Journal of Eurasian Studies - EPA

April‐June 2010 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume II., Issue 2.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
ARADI, Éva
The Yue‐chis, Kushans and Hephtalites
The Scythian Empire broke up in about 400 B.C.; 1 after that, their successors, the different nations
originated from the Scythians, established their principalities and later their empires2 . According to
Strabo, the Caspian Sea was the dividing line between the Western and Eastern Scythians: in territory
west of the Caspian Sea lived the Dahas, the Massagetas and the Sarmatians, while in the trans‐Caspian part
existed the Sakas, the Sakarauls (the Royal Scythians), the Thokarians, the Yue‐chis, the Hsiungnus, the
Wusuns, the Parthians, the Zhuan‐Zhuans, the Asios and the Pechenegs. 3 All the peoples had their own
names. According to Herodotus and Strabo, the Caspian Sea was the above‐mentioned dividing line,
while the Indian Puranas considered the Aral Sea as the border line between them. 4 The Indians knew
both the seas only from hearsay, because, according to them, the Aral Sea was bigger than the Caspian,
and certainly this fact is not true. All the Indian, Greek, Persian and Armenian sources mention Eastern
and Western Scythians and most probably the Caspian Sea was the division between these peoples.
This paper deals with the Yue‐chis, the Kushans and the Hephtalites, with their tribes and tribal
confederations. Although the Indian sources never mention them as Scythians but rather as Sakas or
Sakyas, 5 this paper will name them Scythians according to the international science.
The sources that write about these tribes are not always authentic. Strabo never went to the countries
of Central Asia; he wrote his Geographia on the basis of the works of Herodotus and Eratosthenes or from
hearsay. According to him, the eastern border of Asia was India; he did not write about the powerful and
ancient country: China, and even the information about India in his book was not correct. 6
The Indian sources are more exact. Alhough they had their own writing systems, the Brahmi and the
Kharosti scripts, they carved their works on either palm leaves or on wood and, in the tropical humid
climate, these materials were quickly destroyed. The stone‐epigraphs, the coins and the writings kept in
dry caves and cave‐temples fortunately were saved. The world‐famous Hungarian born archaeologist, Sir
Aurel Stein, found a part of these ancient writings in Tun‐Huang, now belonging to China. The most
authentic sources of the Yue‐chis, the Kushans and the Hephtalites are the Chinese Annals: the Han‐shu
1 G.M. Bongard‐Lvcin – E.A.Grantovskij: “From Scythia to India”, Gondolat, Budapest, 1981.
2 In the opinion of some researchers the Scythian Empire was founded before the 8th century B.C. as at that date they already
had an excellent military system and an advanced craftmanship according to the archeological finds.
3 Strabo: “Geographia”, Gondolat, Bp. Book XI. VIII/2.
4 C.T.Metcliffe: “The Rajput Tribes” on the basis of the Agnipurana, Vol.1. Cosmo Publications 1820, reprint: 1982, New Delhi, p.
43.
5 C.T. Metcliffe: ibid. p.20.
6 Strabo: ibid. Book XI/544.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
© Copyright Mikes International 2001‐2010 45