Editing Sogdia (section)

=== Hephthalite conquest of Sogdiana (479–557 AD) ===
[[File:Sogdiana. Samarkand (Pre-Ikhshid), Hephthalite tamgha S2 on the reverse.jpg|thumb|Local coinage of [[Samarkand]], Sogdia, with the [[Hepthalite]] [[tamgha]] [[File:Hephthalite_tamgha.jpg|15px]] on the reverse.{{sfn|Alram|2008|loc=coin type 46}}]]
The [[Hephthalites]] conquered the territory of Sogdiana, and incorporated it into their Empire, around 479 AD, as this is the date of the last known independent embassy of the Sogdians to China.<ref name="CP" />{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}}

The Hephthalites may have built major fortified [[Hippodamian]] cities (rectangular walls with an orthogonal network of streets) in Sogdiana, such as [[Bukhara]] and [[Panjikent]], as they had also in [[Herat]], continuing the city-building efforts of the [[Kidarites]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}} The Hephthalites probably ruled over a confederation of local rulers or governors, linked through alliance agreements. One of these vassals may have been Asbar, ruler of [[Vardanzi]], who also minted his own coinage during the period.{{sfn|Adylov|Mirzaahmedov|2006|pp=34–36}}

[[File:Varahsha, Relief of a hunter, 5th-7th century CE.jpg|thumb|left|Relief of a hunter, [[Varakhsha|Varahsha]], Sogdia, 5th–7th century CE.]]
The wealth of the Sasanian ransoms and tributes to the Hephthalites may have been reinvested in Sogdia, possibly explaining the prosperity of the region from that time.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}} Sogdia, at the center of a new [[Silk Road]] between China to the Sasanian Empire and the [[Byzantine Empire]] became extremely prosperous under its nomadic elites.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2012|pp=144–160|ps=. "Sogdiana under its nomadic elites became the principal center of agricultural wealth and population in Central Asia." and paragraph on "The Shift of the Trade Routes"}} The Hephthalites took on the role of major intermediary on the [[Silk Road]], after their great predecessor the [[Kushans]], and contracted local [[Sogdians]] to carry on the trade of silk and other luxury goods between the Chinese Empire and the Sasanian Empire.<ref name="JAM28">{{cite book |last1=Millward |first1=James A. |title=The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press US |isbn=978-0-19-978286-4 |page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0uMBi67IngC&pg=PA28}}</ref>

Because of the Hephthalite occupation of Sogdia, the original coinage of Sogdia came to be flooded by the influx of Sasanian coins received as a tribute to the Hephthalites. This coinage then spread along the [[Silk Road]].<ref name="CP">{{cite journal |last1=Pei 裴 |first1=Chengguo 成国 |title=The Silk Road and the economy of Gaochang: evidence on the Circulation of silver coins |journal=Silk Road |date=2017 |volume=15 |page=57, note 5 |url=https://religiondocbox.com/74666854-Islam/Volume-contents.html}}</ref> The symbol of the Hephthalites appears on the residual coinage of [[Samarkand]], probably as a consequence of the Hephthalite control of Sogdia, and becomes prominent in Sogdian coinage from 500 to 700 AD, including in the coinage of their indigenous successors the [[Ikhshid]]s (642–755 AD), ending with the [[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA138 138]}}<ref name="MF">{{cite journal |last1=Fedorov |first1=Michael |title=ON THE PORTRAITS OF THE SOGDIAN KINGS (IKHSHĪDS) OF SAMARQAND |journal=Iran |date=2007 |volume=45 |page=155 |doi=10.1080/05786967.2007.11864723 |jstor=25651416 |s2cid=194538468 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25651416 |issn=0578-6967}}</ref>