Hephthalite, member of a people important in the history of India and Persia during the 5th and 6th centuries ce. According to Chinese chronicles, they were originally a tribe living to the north of the Great Wall and were known as Hoa or Hoadun. Elsewhere they were called White Huns or Hunas. They had no cities or system of writing, lived in felt tents, and practiced polyandry. In the 5th and 6th centuries the Hephthalites repeatedly invaded Persia and India. In the mid-6th century, under the attacks of the Turks, they ceased to exist as a separate people and were probably absorbed into the surrounding population. Nothing is known of their language.