All Topics  
Xionites

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Xionites
 
 
  Topics Xionites Topic Home

. Those in the east were called Dongyi
Dongyi

Dongyi was a collective term for people in Eastern China and in the east of China. People referred to as Dongyi vary across the ages....
, those in the west Xirong, those in the south Nanman
Nanman

File:Tianxia_zh-hant.svgNanman were aboriginal tribes who lived in Southwest China China. They may have been related to the Sanmiao, dated to around the 3rd century BC....
, and those in the north Beidi
Beidi

File:Tianxia_zh-hant.svgBeidi is a term that originally denoted an ancient ethnic group but was used to refer to all non-Han Chinese ethnic groups in today's Northern China, Mongolia, and Siberia, especially those who lived beyond the Great Wall of China, such as Xiongnu , Xianbei , Khitan people , and Mongols , etc....
.]] Chionites, Chionitae or Xionites meaning "Western Barbarians", Middle Persian
Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
: Xiyon, (Hiun/Hion), Avestan: Xiiaona) were a nomad
Nomad

Nomadic people, , also known as nomads, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than Settler in one location....
ic tribe prominent in Transoxania and Bactria
Bactria

Bactria is a historical region of Greater Iran. Known by the ancient Greeks as "Bactriana" the region is located between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya ; in later times, the region became known as Tokharistan. The name of the region has survived to present time in the name of Afghan province "Balkh"....
.

Chionites had arrived in the mid-4th century with the wave of immigration from Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
 into Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
 in late antiquity.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Xionites'
Start a new discussion about 'Xionites'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


. Those in the east were called Dongyi
Dongyi

Dongyi was a collective term for people in Eastern China and in the east of China. People referred to as Dongyi vary across the ages....
, those in the west Xirong, those in the south Nanman
Nanman

File:Tianxia_zh-hant.svgNanman were aboriginal tribes who lived in Southwest China China. They may have been related to the Sanmiao, dated to around the 3rd century BC....
, and those in the north Beidi
Beidi

File:Tianxia_zh-hant.svgBeidi is a term that originally denoted an ancient ethnic group but was used to refer to all non-Han Chinese ethnic groups in today's Northern China, Mongolia, and Siberia, especially those who lived beyond the Great Wall of China, such as Xiongnu , Xianbei , Khitan people , and Mongols , etc....
.]] Chionites, Chionitae or Xionites meaning "Western Barbarians", Middle Persian
Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
: Xiyon, (Hiun/Hion), Avestan: Xiiaona) were a nomad
Nomad

Nomadic people, , also known as nomads, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than Settler in one location....
ic tribe prominent in Transoxania and Bactria
Bactria

Bactria is a historical region of Greater Iran. Known by the ancient Greeks as "Bactriana" the region is located between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya ; in later times, the region became known as Tokharistan. The name of the region has survived to present time in the name of Afghan province "Balkh"....
.

Chionites had arrived in the mid-4th century with the wave of immigration from Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
 into Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
 in late antiquity. They had been influenced by the Kushan and Bactrian culture, and had become a threat on the northeastern frontiers of the Sassanid Empire
Sassanid Empire

The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty is the name of the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire. It was one of the two main powers in Western Asia for a period of more than 400 years....
.

Nomenclature: Red Xyon and transference to Red Huns

The name Xyon is familiar in Avestan and Pahlavi texts. In the Avestan tradition (Yts. 9.30-31, 19.87) the Xiiaona were characterized as enemies of Vishtaspa
Vishtaspa

Vishtaspa was an ancient Iranian ruler and the first patron of Zoroaster, as primarily described in the Gathas, the oldest hymns of Zoroastrianism and believed to have been composed by the prophet Zoroaster himself....
, the patron of Zoroaster
Zoroaster

Zoroaster or Zarathushtra , also referred to as Zartosht , was an ancient Iranian peoples prophet and religious poet. The hymns attributed to him, the Gathas, are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism....
. In the later Pahlavi tradition, the Red Huns and "White Huns" (Sveta-Hunas
Hunas

The Huna , as they were known in South Asia, seem to have been part of the Hephthalite group, who established themselves in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the first half of the fifth century, with their capital at Bamyan City....
) are mentioned. The Red Huns of the Pahlavi tradition (7th A.D.) has been identified by Harold Walter Bailey
Harold Walter Bailey

Sir Harold Walter Bailey , who published as H. W. Bailey, was an eminent England scholar of Khotanese, Sanskrit, and the comparative study of Iranian languages....
 as the Kermichiones or Ermechiones. According to Bailey, the name Xyon was transferred later to the Huns
Huns

The Huns were a confederation of Central Asian Eurasian nomads or semi-nomads, who had established an empire in Eurasia. The Huns may have stimulated the Migration Period, a contributing factor in the collapse of the Roman Empire....
 owing to similarity of sound, as Tur
Turan

Turan is the ancient Iranian languages name for Central Asia, literally meaning "the land of the Tur". As described below, the original Turanians are the...
 was adapted to Turk in Pahlavi tradition.

Origins

It is difficult to determine the ethnic composition of Chionites. In addition, there is no evidence that the Chionites were different from the Ephthalites. In other words, the Epthalites may have been a prominent tribe or clan of the Chionites.

According to A.S. Shahbazi (article dated 2005):

According to Wolfgang Felix (article dated 1992):

According to Richard Nelson Frye
Richard Nelson Frye

Richard Nelson Frye is an United States scholar of Iranian peoples and Central Asia, and Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Harvard University....
 (book dated 1991):

According to Carlile Aylmer Macartney
Carlile Aylmer Macartney

Carlile Aylmer Macartney was a British academic specializing in the history of central Europe and in particular the history of Hungary.He was a research fellow of All Souls College, Oxford....
 (article dated 1944):

According to Sir Harold Walter Bailey
Harold Walter Bailey

Sir Harold Walter Bailey , who published as H. W. Bailey, was an eminent England scholar of Khotanese, Sanskrit, and the comparative study of Iranian languages....
 (article dated 1932):

History


Early history

In the earliest periods, Xiong were more of a concern to the Chinese
Chinese people

The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People who reside in and hold citizenship of the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China or the Republic of China ....
 than to the Persians
Persian people

Persian identity, at least in terms of language, is traced to the ancient Indo-Iranians , who arrived in parts of Greater Iran circa 2000-1500 BCE....
. They dominated the smaller Donghu
Donghu

Donghu , was an ancient nomadic tribe or tribal union in Northeast China. It was once the dominant power in Mongolia before being defeated by the uprising of the Xiongnu....
 nations beyond Tianshan
Tianshan

Tianshan may refer to:*Tian Shan, a mountain range in Central Asia*Tianshan District, district in ?r?mqi...
 in the East Asia
East Asia

East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either Geography or cultural terms. Geography and geopolitically, it covers about 12,000,000 km?, or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia as Central Asia....
n steppes who were known as the Xiong's Serfs
Xiongnu

The Xiongnu were a confederation of nomadic tribes from Central Asia with a ruling class of unknown origin and other subjugated tribes. They lived on the steppes north of China, and appear in Chinese sources from the 3rd century BC as controlling an empire stretching beyond the borders of modern day Mongolia....
 until the Xiong's hold over them was broken by the Chinese by the end of the Sino-Xiongnu War
Sino-Xiongnu War

The Sino-Xiongnu War is a name given to a series of battles between the Han Dynasty and the tribes of Xiongnu between 133 BC and 89. The nature of these battles varied through time between Han conquest and the possession of city-states in central Asia....
. Chionitae campaigns are better documented in connection to a number of events of the political history of Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
 particularly during the second half of the 4th century AD until the mid 5th century AD. Their most famous rulers were called the Kidarites
Kidarites

The Hazara people dynasty of the "Ki" clan led the Huna and came from the proto-Mongolic Uar about whom it has been said that their legendary ancestor was Afrasiabus....
. At the end of the 4th century AD, a new wave of Hunnic tribes (Alchoni) invaded Bactria, pushing the Kidarites into Gandhara
Gandhara

Gandhara is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River....
.

Alchon

Alchon or Al?on (Uarkhon) became the new name of the Chionites in 460 when Khingila I
Khingila I

Khingila I c.430-490 apparently of the "Haital" tribe from Kushan , contemporary with Akhshunwar in Khwarezm.In response to this migration of the Wusun from Balkhash to the Pamir region Khingila united the Uar and the Xiyon in 460AD establishing his Hepthalite dynasty....
 united the Uar
Uar

Uar, , was the self designation used by the dominant ethnicity of Khwarezm in a confederation known to the Chinese as the Yanda and to the west as the Hephthalites....
 with the Chionites under his Hephthal ruling élite. In India the Alchon were not distinguished from their immediate White Huns predecessors and both are known as Sveta-Hunas there. Perhaps complimenting this term, Procopius
Procopius

Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine Empire scholar of the family Procopius . A participant himself in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he was the major historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History....
  (527-565) wrote that they were white skinned, had an organized kingship, and that their life was not wild/nomadic but that they lived in cities. The Alchon were called Varkhon or Varkunites (OuarKhonitai) by Menander Protector
Menander Protector

Menander Protector, Byzantine Empire historian, was born in Constantinople in the middle of the 6th century AD. The little that is known of his life is contained in the account of himself quoted by Suidas....
 (538-582) literally referring to the Uar & Hunnoi. Around 630, Theophylact Simocatta
Theophylact Simocatta

Theophylact Simocatta was an early 7th century Byzantine Empire historiographer, arguably ranking as the last historian of Late Antiquity.He wrote a history of the reign of emperor Maurice_%28emperor%29 in eight books....
 wrote that the European "Avars
Avars

Avars may refer to:* Eurasian Avars, a nomadic people who invaded Europe in the 6th Century AD* Uar * Caucasian Avars, a modern people of the Caucasus...
" were initially composed of two nations, the Uar and the Hunnoi tribes. He wrote that: "...the Barsilt, the Unogurs and the Sabirs were struck with horror... and honoured the Newcommers with brilliant gifts..." when the Avars first arrived in their lands in 555AD.

Although the power of the Alchon in Bactria was shattered in the 560's by a combination of Sassanid and proto-Turkic forces, the last Hephthal king Narana/Narendra managed to maintain some kind of rule between 570 and 600 AD over the 'nspk' or 'napki' or 'nezak' tribes that remained after most of the Alchon had fled to the west.

Coinage
Alchon Huns refers to a tribe which minted coins in Bactria in the 5th & 6th centuries. The name Khigi on one of the coins and Narendra on another has led some scholars of the area to believe that the Hephthalite Khagan
Khagan

Khagan or Great Khan , is a title of empire rank in the Turkic languages and Mongolian language languages equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a Khaganate ....
s Khingila and Narana were of the AlChoNo tribe inscribed in Bactrian script on the coins in question. They imitated the earlier style of their Hephthalite predecessors, the Kidarite Hun successors to the Kushans. In particular the Alchon style imitates the coins of Kidarite Varhran I (syn. Kushan Varhran IV).

See also

  • European Avars
  • Hunas
    Hunas

    The Huna , as they were known in South Asia, seem to have been part of the Hephthalite group, who established themselves in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the first half of the fifth century, with their capital at Bamyan City....
  • Kashmir Smast
    Kashmir Smast

    The Kashmir Smast caves are a series of natural limestone caves, artificially expanded from the Kushan to the Shahi periods, situated in the Babozai mountains in the Mardan Valley in Northern Pakistan....
  • Mount Imeon
    Mount Imeon

    Mount Imeon is an ancient name for the Central Asian complex of mountain ranges comprising the present Hindu Kush, Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan, extending from the Zagros Mountains in the southwest to the Altay Mountains in the northeast, and linked to the Kunlun Mountains, Karakoram and Himalayas to the southeast....
  • Rong people
    Rong people

    The Rong referred to an ancient non-Chinese population who lived to the west of the Zhou state in modern Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia and were often hostile to the China...
  • Uar
    Uar

    Uar, , was the self designation used by the dominant ethnicity of Khwarezm in a confederation known to the Chinese as the Yanda and to the west as the Hephthalites....
  • Yun


External links