Principality of Chaghaniyan
SASANIAN EMPIRE/ ABBASID CALIPHATE WESTERN TURKS CHALUKYAS EMPIRE OF HARSHA TANG DYNASTY BYZANTINE EMPIRE AKSUM class=notpageimage| Location of the Principality of Chaghaniyan
Samarkand Chaganian Herat Shuburgan Merv Balkh GANDHARA Udabhanda INDIA Khusp Bamiyan Badakhshan Qobadian Ghazni Kabul Kandahar Guzgan Yeda Humi class=notpageimage| Principality of Chaghaniyan and neighbouring cities
Religion	Buddhism,Zoroastrianism
Government	Monarchy
Historical era	5th-10th century CE
Preceded by Kidarites Alchon Huns

ThePrincipality of Chaghaniyan, known inArabic sources asal-Saghaniyan, was a part of theHephthalite Confederation from the 5th to the 7th century CE.^[3] After this, it was ruled by a local, presumablyIranian dynasty, which governed theChaghaniyan region from the late 7th-century to the early 8th-century CE.^[4] These rulers were known by their titles of “Chaghan Khudah” (Middle Iranian;Čagīnīgān Xvaday, meaning “the lord of Chaghaniyan”).^[a][4]

- Faghanish (570s), Founder.

-Turantash (650s), Sent ambassador toVarkhuman.

- Tikh (710s), Collabarated withTughshada.

TheHephthalite Empire fragmented around 560 CE under the assault of theWestern Turks and theSasanian Empire. After this time, the area around the Oxus inBactria contained numerous Hephthalites principalities, remnants of the great Hephthalite Empire.^[5] They are reported in theZarafshan valley, Chaghaniyan,Khuttal,Termez,Balkh,Badghis,Herat andKabul.^[6] In Chaghaniyan, the local ruler was named Faganish, and he started a dynasty.^[7]

Circa 648-651 CE, the ruler of Chaghaniyan known as Turantash, sent an embassy under his chancellor Pukarzate toVarkhuman, theSogdian king ofSamarkand.^[8] The visit is mentioned in themurals of Afrasiyab, written in Sogdian:

When KingVarkhuman Unash came to him [the ambassador] opened his mouth [and said thus]: "I am Pukarzate, the dapirpat (chancellor) ofChaganian. 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) ofChach opened his mouth.

The King of Chaganian named Turantash may have a been a "Hunnic" Hephthalite ruler,^[10] or one of the local Chaghan Khudah, who seem to have coexisted with the Hephthalites.^[11]

• 
  Hephthalite coin of the Principality ofChaghaniyan, with crowned King and Queen, inByzantine fashion, circa 550-650 CE.^[12] Legend inSogdian.
• 
  Afrasiab Sogdian inscription mentioning the embassy of Turantash

During the late 7th-century CE, Chaghaniyan became independent fromHephthalite rule, and came under the control of presumablyIranian local rulers known as the “Chaghan Khudah”.^[3][4] During theMuslim conquest of Persia, the Chaghan Khudah aided theSasanians, during their struggle against theRashidun Arabs. However, the Arabs, after having dealt with the Sasanian Empire, began focusing on the local rulers ofKhorasan, which included the Chaghan Khudah and many other local rulers. In 652, the Chaghan Khudah, along with the rulers ofTalaqan,Guzgan, andFaryab, aided the ruler of southernTokharistan against the Arabs. Nevertheless the Arabs managed to emerge victorious during the battle. However, the Rashidun Caliphate soon fell into civil war, and was conquered by another Arab family, who founded theUmayyad Caliphate.

In 705, the Arab generalQutayba ibn Muslim managed to make the Chaghan Khudah, whose name is mentioned asTish, acknowledge Umayyad authority. The real reason for Tish's submission, however, was to gain aid in defeating the local rulers of Akharun and Shuman in northern Tokharistan, who had been making incursions against him.^[3][13] Qutayba shortly defeated the two rulers, and forced them to acknowledge Umayyad authority.

However, in 718, Tish, along withGurak, the king ofSamarkand, Narayana, the king of Kumadh, and Tughshada, theBukhar Khudah ofBukhara, sent an embassy to theTang dynasty ofChina, where they asked for aid against the Arabs.^[14] Nevertheless, the principality of Chaghaniyan still aided the Arabs against theTurgesh, and were present at the side of the Arabs during theBattle of the Baggage, where they were defeated and the Chaghan Khudah was killed. After the battle, most of Khorasan except Chaghaniyan remained under Arab control. UnderNasr ibn Sayyar, Chaghaniyan was once again a vassal of the Umayyad Caliphate. After this, the Chaghan Khudahs begin to fade from the sources. In the late 8th-century Chaghaniyan fell under the direct control of theAbbasid Caliphate, which had succeeded the Umayyad Caliphate in 750. TheMuhtajids, an Iranian dynasty which in the 10th-century gained control over Chaghaniyan, may have been descended from the Chaghan Khudahs.^[4]

^ a: Also spelled Chaghan Khuda, Chaghan Khoda, and Saghan Khuda,

• Principality of Khuttal
• Principality of Farghana
• Principality of Ushrusana

• Bosworth, C. E. (1986)."Ḳutayba b. Muslim". InBosworth, C. E.;van Donzel, E.;Lewis, B. &Pellat, Ch. (eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume V: Khe–Mahi. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 541–542.ISBN 978-90-04-07819-2.
• Gibb, H. A. R. (1923).The Arab Conquests in Central Asia. London:The Royal Asiatic Society.OCLC 499987512.
• Shaban, M. A. (1979).The 'Abbāsid Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-29534-3.
• Blankinship, Khalid Yahya, ed. (1989).The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXV: The End of Expansion: The Caliphate of Hishām, A.D. 724–738/A.H. 105–120. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-88706-569-9.
• Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1994).The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishām ibn ʻAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-7914-1827-7.
• B. A. Litvinsky, Ahmad Hasan Dani (1996).History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750. UNESCO. pp. 1–569.ISBN 9789231032110.
• Wellhausen, Julius (1927).The Arab Kingdom and Its Fall. University of Calcutta.
• Bosworth, C. Edmund (1990). "ČAḠĀNĪĀN".Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 6. London et al.: C. Edmund Bosworth. pp. 614–615.
• Bosworth, C. Edmund (1984). "ĀL-E MOḤTĀJ".Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 7. London et al.: C. Edmund Bosworth. pp. 764–766.
• Hansen, Valerie (2012).The Silk Road. Oxford University Press. pp. 1–304.ISBN 9780195159318.Diwashini.

• States and territories disestablished in the 8th century
• Former monarchies of Central Asia
• Zoroastrian dynasties
• 7th century in Iran
• 8th century in Iran
• 8th century in the Abbasid Caliphate
• Monarchs of Chaghaniyan