl numbers
Issues for consideration
Definitional
What coins can (and cannot) tell us about history…
The state of numismatic research
The Lists
List 1. Main list
List 2. Bactrian inscriptions
List 3. Brahmi inscriptions
List 4. Pahlavi inscriptions
Countermarks
Images of Hunnic type coins
Appendix.001. Kidarite issues
Appendix.002. Alchon issues
Appendix.002/A. Gold coinage continuing Kushanshah tradition
Appendix.002/B. Horseman types
Appendix.002/C. Toramāṇa and Mihirakula
Appendix.002/D. Hunnic issues after Indian and Kushan Models
Appendix.003. Tobazini, Hephthalite, and Nezak silver
Appendix.004. Sind series
Appendix.005. Seals without recorded provenance
References
Bibliography
Index