A Deliberation on the History and Cultural Vestiges of the Hephthalites in Sasanian Iran

Abstract

Due to the extensive territory including the fertile plains and the productive population, the Sasanids could attain the powerful and wealthy situation during the late antiquity. Nevertheless, the vast territory caused some problems regarding threatening the political integration of Iran. The eastern provinces locating far from the capital of the Sassanid government were in a very exposed position to invaders coming from Hephthalites as well-known groups of the invading nomads were considered as the main enemy of Sassanid in the eastern Iran. Hephthalites could occasionally determine the international relationships between Iran and its neighbours. Moreover, they played an important role in the formation of the cultural and artistic practices of the eastern Sassanid. In order to recognise the Hephthalites’ influence on the Sassanid Iran, we need firstly to study their ethnical attributes and lifestyles and secondly to know the borders of their territory throughout history. In pursuing these purposes, the paper, while relying on the historical documents, would explain the history of Hephthalites in eastern Iran and describe their material cultures indicating their history and culture. Synchronised study of history, geography, and material culture of the Hephthalites would help us to introduce a new approach to history and archaeology of the eastern Iran in Sassanid period.

Keywords

• Hephthalites
• Sassanid Period
• Iran
• Transoxiana