The
Hephthalites,
Ephthalites,
Ye-tai,
White Huns, or, in
Sanskrit, the
Sveta Huna, were a confederation of
nomadic and settled people in
Central Asia who expanded their domain westward in the 5th century. At the height of its power in the first half of the 6th century, the Hephthalite Empire controlled territory in present-day
Afghanistan,
Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan,
Pakistan,
India and
China.