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Collapse of the Hephthalite Empire
Around 557 CE, the Hephthalite Empire (White Huns) suffered a decisive defeat under a joint Turkic–Sasanian pincer attack, losing control of Central …
Timeline
- 555–556Khorasan frontier · IranTurkic khagan Istemi and Sasanian emperor Khosrow I concluded a military alliance to attack the Hephthalites from north and south, temporarily setting aside steppe–Persian conflicts of interest in Central Asia over their common enemy.
- 557North of the Amu Darya · TransoxianaTurkic cavalry attacked from the north and Sasanian forces from the south, routing the Hephthalite main force in the Amu Darya basin. The Hephthalite royal family fled west or was killed, the imperial center collapsed, and its suzerainty over Bactria, Gandhara, and northwestern India ended.
- 558–568Transoxiana · TransoxianaAfter the Hephthalite collapse, Turkic and Sasanian forces immediately clashed over the division of spoils; Sogdian city-states regained autonomy and became active again in Silk Road trade, while the kingdoms of northwestern India broke free of Hephthalite control, entering a new era of multipolar competition.
Sources
- Procopius, History of the Wars, Book I — Procopius of Caesarea (550)
- The Hephthalite Empire — Frantz Grenet (1996)