The Alkhan

Book excerpt: This book is the first fascicle in a series that is designed as a reader’s Companion to a Sourcebook that presents all written sources with regard to Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia from the 4th to the 6th centuries of the Common Era. Both these books are the outcome of an international research project, funded by the European Research Council, which aimed at collecting and exploring the texts regarding the Eastern, non-European Huns in more than a dozen original languages. The first fascicle of the Companion Series focuses on the history of Hunnic People in South Asia, where they are known as H?n?a in Sanskrit literature or Alkhan according to their own coinage. These Alkhan entered the Subcontinent in the 4th century. The fascicle reconstructs the history of the Alkhan kings, Khin?gila Toram?n?a, and Mihirakula, and the impact of their invasion and control of large parts of Northern and Western India on Indian history and culture, in particular on the Gupta Empire. This history is shown to be interrelated with historic developments within the Sasanian Empire and historic events to the north of the Hindu Kush. This first fascicle of the Companion and the Sourcebook (D. Balogh, ed.) are published simultaneously by Barkhuis, Groningen. In the coming years other fascicles in this series will appear, exploring the collected sources with a focus on the history of Hunnic Peoples in Central Asia.