Unknown ruler from Chach, in Hephthalite (White Hun) fashion 625-725 CE
"There exist early mediaeval coins from Chach with the so-called X-shaped tamgha. Actually, this is two letters C turned back to back and linked in the middle by two short parallel lines.
In the second half of the fourth century AD in the Bukhara oasis, mintage of coins of the "ruler in tiara" type stopped abruptly and coins of a quite new type appeared: small silver coins with a bust of a diademed king (facing right) and a squat altar of fire with a circular Sogdian legend.
These changes show that a new dynasty had come to power in the Bukhara oasis. In the second third of the fourth century, there was a massive invasion of Transoxiana by nomad tribes from the east. Chronicles called them Chionites or Chons. In 346/347, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, the Sasanid Shapur II (309-379) advanced with his army to the eastern frontier of his state threatened by "Chionites and Eusenos". Later he concluded a peace treaty with the Chionites. In 359 the Chionites were allies of Shapur II and fought the Romans in Syria. In the north-east, the Sasanid empire bordered on the Bukhara oasis, the Amu Darya or Oxus river constituting a natural frontier. These facts show that in the middle of the fourth century AD, the Bukhara oasis was invaded by Chionites who abolished the native dynasty, who were minting "ruler in tiara" type coins, and created the state which minted a quite new type of coins.
In the light of the aforesaid, there can be no doubt that the Chach coins with an X-shaped tamgha were minted by Chionites or, rather, by a new dynasty of Chach rulers stemming from the aristocracy of the Chionite tribe using an X-shaped tamgha. Having invaded and conquered Chach in the middle of the fourth century, a group of Chionite nomads settled there..."
-Michael Fedorov, Chionite Rulers of Chach in the Middle of the Fourth to the Beginning of the Seventh Century (According to the Data of Numismatics)
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| Unknown ruler from Chach, in Hephthalite (White Hun) fashion 625-725 CE. Double-C aka X-shaped tamga right surrounded by Sogdian script. Similar hairstyle with other Hephthalite art. I took the date from cng coins, but I would imagine this coin could be dated earlier too. |
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