The Huna (also known as Chionites) consisted of central Asian hordes in four cardinal directions. Northern Huna were the Black Huns, southern Huna were the Red Huns, Eastern Huna were the Celestial Huns, and Western Huna were the White Huns.
This article mainly concerns the Alchon and their Indo-Hephthalites ruling-elite. The latter seem to have been part of the Hephthalite group, who established themselves in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan by the first half of the fifth century, with their capital at Bamiyan. They sometimes call themselves "Hono" on their coins, but it seems that they are similar to the Huns who invaded the Western world.
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There are two different theories regarding the Kidarite kingdom: either it is created in the second half of the 4th c., or in the twenties of the 5th c. The only link of the Kidarites with the 4th c. are gold coins discovered in Balkh (Tepe Maranjan) and dating from circa 380 where ‘Kidara’ is supposed to be read in a blundered legend (in Bactrian KIOOOO).
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Picture: Gold Coins of Chandragupta II
The Gupta Empire (Hindi: गुप्त राजवंश Gupta Rājavaṃśa) was an Ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors.
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The Indo-Sassanids, Kushano-Sassanids or Kushanshas (also Indo-Sassanians) were a branch of the Sassanid Persians who established their rule in the northwestern Indian subcontinent during the third and fourth centuries CE at the expense of the declining Kushans.
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Picture: Coin of the Western Kshatrapa ruler Bhratadaman (278 to 295)
The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas (35-405) were Saka rulers of the western and central part of India (Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Southern Sindh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states). Their state, or at least part of it, was called "Ariaca" according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
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The Pāratarājas (lit. "Pārata Kings") are a dynasty of Indo-Scythian kings who ruled in the Baluchistan region of today’s Pakistan and Iran, from the 1st century to the 3rd century CE. The dynasty of the Pāratas is thought to be identical with the Pāradas of the Mahabharata, the Puranas and other Indian sources.
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Picture: Gold Coin of Late Kushan ruler Shaka I (325-345)
The Kushan Empire (c. 1st–3rd centuries AD) originally formed in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus River or Amu Darya in what is now northern Afghanistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
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Picture: Coins of the Indo-Parthian king Abdagases, in which his clothing is clearly apparent. He wears baggy trousers, rather typical of Parthian clothing
The Gondopharid dynasty, and other so-called Indo-Parthian rulers, were a group of ancient kings who ruled in present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern India, during or slightly before the 1st century AD. For most of their history, the leading Gondopharid kings held Taxila (in present-day Pakistan) as their residence, but during the last few years of their existence the capital was at Kabul (present-day Afghanistan).
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Picture: Silver Tetradrachm of the indo-greek king Eukratides
The Hellenistic expansion brought the Ancient Greeks in India also known as Indo-Greeks. They have established the Graeco-Indian Kingdom or Indo-Greek Kingdom covering various parts of the northwest and northern Indian subcontinent during the last two centuries BC, and was ruled by more than 30 Hellenistic kings, often in conflict with each other.
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Picture: Coin of Agathokles, king of Bactria (ca. 200–145 BC)
The Bactrian king Euthydemus and his son Demetrius crossed the Hindu Kush and began the conquest of Northern Afghanistan and the Indus valley. For a short time, they wielded great power: a great Greek empire seemed to have arisen far in the East.
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