Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c18.s4.13

c18.s4.13

valley and parts of the Indian borderland. One of them gave his daughter in marriage to Hormisdas (or Hormuzd) II, the Sassanian King of Persia (A.D. 301-09). As already stated Varhrān II (A.D. 276-93) and his successors up to the time of Shāpūr II seem to have exercised suzerainty over their Scythic neighbours. "When Shāpūr II besieged Amida in A.D. 350, Indian elephants served under his command."¹ Shortly afterwards the Sassanian supremacy was replaced by that of the Guptas, and the "*Daivaputra Shāhi Shāhānushāhi*," *i.e.*, the Kushān monarch or monarchs of the North-West sent valuable presents to Samudra Gupta.² In the fifth century³ the Kidāra Kushāns established their rule over Gandhāra and Kaśmīra.⁴ In the sixth century the Kushāns had to fight hard against the Huns and in the following centuries, against the Muslims. In the ninth century A.D. a powerful Muslim dynasty, that of the Saffārids, was established in Sīstān (Seistan) and the sway of the family soon extended to Ghazni, Zābulistān, Herat, Balkh and Bamiyan.⁵ The later kings of the race of Kanishka seem to have had one residence in Gandhāra at the city of Uṇḍ, Ohind, Waihand or Udabhāṇḍa, on the Indus. Another capital was situated in the Kābul valley. The family was finally extinguished by the Brāhmaṇa Kallār or Lalliya who founded the Hindu Shāhiyya dynasty towards the close of the ninth century A.D. A part of the kingdom of Kābul fell into the hands of Alptigin in the tenth century.⁶