Indo-Hephthalites

The Indo-Hephthalites, or Hunas as they were known in India, where part of the Hephthalites group, who established themselves in Afghanistan by the first half of the fifth century, with their capital at Bamiyan.

The Gupta Indian emperor Skandagupta repelled a Huna invasion in 455, but the Hephthalites continued to pressure India's northwest frontier (present day Pakistan), and broke through into northern India by the end of the fifth century, hastening the disintegration of the Gupta empire.

The Hephthalite ruler Toramana established his rule over Pakistan and northern India, and was succeeded by his son Mihirakula in 520 whose capital was Sakala or modern day Sialkot in the Pakistani Punjab. The Guptas continued to resist the Hunas, and allied with the rulers of the neighboring Indian states.

The Hunas suffered a defeat by Yasodharman of Malwa in 528, and by 542 Mihirakula had been driven off the plains of northern India, taking refuge in Kashmir, and he is thought to have died soon after. Mihirakula is remembered in contemporary Indian and Chinese histories for his cruelty and his destruction of temples and monasteries, with particular hostility towards Buddhism.

After the end of the sixth century little is recorded in India about the Hephthalites, and what happened to them is unclear; some historians surmise that the remaining Hephthalites were assimilated into northern India's population. Certain historians, such as Romila Thapar, have suggested that the Hunas are the ancestors of the Rajputs. Many Rajputs themselves however have hotly rejected this suggestion, insisting that they are pure-blooded kshatriyas.

The Gurjara clan appeared in northern India about the time of the Huna invasions of northern India, and later established a number of ruling dynasties in northern India, including the Pratiharas of Kanauj. Gurjara origins and their relationship to the Hephthalites are not well documented, and subject to considerable debate.