The "White Huns", also known in Iranian as the Spet Xyon and in Indian languages such as Sanskrit as the Sveta-huna, were a sub-group of the Huna and/or Xionites. The White Huns are sometimes regarded as synonymous with the Hephthalites, but may have included other tribes as well. The White Huns were originally said to have been a nomadic Proto-Indo-European people who inhabited the region known today as Central Asia. The Gujjars are said to be descendants of a sub-tribe of the White Hunas also referred to as Hephthalites. It is said that this tribe entered North India via the Khyber Pass and fought many battles with the Gupta Empire but were militarily defeated during the Gupta-Hunnic Wars. The Hephthalites were said to have settled in various areas of North India and also adopted the loc
The "White Huns", also known in Iranian as the Spet Xyon and in Indian languages such as Sanskrit as the Sveta-huna, were a sub-group of the Huna and/or Xionites. The White Huns are sometimes regarded as synonymous with the Hephthalites, but may have included other tribes as well. The White Huns were originally said to have been a nomadic Proto-Indo-European people who inhabited the region known today as Central Asia. The Gujjars are said to be descendants of a sub-tribe of the White Hunas also referred to as Hephthalites. It is said that this tribe entered North India via the Khyber Pass and fought many battles with the Gupta Empire but were militarily defeated during the Gupta-Hunnic Wars. The Hephthalites were said to have settled in various areas of North India and also adopted the local religion of India, Hinduism, and became Hindus. They were accepted by the Brahmins who gave them a Kshatriya status. They then went on to establish dynastys such as the Gurjara-Pratiharas, Turk Shahis and the Hindu Shahi. The Gurjara-Pratiharas played a key role in pushing the invading Arab Muslim Umayyad Caliphate out of the Indian subcontinent and keeping them at bay under the rule of Nagabhata I. The Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty reached its peak under the leadership of Mihira Bhoja who established the dynastys capital at Kannauj in modern-day Uttar Pradesh. The Indian state of Gujarat is said to have gotten its name from the large number of Gujar-Hunnic tribes that were settled in the region from Rajputana to Bharuch. Pashtuns are also said to have been descended from the nomadic Hephthalites from Central Asia who fought battles with the Sasanian Empire and eventually established themselves in Gandhara and modern-day Afghanistan. They heavily promoted the religions of Shaivism and also Buddhism. Mihirakula, the ruler of the Alchon Huns, was known to be a huge devotee of Lord Shiva. He went on to conquer Kashmir and expanded his kingdom all the way to present-day Madhya Pradesh.