The Hephthalite (White Hun) art at Bamiyan 6th-8th C. CE

December 24, 2023

The Hephthalite (White Hun) art at Bamiyan 6th-8th C. CE

"Three things shine before the world and cannot be hidden. They are the moon, the sun, and the truth..." (The Essence of Buddhism, 1907)

The Buddhas of Bamiyan date to the period of Hephthalite (White Hun) rule in the region. Around the Buddhas were murals of the Hunnic rulers and donors who commissioned the works of art. Carved into the mountains were chambers with additional artworks, mostly Buddhist-themed but there are also some Iranian/Zoroastrian elements. The murals of the Huns and the two giant Buddha statues were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. The Hunnic murals were probably the oldest oil paintings in the world according to the Archaeological Institute of America:

"In 2008, their research revealed that paint samples from 12 of the caves contained "drying oils," most likely walnut and poppy-seed oils, which are key ingredients in oil-based paints. In the ancient Mediterranean world, drying oils were used in medicines, cosmetics, and perfumes. Scholars long believed they were first added to paints much later in medieval Europe. "There was no clear material evidence of drying oils being used in paintings before the 12th century A.D. anywhere in the world, until now," says Yoko Taniguchi, a Japanese conservation scientist on the team. The murals at Bamiyan, which lay on the Silk Road where goods and ideas flowed between East and West, date to the mid-seventh century A.D. "This is one of the most important art-historical and archaeological discoveries ever made," she says." (Archaeology Magazine)

Chinese historians noted that the Huns had more literary records than the Sogdians, yet none have survived. Some would have been destroyed by the Turk and Persian invasions, but the primary culprits were probably the Arab Muslims and other later Muslims (such as later Turks):

"In the seventh century, after the destruction of the Hephthalite state, Tokharistan was visited by a Chinese pilgrim, Hsüan-tsang, who wrote of the Hephthalite population: [Their] language and letters differ somewhat from those of other countries. The number of radical letters is twenty-five; by combining these they express all objects around them. Their writing is across the page, and they read left to right. Their literary records have increased gradually, and exceed those of [the people of] Su-le or Sogdiana." (UNESCO: History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. III).

"Hsüan-tsang has left a detailed description of the Buddhist centres and monastic life in the period of the Huns, waxing lyrical when he visits Bamiyan. From a cultural point of view, his most valuable observation is the following: These people are remarkable, among all their neighbours, for a love of religion (a heart of pure faith); from the highest form of worship to the three jewels, down to the worship of the hundred (i.e. different) spirits, there is not the least absence (decrease) of earnestness and the utmost devotion of heart. The merchants, in arranging their prices as they come and go, fall in with the signs afforded by the spirits. If good, they act accordingly; if evil, they seek to propitiate the powers. There are ten convents and about 1000 priests. They belong to the Little Vehicle, and the school of the Lokottaravadins" (UNESCO: History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. III).

"Information about the religion of the Hephthalites is provided by the Chinese sources. Sung Yün reports that in Tokharistan ‘the majority of them do not believe in Buddhism. Most of them worship wai-shên or “foreign Gods”.’ He makes almost identical remarks about the Hephthalites of Gandhara, saying that they honour kui-shên (demons). The manuscripts of the Liang shu (Book 54) contain important evidence: ‘[the Hephthalites] worship T’ienshên or [the] heaven God and Huo-shên or [the] fire God. Every morning they first go outside [of their tents] and pray to [the] Gods and then take breakfast.’ For the Chinese observer, the heaven God and the fire God were evidently foreign Gods. We have no evidence of the specific content of these religious beliefs but it is quite possible that they belonged to the Iranian (or Indo-Iranian) group." (UNESCO: History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. III).

The Muslims had done battle with these inanimate objects for over a thousand years, even after the advent of cannons they couldn't be brought down. The Turko-Mongol ruler, Babur, attempted to destroy them in the 16th century and failed. As did the Turko-Mongol ruler Aurangzeb, in the 17th century, who only managed to damage the legs of the Buddha. The Oghuz Turk, Nader Afshar, tried to destroy them using cannons in the 18th century but failed. Afghan king Abdur Rahman Khan destroyed part of one of the faces in the 19th century. Finally the Taliban, misusing explosives technology invented by the West and China, destroyed them in 2001.

And now thanks to Western technology these idols will live on forever in digital form. The Japanese have already begun physical reconstruction of the artworks. Because the Taliban isn't trustworthy, the restored artworks will be kept in Japan.

Hunnic king/queen or nobles, partial restoration.

Hunnic king/queen or nobles.

Hunnic queen or noble.

Bamiyan 38 meter Buddha ceiling, Hunnic royalty and Buddhas around the Sun God.

Hunnic king or noble.

Hunnic king or noble, partial restoration.

Fresco fragment. Hunnic noblewoman?

Hunnic royalty and Buddhist figures.

Note the frescoes on the walls.

The man with the yellowish skin tone is probably a Turk, as this particular painting dates from the period where the Turks displaced the Hun's leadership at Bamiyan. His East Asian facial features, double-collared kaftan, and skin tone are very different from the typical Hunnic appearance.