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#REDIRECT [[Zunbil dynasty]]


{{Infobox country
{{Redirect category shell|
|common_name  = Zunbils
{{R from move}}
|native_name  = Zunbils
|status      = Empire
|era          = Early Middle Ages
|capital      = [[Ghazni]]
|common_languages = [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]]
|year_start  = 680
|year_end    = 870<ref name="MA283">{{cite journal |last1=ALRAM |first1=MICHAEL |title=From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush |journal=The Numismatic Chronicle |date=2014 |volume=174 |pages=282–285 |jstor=44710198 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/44710198.pdf |issn=0078-2696}}</ref><ref name="KHM16"/>
|p1          = Alchon
|flag_p1      = Alchon_Tamga.png
|p2          = Nezak
|flag_p2      = Nezak_Crown.png
|s1          = Saffarid dynasty
|s2          =
|s3          =
|flag_s1      =
|image_flag  =
|flag_type    =
|image_coat  =
|symbol_type  =
|image_map    =
{{Location map+
|West Asia
|float      = center
|width      = 280
|caption    = Approximate location of the Zunbils
|nodiv      = 1
|mini      = 1
|relief=yes
|places    =
{{location map~ |West Asia |lat=40|N |long=64|E |label=<div talign=center>[[Yabghus of Tokharistan|TOKHARA<br>YABGHUS]]</div>|position=bottom |label_size=50|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |West Asia |lat=39|N |long=70|E |label=<div talign=center>[[Turk Shahis|TURK SHAHIS]]</div>|position=bottom |label_size=60|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |West Asia |lat=35|N |long=67|E |label=<div talign=center>'''ZUNBILS'''</div>|position=bottom |label_size=60|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |West Asia |lat=35|N |long=55|E |label=[[Abbasid Caliphate|ABBASID<br>CALIPHATE]]|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |West Asia |lat=45|N |long=65|E |label=[[Western Turks|WESTERN TURKS]]|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |West Asia |lat=41|N |long=78|E |label=[[Tang Dynasty|TANG]]|position=bottom |label_size=80|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |West Asia |lat=22|N |long=74|E |label=[[Chalukya dynasty|CHALUKYAS]]|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |West Asia |lat=30|N |long=72|E |label=[[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|<div talign=center>GUJARA-<br>PRATIHARA</div>]]|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |West Asia |lat=35|N |long=76.5|E |label=[[Karkota Empire|<div talign=center>KARKOTA<br>EMPIRE</div>]]|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
}}
|image_map_caption =
|image_map2            =
{{Location map+
|Hindu-Kush
|float      = center
|width      = 280
|caption    = [[Ghazni]], the capital, and other important cities of the Zunbils (red dots).
|nodiv      = 1
|mini      = 1
|relief=yes
|places    =
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=36.728611|N |long=68.868056|E |label=[[Kunduz]]|position=right |label_size=100|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=39.7|N |long=66.983333|E |label=[[Samarkand]] |position=right |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=34.341944|N |long=62.203056|E |label=[[Herat]] |position=top |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=36.2|N |long=64|E |label=[[Yabghus of Tokharistan|''TOKHARA YABGHUS'']] |position=right |label_size=100|mark=File:1x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=36.766667 |N |long=66.9|E |label=[[Balkh]] |position=right |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=36.3|N |long=70.5|E |label=[[Turk Shahis|'''TURK SHAHIS''']]|position=bottom |label_size=100|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=33|N |long=67|E |label='''ZUNBILS'''|position=bottom |label_size=100|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=34.825|N |long=67.833333|E |label=[[Bamiyan]]|position=left |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=31.616667|N |long=65.716667|E |label=[[Kandahar]]|position=bottom |label_size=90}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=33.549167|N |long=68.423333|E |label=[[Ghazni]]|position=left |label_size=90|mark=Capital mark.svg|marksize=15}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=34.525278|N |long=69.178333|E |label=[[Kabul]]|position=right |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush|lat=31|N |long=74|E |label=[[India|INDIA]]|position=bottom |label_size=130|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush|lat=40.5|N |long=64|E |label=[[Western Turks|WESTERN<br>TURKS]]|position=bottom |label_size=120|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=35.920833|N |long=74.308333|E |label=[[Gilgit]]|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=37.5|N |long=74.3|E |label='''''[[Patola Shahis|PATOLA SHAHIS]]'''''|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=34.5|N |long=74.75|E |label='''''[[Karkota Empire|KARKOTA<br>DYNASTY]]'''''|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |Hindu-Kush |lat=34.016667|N |long=72.433333|E |label=[[Hund (village)|Udabhanda]]|position=left|label_size=90|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
}}
|image_map2_caption    =
|title_leader =
|leader1      =
|year_leader1 =
|leader2      =
|year_leader2 =
|leader3      =
|year_leader3 =
|religion    = [[Hinduism]]<br>[[Buddhism]]<br>[[Zoroastrianism]]
|today        = [[Afghanistan]]
}}
'''Zunbil''', also written as '''Zhunbil''', or '''Rutbils of Zabulistan''',<ref name="PG15">{{cite web |url=http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase15?language=en |title=The Countenance of the other (The Coins of the Huns and Western Turks in Central Asia and India) 2012-2013 exhibit: 15. THE RUTBILS OF ZABULISTAN AND THE "EMPEROR OF ROME" | last1 = Alram | first1 = Michael| last2 = Filigenzi | first2 = Anna | last3 = Kinberger | first3 = Michaela | last4 = Nell | first4 = Daniel | last5 = Pfisterer | first5 = Matthias | last6 = Vondrovec | first6 = Klaus |newspaper=Pro.geo.univie.ac.at |publisher=Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna |access-date= July 16, 2017}}</ref> was a royal dynasty south of the [[Hindu Kush]] in present southern [[Afghanistan]] region. They ruled from circa 680 CE until the Saffarid conquest in 870 CE.<ref name="PG15"/><ref name="KHM16">{{cite web |url=http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase16?language=en |title=16. THE HINDU SHAHIS IN KABULISTAN AND GANDHARA AND THE ARAB CONQUEST |newspaper=Pro.geo.univie.ac.at |publisher=Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna |access-date= July 22, 2017}}</ref> The Zunbil dynasty was founded by Rutbil (Turkic: ''Iltäbär''), the elder brother of the [[Turk Shahi]] [[Tegin Shah]], who ruled over a [[Khalaj people|Khalaj Turk]]-[[Hephthalite]] kingdom from his capital in [[Kabul]].<ref name="PG15"/><ref name="KHM14"/><ref name="Wink">Andre Wink, '' Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World'', Vol.1, (Brill, 1996), 115;"''"The Zunbils of the early Islamic period and the Kabulshahs were almost certainly epigoni of the southern-Hephthalite rulers of Zabul.''"</ref><ref>History of Civilizations of central Asia, B A Litivinsky Zhang Guang-Da, R Shabani Samghabadi, p.376</ref> The Zunbils are described as having Turkish troops in their service by Arabic sources like [[Tarikh al-Tabari]] and ''[[Tarikh-i Sistan]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Islam in Asia: South Asia|page= 15|publisher=Magnes Press|year=1984|author=[[Raphael Israeli]], Anthony Hearle Johns}}</ref>
 
The faith of this community has been little researched. According to the interpretation of Chinese sources by Marquarts and de Groots in 1915, the king of Ts'ao is said to have worn a crown with a golden fish head and was related to the Sogdians. The Temple of the Zun was recognizable by a large fish skeleton on display; this would indicate a related merchantry deity.<ref name="Miya">H. Miyakawa und A. Kollautz: ''Ein Dokument zum Fernhandel zwischen Byzanz und China zur Zeit Theophylakts'' In: ''Byzantinische Zeitschrift'', S. 14 (Anhang). De Gruyter Januar 1984. {{ISSN|1868-9027}}.</ref> In addition to that Marquarts states the Zunbils to have worshipped a [[solar deity]] which might have been connected to [[Aditya]] ([[Surya]]). However, according to Shōshin Kuwayama there was a clear dichotomy between worshipers of the Hindu god Surya and followers of Zhun. This is exemplified by the conflict between Surya and Zhun followers, which lead to the followers of Zhun migrating southwards towards Zabulistan from Kapisa.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kuwayama|first=Shoshin|url=https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/48769/1/34%281%29_25.pdf|title=Historical Notes on Kāpiśī and Kābul in the Sixth-Eighth Centuries|publisher=|year=2000|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref>{{ref|a}} According to André Wink the followers of this god were primarily [[Hinduism|Hindu]], though parallels have also been noted with [[Bon|pre-Buddhist religious and monarchy practices]] in [[Tibet]] and had Zoroastrian influence in its ritual.<ref name=Wink118/><ref name=CE/> Other scholars such as H. Schaeder and N. Sims-William have connected it with the Zoroastrian deity of time.<ref name="sino-platonic.org">http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp290_horse_rider_statuette.pdf</ref>
 
Their territory included between what is now the city of [[Zaranj]] in southwestern Afghanistan and [[Kabulistan]] in the northeast, with [[Zamindawar]] and [[Ghazni]] serving as their capitals.<ref>André Wink, "Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World", Brill 1990, p. 118</ref> In the south their territory reached at times the cities of Rakhwad ([[al-Rukhkhaj]]) and [[Bost Airport|Bost]] (near [[Kandahar]]).<ref name="PG15"/>
 
The title Zunbil can be traced back to the [[Middle-Persian]] original Zūn-dātbar, 'Zun the Justice-giver'. The geographical name Zamindawar would also reflect this, from Middle Persian 'Zamin-i dātbar' (Land of the Justice-giver).<ref>[[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|Bosworth, Clifford Edmund]]. 2002. The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden: Brill. Zamindawar. p.439.</ref>
 
== History ==
From 680 CE, the [[Tegin Shah]] was the king of the [[Turk Shahis]], and ruled the area from [[Kabulistan]] to [[Gandhara]] as well as [[Zabulistan]].<ref name="KV183">{{cite book |last1=Vondrovec |first1=Klaus |title=Coins, Art and Chronology II - The First Millennium C.E. in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands (Coinage of the Nezak) |page=183 |url=https://www.academia.edu/880242 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="KHM14"/> His title was "Khorasan Tegin Shah" (meaning "Tegin, King of the East"), and he was known in Chinese sources as ''Wusan teqin sa''.<ref name="KHM14">{{cite web |url=http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase14?language=en |title=14. KABULISTAN AND BACTRIA AT THE TIME OF "KHORASAN TEGIN SHAH" |newspaper=Pro.geo.univie.ac.at |publisher=Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna |access-date= July 16, 2017}}</ref> His grand title probably refers to his resistance to the peril of the [[Umayyad caliph]] from the west.<ref name="KHM14"/>
 
The area of  Zabulistan came to be ruled by Rutbil, also spelled Zibil or Jibul (from Turkic: ''Iltäbär'' "Commander"), his elder brother or nephew, who founded the dynasty of the Zunbils.<ref name="KHM14"/><ref name="HC379">{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Litvinsky |first2=B. A. |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |date=January 1996 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0 |pages=379–380 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA379 |language=en}}</ref> Their relationship was at times antagonistic, but they fought together against Arab incursions.<ref name="KHM14"/> Rubtil issued coins derived from Sassanian prototypes, with a [[Bactrian script]] legend on the obverse, a [[Pahlavi script]] legend on the reverse, and a short [[Brahmi script]] legend in the name of [[Vāsudeva|Śrī Vākhudevaḥ]] ("His Highness the Majestic Lord"):
 
[[File:Sahi Tigin. Circa 710-720 CE.jpg|thumb|A coin of the Rutbils, minted in Zabulistan circa 720 CE.<ref name="PG15"/>]]
{{quote|
Obverse: ''yypwlh. wtyp’ / GDH / ’pzwt''<br>
''PWN ŠMY yzt’ yypwl bgyh. wtyp’ wh. m’n’n mlt’n  MLK’''<br>
King Jibul, [his] glory increased!
In the name of god, Jibul, the Majestic Lord [is] King of brave men<br>
<br>
Reverse: ''Śrī Vākhudevaḥ / pncdh. z’wlst’n / ’pl plm’n yzd’n''<br>
His Highness the Majestic Lord / [minted in his] 15th [regnal year in] Zavulistan, by the order of the gods.
|Coin legend of Rutbil<ref name="HC379"/>}}
According to Anthony McNicoll, "the Zunbils ruled in the [[Kandahar]] area for nearly 250 years until the late 9th century AD".<ref>Excavations at Kandahar 1974 & 1975 (Society for South Asian Studies Monograph) by Anthony McNicoll</ref> Their main capital Zamindawar was located in the present-day [[Helmand Province]] of [[Afghanistan]]. The shrine of Zoon was located about three miles south of [[Musa Qala]] in Helmand, which may still be traced today. Some believe that the Sunagir temple mentioned by the famous Chinese traveler [[Xuanzang]] in 640 AD pertains to this exact house of worship.<ref name="Habibi">{{Cite web |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Zoor_or_zoon_temple.htm |title=The Temple of Zoor or Zoon in Zamindawar |work=[[Abdul Hai Habibi]] |year=1969|publisher=alamahabibi.com |access-date=August 14, 2012}}</ref>
 
===Vassalage to the Yabghus of Tokharistan===
{{main|Yabghus of Tokharistan}}
[[File:Citadel of Ghazni, seen from Tapa Sardar.jpg|thumb|Citadel of [[Ghazni]], seen from [[Tapa Sardar]].]]
[[File:Ghazni_City,_2010.jpg|thumb|The city of [[Ghazni]] was the capital of the Zunbils.]]
According to Chinese sources, in particular the chronicles of the ''[[Cefu Yuangui]]'', The Turk in Kabul were vasals of the Yabghus of Tokharistan. When a young brother of the Yabghu Pantu Nili, named Puluo (僕羅 ''púluó'' in Chinese sources), visited the court of the [[Tang Dynasty]] in [[Xi'an]] in 718 CE, he gave an gave an account of the military forces in the Tokharistan region.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kuwayama |first1=S. |title=Across the Hindukush of the First Millennium: a collection of the papers |date=2002 |publisher=Kyoto University |page=139 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/39251127.pdf}}</ref> Puluo described the power of "the Kings of Tokharistan", explaining that "Two hundred and twelve kingdoms, governors and prefects" recognize the authority of the Yabghus, and that it has been so since the time of his grand-father, that is, probably since the time of the establishment of the Yabghus of Tokharistan.<ref name="SW1057"/>  This account also shows that the Yabghu of Tokharistan ruled a vast area circa 718 CE, formed of the territories north and south of the [[Hindu Kush]], including the areas of [[Kabul]] and [[Zabul]].<ref>"The account herewith quoted as 3.5. shows that this king of Tokhara had political power to control the principalities belonging to the Governors-General to the north and the south of the Hindukush, not to mention the Yuezhi Governor General."  in {{cite journal |last1=Kuwayama |first1=Shoshin |title=Chinese Records on Bamiyan: Translation and Commentary |journal=East and West |date=2005 |volume=55 |issue=1/4 |pages=153, 3–5 |jstor=29757642 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29757642 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref> Finally, Puluo reaffirmed the loyalty of Yabghu Pantu Nili towards the Tang Dynasty.<ref name="SW1057">{{cite journal |last1=Sims-Williams |first1=Nicholas |title=Nouveaux document bactriens du Guzgan (note d'information) |journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |date=2002 |volume=146 |issue=3 |page=1057 |doi=10.3406/crai.2002.22500 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_2002_num_146_3_22500}}</ref>
 
Part of the Chinese entry for this account by Puluo is:
 
{{quote|On the Dingwei day of the eleventh month in the sixth year of the Kaiyuan era, Ashi Tegin Puluo writes to the emperor: Tokhara Yabghu, his elder brother, is controlling as his subordinates two hundred and twelve persons, such as the local kings of various states, dudu (Governors-General), and cishi (heads of regional governments). The king of [[Zabul]] rules two hundred thousand soldiers and horses, the king of [[Kabul]] two hundred thousand, each king of [[Khuttal]], [[Chaghaniyan|Chaghanian]], Jiesu, [[Shighnan|Shughnan]], Evdal, Kumedha Wa'khan, [[Guzgan]]an, [[Bamiyan]], Lteyuedejzan, and [[Badakhshan]] fifty thousand."|Cefu Yuangui 3.5. Fanyan in Vol. 999 (Claims, Foreign Subjects), 718 CE.<ref name="SK">{{cite journal |last1=Kuwayama |first1=Shoshin |title=Chinese Records on Bamiyan: Translation and Commentary |journal=East and West |date=2005 |volume=55 |issue=1/4 |pages=143–144 |jstor=29757642 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29757642 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref>}}
 
===Early Arab incursions===
In 653-4 AD, an army of around 6,000 Arabs were led by General [[Abdur Rahman bin Samara]] and they arrived to the shrine of Zoon in Zamindawar. It is reported that General Abdur Rahman "broke off a hand of the idol and plucked out the rubies which were its eyes in order to persuade the Marzbān of [[Sistan|Sīstān]] of the god's worthlessness."<ref>André Wink, "Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World", Brill 1990. p 120</ref> The General explained to the Marzbān: "my intention was to show you that this idol can do neither any harm nor good."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Amir_Kror_and_His_Ancestry.htm |title=Amir Kror and His Ancestry |work=Abdul Hai Habibi |publisher=alamahabibi.com |access-date=August 14, 2012}}</ref> In 698 Ubayd Allah b. Abi Bakra lead the 'Army of Destruction' against the Zunbils, was defeated and was forced to offer a large tribute, give hostages including three of his sons and take an oath not to invade Zunbil again.<ref name="Hugh Kennedy">{{cite book|author=Hugh Kennedy|title=The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pk7BS9XC10QC&q=Hugh+Kennedy%2CThe+Great+Arab+Conquests%27+%22army+of+destruction%22&pg=PT128|publisher=Hachette UK|year= 2010|isbn=9780297865599|page=128}}</ref> About 700 [[Ibn al-Ash'ath]] tried again with the 'Peacock Army' which led to a mutiny.<ref>Hugh Kennedy,The Great Arab Conquests',2007, pages 194-198</ref>
 
=== Saffarid and Zunbil struggles ===
[[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|C.E. Bosworth]] writes that:
[[File:مجسمه امیر یعقوب لیث صفاری در زابل.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Yaqub bin Laith al-Saffar]] (r. 861–879 CE), conquerer of the Zunbils, in [[Dezful]], Iran.]]
{{quote|One of the most important aspects of early [[Saffarid dynasty|Saffarids]] policy of significance for the [[Islamic conquest of Afghanistan|spread of Islam in Afghanistan]] and on the borders of India long after their empire had collapsed was that of expansion into east Afghanistan. The early [[Arab people|Arab]] governors of [[Sistan]] had at times penetrated as far as [[Ghazni Province|Ghazna]] and [[Kabul]], but these had been little more than slave and plunder raids. There was a fierce resistance from the local rulers of these regions, above all from the line of Zunbils who ruled in [[Zamindawar|Zamindavar]] and [[Zabulistan]] and who were probably epigoni of the southern [[Hepthalite]] or Chionite kingdom of Zabul; on more than one occasion, these Zunbils inflicted sharp defeats on the [[Muslim]]s. The Zunbils were linked with the [[Turk Shahi|Turk-Shahs]] of the Turk Shahi dynasty; the whole river valley was at this time culturally and religiously an outpost of the [[Indian subcontinent|Indian world]], as of course it had been in the earlier centuries during the heyday of the [[Buddhist]] [[Gandhara]] civilization.<ref>''The Tahirids and Saffarids'', C.E.Bosworth,'''The Cambridge History of Iran:From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs''', Vol. IV, Ed. Richard Nelson Frye, William Bayne Fisher and John Andrew Boyle, (Cambridge University Press, 1975), 111. {{ISBN|0-521-20093-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-20093-6}}</ref>}}
 
The Zunbils were finally defeated in 870 CE by Muslim conquerors. [[Yaqub bin Laith al-Saffar]] (r. 861–879 CE), founder of the [[Saffarid dynasty]], vanquished the Zunbils and conquered the entire territory from his base in [[Sistan]].<ref name="PG15"/>
 
== Religion ==
[[File:Tapa Sardar Buddhist monastery.jpg|thumb|The last phase of the [[Tapa Sardar]] Buddhist monastery in [[Ghazni]], dates to the time of the Zunbils.<ref>For panorama images of the site see: {{cite web |title=The Buddhist site of Tapa Sardar |url=https://ghazni.bradypus.net/buddhist_sites |website=ghazni.bradypus.net |publisher=Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan}}</ref>]]
[[File:Head of Buddha from Tapa Sardar, Afghanistan (3rd to 5th century AD). As shown in the exhibition 'Afghanistan - Rescued Treasures of Buddhism' at Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, Prague.jpg|thumb|Head of Buddha from [[Tapa Sardar]], Afghanistan (3rd to 5th century CE).]]
In his travel diaries, the Chinese monk [[Xuanzang]] reported in the early 700s that there were numerous Buddhist stupas in the area of Zabul, which may been built by [[Ashoka]] in the 3rd century BCE. He also reported hundreds of Buddhist monasteries, and dozens of Hindu temples.<ref name="PG15"/> In addition the temple of the Hindu god Zun was in the region, drawing many pilgrims.<ref name="PG15"/>
 
The Zunbils worshiped the Zhuna, possibly a [[Solar deity|sun god]] connected to the Hindu god [[Surya]] and is sometimes referred to as Zoor or Zoon.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wink |first=André |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2m7_R5P2oAC&pg=PA118 |title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7Th-11th Centuries |date=2002 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-0-391-04173-8 |page=118 |language=en}}</ref> He is represented with flames radiating from his head on coins. Statues were adorned with gold and used rubies for eyes. [[Xuanzang|Huen Tsang]] calls him "sunagir".<ref name="Habibi" /> It has been linked with the [[Hindu god]] [[Surya|Aditya]] at [[Multan]], [[Bon|pre-Buddhist religious]] and [[Imperial cult|kingship practices]] of [[Tibet]] as well as [[Shaivism]].<ref name=CE>{{cite book|title=The Medieval History of Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia|pages= 344|publisher=Variorum Reprints|year=1977|author=[[Clifford Edmund Bosworth]]}}</ref> Some scholars have considered the cult to be neither Buddhist nor Zoroastrian, but primarily Hindu.<ref name="Afridi">{{Cite journal |last=Afridi |first=Gulman sher |title=Etymology of Zhunbil and Identity of the Rulers of Kabul and Zabul in Seventh -Ninth Centuries C.E |url=https://www.academia.edu/38605352 |journal=Journal of Asian Civilisation |language=en}}</ref>
Scholars point out the connections between the Iranian god Zhun/Zun and the Hindu god [[Shiva]], suggesting a syncretic mixture of the Iranian and Indian gods in the Indo-Iranian borderlands of ancient Bactria.<ref name="Afridi"/>
 
 
His shrine lay on a sacred mountain in [[Zamindawar]]. Originally it appears to have been brought there by Hepthalites, displacing an earlier god on the same site. Parallels have been noted with the pre-Buddhist monarchy of [[Tibet]], next to [[Zoroastrian]] influence on its ritual. Whatever its origins, it was certainly superimposed on a mountain and on a pre-existing mountain god while merging with Shaiva doctrines of worship.<ref name=Wink118>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC&pg=PA118|title=Al- Hind: The slave kings and the Islamic conquest - Volume I|year=1991|publisher=Brill|pages=118, 119|isbn=9004095098}}</ref>
 
Other scholars however have connected Zun with the Sassanid Zoroastrian deity [[Zurvanism|Zurvān]], the deity of time.
{{Quote
|text=''"Regarding origin of Žuna, Xuanzang had only mentioned that it was initially brought to Kapisa, later Begram from “far” and later moved to Zabul. There is no consensus as to who brought it and when. By identifying Žun with Sassanian Zurvān, the cult of Žun or*Zruvān can be viewed in a much wider context of Iranian history and religious developments. Žun, Like Zurvān, most likely represented the "god of time", a heresy in Zoroastrianism, which originated in response to the religious reforms introduced during second half of Achaemenid Empire. The cosmopolitan nature of the god is consistent with the variety of religions practiced in the region prior to the [[Islamization]] of Afghanistan."''<ref name="Afridi"/>}}.
According to Gulman S, its Afghan followers were, most probably, initially Zoroastrians. Mention of Žun and its devotees disappeared with the end of Žunbil dynasty of Zabulistan in 870. Its followers, according to Ibn Athir, accepted Islam"''<ref name="Afridi"/>
 
 
According to N. Sims-Williams:<ref name="sino-platonic.org"/>
 
{{Quote
|text="It is not unlikely that Zhun derives from the Iranian Zurwan."
}}
}}
Ulf Jäger states: We should interpret “Zhun” as the name of the ancient Iranian deity of time, “Zurwan.”<ref>http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp290_horse_rider_statuette.pdf</ref>
M. Shenkar in his study comes to the conclusion that Zhun was possibly connected to the deity of the river Oxus, the modern river Amudarya. Furthermore he holds it most likely that Zhun was the greatest deity worshiped in Zabulistan.<ref name="sino-platonic.org"/>
F. Grenet believes that Zhun might have been connected with the Iranian solar deity Mithra<ref name="sino-platonic.org"/>
== See also ==
* [[Islamic conquest of Afghanistan]]
* [[Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan]]
* [[Religion in Afghanistan]]
== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/658410/Zunbil Zunbil] in [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]
{{Authority control}}
== Notes ==
:1.{{note|a}}''"Xuanzang's story is simple , but suggests a historical background:there happened a conflict between the two religious groups, the Surya group and the Zhuna group"''.
[[Category:Dynasties of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Medieval Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Hephthalites]]

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