Ghar-ilchi (Chinese: 曷撷支 Hexiezhi, also transliterated as Ko-chieh-chih,[2] 653-661 CE) was, according to Chinese and Arab sources, a local king of
Kapisi and the twelfth and last known ruler of the
Nezak Huns. Ghar-ilchi may have been the last member of a local "Khingal dynasty" founded by
Khingila, the
Alchon Hun ruler.[3]
Chinese confirmation
In the Chinese annals of 658 CE Ghar-ilchi appears as "Hexiezhi" (
Chinese: 曷撷支, reconstructed from Old Chinese: *γarγär-tśiě < *ghar-ilči), reconstructed as the Turkic "Ghar-ilchi" (*Qarγïlacï, 653-c.665 CE), 12th king of his dynasty from the founder "Xinnie" (馨孽, reconstructed from Old Chinese: *xäŋ-ŋär < *henger < Khingar/
Khingal):[4][5][6]
In the third year of the
Xianqing reign [658 CE], when [Tang envoys] investigated the customs of this state, people said: "From
Xinnie, the founder of the royal house, up to the present [King] Hexiezi, the throne has been passed from father to son, [and by now] there have been twelve generations. In the same year, the city was established as Xiuxian Area Command
Ghar-ilchi was formally installed as king of
Jibin (former
Kapisi/
Kabulistan) by the Chinese
Tang dynasty emperor in 653 CE, and again as Governor of Jibin under the newly formed Chinese
Anxi Protectorate, the "Protectorate of the Western Regions", in 661 CE.[9][3]
Arab invasion (665 CE)
In 665 CE, general
Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura launched an expedition to
Arachosia and
Zabulistan, capturing
Bost and other cities.
Kabul was occupied in 665 CE after a siege of a few months.[10] Kabul soon revolted but was reoccupied after a month-long siege. Abd al-Rahman's capture and plunder of Kabul mortally weakened the rule of Ghar-ilchi.[11] Ghar-ilchi, following his defeat, apparently was spared his life upon converting to
Islam.[12]
The powerful Turkic prince
Barha Tegin took this opportunity to capture Kabul, and, according to the 726 CE account of the Korean monk
Hyecho who visited the region, the ruler of Kabul (
Kapisa), probably Ghar-ilchi, was eventually killed by the Turkic prince:[2]
From
Kashmir I travelled further northwest. After one month's journey across the mountains I arrived at the country of
Gandhara. The king and military personnel are all Turks. The natives are
Hu people; there are
Brahmins. The country was formerly under the influence of the king of
Kapisa. A-yeh (阿耶), the Turkish prince, took a defeated calvalry and allied himself to the king of Kapisa. Later, when the Turkish force was strong, the prince assassinated the king of Kapisa and declared himself king. Thereafter, the territory from this country to the north was all ruled by the Turkish king, who also resided in the country.
^
abRahman, Abdur (2002).
"New Light on Khingal, Turk and Hindu Shahis"(PDF). In Landes, Christian; Bopearachchi, Osmund; Boussac, Marie-Françoise (eds.). Afghanistan, Ancien Carrefour entre l'Est et l'Ouest. Vol. XV. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. pp. 37–41.
ISBN2-503-51681-5.
^ This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain. Chinese original: 显庆三年,访其国俗,云“王始祖馨孽,至今曷撷支,父子传位,已十二代。”其年,改其城为修鲜都督府。龙朔初,授其王修鲜等十一州诸军事兼修鲜都督。
"旧唐书/卷198 - 维基文库,自由的图书馆". zh.wikisource.org (in Simplified Chinese).
^Original Chinese: 又從迦葉彌羅國西北隔山一月程至建馱羅。此王及兵馬。總是突厥。土人是胡。兼有婆羅門。此國舊是罽賓王王化。為此突厥王阿耶領一部落兵馬。投彼罽賓王。於後突厥兵盛。便殺彼罽賓王。自為國主。因茲國境突厥覇王此國已北。並住中。 in
"遊方記抄 第1卷 CBETA 漢文大藏經". tripitaka.cbeta.org.
Sources
Alram, Michael (2014). "From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush". The Numismatic Chronicle. 174: 261–291.
JSTOR44710198. (
registration required)
Payne, Richard (2016). "The Making of Turan: The Fall and Transformation of the Iranian East in Late Antiquity". Journal of Late Antiquity. 9. Johns Hopkins University Press: 4–41.
doi:
10.1353/jla.2016.0011.
S2CID156673274.