Varkhuman
{{Infobox monarch
| name = Varkhuman
Varkhūmān Ūnash
| title = Ikhshid of Samarkand
| image = Sogdiana. Samarkand (Ikhshids). Varkhuman. Circa CE 650-675.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = Coinage of Varkhuman. Circa CE 650-675.{{cite journal |last1=Fedorov |first1=Michael |title=ON THE PORTRAITS OF THE SOGDIAN KINGS (IKHSHĪDS) OF SAMARQAND |journal=Iran |date=2007 |volume=45 |pages=156–157 |doi=10.1080/05786967.2007.11864723 |jstor=25651416 |s2cid=194538468 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25651416 |issn=0578-6967|url-access=subscription }}
| reign = Circa 650-670 CE
| dynasty = Ikhshids
| birth_name =
| father =
| spouse =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Samarkand, Sogdia
| death_date =
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| predecessor = Shishpin
| successor = Urk Wartramuk
| issue =
| religion = Zoroastrianism
}}
File:Afrasiyab ruins in Samarkand.jpg
Varkhuman, also Vargoman ({{zh|t=拂呼縵|p=Fúhūmàn}}, c. 640-670 CE){{cite book |last1=Whitfield |first1=Susan |author-link=Susan Whitfield |title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith |year=2004 |publisher=British Library. Serindia Publications, Inc. |isbn=978-1-932476-13-2 |page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArWLD4Qop38C&pg=PA110 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Azarpay |first1=Guitty |last2=Belenickij |first2=Aleksandr M. |last3=Maršak |first3=Boris Il'ič |last4=Dresden |first4=Mark J. |title=Sogdian Painting: The Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art |date=January 1981 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03765-6 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVSPEN4ap_0C&pg=PA17 |language=en}} was an Ikhshid (King) of Sogdia, residing in the city of Samarkand in the 7th century CE. He succeeded King Shishpin. He is known from the Afrasiab murals of Afrasiyab in Samarkand, where he is seen being visited by embassies from numerous countries, including China. There is also an inscription in the murals directly mentioning him. His name is also known from Chinese histories.
One of the murals show a Chinese Embassy carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons to the local Sogdian ruler.{{cite book |last1=Whitfield |first1=Susan |title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith |year=2004 |publisher=British Library. Serindia Publications, Inc. |isbn=978-1-932476-13-2 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArWLD4Qop38C&pg=PA110 |language=en}} The scene depicted in the Afrasiyab murals probably occurred soon after 658 CE, when the Tang dynasty had conquered the Western Turkic Khaganate.
Varkhuman was a nominal vassal to the Chinese. He is mentioned in the Chinese annals:
{{blockquote|During the Yonghui (永徽) era (650-655 CE), emperor Gaozong made this territory the Government of Kangju, and gave the title of Governor to the King of the country, Varkhuman (拂呼缦, Fúhūmàn).|Chinese annals on Varkhuman.{{cite journal |last1=Mode |first1=Markus |title=Reading the Afrasiab Murals: Some Comments on Reconstructions and Details |journal=Rivista degli studi orientali |date=2006 |volume=78 |page=108 |jstor=41913392 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41913392.pdf |issn=0392-4866}}New Book of Tang, Book 221. 新唐书/卷221下: "高宗永徽时，以其地为康居都督府，即授其王拂呼缦为都督。" in {{cite web |title=新唐书/卷221下 - 维基文库，自由的图书馆 |url=https://zh.m.wikisource.org/zh-hans/%E6%96%B0%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7221%E4%B8%8B |website=zh.wikisource.org |language=zh-Hans}}}}
Varkhuman's legacy was short-lived, as his palace was destroyed by the Arab general Sa'id ibn Uthman between 675 and 677 CE. At that time, according to Narshakhi there was no king of Samarkand anymore.{{cite book |last1=Baumer |first1=Christoph |title=History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set |date=18 April 2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83860-868-2 |page=243 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA243 |language=en}}
Inscription mentioning Varhuman
In the murals of Afrasiab, an inscription mentioning Varhuman has been found. It is written in Sogdian:
{{blockquote|File:Afrasiab Sogdian inscription.jpgWhen King Varkhuman Unash came to him [the ambassador] opened his mouth [and said thus]: "I am Pukarzate, the dapirpat (chancellor) of Chaganian. I arrived here from Turantash, the lord of Chaganian, to Samarkand, to the king, and with respect [to] the king [now] I am [here]. And with regard to me do not have any misgivings: About the gods of Samarkand, as well as about the writing of Samarkand I am keenly aware, and I also have not done any harm to the king. Let you be quite fortunate!" And King Varkhuman Unash took leave [of him]. And [then] the dapirpat (chancellor) of Chach opened his mouth.|Inscription on an ambassador's robe.{{cite web |title=Afrosiab Wall Painting |url=http://contents.nahf.or.kr/goguryeo/afrosiab/english.html |website=contents.nahf.or.kr |publisher=NORTHEAST ASIAN HISTORY FOUNDATION}}{{cite book |last1=Bulatova |first1=Vera |author-link=Vera Bulatova|last2=Shishkina |first2=Galina V. |title=Самарканд: музей под открытым небом "Samarkand, Open-air Museum" |date=1986 |publisher=Publishing house of literature and art Изд-во лит-ры и искусства им. Гафура Гуляма |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ML4ewQEACAAJ |language=uz|quote=..."When king Varkhuman of the Unash dynasty approached the ambassador, the ambassador opened his mouth and said : 'I am Pukarzate..."}}{{cite journal |last1=de la Vaissière |first1=Étienne |title=LES TURCS, ROIS DU MONDE À SAMARCANDE |journal=Rivista degli studi orientali |date=2006 |volume=78 |pages=159–160 |jstor=41913394 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41913394.pdf |issn=0392-4866}}{{cite book |last1=Hansen |first1=Valerie|author-link=Valerie Hansen |title=The Silk Road: A New History |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-021842-3 |page=127 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FDdRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127 |language=en}}}}
Afrasiab murals
{{main|Afrasiab murals}}
File:King Varkhuman on horse, Afrasiab remaining parts and reconstitution.jpg|King Varkhuman on horse, Afrasiab remaining parts and reconstitution.{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |title=What Was the Afrasiab Painting About? |journal=Rivista degli studi orientali |date=2006 |volume=78 |pages=43–44 |jstor=41913388 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41913388 |issn=0392-4866}}
File:Ambassadors from Chaganian (central figure, inscription of the neck), and Chach (modern Tashkent) to king Varkhuman of Samarkand. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab, Samarkand.jpg|Ambassadors from Chaganian (central figure, inscription of the neck), and Chach (modern Tashkent) to king Varkhuman of Samarkand. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab murals, Samarkand.
File:Korean ambassadors during a audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab, Samarkand.jpg|Goguryeo ambassadors{{Cite web |last=Service (KOCIS) |first=Korean Culture and Information |title=Restored mural suggests 1,300 years of ties between Goguryeo, Samarkand : Korea.net : The official website of the Republic of Korea |url=https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=124170 |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=www.korea.net |language=en}} during an audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand. They are identified by the two feathers on top of their head.{{cite book |last1=Library |first1=British |title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith |year=2004 |publisher=Serindia Publications, Inc. |isbn=978-1-932476-13-2 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArWLD4Qop38C&pg=PA110 |language=en}} 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab, Samarkand.{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |title=Maracanda/Samarkand, une métropole pré-mongole |journal=Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales |date=2004 |volume=5/6 |page=Fig. C |url=https://www.cairn.info/journal-annales-2004-5-page-1043.htm}}
File:Tang Dynasty emissaries at the court of Varkhuman in Samarkand carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons, 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab murals, Samarkand.jpg|Tang dynasty emissaries at the court of Varkhuman in Samarkand carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons, 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab murals, Samarkand