Item number: A3578

Year: circa AD 484-550

Material: Copper

Size: 14.7 x 13.7 x 0.5 mm

Weight: 0.75 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a copper coin, possibly struck by the Nezak Huns in the southern Hindu Kush between the late fifth and the first half of the sixth century AD. Its form resembles that of a drachm.

The obverse depicts the right-facing bust of an unidentified leader in the Nezak style, wearing a cap-like crown. The design is blurred, but the headgear appears to feature both wings and buffalo horns, combining the winged-crown motif revived in the Sasanian Empire during the fifth century with steppe Hunnic traditions. To the right of the bust there is an inscription, which may be in Bactrian script (also transcribed as Pahlavi): “𐭭(𐭩)𐭰𐭪𐭩𐭬𐭫𐭪” (n(y)cky MLK), meaning “King of the Nezaks.”

The reverse shows a Sasanian-style fire altar, though its details are indistinct.

The origins of the Huns are debated, with theories proposing Mongolic, Turkic, Iranian, or Tungusic affiliations. The Hephthalites, perhaps of Iranian or Turkic tribal stock, rose to prominence during the Hunnic migrations of the fourth to sixth centuries AD, occupying the former Greco-Bactrian kingdom. The name of the Hephthalites was first recorded by the Northern Wei dynasty in China, while Byzantine sources referred to them as the “White Huns.” South of the Hindu Kush, the Alkhans expanded, also called the “Red Huns.” Alongside the Nezak Huns, who rose locally after the defeat of the Sasanians, they have long been regarded as a branch of the Hephthalite Empire, or at least as having been heavily influenced by it.

In the early sixth century AD, the Alkhans expanded into central India, defeated the Gupta dynasty, and contributed to its eventual collapse, though they were themselves ultimately defeated by the Maukhari kingdom. Around AD 520 they again confronted the Maukharis and the Later Guptas without decisive result, retreating with plunder. By about AD 530 they withdrew to Gandhāra and Kashmir. In the latter half of the sixth century, under Toramana II, they retreated further to Kabul, where they came into contact with the Nezak Huns. Although the details are unclear, some form of coexistence appears to have been established. Thereafter, they repeatedly repelled Sasanian incursions, secured their position locally, and, according to records, sent multiple embassies to the Tang dynasty of China.

The drachm originated in ancient Greece and, through the eastward expansion of Alexander the Great, was transmitted by the successor states of the Hellenistic period to many regions. Initially a silver coin, it was later adapted by Central Asian and Indian polities into copper issues.

物件編號: A3578

年代: 約公元 484-550 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 14.7 x 13.7 x 0.5 mm

重量: 0.75 g

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚可能於公元五世紀末到六世紀前半，由興都庫什山脈南部的納札克匈人政權所鑄的銅幣，形制類似德拉克馬。

錢幣正面為未知領導者的右側半身像，呈納札克風格，頭戴帽冠，圖樣漫漶。但頭冠可能有雙翼及水牛角，結合了薩珊五世紀時再現的翼冠圖樣與匈人傳統。人像右側有字，可能為缽羅婆文(亦譯巴列維文)的「𐭭(𐭩)𐭰𐭪𐭩𐭬𐭫𐭪」(n(y)cky MLK)，即「納札克之王」

錢幣背面為薩珊式的拜火祭壇，細節不明。

匈人的起源中說紛紜，有蒙古、突厥、伊朗、通古斯等說的分歧。而起源可能為伊朗或突厥部落的嚈噠人，也在公元4-6世紀的匈人大遷徙中興起，據有希臘-巴克特里亞王國一帶。嚈噠之名在北魏時首次為中原政權所知，並在拜占廷文獻中被稱為「白匈人」。興都庫什山脈以南開始擴張的艾肯匈人，也被稱為「紅匈人」，與薩珊王朝被擊敗後本地崛起的納札克匈人，長期以來被認為是嚈噠帝國的分支，或至少是受了強烈的影響。艾肯匈人於公元六世紀初往印度中部擴張，擊敗笈多王朝，並最終導致笈多王朝崩潰，但最終被摩臘婆王國擊敗。約公元520年，與摩臘婆和後笈多王朝再戰，無果，沿途劫掠而還。約公元530年，艾肯匈人撤至犍陀羅與喀什米爾地區，約公元六世紀後半，在頭羅曼二世領導下，又撤至喀布爾地區，與在當地立國的納札克匈人接觸，過程不明，但應該是達成某種形式的共存。此後多次擊退薩珊王朝，立足當地，並從紀錄來看，多次遣使唐朝。

德拉克馬源自古希臘，經亞歷山大大帝的向東擴張，由希臘化時代的諸繼業者王國傳播各地。初為銀幣，後於中亞、印度等政權衍生銅幣。