Tokhara Yabghus
dynasty of Turk sub-kings
The Tokhara Yabghus or Yabghus of Tokharistan (simplified Chinese: 吐火罗叶护; traditional Chinese: 吐火羅葉護; pinyin: Tǔhuǒluó Yèhù) were a dynasty of Western Turk rulers with the title "Yabghu"; who ruled from 625 CE in the area of Tokharistan north and south of the Oxus River, with some smaller remnants surviving in the area of Badakhshan until 758 CE. Their legacy extended to the southeast where it came into contact with the Turk Shahis and the Zunbils until the 9th century CE.
Territorial expansion
The Turks initially occupied the area of north of the Oxus (Transoxonia, Sogdiana) following their destruction of the Hephthalites in 557–565 CE through an alliance with the Sasanian Empire. The Sasanians, on the other hand, took control of the area south of the Oxus, with Chaganiyan, Sind, Bust, Rukhkhaj, Zabulistan, Tokharistan, Turistan and Balistan being transformed into vassal kingdoms and principalities. After this time, a tense Turco-Persian border existed along the Oxus, which lasted several decades. The area south of the Oxus contained numerous Hephthalites principalities, remnants of the great Hephthalite Empire destroyed by the alliance of the Turks and the Sasanians.
First offensive into Tokharistan (569–570 CE)
In 569–570, the Turks launched an offensive against the Sasanian Empire, and conquered the Hephthalite principalities south of the Oxus belonging to the Sasanian Empire. At that time the Sasanian Empire was embroiled in a war in the west, with the Byzantine Empire. It seems the Turks reached the Kabul–Gandhara area in 570. The principalities of the Hephthalites, formerly vassals of the Sasanian Empire, accepted Turk supremacy and became vassals of the Western Turk qaghan, and the Alchon Huns continued to rule in Kabul and Gandhara, but the Turks apparently did not permanently occupy the territory south of the Oxus. The Hephthalites aspired to independence from the Turks, and in 581 or 582 CE, they revolted in alliance with the Sasanians against the Turk Kaghan Tardu.
Second offensive into Tokharistan (588–589 CE)
In 588–589, the Turks under Bagha Qaghan entered into a direct conflict with the Sasanians, in the First Perso-Turkic War.
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