Zabul and Kabul were thereafter repeatedly raided by Muslim troops, paying in tribute and slaves, but they invariably managed to repel the Arabs.

Around 683 or 686/87 CE the first Rutbil was killed in battle. His son and successor proved more successful, winning several victories over the Muslim enemies. In 720 CE he and his uncle, the Tegin of Jibin, "Khorasan Tegin Shah" (Wusan tegin sa), were confirmed in their positions of power by the Chinese emperor (showcase 14). The Chinese sources record his name as Shiquer and give his title as xiefila (Iltäbär / Rutbil). In 738 CE the third Rutbil (Rumofuda = Governor of Zabul) was confirmed by the Chinese emperor. At the same time, the throne of Kabul switched hands when "Khorasan Tegin Shah" abdicated and appointed his son Phrom Kesar (Fulin Jipo) as his successor. The last known embassy from Kabul and Zabul to China was in 753 CE. By then, following their defeat against the troops of the Abbasid caliph at the battle on the river Talas (in present-day Kazakhstan) in 751 CE, China had already lost its dominant position in Central Asia, leaving the Buddhist kingdoms of the Hindu Kush without their last protector. The title "Emperor of Rome", which "Khorasan Tegin Shah"'s son used as his personal name is highly unusual and goes far beyond the claim of his father as "King of the East". The name might go back to the tremendous fame and the sheer unconquerable power of the Roman emperors, who for ages had fascinated the people of Central Asia. Ultimately the heroic figure "Gesar of Phrom" found a place in the national epic of the Tibetans (Gesar epic).

Phrom Kesar appears to have been exceedingly successful in the fight against the Arabs. Nevertheless, his son Bo Fuzhun succeeded him already in 745 CE on the throne of Kabul, and according to Chinese chronicles he was also invested as the king of Uddiyana (Swat Valley). He and king Khingala, who had a marble statue of the god Ganesha found in Gardez (East Afghanistan) consecrated (Fig. E), might be the same person.

The coinage of the Rutbils of Zabulistan was again primarily based on Sasanian or Arab-Sasanian models. A special characteristic are the multiple borders on the reverse, which create a wide field between the outermost and first inner ring that is often filled by an inscription. The coinage of the Arab governors served as the direct models for this form, demonstrating that the coins from Zabul could not have been struck before the 680s. The legend on the silver drachms is generally in multiple languages (Nos. 5, 6, 8), while the local copper coinage largely uses Middle Persian (Nos. 2, 4), the predominant vernacular in Zabul. The mints named on the coins are Zabul and Zabulistan (possibly referring to Ghazni) as well as Rakhwad (al-Rukhkhaj, Arachosia). The coins also include a date, but these have not yet been conclusively connected to a specific era. The names of the rulers on the coins (Pangul, Spur, Sandan) also cannot be identified with the rulers known from the Arab and Chinese sources. Only the identification of Phrom Kesar with Fulin Jipo, who was invested as king of Jibin in 738 CE, is certain. His regular silver issues were struck in Zabul. The Sasanian and Arab-Sasanian drachms were overstruck with a circular die containing a Bactrian inscription that praises Phrom Kesar as a triumphant commander and savior against the Arabs (Nr. 7). These overstrikes probably have been produced in the field during a campaign against the Muslim army.