Approximate location of the Zunbils (), and contemporary polities c. 800
KHUDAHS
Bukhara
AFSHINS
IKHSHIDS
Kunduz
Samarkand
Herat
TOKHARA YABGHUS
Balkh
TURK SHAHIS
ZUNBILS
Bamiyan
Bost
Kandahar
Ghazni
Kabul
INDIA
Gilgit
PATOLA SHAHIS
KARKOTA DYNASTY
Hund
Tang-i Safedak
GUZGAN
Ghazni, the capital, and other important cities of the Zunbils (brown dots), c. 725
Capital
Ghazni
Common languages
Bactrian
Religion
Hinduism Buddhism Zoroastrianism
Historical era
Early Middle Ages
• Established
680
• Disestablished
870[1][2]
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Alchon Huns
Nezak Huns
Tokhara Yabghus
Turk Shahis
Saffarid dynasty
Samanid dynasty
Lawik dynasty
Today part of
Afghanistan
Zunbil, also written as Zhunbil, or Rutbils of Zabulistan,[3] was a royal dynasty south of the Hindu Kush in present southern Afghanistan region. They were a dynasty of Hephthalite origin.[4] They ruled from circa 680 AD until the Saffarid conquest in 870 AD.[3][2] The Zunbil dynasty was founded by Rutbil (Turkic: Iltäbär), the elder brother of the Turk Shahi ruler (either Barha Tegin or Tegin Shah), who ruled over Hephthalite kingdom from his capital in Kabul.[3][5][6][7][8][9] The Zunbils are described as having Turkish troops in their service by Arabic sources like Tarikh al-Tabari and Tarikh-i Sistan.[10] However the term "Turk" was used in an inaccurate and loose way.[4]
The faith of this community has not been researched as much. According to the interpretation of Chinese sources by Marquarts and de Groots in 1915, the king of Ts'ao is said to have worn a crown with a golden fish head and was related to the Sogdians. The Temple of the Zun was recognizable by a large fish skeleton on display; this would indicate a related merchantry deity.[11] In addition to that Marquarts states the Zunbils to have worshipped a solar deity which might have been connected to Aditya (Surya). However, according to Shōshin Kuwayama there was a clear dichotomy between worshipers of the Hindu god Surya and followers of Zhun. This is exemplified by the conflict between Surya and Zhun followers, which led to the followers of Zhun migrating southwards towards Zabulistan from Kapisa.[12][1] According to André Wink the god Zhun was primarily Hindu, though parallels have also been noted with pre-Buddhist religious and monarchy practices in Tibet and had Zoroastrian influence in its ritual.[13][14] Other scholars such as H. Schaeder and N. Sims-William have connected it with Zurvan.[15]
Their territory included between what is now the city of Zaranj in southwestern Afghanistan and Kabulistan in the northeast, with Zamindawar and Ghazni serving as their capitals.[16] In the south their territory reached at times the cities of Rakhwad (al-Rukhkhaj) and Bost (near Kandahar).[3]
The title Zunbil can be traced back to the Middle-Persian original Zūn-dātbar, 'Zun the Justice-giver'. The geographical name Zamindawar would also reflect this, from Middle Persian 'Zamin-i dātbar' (Land of the Justice-giver).[17]
^ALRAM, MICHAEL (2014). "From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush" (PDF). The Numismatic Chronicle. 174: 282–285. ISSN 0078-2696. JSTOR 44710198.
^ ab"16. THE HINDU SHAHIS IN KABULISTAN AND GANDHARA AND THE ARAB CONQUEST". Pro.geo.univie.ac.at. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
^ abcdAlram, Michael; Filigenzi, Anna; Kinberger, Michaela; Nell, Daniel; Pfisterer, Matthias; Vondrovec, Klaus. "The Countenance of the other (The Coins of the Huns and Western Turks in Central Asia and India) 2012-2013 exhibit: 15. THE RUTBILS OF ZABULISTAN AND THE "EMPEROR OF ROME"". Pro.geo.univie.ac.at. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. Archived from the original on 5 September 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
^ abWink, Andre. The Making of the Indo-Islamic World C.700–1800 CE. Cambridge University Press. p. 63.
^Cite error: The named reference KHM14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Andre Wink, Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Vol.1, (Brill, 1996), 115;""The Zunbils of the early Islamic period and the Kabulshahs were almost certainly epigoni of the southern-Hephthalite rulers of Zabul."
^History of Civilizations of central Asia, B A Litivinsky Zhang Guang-Da, R Shabani Samghabadi, p.376
^Petrie, Cameron A. (2020-12-28). Resistance at the Edge of Empires: The Archaeology and History of the Bannu basin from 1000 BC to AD 1200. Cambridge University Press. p. 69. ISBN 9781785703065.
^Rehman, Abdur (1979). The Last Two Dynasties of the Śahis: An Analysis of Their History, Archaeology, Coinage and Palaeography. Centre for the Study of the Civilizations of Central Asia, Quaid-i-Azam University. pp. 58–67.
^Raphael Israeli, Anthony Hearle Johns (1984). Islam in Asia: South Asia. Magnes Press. p. 15.
^H. Miyakawa und A. Kollautz: Ein Dokument zum Fernhandel zwischen Byzanz und China zur Zeit Theophylakts In: Byzantinische Zeitschrift, S. 14 (Anhang). De Gruyter Januar 1984. ISSN 1868-9027.
^Kuwayama, Shoshin (2000). Historical Notes on Kāpiśī and Kābul in the Sixth-Eighth Centuries(PDF).
^Cite error: The named reference Wink118 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference CE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference sinoplatonic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^André Wink, "Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World", Brill 1990, p. 118
^Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. 2002. The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden: Brill. Zamindawar. p.439.
EMPIRE ZUNBILS CHALUKYAS ABBASID CALIPHATE TANG DYNASTY CALIPHAL SIND Arabic sources recount that, after the Abbasids came to power in 750, the Zunbils made...
came within 18 farsakhs of the summer capital of Zunbils in the Qandahar region. The plan of the Zunbils worked and they trapped the Arabs into a valley...
Zhun also known as Zhuna, Zhūn or Zūn is a Solar deity, the chief god of Zunbils and the Hephthalite god of the sun. He served as a dispenser of evil and...
Kandahar during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Zunbils ruled Zamindawar before Islamization of the area. The title Zunbil can be traced back to the Middle-Persian...
al-Layth al-Saffar and other side by last Zunbil of Zabulistan and Hindu Shahi. This conquest marked the end of Zunbils and shifting of Hindu Shahi's capital...
kingdom of Zabul; on more than one occasion, these Zunbils inflicted sharp defeats on the Muslims. The Zunbils were linked with the Kabul-Shahs of the Shahi...
ruled by the Zunbils, offspring of the southern-Hephthalite. The eastern parts (Kabulistan) were controlled by the Turk Shahis. The Zunbil and Kabul Shahis...
al-Rukhkhadj (Arachosia), Zamindawar and ultimately Kabul, vanquishing the Zunbils and the Hindu Shahis by 865. He then invaded Bamyan, Balkh, Badghis, and...
or Mihr (Mithra) and portrayed Greek gods as protectors of Buddha. The Zunbils and Kabul Shahi were first conquered in 870 CE by the Saffarid Muslims...
with a renewed offensive against the Zunbils. After some initial successes, he reached an agreement with the Zunbils, who agreed to return the hostages...
the Zunbils, was defeated and was forced to offer a large tribute, give hostages including three of his sons and take an oath not to invade Zunbil again...
GURJARA PRATIHARAS PALA EMPIRE RASHTRA- KUTAS ABBASID CALIPHATE TURK SHAHIS ZUNBILS TANG DYNASTY CALIPHAL SIND The Eastern Chalukyan government was a monarchy...
Samura reached Sakastan, he suppressed the rebellion and defeated the Zunbils of Zabulistan, seizing Bust and a few cities in Zabulistan. The conquest...
Islamic conquest Till 9th century, Kandahar and other regions ruled by the Zunbils were considered a part of the Indian Subcontinent, though it was an Eastern...
Shahi and Zunbils remaining unconquered until the Saffarid and Ghaznavid conquests. The significance of the realm of Zun and its rulers Zunbils had laid...
GURJARA PRATIHARAS PALA EMPIRE RASHTRA- KUTAS ABBASID CALIPHATE TURK SHAHIS ZUNBILS TANG DYNASTY CALIPHAL SIND The ascent of Dhruva Dharavarsha's third son...
out of Arab hands. Kabul and Zabulistan housed Indic religions, with the Zunbils and Kabul Shahis (for the most part) offering stiff resistance to Muslim...
title, Zunbil, had long remained an indomitable thorn in the Arabs' side and menaced their province of Sistan. Repeated expeditions against the Zunbil had...
sources. The kingdom was located south of Kashmir, north of Sindh and east of Zunbil dynasty, extending from the Indus river in the west to the Beas river in...
the southeast where it came into contact with the Turk Shahis and the Zunbils until the 9th century CE. The Turks initially occupied the area of north...
century, when the Arabs first arrived, it was under the control of the Zunbils before being conquered in the name of Islam by the Saffarids in the 9th...