Afghanistan
The Sasanians and Hephthalites.
The Kushan Empire did not long survive Kaniska,
though for centuries Kushan princes continued to rule
in various provinces. Persian
Sasanians
established control over parts of Afghanistan, including Bagram,
in AD 241. In AD 400 a new wave of Central Asian nomads under
the Hephthalites took control, only to be defeated
in AD 565 by a coalition of Sasanians and Western
Turks. From the 5th through the 7th century many Chinese Buddhist
pilgrims continued to travel through Afghanistan. The pilgrim
Hsüan-tsang (Xüanzang) wrote an important
account of his travels, and several of the religious centres
he visited, including Hadda, Ghazna, Konduz, Bamian,
Shotorak, and Bagram, have been excavated.
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