The Alkhan. A Hunnic People in South Asia. (Companion to Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia. Sources for Their Origin and History.) xiv, 128 pp. Groningen: Barkhuis, 2020. ISBN 978 94 93194 00 7 .

Hans T. Bakker: The Alkhan. A Hunnic People in South Asia. (Companion to Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia. Sources for Their Origin and History.) xiv, 128 pp. Groningen: Barkhuis, 2020. ISBN 978 94 93194 00 7.

Hans Bakker's book under review here provides a collection of information from many sources on the study of Alkhans in South Asia. The book is divided into five chapters, and also includes a concise preface, introduction, and a common bibliography and index at the end. It also contains a useful list of maps and many reference figures related to the history of Hunnic peoples in the north-west of the Indian subcontinent.

A brief preface opens the book, in which the author describes its relation to the European Research Council funded project “Beyond Boundaries: Religion, Region, Language and the State” (2014–2020). The project was based at the British Museum and focused on shedding light on many aspects of the history of the Huns and their contemporaries, and the impact they had on India, Iran and Central Asia.

The importance of available source materials for the history of Huns in South Asia is explained in the introduction. In the absence of authentic written evidence, the coins issued by the leaders of those people constitute one of the most reliable primary sources for the history of the Huns in these regions. It must be emphasized that our knowledge of the Huns as Central...