Kidarites
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The Kidarite (Chinese: Ki-To-Lo) dynasty of the "Ki" clan led the Xionites and came from the proto-Mongolic Uar about whom it has been said that their legendary ancestor was Afrasiabus. If the Uar were not already present in Turpan, it is thought that when Liu Can was overthrown by Jin Zhun, and Shi Le established his state, many of the Uar around Pingyang (平陽, in modern Linfen, Shanxi) fled west along the Silk Road causing the Xionites to encroach upon Khorasan and the frontiers of the Kushan state around 320 AD. The Xionite king Grumbat mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus was a cause of much concern to the Persians. Between 353 AD and 358 AD, the Xionites under Grumbat attacked in the eastern frontiers of Shapur II's empire along with other nomad tribes. After a prolonged struggle they were forced to conclude a peace, and their king, Grumbate, accompanied Shapur II in the war against the Romans. Victories of Xionites during their campaigns in the Eastern Caspian lands are described by Ammianus Marcellinus:
- "Their new king Grumbat was already famous for "many victories". But notwithstanding the victories, the Xionites could not create a state union of some stability"
[Ammian Marcellin, p. 20].
The southern or "Red" Kidarite vassals to the Kushans in NWFP, became better known as Red Huns from 360 AD after Kidara II led a Bactrian portion of Xionites to overthrow the Kushans in India. At this time Kidarite Xionites (Kidarites) successfully controlled the length of the Oxus from the Hindu Kush all the way to the Aral Sea.
| Kidara I | fl. c. 320 CE |
| Kungas | 330's ? |
| Varhran I | fl. c. 340 |
| Grumbat | c. 358-c. 380 |
| Kidara (II ?) | fl. c. 360 |
| Brahmi Buddhatala | fl. c. 370 |
| unknown | fl. 388/400 |
| Varhran (II) | fl. c. 425 |
| Goboziko | fl. c. 450 |
| Salanavira | mid 400's |
| Vinayaditya | late 400's |
| Kandik | early 500's |
Kidara's southern Xionites were the first "Hunas" to bother India. Indian records note that the Hūna had established themselves in Afghanistan and NWFP in present day Pakistan by the first half of the fifth century, and the Gupta emperor Skandagupta had repelled a Hūna invasion in 455.
[edit] White Huns
As a result of "vultures descending" upon them in Transoxiana, the Kidarite powerbase moved from Southern "Red" Hunuk to Western "White" Khiva in 460 where the Hephthal dynasty was established by Khingila I. At this point Kidarites became known once more as White Huns.
The Greek envoy Rhetor often referred to the west Turanian "White" Huns as Kidarite Xionites while in India, the Kidarite Xionites became known as Sveta-Hūna meaning "White Huns" when they united with the Uar under the Hepthalite clan. They were said to have been of fair complexion according to Procopius, although according to the central asian order of cosmic precedence, White Huns would simply mean Western Huns (as the name Xiyon actually implies).
Although they fought against the Sassanians, early 5th century "OIONO" coins (thought to have been minted by Xionite rulers) imitate Sassanian drachmas. For more information on coins see Alchon.
The Kidarite Xionites flourished under the Hephthalites, until something forced them to migrate from Khiva to Itil under Kandik in the mid 6th century. Not long afterwards, the Hephthalites remaining in Turkmenistan submitted to Gokturk rule in 567AD.
[edit] Relation to other "Huns"
The Huns already present on the Black Sea Steppes might not have been as closely related to the northern Black Desert "Kidarite Xionites" and their related Alchon or Hunas as is usually presumed. Though the Chronicles of Kiev do mention how the Ki clan founded Kiev after subjugating the eastern Hunno-Bulgars who subsequently became known as the Kazarigs. In Europe the Kidarites became known as the Avar Huns, first mentioned attacking the Sabirs in 460 AD and who entered Europe in 557 under the leadership of Kandik. Because of their very flimsy connection to the Uar the Gokturks objected to the Kidarite Xionites calling themselves "Avars" in Europe and demanded the Byzanines recognise the fact that the Uar (from which the Dulo clan descended) of the East who had submitted to Gokturk rule were the true Avars, while the Kidarite Xionites who had entered Europe under Kandik should be called "Pseudo-Avars".[citation needed]
