Turk Shahis

The Turk Shahis were a Turkic ruling dynasty that governed Kabul and parts of Zabulistan from the seventh to the ninth century, resisting Arab expansion into the region.

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Kabul Shahis: A dynasty that ruled Kabul and neighboring regions from around the seventh to the eleventh century. The Turk Shahis formed the earlier phase of the broader Kabul Shahi political tradition.
Kabul Shahis coinage: The coinage issued by the Kabul Shahi dynasties, including Turk Shahi rulers. Coins reveal the dynasty’s authority, religious imagery, and connections to neighboring powers.
Tegin Shah: A Turk Shahi ruler of Kabul in the eighth century. His reign illustrates the dynasty’s negotiations and conflicts with Arab forces.
Hindu Shahis: A Hindu dynasty that ruled Kabul and parts of northwestern South Asia from the ninth to eleventh century. They succeeded the Turk Shahis in Kabul and continued the region’s Shahi political tradition.
Western Turkic Khaganate: A Turkic empire that controlled much of Central Asia from the sixth to seventh century. Its political fragmentation helped create the conditions for Turkic rule around Kabul.
Arab conquest of Persia: The seventh-century Muslim conquest that ended Sasanian rule across the Iranian plateau. Its eastern advance brought Arab armies into conflict with the Turk Shahis.
Kabul Shahis coinage of the bull and horseman: A coin type depicting a bull on one side and a horseman on the other, associated with later Kabul Shahi rulers. Its changing designs provide material evidence for political and religious shifts after Turk Shahi rule.
Saffarid dynasty: An Iranian dynasty founded by Yaqub ibn al-Layth that ruled from 861 to 1003. Saffarid expansion helped displace the remaining Shahi power in eastern Afghanistan.
Zunbils: A dynasty that ruled Zabulistan and resisted Arab expansion in the seventh and eighth centuries. They were closely related regional rulers south of Turk Shahi territory.
Umayyad Caliphate: The Islamic caliphate ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 661 to 750. Umayyad campaigns pressed toward Kabul and tested Turk Shahi resistance.