Khingila I
{{Short description|Founding king of the Alchon Huns (c. 430–490)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Khingila I
| title = Ruler of the Alchon Huns
| image = HunCoinDerivedFromSassanianDesign5thCE.JPG
| caption = Portrait of king Khingila {{Circa|440}} – 490 CE on one of his silver drachms. Bactrian script legend:
130px
χιγγιλο αλχοννο "Khiggilo Alchono", with Alchon tamgha symbol 15pxThis coin is in the collection of the British Museum. For equivalent coin, see [https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=156854 CNG Coins]{{cite book |last1=Rezakhani |first1=Khodadad |title=ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity |date=2017 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=9781474400305 |pages=105–124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 |language=en}}
{{Location map+
|West Asia
|float = center
|width = 240
|caption = Approximate location of Khingila's territory
|nodiv = 1
|mini = 1
|relief=yes
|places =
{{location map~ |West Asia |lat=38|N |long=66|E |label=|position=left |label_size=70|mark=Brown circle 50%.svg|marksize=30}}
}}
| reign = 430-490
| birth_date = {{Circa|430}}
| birth_place = Central Asia
| death_date = {{Circa|{{death date and age|490|||430|||df=y}}}}
| successor = Mehama
| signature =
}}
{{Alchon Huns}}
Khingila I (Bactrian: 70px χιγγιλο Khingilo, Brahmi script:47px 𑀔𑀺𑀗𑁆𑀕𑀺𑀮 Khi-ṇgi-la, Middle Chinese: 金吉剌 Kim kjit lat, Persian: شنگل Shengel; c.430-490) was the founding king of the Hunnic Alkhan dynasty (Bactrian: αλχανο, Middle Chinese: 嚈噠, Iep dat). He was a contemporary of Khushnavaz (fl. 484).
Rule
In response to the migration of the Wusun (who were hard-pressed by the Rouran) from Zhetysu to the Pamir region, Khingila united the Uars and the Xionites in 460AD, establishing the Hepthalite dynasty.
According to the Syrian compilation of Church Historian Zacharias Rhetor ({{Circa|465}}, Gaza – after 536), bishop of Mytilene, the need for new grazing land to replace that lost to the Wusun led Khingila's "Uar-Chionites" to displace the Sabirs to the west, who in turn displaced the Saragur, Ugor and Onogur, who then asked for an alliance and land from Byzantium.{{cn|date=January 2024}}
In his coin in the Brahmi script, Khingila uses the legend "God-King Khingila" (12px12px14px18px47px, 𑀤𑁂𑀯𑀰𑀸𑀳𑀺 𑀔𑀺𑀗𑁆𑀕𑀺𑀮, De-va-śā-hi Khi-ṇgi-la).{{cite journal |last1=Dhavalikar |first1=M. K. |title=A Note on Two Gaṇeśa Statues from Afghanistan |journal=East and West |date=1971 |volume=21 |issue=3/4 |pages=331–336 |jstor=29755703 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/29755703.pdf |issn=0012-8376}}
A "Seal of Khingila" is known, with legend in the Bactrian language, but it is uncertain if it belonged to Khingila, or another ruler of the same name.{{cite journal |last1=ALRAM |first1=MICHAEL |title=Three Hunnic Bullae from Northwest India |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=2003 |volume=17 |page=180, Figure 11 |jstor=24049314 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/24049314.pdf |issn=0890-4464}}
Khingila is also known from a Brahmi inscription, the Talagan copper scroll.
Artifacts
File:Khingila of the Alchon Huns Circa 440-490 CE.jpg|Coin of younger Khingila, circa 440-490 CE.[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=156855 CNG coins]
File:Khingila Alchono.jpg|Khingila with the word "Alchono" in Bactrian script (αλχονο) and the Tamgha symbol on his coins.{{cite book|last1=Rezakhani|first1=Khodadad|title=ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity|date=2017|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=9781474400312|page=199|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VjVYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT199|language=en}}[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=114833 CNG Coins]
File:Alchon Huns. Khingila. Circa 440s-490s.jpg|Later coinage, with name "Khingila" in the Brahmi script.
File:Devashahi Khingila.jpg|A coin of Khingila with the title Devaśāhi Khiṇgila (10px10px14px16px47px "God-King Khingila"), 440-490 CE.
File:Alchono legend with coin.jpg|The word "Alchonno" (αλχοννο) in the Greco-Bactrian cursive script, on a coin of Khingila.[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=90023 CNG Coins]
File:Hephthalite horseman on British Museum bowl 460-479 CE.jpg|Alchon horseman, possibly Khingila, on the Hephthalite silver bowl.{{cite book|last1=Bakker|first1=Hans T.|title=The Alkhan: A Hunnic People in South Asia|date=12 March 2020 |publisher=Barkhuis|isbn=978-94-93194-00-7|pages=43–47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLnVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA43|language=en}}
File:Khingila name in Middle Brahmi script.jpg|"Khingila" in Brahmi script on his later coinage
See also
References
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090830094305/http://geocities.com/ziadnumis/alxonintro.htm Khingila coinage]
- [http://coinindia.com/galleries-khingila.html Online catalogue of Khingila coins]
{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before = Anonymous
| title = King of the Alchon Huns
| years = 430-461
| after = Mehama
}}
{{s-end}}