Zunbil, also written as Zhunbil, or Rutbils of Zabulistan, was a royal dynasty south of the Hindu Kush in present southern Afghanistan region. They ruled from circa 680 - 870AD. The Zunbils worshiped a deity called Zhūn (or Zūn), from whom they derived their name. He is represented with flames radiating from his head on coins. Statues were adorned with gold and used rubies for eyes. Huen Tsang calls him --Sunagir. The origin and nature of Zhun is disputed. M. Shenkar in his study comes to the conclusion that Zhun was possibly connected to the deity of the river Oxus, the modern river Amudarya. Furthermore, he holds it most likely that Zhun was the greatest deity worshiped in Zabulistan. F. Grenet believes that Zhun might have been connected with the Iranian solar deity Mithra. Zhun has been linked with the Hindu god Aditya at Multan, pre-Buddhist religious and kingship practices of Tibet as well as Shaivism. Some scholars have considered the cult to be neither Buddhist nor Zoroastrian, but primarily Hindu. Scholars point out the connections between the Iranian god Zhun/Zun and the Hindu god Shiva, suggesting a syncretic mixture of the Iranian and Indian gods in the Indo-Iranian borderlands of ancient Bactria.
His shrine lay on a sacred mountain in Zamindawar. Originally he appears to have been brought there by Hepthalites, displacing an earlier god on the same site. Parallels have been noted with the pre-Buddhist monarchy of Tibet, next to Zoroastrian influence on its ritual. Whatever his origins, he was certainly superimposed on a mountain and on a pre-existing mountain god while merging with Shaiva doctrines of worship. 🔥❤️🙏 (Credit: Zunbils, Wikipedia) [(Image 1: A coin of the Rutbils, minted in Zabulistan circa 720 AD, closely imitating the coinage of Sasanian ruler Khosrau II. Anahita in flames on the reverse.) (Type of the coins excavated in Tang-i Safedak (Göbl, Hunnen Em. 243), next to the inscription of Alkhis. Bactrian script legend Sero]
Hellenism
