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The paper investigates the term "Nezak" as recorded in various historical sources, particularly focusing on its interpretations and implications in the context of Iranian Huns and Western Turks. Through analysis of Arabic chronicles and numismatic evidence, it discusses the evolution of the term, its potential connections to other titles and tribes, and the scholarly debates surrounding its correct transcription and meaning. The conclusion highlights the limited but significant references to Nezak and suggests areas for further research, especially within Chinese historical texts.
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The study reveals that Arabic nīzak and Pahlavi nyčky phonetically match, suggesting they transcribe the same sound. However, phonetic difficulties arise when comparing the Chinese words Nasai and Nishu with Nezak due to initial consonant and vowel discrepancies.
Harmatta speculates that Nezak may derive from *näjsuka in the Saka language, meaning 'fighter, warrior.' However, the evidence for this etymology is weak, with alternative connections to Middle Persian nēzag ('spear') also suggested but not firmly established.
Nezak is identified with Nasai based on historical accounts from 719 CE concerning a king of Hebishi. Meanwhile, despite the scholarly engagement with Nishu's connection to Nezak, its identification remains less substantiated due to limited study.
The appellations Nezak and Nishu were used in combination with titles like 'tarkhan' and 'šāh' among Turkic leaders, indicating a shared cultural context. Nishu may serve not only as a proper name but also as an epithet embellishing official titles.
Identifying Nezak's identity as either Hephthalite or Turkish is complicated because evidence primarily relates to the Turkish period, with his specific ethnic background remaining ambiguous. Recent interpretations suggest that while Nezak's title might be Hephthalite, its bearers may have been of indigenous origin.
The Shapur I inscription at Ka'ba-ye Zartošt, located at the historical site of Naqš-e Rostam in Fars is one of the biggest and most important historical documents related to the early Sasanian period. This inscription comes in three languages of Arsacid Pahlavi (Parthian), and Middle Persian (Sasanian Pahlavi), and Greek, carved on the three walls of Ka'ba-ye Zartošt building. Since the excavations of Naqš-e Rostam and the discovery of the inscription, many scholars have conducted research on it and extracted plenty of valuable information about the geographical, political, cultural and military circumstances during the Shapur I regning period. Yet, it seems there are still some new points in this valuable inscription that have been left out of the sight of researchers. In this research, the attempt is made to provide a more precise meaning for the word nibušt in Shapur I inscription at Ka'ba-ye Zartošt, which has been misleading many scholars so far. Here, it is suggested that the word nibušt is a proper noun corresponding to the term Dez Nebešt/Nefešt in Persian, Arabic and Zoroastrian texts, and it is probably the name used in the early Sasanian period for the historical complex of Naqš-e rostam.
Texts and contexts. Ongoing Researches on the Eastern Iranian World (Tenth-Fifteen C.), V. Allegranzi, V. Laviola (eds.), Roma: Istituto per l’Oriente C. A. Nallino, 2020
Der Islam, 2025
This article introduces the 18th-century ʿAjemī/Qizilbāsh Turkish inscription at the Imam ʿAlī shrine to the English-speaking academic world. The poetic inscription was commissioned in 1743 by Nādir Shāh during his invasion of Ottoman Iraq, where he sought to compel the Porte to recognize his Jaʿfarī creed (maẕhab) as a legitimate school of Sunnī jurisprudence, ostensibly in the interests of Islamic unity. It is argued that the inscription formed part of Nādir's discourse on establishing Islamic unity as a world sovereign. The inscription drew from various pre-Islamic sources of legitimacy to articulate Nādir's mandate for universal sovereignty. It then fused this mandate with a distinctly ʿAlīd conception of universal caliphal authority that could appeal to both his Jaʿfarī and Ḥanafī followers. Thus, by analyzing the text of the inscription within the political and socioreligious context in which it was created, new insights are offered on the purpose of the inscription, the role it played in Ottoman-Iranian peace negotiations, and Nādirid political and religious legitimacy. Finally, a complete translation and a transcription are appended herein.
In: Approaches to the History and Dialectology of Arabic in Honor of Pierre Larcher. Edited by Manuel Sartori, Manuela E. B: Giolfo, Philippe Cassuto. Leiden: Brill, 2017. (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics. 88.). 57-76.
The inscription of Nemara has been, since it discovery in 1902, object of scientific research in more than 100 contributions. Part of a cenotaph dedicated to the Arab king Marʾ al-Qays Ibn ʿAmr, dated 328 AD the text of five lines engraved in a tabula ansata on a lintel of basalt is written in late (Classical) Nabataean script but exhibiting transition to early Arabic script. The language, though, is clearly Arabic, even if not identical with later Classical Arabic. The document is a primary source for events in the Arabian peninsula and its adjacent regions in the fourth century AD as well as for the history of the Arabic script and language. Thus its study concentrated mainly on elucidating the precious historical and linguistic details. What has been neglected to a certain extent is the general character of the text and its evident function for the contemporary reader. The article proposes the interpretation as an early and already accomplished masterpiece of Arabian faḫr and mubālaġa of high rhetorical value. From this derive two guidelines for its reading. The actual function requires a fluent and well constructed syntactical texture concentrated without deviations on the deeds and exploits of this "accomplished" Arab king. As for the historical facts they have to be taken under the cautious premisses of being reported in the context of Arabian mubālaġa.
The legends surrounding the eponymous founder of the Oğuz people, Oğuz Kağan, have a long and diverse history of reappropriation and use in legitimising power in the Central Asian world. Key to this is the Tawariq-e Oğuz of Rashīd al-Dīn and the influence it has had on assembling both inclusive and exclusive national origin myths. However, aside from this Oğuz tradition we also possess the tantalising Oğuz-Nāme manuscript from Turfan, the dating and language of which are often disputed. This variant presents the reader with several provoking puzzles in attempting to reassemble the transmission of the figure of Oğuz. Do some of the work's constituents extend back as far as the legends surrounding Modun Chanyu? Is the work a unique and repository of pre-Islamic Türkic myth and ritual? In this paper I will address these questions as I attempt to revive study of this curious variant and revaluate its relevance. 1
The paper presents a thorough study of the Abaza personal names. Traditionally, Abazas, a small autochthonous people living in the Karačaj-Čerkes Republic of the Russian Federation, used a two-name system, consisting, as a rule, of the surname plus the postposed first name. The Abaza personal names are analysed with regard to their origin, structure, semantics, and social status. The onomastic system in general, as well as the tradition of naming among the Abazas are outlined as well.
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In the beginning of the 8th century, when document А-14 was written, as well as during the previous period, the supreme rulers of Chach bore the title tegin. The name and the title tk’yn c’cynk γwβw, i.e. “tegin, Ruler of Chach” on these coins completely correspond to the data of the Chinese sources - Shiguo Wang Tele, i.e. “the ruler of Chach, tegin”. Some representatives of this dynasty had also the title shad. Another ruler of Chach, who is mentioned in document А-14 as tδwn, i.e. tudun, and in the Chinese sources as Shiguo Fuwang, i.e. the assistant to the ruler of Chach, was the minor ruler who submitted to the Supreme ruler who bore the title tegin. In Chach there was presereved a local dynasty of rulers of Turkic origin, which before arrival of the Türks used the Sogdian language and script. Their rulers were referred to as c’cynk γwβw, i.e. “Ruler of Chach”. In the first half of the 7th century, they established kinship ties with the dynasty of the tuduns and accepted their patrimonial sign. From this data it follows that in pre-Islamic Chach there was no diarchy, but rather there was a uniform administration of Turkic rulers, which had become part of the administrative system of the Türk Qaghanate.
Kratylos 59 (2014): 245-49
Kratylos 59 (2014): 249-53
Journal of the American Oriental Society 140.2 (2020): 287-299
The paper deals with the etymology of the personal names Qunï Säŋün and Toŋra Simä appearing in the ninth line of the Old Turkic Tonyukuk inscription (ca. 716). These names are borne by the envoys sent by the kagan of the Tokuz Oghuz to the Chinese and Khitan, respectively, to conclude a military alliance against the Turks. Both names have the same structure, a combination of an ethnonym (qun(ï) vs. toŋra), referring to a tribal unit within the Tiele 鐵勒 confederation, and a title of Chinese origin (säŋün vs. simä). Based on a thorough analysis of historical and philological data, the authors try to establish possible ethnolinguistic grounds for the Tokuz Oghuz mission, which have so far eluded researchers of the inscription and can be fully restored only in the light of the latest discoveries in the history and philology of Inner Asia of the Old Turkic period, e.g., the decipherment of the famous Khüis Tolgoi inscription from Mongolia.
Per Urales ad Orientem. Iter polyphonicum multilingue.
Toponym Hayzān/Khayzān and one related reference to it by Ibn Rustah for the history of Hereti, 2021
In the medieval Arabic geographical or historical literature, references to the Caucasus region are quite common, which is of different nature. The information contained in them is multifaceted and diverse, which is not limited to political history or description of the geographical environment. Distinguished in this respect is the Arabic geographical literature, the authors of which not only wrote works of a geographical content but also sometimes travelled themselves, and they shared their first-hand experience. Nevertheless, the information around the Caucasus region is not extensive compared to the description of the Arab-Islamic world itself, and there are frequent compilations and/or even transcription errors.[1] Often references can be limited to one sentence or even several words. However, by combining the references of different authors and using different sources, it is possible to reconstruct historical facts/events and make appropriate assumptions or conclusions. The name Hayzān/Khayzān in this form is found only in medieval Arabic sources from the 9 th century and is considered as an Arabic toponym [Гейбуллаев, 1986:9]. Given the specifics of the orthography of the Arabic script, we first want to discuss the variants of this toponym that are found with various medieval authors and maybe implied as Hayzān. Without the diacritical marks and vowels, Hayzān looks like this: ﺣﯨﺮان at the same time the name Hayzān/Khayzān can be read in different forms such as Hayrān ,)ﺣﯿﺮان( Khayrān )ﺧﯿﺮان( even Khazarān .)ﺧﺰران( Also, given the similarity of this word with the name Khazar, it is self-evident that the name Hayzān/Khayzān can be associated with the Khazar and the Khazars. Herewith, this opinion is reinforced by another form of naming, which resembles Hayzān/Khayzān and it is Khazarān )ﺧﺰران( and which we can also read as Jurzān ]ﺟﺮزان(]2( and it is this kind of reading that supports O. Tskitishvili while commenting on one specific section of Zakariya Al-Qazwini's reference [ზაქარია, 1975:107-108]. In the Khazar mentioned in Zakariya Al-Qazwini note, O. Tskitishvili considers Jurzān as the Mtkvari river reportedly flows from the Khazarān [ზაქარია, 1975:34]. Here O. Tskitishvili uses the graphic spelling of the word, in which case by changing the diacritical marks we can get both Khazarān and Jurzān. We consider the Khazarān mentioned with Abu al-Fida to have the same meaning: "The second part [of Armenia] includes Khazarān, Tiflis and Bāb al-Lān ... Khazarān is mentioned for the second time there: …Tiflis and that is Khazarān…" And he named Yaqut al-Hamawi as the source of this reference [Abu al-Fida, 1840:387].[3] It is obvious that in those cases Khazarān means Jurzān and again we are dealing with a confusion of diacritical marks.
Journal of Asian civilisation, 2018
This paper deals with the political and religious situation to the south of Hindukush following the occupation of Sistan by Arab Muslims during the caliphate of 'Usman, the third Caliph of Islam. The origin of the popular cult of god Zhun and identity of its followers, being obscure, will be highlighted in the light of Iranian religious history and Pashto phonology of the name Zhun. Similarly, effort will be made to determine the correct form of the long debated title of Zabul rulers in Seventh-Ninth centuries in the light of Iranian priestly traditions and sound system of Pashto language. Moreover, Afghans' presence to the south of Hindukush during the period, though totally overlooked by scholars, will be established. Regarding the identity of the rulers of Kabul and Zabul from seventh to ninth centuries, there is a difference of opinion but the dominant view considers them Turks whose origin is obscure. Among the historical accounts of the period, Tabari's (d.923) account could highlight the identity of these rulers but it is considered confused and, therefore, greatly reconstructed. An effort is made here to reevaluate his account, without the assumptions introduced from time to time. As a result, a new interpretation of Tabari's account is offered, which not only highlights a new origin and identity of the rulers of Kabul and Zabul, but also throws new light on the history of the region in Seventh-Ninth centuries C.E.
Minoru Inaba