Bo Fuzhun Explained

Bo Fuzhun
Majestic Sovereign
Succession:	Turk Shahi King
Reign:	745-? CE
Predecessor:	Fromo Kesaro
Successor:	Possibly Khingal
Father:	Fromo Kesaro

Bo Fuzhun, also Bofuzhun (Chinese language: 勃匐準 Bo-fu-zhun, ruled from 745 CE per Chinese sources) was a ruler of the Turk Shahis. He is only known in name from Chinese imperial accounts and possibly numismatic sources. The identification of his coinage remains conjectural.

Chinese accounts

Bo Fuzhun appears in the Chinese annals of the Old Book of Tang, which record many dynastic events and ethnological information about the polities of Central and Southern Asia in the 6th-8th century, which were nominally under Chinese suzerainty and part of the Protectorate General to Pacify the West. According to the Old Book of Tang, in 745 CE, Fromo Kesaro, king of the Turk Shahis, sent a request to the Chinese court in order to abdicate in favour of his son Bo Fuzun (勃匐準). These events are again recorded in the Chinese annals Jiu Tangshu and Tang Huiyao.^[1]

Coinage

According to Kuwayama the coinage of Bo Fuzhun corresponds to the late Turk Shahi coinage marked "Śrī Vāsudeva", and designed in the style of the coinage of the Sasanian Emperor Khosrow II. These coins follow the design of the coin of Khosrow II (ruled 590-628) issued in his regnal years 26,27,36 and 37. "Vāsudeva" would be a regnal name that he adopted as he obtained the throne of Uddiyana (烏萇國).

Relation with Khingal

There is a possibility that the Khingal of the Arabs, a ruler of the Turk Shahis, is identical with the Bo Fuzhun.^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

Sources

• Web site: 1 November 2020 . The Countenance of the other: The Coins of the Huns and Western Turks in Central Asia and India . Kunsthistorisches Museum . https://web.archive.org/web/20201125192927/http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/?language=en. 2020-11-25.
  • The Countenance of the other: The Coins of the Huns and Western Turks in Central Asia and India . Kunsthistorisches Museum.
• Alram. Michael. 2014 . From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush . The Numismatic Chronicle . 174 . 261–291. 44710198 .
• Encyclopedia: Nēzak . Grenet. Frantz . Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition . 2002 .
• The Turki Śāhis and Relevant Brahmanical Sculptures in Afghanistan. Kuwayama. Shōshin (桑山正進). East and West. 3/4. 1976s. 26. 375–407 . en. 0012-8376. 29756318.
• 6-8 世紀 Kapisi-Kabul-Zabul の貨幣と發行者. Kuwayama. Shōshin (桑山正進). 東方學報. 1993s. 65. 371-430. ja.
• Book: Martin, Dan . Greek and Islamic Medicines' Historical Contact with Tibet . 2011 . Islam and Tibet: Interactions Along the Musk Routes . Akasoy . Anna . Burnett . Charles . Yoeli-Tlalim . Ronit . Ashgate Publishing . Farnham, Surrey . https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfWXIfbynwYC&pg=PA117 . 117–144 . 978-0-7546-6956-2.
• Payne. Richard. The Making of Turan: The Fall and Transformation of the Iranian East in Late Antiquity . Journal of Late Antiquity . 2016 . 9 . 4–41 . Johns Hopkins University Press. 10.1353/jla.2016.0011. 156673274 .
• Book: Rezakhani, Khodadad . ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity . 2017 . Edinburgh University Press . 1–256 . 9781474400305 .
• Book: Martin, Dan . Greek and Islamic Medicines' Historical Contact with Tibet . 2011 . Islam and Tibet: Interactions Along the Musk Routes . Akasoy . Anna . Burnett . Charles . Yoeli-Tlalim . Ronit . Ashgate Publishing . Farnham, Surrey . https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfWXIfbynwYC&pg=PA117 . 117–144 . 978-0-7546-6956-2.

Notes and References

1. Book: Kuwayama . S. . Across the Hindukush of the First Millennium: a collection of papers . 2002 . INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN HUMANITIES KYOTO UNIVERSITY . 259 .
2. Kuwayama . Shoshin . Historical Notes on Kapisi and Kabul in the Sixth-Eighth Centuries . ZINBUN . 1999 . 34 . 44 .
3. Web site: The Countenance of the other (The Coins of the Huns and Western Turks in Central Asia and India) 2012-2013 exhibit: 15. The Rutbils of Zabulistan and the "Emperor of Rome" . Pro.geo.univie.ac.at . Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna . July 22, 2017 . August 2, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170802204758/http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase15?language=en . dead .
4. Web site: Inaba . Minoru . From Kesar the Kābulšāh and Central Asia . Academia . 446 . en.
5. 天寶四年,又冊其子勃匐準為襲罽賓及烏萇國王,仍授左驍衞將軍。"Kesar's son Bo Fuzhun succeed him on the throne as the king of Jibin and Wuchang. He was conferred the title General of the Left Stalwart Guard" in Book: Balogh . Dániel . Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia: Sources for their Origin and History . 12 March 2020 . Barkhuis . 978-94-93194-01-4 . 104 . en.
6. Book: Rezakhani . Khodadad . ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity . 15 March 2017 . Edinburgh University Press . 978-1-4744-0031-2 . 171 . en.