Barha Tegin appears in history following the capture of Kabul by the Arabs under Abdur Rahman bin Samara circa 665 CE.

[7] Some authors attribute the rise of Barha Tegin precisely to the weakening of the last Nezak Hun ruler Ghar-ilchi, after the successful Arab invasion under Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura.

[7] According to the 726 CE account of the Korean monk Hyecho who visited the region, Barha Tegin was a former ally of the ruler of Kabul, who then usurped the throne:[9] From Kashmir I travelled further northwest.

[13] Al-Biruni, writing his Tārīkh al-Hind ("History of India") in the 11th century, attributes the story of Barha Tegin's rise to a stratagem:[17] The Hindus had kings residing in Kabul, Turks who were said to be of Tibetan origin.

Now people honoured him as a being of miraculous origin, who had been destined to be king, and in fact he brought those countries under his sway and ruled them under the title of a Shahiya of Kabul.

[7] Some completely new types of copper coins soon appear, with a ruler in Central Asian caftan on the front, and an animal such as an elephant or a bull on the back, in place of the traditional Sasanian fire altar, together with the Turk Shahis tamgha.

[7] According to Kuwayama,[19] the coinage of Barha Tegin corresponds to the early silver coins marked "Shri Shahi" (σριο ϸανιο Srio Shaho, "Lord King"),[a] and to the copper coinage depicting a Turkic ruler with three-crescent crown and wolf-head with the Brahmi script legend "Sri Ranasrikari" ( Sri Ranasrikari, "The Lord who brings excellence through war").