Kidarites

Kidarites
320 CE–467 CE
Tamga of the Kidarites
400 ROURAN KHAGANATE Kyrgyzs Kokel Gaoju Turks CHAM- PA FUNAN Sargat Khotan HYMYAR EASTERN JIN NORTHERN WEI GOGU- RYEO WESTERN SATRAPS VAKA- TAKAS GUPTA EMPIRE KIDARITES XIONITES AFRIGHIDS SASANIAN EMPIRE BYZANTINE EMPIRE HUNS Jushi TOCHARIANS TUYUHUN N. LIANG Paleo-Siberians Samoyeds Tungus MEROË AKSUM Territory of the Kidarite kingdom, and main Asian polities c. 400
GUPTA EMPIRE XIONITES SASANIAN HIND AFRIGHIDS SASANIAN EMPIRE TOCHARIANS Territory of the Kidarites, c. 400
Capital	Bactria
Common languages	Bactrian (written)
Religion	Buddhism Hinduism
Government	Monarchy
Kushanshah
• fl. 320	Kidara
• fl. 425	Varhran I
• fl. 500	Kandik
Historical era	Late Antiquity
• Established	320 CE
• Disestablished	467 CE
Preceded by Succeeded by Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom Kushan Empire Alchon Huns Hephthalites

The Kidarites, or Kidara Huns,^[1] were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Kidarites belonged to a complex of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna, and in Europe as the Chionites (from the Iranian names Xwn/Xyon), and may even be considered as identical to the Chionites.^[2] The 5th century Byzantine historian Priscus called them Kidarite Huns, or "Huns who are Kidarites".^[3][4] The Huna/Xionite tribes are often linked, albeit controversially, to the Huns who invaded Eastern Europe during a similar period. They are entirely different from the Hephthalites, who replaced them about a century later.^[4]

The Kidarites were named after Kidara (Chinese: 寄多羅 Jiduoluo, ancient pronunciation: Kjie-ta-la)^[5][6] one of their main rulers. The Kidarites appear to have been a part of a Huna horde known in Latin sources as the "Kermichiones" (from the Iranian Karmir Xyon) or "Red Huna". The Kidarites established the first of four major Xionite/Huna states in Central Asia, followed by the Alchon, the Hephthalites and the Nezak.

In 360–370 CE, a Kidarite kingdom was established in Central Asian regions previously ruled by the Sasanian Empire, replacing the Kushano-Sasanians in Bactria.^[7][8] Thereafter, the Sasanian Empire roughly stopped at Merv.^[8] Next, circa 390-410 CE, the Kidarites invaded northwestern India, where they replaced the remnants of the Kushan Empire in the area of Punjab.