HEPHTHALITE, Napki Malka, drachm, c. 475-576 AD


HEPHTHALITE, Kabul/Zabul region, drachm, no date (c. 475-576 AD), Obverse: bust R with winged bull head crown, NAPKI MALKA (Pahlavi), angular S behind head, Reverse: fire altar with attendants whose heads are 4-spoked wheels, billon, 25mm, 4.79g, MA1502, VF

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The Napki Malka coins show a fine style and realistic portraits. It is not known if the phrase refers to an actual person or to a regime. The center of their domain was Gandhara, in western Afghanistan, where is found the modern city of Kandahar. An alternative reading of “Napki” is Nezak. Some of the Napki style coins have the legend SRI SHAHO.

The Hephthalites were the eastern component of the people who, in Europe, were called “Huns.” They are sometimes referred to as “White Huns.” Some of the Hephthalite coins of Afghanistan-Pakistan region have the word “HONO” on them. On the other hand, there is a faction amongst the historians who claim that we really have no idea who any of those people were, let alone if they were related to each other. There seems to be a general feeling that the Huns, or the Hephthalites, or the people the Chinese called Xiong Nu, and other scholars called “Chionites,” were more Iranic than Turkic.
