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Yuezhi

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Not to be confused withYueshi culture.
For Present Yuezi, Yuechi people, seeChechi clan.
Yuezhi
Figures in the embroidered carpets of theNoin-Ula burial site,proposed to be Yuezhis (1st century BC - 1st century AD).[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
The migrations of the Yuezhi through Central Asia, from around 176 BC to 30 AD
Total population
Some 100,000 to 200,000 horse archers, according to theShiji,Chapter 123.[8]TheHanshuChapter 96A records: 100,000 households, 400,000 people with 100,000 able to bear arms.[9]
Regions with significant populations
Western China(pre-2nd century BC)[8]
Central Asia(2nd century BC-1st century AD)
Northern India(1st century AD-4th century AD)
Languages
Bactrian[10](in Bactria in the 1st century AD)
Religion
Buddhism
Hinduism[11]
Jainism[12]
Shamanism
Zoroastrianism
Manichaeism
Kushan deities

TheYuezhi(Chinese:Nguyệt thị;pinyin:Yuèzhī, Ròuzhī or Rùzhī;Wade–Giles:Yüeh4-chih1,Jou4-chih1or Ju4-chih1;) were an ancient people first described inChinesehistories asnomadic pastoralistsliving in an aridgrasslandarea in the western part of the modern Chinese province ofGansu,during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat at the hands of theXiongnuin 176 BC, the Yuezhi split into two groups migrating in different directions: theGreater Yuezhi(Dà YuèzhīĐại nguyệt thị ) andLesser Yuezhi(Xiǎo YuèzhīTiểu nguyệt thị ). This started a complex domino effect that radiated in all directions and, in the process, set the course of history for much of Asia for centuries to come.[13]

The Greater Yuezhi initially migrated northwest into theIli Valley(on the modern borders of China and Kazakhstan), where they reportedly displaced elements of theSakas.They were driven from the Ili Valley by theWusunand migrated southward toSogdiaand later settled inBactria.The Greater Yuezhi have consequently often been identified with peoples mentioned in classical European sources as having overrun theGreco-Bactrian Kingdom,like theTókharoi(GreekΤοχάροι;SanskritTukhāra) andAsii(orAsioi). During the 1st century BC, one of the five major Greater Yuezhi tribes in Bactria, theKushanas(Chinese:Quý sương;pinyin:Guìshuāng), began to subsume the other tribes and neighbouring peoples. The subsequentKushan Empire,at its peak in the 3rd century AD, stretched fromTurfanin theTarim Basinin the north toPataliputraon theGangetic plainofIndiain the south. The Kushanas played an important role in the development of trade on theSilk Roadand theintroduction of Buddhism to China.

The Lesser Yuezhi migrated southward to the edge of theTibetan Plateau.Some are reported to have settled among theQiang peopleinQinghai,and to have been involved in theLiang Province Rebellion(184–221 AD) against theEastern Han dynasty.Another group of Yuezhi is said to have founded thecity stateofCumuḍa(now known asKumulandHami) in the eastern Tarim. A fourth group of Lesser Yuezhi may have become part of theJie peopleofShanxi,who established theLater Zhaostate of the 4th century AD (although this remains controversial).

Many scholars believe that the Yuezhi were anIndo-Europeanpeople.[14][15] Although some scholars have associated them with artifacts of extinct cultures in the Tarim Basin, such as theTarim mummiesand texts recording theTocharian languages,there is no evidence for any such link.[16]

Timeline of the Yuezhi[17]
Before
221 BCE		 The Yuezhi are powerful near Dunhuang, near the western end of theHexi corridor,and control the jade trade from theTarim basin.Somewhere west are theWusun,[18]and further east near theOrdos plateauare theXiongnuor their precursors.
215 BCE The Xiongnu are defeated by theQin dynastyand retreat northwards into theMongolian Plateau.
207 BCE The Xiongnu begin a campaign of raids against the Yuezhi.
Circa
176 BCE		 The Xiongnu inflict a major defeat on the Yuezhi.
173 BCE The Yuezhi defeat theWusun.

165 BCE		 The majority of the Yuezhi begin migrating west to theIli valley;this faction is known later as the "Great Yuezhi". Most of the other faction, known as the "Lesser Yuezhi", settle on theTibetan plateauand in the Tarim basin.
132 BCE The Wusun attack the Great Yuezhi, forcing them southward from the Ili valley.
132–130 BCE The Great Yuezhi migrate west, then south and settle in north-westBactria.
128 BCE A Chinese envoy namedZhang Qianreaches the Great Yuezhi.
Circa
30 CE		 One of five tribes comprising the Great Yuezhi tribes, the Kushana, become dominant and form the basis of theKushan Empire.

Earliest references in Chinese texts

[edit]
Circa 210 BC, the Yuezhi resided to the northwest ofQin China.

Three pre-Han texts mention peoples who appear to be the Yuezhi, albeit under slightly different names.[19]

  • The philosophical tractGuanzi(73, 78, 80 and 81) mentionsnomadic pastoralistsknown as theYúzhīNgu thị (Old Chinese:*ŋʷjo-kje) orNiúzhīNgưu thị (OC:*ŋʷjə-kje), who suppliedjadeto the Chinese.[20][19](TheGuanziis now generally believed to have been compiled around 26 BC, based on older texts, including some from theQi state eraof the 11th to 3rd centuries BC. Most scholars no longer attribute its primary authorship toGuan Zhong,a Qi official in the 7th century BC.[21]) The export of jade from the Tarim Basin, since at least the late 2nd millennium BC, is well-documented archaeologically. For example, hundreds of jade pieces found in theTomb of Fu Hao(c. 1200 BC) originated from theKhotanarea, on the southern rim of the Tarim Basin.[22]According to theGuanzi,the Yúzhī/Niúzhī, unlike the neighbouringXiongnu,did not engage in conflict with nearby Chinese states.
  • The epic novelTale of King Mu, Son of Heaven(early 4th century BC) also mentions a plain ofYúzhīNgu tri (OC: *ŋʷjo-kje) to the northwest of the Zhou lands.[19]
  • Chapter 59 of theYi Zhou Shu(probably dating from the 4th to 1st century BC) refers to aYúzhīNgu thị (OC: *ŋʷjo-kje) people living to the northwest of the Zhou domain and offering horses as tribute. A late supplement contains the nameYuèdīNguyệt để (OC: *ŋʷjat-tij), which may be a misspelling of the nameYuèzhīNguyệt thị (OC: *ŋʷjat-kje) found in later texts.[19]

In the 1st century BC,Sima Qian– widely regarded as the founder ofChinese historiography– describes how theQin dynasty(221–206 BC) bought jade and highly valued militaryhorsesfrom a people that Sima Qian called theWūzhīÔ thị (OC: *ʔa-kje), led by a man named Luo. TheWūzhītraded these goods for Chinesesilk,which they then sold on to other neighbours.[23][24]This is probably the first reference to the Yuezhi as a lynchpin in trade on theSilk Road,[25]which in the 3rd century BC began to link Chinese states to Central Asia and, eventually, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Europe.

Account of Zhang Qian

[edit]

The earliest detailed account of the Yuezhi is found in chapter 123 of theRecords of the Great HistorianbySima Qian,describing a mission ofZhang Qianin the late 2nd century BC. Essentially the same text appears in chapter 61 of theBook of Han,though Sima Qian has added occasional words and phrases to clarify the meaning.[26]

Both texts use the nameYuèzhīNguyệt thị (OC: *ŋʷjat-kje), composed of characters meaning "moon" and "clan" respectively.[19]Several differentromanizationsof thisChinese-languagename have appeared in print. The IranologistH. W. BaileypreferredÜe-ṭşi.[27]Another modern Chinese pronunciation of the name isRòuzhī,based on the thesis that the characterNguyệtin the name is a scribal error forNhục;however Thierry considers this thesis "thoroughly wrong".[19]

Yuezhi and Xiongnu

[edit]

The account begins with the Yuezhi occupying the grasslands to the northwest of China at the beginning of the 2nd century BC:

class=notpageimage|
Original location of the Yuezhi inGansucirca 200 BCE, per Chinese sources (in black,"betweenDunhuangandQilian"). Alternate possible original location in red (Tian Shanmountains), suggested by some authors.[16][28]

The Great Yuezhi was a nomadic horde. They moved about following their cattle, and had the same customs as those of the Xiongnu. As their soldiers numbered more than a hundred thousand, they were strong and despised the Xiongnu. In the past, they lived in the region betweenDunhuangandQilian.

— Book of Han,61

The area between theQilian MountainsandDunhuanglies in the western part of the modern Chinese province ofGansu,but no archaeological remains of the Yuezhi have yet been found in this area.[16]Some scholars have argued that "Dunhuang" should beDunhong,a mountain in theTian Shan,and that Qilian should be interpreted as a name for the Tian Shan. They have thus placed the original homeland of the Yuezhi 1,000 km further northwest in the grasslands to the north of the Tian Shan (in the northern part of modernXinjiang).[16][28]Other authors suggest that the area identified by Sima Qian was merely the core area of an empire encompassing the western part of the Mongolian plain, the upper reaches of theYellow River,theTarim Basinand possibly much of central Asia, including theAltai Mountains,the site of thePazyryk burialsof theUkok Plateau.[29]

By the late 3rd century theXiongnumonarchToumaneven sent his eldest sonModuas a hostage to the Yuezhi. The Yuezhi often attacked their neighbour theWusunto acquire slaves and pasture lands. Wusun originally lived together with the Yuezhi in the region between Dunhuang and Qilian Mountain. The Yuezhi attacked the Wusuns, killed their monarch Nandoumi and took his territory. The son of Nandoumi, Kunmo fled to the Xiongnu and was brought up by the Xiongnu monarch.

Figures in one of the embroidered carpets of theXiongnuNoin-Ula burial site,a luxury item probably imported fromBactria.[7]They are thought to represent Yuezhis. 1st century BC - 1st century AD.[1][3][4][30][6][31]

Gradually the Xiongnu grew stronger, and war broke out with the Yuezhi. There were at least four wars according to the Chinese accounts. The first war broke out during the reign of the Xiongnu monarch Touman (who died in 209 BC) who suddenly attacked the Yuezhi. The Yuezhi wanted to kill Modu, the son of the Xiongnu king Touman kept as a hostage to them, but Modu stole a good horse from them and managed to escape to his country. He subsequently killed his father and became ruler of the Xiongnu.[32]It appears that the Xiongnu did not defeat the Yuezhi in this first war. The second war took place in the 7th year of the Modu era (203 BC). In this war, a large area of the territory originally belonging to the Yuezhi was seized by the Xiongnu and the hegemony of the Yuezhi started to shake. The third war probably was in 176 BC (or shortly before), and the Yuezhi were badly defeated.

Shortly before 176 BC, led by one of Modu's tribal chiefs, the Xiongnu invaded Yuezhi territory in theGansuregion and achieved a crushing victory.[33][34]Modu boasted in a letter (174 BC) to the Han emperor[35]that due to "the excellence of his fighting men, and the strength of his horses, he has succeeded in wiping out the Yuezhi, slaughtering or forcing to submission every number of the tribe." The son of Modu,Laoshang Chanyu(ruled 174–166 BC), subsequently killed the king of the Yuezhi and, in accordance with nomadic traditions, "made adrinking cupout of his skull. "(Shiji123.[8]) The wife of the murdered king became the new monarch of Greater Yuezhi.[36][37]

Nevertheless, in about 173 BC, the Wusun were apparently defeated by the Yuezhi, who killed a Wusun king (kunmiChinese:Côn diorkunmoChinese:Côn mạc) known as Nandoumi (Chinese:Nan đâu mĩ).[33][38]

Exodus of the Great Yuezhi

[edit]
Central Asia in the 1st century BC, and transitory location of the "Great Yuezhi".

After their defeat by the Xiongnu, the Yuezhi split into two groups. The Lesser or Little Yuezhi (Xiao Yuezhi) moved to the "southern mountains", believed to be theQilian Mountainson the edge of theTibetan Plateau,to live with theQiang.[39]

The so-called Greater or Great Yuezhi (Dà Yuèzhī,Đại nguyệt thị ) began migrating north-west in about 165 BC,[40]first settling in theIli valley,immediately north of theTian Shanmountains, where they defeated theSai(Sakas): "The Yuezhi attacked the king of the Sai who moved a considerable distance to the south and the Yuezhi then occupied his lands" (Book of Han61 4B). This was "the first historically recorded movement of peoples originating in the high plateaus of Asia."[41]

In 132 BC theWusun,in alliance with the Xiongnu and out of revenge from an earlier conflict, again managed to dislodge the Yuezhi from the Ili Valley, forcing them to move south-west.[33]The Yuezhi passed through the neighbouring urban civilization ofDayuan(inFerghana) and settled on the northern bank of theOxus,in the region of northernBactria,orTransoxiana(modernTajikistanandUzbekistan).

Visit of Zhang Qian

[edit]
A later mural (c. 618–712 AD) from theMogao Caves,depicting the Chinese mission ofZhang Qianto the Yuezhi in 126 BC.

The Yuezhi were visited inTransoxianaby a Chinese mission, led byZhang Qianin 126 BC,[42]which sought an offensive alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu. His request for an alliance was denied by the Yuezhi, who now had a peaceful life in Transoxiana and had no interest in revenge. Zhang Qian, who spent a year in Transoxiana andBactria,wrote a detailed account intheShiji,which gives considerable insight into the situation inCentral Asiaat the time.[43]

Zhang Qian also reported:

the Great Yuezhi live 2,000 or 3,000li[832–1,247 kilometers] west ofDayuan,north of theGui[Oxus] river. They are bordered on the south byDaxia[Bactria], on the west byAnxi[Parthia], and on the north byKangju[beyond the middleJaxartes/Syr Darya]. They are a nation ofnomads,moving from place to place with their herds, and their customs are like those of the Xiongnu. They have some 100,000 or 200,000 archer warriors.

— Shiji,123[8]

In a sweeping analysis of the physical types and cultures of Central Asia, Zhang Qian reports:

Although the states from Dayuan west to Anxi (Parthia), speak rather different languages, their customs are generally similar and their languages mutually intelligible. The men have deep-set eyes and profuse beards and whiskers. They are skilful at commerce and will haggle over a fraction of a cent. Women are held in great respect, and the men make decisions on the advice of their women.

— Shiji,123[44]
Watershed of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya)

Zhang Qian also described the remnants of theGreco-Bactrian Kingdomon the other side of theOxus River(ChineseGui) as a number of autonomous city-states under Yuezhi suzerainty:[45]

Daxia is located over 2,000 li southwest of Dayuan, south of the Gui river. Its people cultivate the land and have cities and houses. Their customs are like those of Ta-Yuan. It has no great ruler but only a number of petty chiefs ruling the various cities. The people are poor in the use of arms and afraid of battle, but they are clever at commerce. After the Great Yuezhi moved west and attacked the lands, the entire country came under their sway. The population of the country is large, numbering some 1,000,000 or more persons. The capital is called the city of Lanshi and has a market where all sorts of goods are bought and sold.

— Shiji,123[46]

Later Chinese accounts

[edit]

The next mention of the Yuezhi in Chinese sources is found in chapter 96A of theBook of Han(completed in AD 111), relating to the early 1st century BC. At this time, the Yuezhi are described as occupying the whole of Bactria, organized into five major tribes orxīhóu(Ch:翖 hầu, "Allied Prince" ).[47]These tribes were known to the Chinese as:

Yuezhi Prince fromKhalchayan,1st century BCE. He displaysartificial cranial deformation.[50][51]At his feet, a lamellar armour with neck-guard, a trophy from theSakaScythians.[52]Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan,nb 40.

TheBook of the Later Han(5th century CE) also records the visit of Yuezhi envoys to the Chinese capital in 2 BC, who gave oral teachings onBuddhistsutras to a student, suggesting that some Yuezhi already followed theBuddhistfaith during the 1st century BC (Baldev Kumar 1973).

Chapter 88 of theBook of the Later Hanrelies on a report ofBan Yong,based on the campaigns of his fatherBan Chaoin the late 1st century AD. It reports that one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi, theGuishuang,had managed to take control of the tribal confederation:[53]

More than a hundred years later, thexihouof Guishuang, named Qiujiu Que (Ch: Khâu tựu khước, Kujula Kadphises) attacked and exterminated the four otherxihou.He set himself up as king of a kingdom called Guishuang (Kushan). He invaded Anxi (Parthia) and took the Gaofu (Ch: Cao phụ,Kabul) region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda (Ch: Bộc đạt ) and Jibin (Ch: Kế tân,Kapiśa-Gandhāra). Qiujiu Que (Kujula Kadphises) was more than eighty years old when he died. His son,Yan Gaozhen(Ch: Diêm cao trân ) (Vima Takto), became king in his place. He returned and defeatedTianzhu(Northwestern India) and installed a General to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang (Kushan) king, but theHancall them by their original name, Da Yuezhi.

— Book of the Later Han,trans. John Hill[54][55]

A later Chinese annotation in Zhang Shoujie'sShiji(quoting Wan Zhen vạn chấn inNánzhōuzhìNam châu chí [ "Strange Things from the Southern Region" ], a now-lost 3rd-century text from theWu kingdom), describes the Kushans as living in the same general area north of India, in cities of Greco-Roman style, and with sophisticated handicraft. The quotes are dubious, as Wan Zhen probably never visited the Yuezhi kingdom through theSilk Road,though he might have gathered his information from the trading ports in the coastal south.[56]Chinese sources continued to use the name Yuezhi and seldom used the Kushan (orGuishuang) as a generic term:

The Great Yuezhi are located about seven thousandli[2,910 km] north of India. Their land is at a high altitude; the climate is dry; the region is remote. The king of the state calls himself "son of heaven". There are so many riding horses in that country that the number often reaches several hundred thousand. City layouts and palaces are quite similar to those ofDaqin[the Roman Empire]. The skin of the people there is reddish white. People are skilful at horse archery. Local products, rarities, treasures, clothing, and upholstery are very good, and even India cannot compare with it.

— Wan Zhen (3rd century AD)[57]

Kushana

[edit]
Yuezhis in Bactria, on Noin-Ula carpets
Yuezhi nobleman over firealtar,Noin-Ula.[58][31][59]
Yuezhi armoured horseman,Noin-Ula.[60]
Yuezhi (left) fighting aSogdianbehind a shield (right),Noin-Ula.[61]

The Central Asian people who called themselvesKushana,were among the conquerors of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom during the 2nd century BC,[62]and are widely believed to have originated as a dynastic clan or tribe of the Yuezhi.[63][64]The area of Bactria they settled came to be known asTokharistan.Because some inhabitants of Bactria became known asTukhāra(Sanskrit) orTókharoi(Τοχάριοι; Greek), these names later became associated with the Yuezhi.

The Kushana spokeBactrian,anEastern Iranian language.[65]

Bactria

[edit]

In the 3rd century BC, Bactria had been conquered by the Greeks underAlexander the Greatand since settled by theHellenistic civilizationof theSeleucids.

The resultingGreco-Bactrian Kingdomlasted until the 2nd century BC. The area came under pressure from various nomadic peoples and the Greek city ofAlexandria on the Oxuswas apparently burnt to the ground in about 145 BC.[66]The last Greco-Bactrian king,Heliocles I,retreated and moved his capital to the Kabul Valley. In about 140–130 BC, the Greco-Bactrian state was conquered by the nomads and dissolved. The Greek geographerStrabomentions this event in his account of the central Asian tribes he called "Scythians":[67]

All, or the greatest part of them, are nomads. The best known tribes are those who deprived the Greeks ofBactriana:the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari, and Sacarauli, who came from the country on the other side of theJaxartes[Syr Darya], opposite the Sacae andSogdiani.

— Strabo,[68]
Early Yuezhis coinage
Yuezhi anonymous copy of a coin ofGreco-BactriankingHeliocles
Yuezhi anonymous of a coin ofGreco-BactriankingHeliocles,with original horse on the reverse
Yuezhi rulerArseiles.Late 1st century BCE
Yuezhi rulerSapadbizes.Late 1st century BCE

Writing in the 1st century BC, the Roman historianPompeius Trogusattributed the destruction of the Greco-Bactrian state to the Sacaraucae and the Asiani "kings of the Tochari".[67]Both Pompeius and the Roman historianJustin(2nd century AD) record that the Parthian kingArtabanus IIwas mortally wounded in a war against the Tochari in 124 BC.[69]Several relationships between these tribes and those named in Chinese sources have been proposed, but remain contentious.[67]

After they settled in Bactria, the Yuezhi becameHellenizedto some degree – as shown by their adoption of theGreek alphabetand by some remaining coins, minted in the style of theGreco-Bactriankings, with the text in Greek.[70]

Noin-Ula carpets

[edit]

According to Sergey Yatsenko, the carpets with vivid embroidered scenes discovered inNoin-Ulawere made by the Yuezhi inBactria,and were obtained by theXiongnuthrough commercial exchange or tributary payment, as the Yuezhi may have remained tributaries of the Xiongnu for a long time following their defeat. Embroidered carpets were among the highest-prized luxury items for the Xiongnu. The figures depicted in the carpets are believed to reflect the clothing and customs of the Yuezhi while they were in Bactria in the 1st century BCE-1st century CE.[71]

Tillya Tepe

[edit]
A dagger excavated inTillya Tepe.

The graves ofTillya Tepe,complete with numerous artifacts, dated to the period between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE, probably belonged to the Yuezhis/ early Kushans after the fall of theGreco-Bactrian Kingdomand before the rise of theKushan Empire.[72]They correspond to a time when the Yuezhis had not yet encountered Buddhism.[72]

In the Hindu Kush

[edit]

The area of theHindu Kush(Paropamisadae) was ruled by the westernIndo-Greekking until the reign ofHermaeus(reignedc. 90 BC–70 BC). After that date, no Indo-Greek kings are known in the area. According toBopearachchi,no trace ofIndo-Scythianoccupation (nor coins of major Indo-Scythian rulers such asMauesorAzes I) have been found in theParopamisadeand westernGandhara.The Hindu Kush may have been subsumed by the Yuezhi,[original research?]who by then had been dominated byGreco-Bactriafor almost two centuries.

As they had done in Bactria with their copying ofGreco-Bactriancoinage, the Yuezhi copied the coinage ofHermeauson a vast scale, up to around 40 AD, when the design blends into the coinage of theKushankingKujula Kadphises.Such coins may provide the earliest known names of Yuezhiyabgu(a minor royal title, similar to prince), namelySapadbizes[original research?]and/orAgesiles,who both lived in or about 20 BC.

Kushan Empire

[edit]
Main article:Kushan Empire
The first self-declared Kushan rulerHeraios(1–30 AD) inGreco-Bactrianstyle
Obv:Bust of Heraios, with Greek royal headband.
Rev:Horse-mounted King, crowned with a wreath by theGreekgoddess of victoryNike.Greek legend: TVPANNOVOTOΣ HΛOV – ΣΛNΛB – KOÞÞANOY "The Tyrant Heraios, Sanav (meaning unknown), of the Kushans"

After that point, they extended their control over the northwestern area of the Indian subcontinent, founding theKushan Empire,which was to rule the region for several centuries.[73][64][74]Despite their change of name, most Chinese authors continued to refer to the Kushanas as the Yuezhi.

The Kushanas expanded to the east during the 1st century AD. The first Kushan emperor,Kujula Kadphises,ostensibly associated himself withKing Hermaeuson his coins.[citation needed]

The Kushanas integratedBuddhisminto a pantheon of many deities and became great promoters ofMahayana Buddhism,and their interactions with Greek civilization helped theGandharanculture andGreco-Buddhismflourish.

During the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Kushan Empire expanded militarily to the north and occupied parts of theTarim Basin,putting them at the center of the lucrative Central Asian commerce with theRoman Empire.The Kushanas collaborated militarily with the Chinese against their mutual enemies. This included a campaign with the Chinese generalBan Chaoagainst the Sogdians in 84 CE, when the latter were trying to support a revolt by the king ofKashgar.In around AD 85,[citation needed]the Kushanas also assisted the Chinese in an attack onTurpan,east of the Tarim Basin.

Possible Yuezhi king and attendants,Gandharastone palette,1st century AD

Following the military support provided to the Han, the Kushan emperor requested a marriage alliance with aHanprincess and sent gifts to the Chinese court in expectation that this would occur. After the Han court refused, a Kushan army 70,000 strong marched on Ban Chao in 86 AD. The army was apparently exhausted by the time it reached its objective and was defeated by the Chinese force. The Kushanas retreated and later paid tribute to the Chinese emperorHan He(89–106).

In about 120 AD, Kushan troops installed Chenpan—a prince who had been sent as a hostage to them and had become a favorite of the Kushan Emperor—on the throne ofKashgar,thus expanding their power and influence in theTarim Basin.[75]There they introduced theBrahmiscript, the IndianPrakritlanguage for administration, andGreco-Buddhist art,which developed intoSerindian art.

Buddhist artc. 300 AD,depicting (left to right) a Kushan lay Buddhist,Maitreya,Buddha,Avalokitesvara,and a Kushan Buddhist monk.

Following this territorial expansion, the Kushanas introducedBuddhismto northern and northeastern Asia, by both direct missionary efforts and the translation of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese.[76]Major Kushan missionaries and translators includedLokaksema(bornc. 147 CE) andDharmaraksa(c. 233– c. 311), both of whom were influential translators of theMahayana sutrasinto Chinese. They went to China and established translation bureaus, thereby being at the center of theSilk Road transmission of Buddhism.[citation needed]

In theRecords of the Three Kingdoms(chap. 3), it was recorded that in 229 AD, "The king of the Da Yuezhi [Kushanas], Bodiao ba điều (Vasudeva I), sent his envoy to present tribute, and His Majesty (EmperorCao Rui) granted him the title of King of the Da Yuezhi Intimate with theWei(Ch: Thân ngụy đại nguyệt thị vương,Qīn Wèi Dà Yuèzhī Wáng). "

Soon afterwards, the military power of the Kushanas began to decline. The rivalSasanian Empireof Persia extended its dominion into Bactria during the reign ofArdashir Iaround 230 CE. The Sasanians also occupied neighboringSogdiaby 260 AD and made it into asatrapy.[77]

During the course of the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Kushan Empire was divided and conquered by the Sasanians, theHephthalitetribes from the north,[78]and theGuptaandYaudheyaempires from India.

Later references to the Lesser Yuezhi

[edit]
Yuezhi horseman on the coinage ofHeraios.

Xiao Yuezhirefers to the less militarized Yuezhi who settled in northern China (following the migration of the Greater Yuezhi).[79]The term is used of peoples in locations as diverse asTibet,Qinghai,Shanxiand the Tarim Basin.

Some of the Lesser Yuezhi settled among theQiang peopleofHuangzhong,Qinghai,according to archaeologist Sophia-Katrin Psarras.[80]Yuezhi and Qiang were said to be among members of the Auxiliary of Loyal Barbarians From Huangzhong that mutinied against the Han dynasty, in theLiangzhou Rebellion(184–221 CE).[81]TheLushuihupeople, who founded theNorthern Liang dynasty(397–439), have been theorized by modern researchers to be descendants of the Lesser Yuezhi that intermingled with the Qiang.[82][83]

Elements of the Lesser Yuezhi are said to have been part of theJie people,who originated fromYushe Countyin Shanxi.[84]Other theories link the Jie more strongly to the Xiongnu, Kangju, or the Tocharian-speaking peoples of the Tarim. Led byShi Le(Emperor Ming of Later Zhao), the Jie people established theLater Zhao dynasty(319–351). The Jie populations were later massacred byRan Minof the short-livedRan Wei dynastyduring theRan Wei–Later Zhao war.

InTibet,theGarormGar– a clan name associated withblacksmiths- may have been descended from the Lesser Yuezhi who resettled in Qiang in 162 BC.[85]

A Chinese monk named Gao Juhui, who traveled to the Tarim Basin in the 10th century, described theZhongyun( trọng vân; Wade–GilesTchong-yun) as descendants of the Lesser Yuezhi.[86] This was the city state ofCumuḍa(alsoCimudaorCunuda), south ofLop Nurin the eastern Tarim.[27](Following the subsequent settlement ofUyghur-speaking people in the area, Cumuḍa became known asČungul,XungulandKumul.Under subsequent Han Chinese influence, it became known asHami.)

Whatever their fate may have been, theXiao Yuezhiceased to be identifiable by that name and appear to have been subsumed by other ethnicities, includingTibetans,UyghursandHan.

[edit]
Sampul tapestry
Full length
Detail
Probable Yuezhi soldier in red jacket and trousers, in theSampul tapestry.Embroidered in Hellenistic style, with motif of acentaur,1st century AD, Sampul,ÜrümqiXinjiang Region Museum.[87][88]

The relationship between the Yuezhi and other Central Asian peoples is unclear. Based on claimed similarities of names, different scholars have linked them to several groups, but none of these identifications is widely accepted.[89]

Mallory and Mair suggest that the Yuezhi and Wusun were among the nomadic peoples, at least some of whom spokeIranian languages,who moved into northernXinjiangfrom the Central Asian steppe in the 2nd millennium BC.[90]

Scholars such asEdwin Pulleyblank,Josef Markwart,andLászló Torday,suggest that the nameIatioi—a Central Asian people mentioned byPtolemyinGeography(AD 150)—may also be an attempt to render Yuezhi.[91]

There has been only limited scholarly support for a theory developed byW. B. Henning,who proposed that the Yuezhi were descended from theGuti(or Gutians) and an associated, but little known tribe known as theTukri,who were native to theZagros Mountains(modern Iran and Iraq), during the mid-3rd millennium BC. In addition to phonological similarities between these names and*ŋʷjat-kjeand Tukhāra, Henning pointed out that the Guti could have migrated from theZagrostoGansu,[92]by the time that the Yuezhi entered the historical record in China, during the 1st millennium BC. However, the only material evidence presented by Henning, namely similar ceramic ware, is generally considered to be far from conclusive.[57]

Proposed links with theAbhira,[93]Aorsi,Asii,Getae,Goths,Gushi,Jat,Massagetae,[94][95][96]and other groups have also gathered little support.[89]

Yuezhi-Tocharian hypothesis

[edit]

When manuscripts dating from the 6th to 8th centuries AD written in two hitherto unknown Indo-European languages were discovered in the northern Tarim Basin, the early 20th-century linguistFriedrich W. K. Mülleridentified them with the enigmatic "twγry( "Toγari" ) language "used to translate Indian BuddhistSanskrittexts and mentioned as the source of anOld Turkic(Uyghur) manuscript.[97][98]Müller then proposed to connect the name "Toγari" (Togar/Tokar) to theTókharoipeople ofTokharistan(themselves associated with the Yuezhi) described in early Greek histories.[97][98]He thus referred to the newly discovered languages as "Tocharian",which became the common name for both the languages of the Tarim manuscripts and the people who produced them.[65][99]Most historians have been rejecting the identification of the Tocharians of the Tarim with theTókharoiof Bactria, mainly because they are not known to have spoken any languages other than Bactrian, a quite dissimilarEastern Iranian language.[10][100]Other scholars suggest that the Yuezhi/Kushanasmay previously have spoken Tocharian before shifting to Bactrian on their arrival in Bactria, an example of an invading or colonising eliteadopting a local language(as also seen for theGreeks,theTurksor the Arabs upon their successive settlements in Bactria).[101][102]However, while Tocharian contains some loanwords from Bactrian, there are no traces of Tocharian in Bactrian.[65]

Another possibleendonymof the Yuezhi was put forward byH. W. Bailey,who claimed that they were referred to, in 9th and 10th centuryKhotan SakaIranian texts, as theGara.According to Bailey, theTu Gara( "Great Gara" ) were the Great Yuezhi.[27]This is consistent with theAncient GreekΤόχαροιTokharoi(LatinisedTochari) in reference to the faction of the Kushans that conquered Bactria, as well as theTibetan languagenameGar(ormGar), for the members of the Lesser Yuezhi who settled in theTibetan Empire.

Hakan Aydemir, assistant professor atIstanbul Medeniyet University,reconstructs the ethnonym *Arki~ *Yarkiwhich underlay Chinese transcriptions nguyệt thị (Old Chinese*ŋwat-tēɦ~[ŋ]ʷat-tēɦ) and nguyệt chi (Later Han Chinese*ŋyat-tśe) as well as various other foreign transcriptions andTocharian AethnonymĀrśi.[103]Aydemir suggests that *Arki~ *Yarkiis etymologicallyIndo-European.[104]

Nomadic artifacts in Gansu and Ningxia (5th-4th century BC)

[edit]
See also:Ordos culture

Numerous nomadic artifacts are attributed to the areas of southernNingxiaand southeasternGansuduring the period of the 5th-4th century BC. They are quite similar to the works of the nomadicOrdos culturefurther east, and reflect strongScythianinfluences.[105]Some of theseartifacts were sinicizedby the neighbouringQin statein China, probably also for nomadic consumption.[105]Nomadic figures with long noses riding on a camel also appear regularly in southern Ningxia from the 4th century BC.[105]Particularly, theShajing culture(700–100 BCE) ofGansuhas been proposed as a candidate for the origin of the Yuezhi.[106]

  • Nomadic figure, typically with a long nose, on a Bactrian camel. Southern Ningxia, 4th century BC.[107][105]
    Nomadic figure, typically with a long nose, on aBactriancamel. SouthernNingxia,4th century BC.[107][105]
  • Harness ornament in the shape of a coiled wolf, characteristic of nomadic artifacts of southern Ningxia and southeastern Gansu, 5th-4th century BC.[108][105]
    Harness ornament in the shape of a coiled wolf, characteristic of nomadic artifacts of southernNingxiaand southeasternGansu,5th-4th century BC.[108][105]
  • Belt plaque in the shape of a standing wolf, characteristic of nomadic artifacts of southern Ningxia and southeastern Gansu, and related to the Scythian styles of Pazyryk. 4th century BC.[109][105]
    Belt plaque in the shape of a standing wolf, characteristic of nomadic artifacts of southernNingxiaand southeasternGansu,and related to the Scythian styles ofPazyryk.4th century BC.[109][105]
  • Bronze horse ornament (Shajing culture 700-100 BCE)
    Bronze horse ornament (Shajing culture700-100 BCE)

Shirenzigou culture

[edit]
Surroundings of theShirenzigouarchaeological site inBarkol County.
Main article:Shirenzigou culture

Looking at the archaeological and genetic evidence, another area of origin on the northeastern border of theTarim Basinhas also been proposed: the Yuegongtai-Xiheigou ( nhạc công đài - tây hắc câu ) archaeological sites, corresponding to theShirenzigou cultureand Barkol culture in theBarkol CountyofXinjiang.This would have positionned the Yuezhi between theSubeshi cultureto their west, theYanbulaq cultureto their east, the aftermaths of theChemurchek cultureto the north, and a wide desertical area to south about a thousand kilometers away from theCentral Plainsof China.[110]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^abBetts, Alison; Vicziany, Marika; Jia, Peter Weiming; Castro, Angelo Andrea Di (19 December 2019).The Cultures of Ancient Xinjiang, Western China: Crossroads of the Silk Roads.Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. p. 104.ISBN978-1-78969-407-9.In Noin-Ula (Noyon Uul), Mongolia, the remarkable elite Xiongnu tombs have revealed textiles that are linked to the pictorial tradition of the Yuezhi: the decorative faces closely resemble theKhalchayanportraits, while the local ornaments have integrated elements of Graeco-Roman design. These artifacts were most probably manufactured in Bactria
  2. ^Francfort, Henri-Paul(1 January 2020)."Sur quelques vestiges et indices nouveaux de l'hellénisme dans les arts entre la Bactriane et le Gandhāra (130 av. J.-C.-100 apr. J.-C. environ)".Journal des Savants:26–27, Fig.8"Portrait royal diadémé Yuezhi"( "Diademed royal portrait of a Yuezhi" ).
  3. ^abConsidered as Yuezhi-Saka or simply Yuezhi inPolos'mak, Natalia V.; Francfort, Henri-Paul; Tsepova, Olga (2015)."Nouvelles découvertes de tentures polychromes brodées du début de notre ère dans les" tumuli "n o 20 et n o 31 de Noin-Ula (République de Mongolie)".Arts Asiatiques.70:3–32.doi:10.3406/arasi.2015.1881.ISSN0004-3958.JSTOR26358181.p.3: "These tapestries were apparently manufactured in Bactria or in Gandhara at the time of the Saka-Yuezhi rule, when these countries were connected with the Parthian empire and the" Hellenized East. "They represent groups of men, warriors of high status, and kings and/ or princes, performing rituals of drinking, fighting or taking part in a religious ceremony, a procession leading to an altar with a fire burning on it, and two men engaged in a ritual."
  4. ^abNehru, Lolita (14 December 2020)."KHALCHAYAN".Encyclopaedia Iranica Online.Brill.About "Khalchayan","site of a settlement and palace of the nomad Yuezhi ":" Representations of figures with faces closely akin to those of the ruling clan at Khalchayan (PLATE I) have been found in recent times on woollen fragments recovered from a nomad burial site near Lake Baikal in Siberia, Noin Ula, supplementing an earlier discovery at the same site), the pieces dating from the time of Yuezhi/Kushan control of Bactria. Similar faces appeared on woollen fragments found recently in a nomad burial in south-eastern Xinjiang (Sampula), of about the same date, manufactured probably in Bactria, as were probably also the examples from Noin Ula. "
  5. ^Yatsenko, Sergey A. (2012)."Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia"(PDF).The Silk Road.10.
  6. ^abPolosmak, Natalia V. (2012)."History Embroidered in Wool".SCIENCE First Hand.31(N1).
  7. ^abPolosmak, Natalia V. (2010)."We Drank Soma, We Became Immortal…".SCIENCE First Hand.26(N2).
  8. ^abcdWatson 1993,p. 234.
  9. ^Hulsewé, A.F.P. and Loewe, M.A.N.China in Central Asia: The Early Stage: 125 B.C.-A.D. 23: An Annotated Translation of Chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty.Leiden. E. J. Birll. 1979.ISBN90-04-05884-2,pp. 119–120.
  10. ^abHansen 2012,p. 72.
  11. ^Bopearachchi 2007,p. 45.
  12. ^Wink, André (1997).Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: The Slavic Kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th–13th centuries.Oxford University Press. p. 57.ISBN90-04-10236-1.
  13. ^Dean, Riaz (2022).The Stone Tower: Ptolemy, the Silk Road, and a 2,000-Year-Old Riddle.Delhi: Penguin Viking. pp. 73–81 (Ch.7, Migration of the Yuezhi).ISBN978-0670093625.
  14. ^Narain 1990,pp. 152–155 "[W]e must identify them [Tocharians] with the Yueh-chih of the Chinese sources... [C]onsensus of scholarly opinion identifies the Yueh-chih with the Tokharians... [T]he Indo-European ethnic origin of the Yuehchih = Tokharians is generally accepted... Yueh-chih = Tokharian people... Yueh-chih = Tokharians..."
  15. ^Roux 1997,p. 90 "They are, by almost unanimous opinion, Indo-Europeans, probably the most oriental of those who occupied the steppes."
  16. ^abcdMallory & Mair 2000,pp. 283–284.
  17. ^Based on Benjamin (2007), except where otherwise stated.
  18. ^Lanhai, Wei; Hui, Li; Wenkan, Xu (2015)."The separate origins of the Tocharians and the Yuezhi".Tocharian Texts in Context: International Conference on Tocharian Manuscripts and Silk Road Culture, June 25-29th, 2013.Hempen. p. 284.ISBN978-3-944312-26-2.
  19. ^abcdefThierry 2005.
  20. ^"Les Saces", Iaroslav Lebedynsky,ISBN2-87772-337-2,p. 59
  21. ^Liu Jianguo (2004).Distinguishing and Correcting the pre-Qin Forged Classics.Xi'an: Shaanxi People's Press.ISBN7-224-05725-8.pp. 115–127
  22. ^Liu 2001a,p. 265.
  23. ^Benjamin 2007,p. 32.
  24. ^Liu 2010,pp. 3–4.
  25. ^Liu 2001a,p. 273.
  26. ^Loewe, Michael A.N. (1979). "Introduction". In Hulsewé, Anthony François Paulus (ed.).China in Central Asia: The Early Stage: 125 BC – AD 23; an Annotated Translation of Chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty.Brill. pp. 1–70.ISBN978-90-04-05884-2.pp. 23–24.
  27. ^abcH. W. Bailey,Indo-Scythian Studies: Being Khotanese Texts(vol. 7). Cambridge,Cambridge University Press,pp. 6–7, 16, 101, 116, 121, 133.
  28. ^abLiu 2001a,pp. 267–268.
  29. ^Enoki, Koshelenko & Haidary 1994,pp. 169–172.
  30. ^Yatsenko, Sergey A. (2012)."Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia"(PDF).The Silk Road.10.
  31. ^abFrancfort, Henri-Paul(1 January 2020)."Sur quelques vestiges et indices nouveaux de l'hellénisme dans les arts entre la Bactriane et le Gandhāra (130 av. J.-C.-100 apr. J.-C. environ)".Journal des Savants:26–27, Fig.8.
  32. ^Mallory & Mair 2000,p. 94.
  33. ^abcBenjamin, Craig(October 2003)."The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia".Transoxiana Webfestschrift.1(Ēran ud Anērān). Transoxiana.Retrieved29 May2015.
  34. ^Beckwith 2009,pp. 380–383.
  35. ^Zuev, Yu. A.(2002).Early Türks: Essays on History and Ideology.Almaty. p. 15....Maodun proudly informed emperor Han:... Due to the favor of the Sky, the commanders and soldiers were in sound condition, and the horses were strong, which allowed me to destroy Uechji, who were exterminated or surrendered.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  36. ^Book of Han, vol. 61
  37. ^Mair, Victor H.,ed. (1998).The Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Peoples of Eastern Central Asia.Vol. 2. The Institute for the Study of Man in collaboration with The University of Pennsylvania Museum Publications. p. 777.ISBN978-0-941694-63-6.Among the Greater Yuezhi it appears that a lady was appointed to be the ruling queen on at least one occasion. "Zhang Qian zhuan" trương khiên truyện (Biography of Zhang Qian) in theHistory of the Hanrecords that after the king of the Greater Yuezhi was killed by the Xiongnu, his wife was appointed to be the queen.
  38. ^Beckwith 2009,pp. 6–7.
  39. ^Enoki, Koshelenko & Haidary 1994,p. 170.
  40. ^Chavannes (1907) "Les pays d'occident d'après leHeou Han chou".T'oung pao,ser.2:8, p. 189, n. 1
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  42. ^Silk Road, North China,C. Michael Hogan, The Megalithic Portal, A. Burnham, ed.
  43. ^Watson 1993,pp. 233–236.
  44. ^Watson 1993,p. 245.
  45. ^Enoki, Koshelenko & Haidary 1994,p. 175.
  46. ^Watson 1993,p. 235.
  47. ^Narain 1990,p. 158.
  48. ^Sagar, Krishna Chandra (1992).Foreign Influence on Ancient India.Northern Book Centre.ISBN978-81-7211-028-4.
  49. ^Hill (2004), pp. 29, 318–350
  50. ^KHALCHAYAN – Encyclopaedia Iranica.p. Figure 1.
  51. ^Rowland, Benjamin (1971). "Graeco-Bactrian Art and Gandhāra: Khalchayan and the Gandhāra Bodhisattvas".Archives of Asian Art.25:29–35.ISSN0066-6637.JSTOR20111029.
  52. ^Frantz, Grenet (2022).Splendeurs des oasis d'Ouzbékistan.Paris: Louvre Editions. p. 56.ISBN978-8412527858.
  53. ^Narain 1990,p. 159.
  54. ^Hill 2009,pp. 28–29.
  55. ^Hậu bách dư tuế, quý sương hấp hầu khâu tựu khước công diệt tứ hấp hầu, tự lập vi vương, quốc hào quý sương vương. Xâm an tức, thủ cao phụ địa. Hựu diệt bộc đạt, kế tân, tất hữu kỳ quốc. Khâu tựu khước niên bát thập dư tử, tử diêm cao trân đại vi vương. Phục diệt thiên trúc, trí tương nhất nhân giam lĩnh chi. Nguyệt thị tự thử chi hậu, tối vi phú thịnh, chư quốc xưng chi giai viết quý sương vương. Hán bổn kỳ cố hào, ngôn đại nguyệt thị vân.Hanshu,96
  56. ^Yu Taishan (2nd Edition 2003).A Comprehensive History of Western Regions.Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Guji Press.ISBN7-5348-1266-6
  57. ^abNotes to Section 13,The Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu,trans. John Hill.
  58. ^Yatsenko, Sergey A. (2012)."Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia"(PDF).The Silk Road.10.
  59. ^Betts, Alison; Vicziany, Marika; Jia, Peter Weiming; Castro, Angelo Andrea Di (19 December 2019).The Cultures of Ancient Xinjiang, Western China: Crossroads of the Silk Roads.Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. p. 104.ISBN978-1-78969-407-9.
  60. ^Yatsenko, Sergey A. (2012)."Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia"(PDF).The Silk Road.10.
  61. ^Yatsenko, Sergey A. (2012)."Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia"(PDF).The Silk Road.10.
  62. ^Millward, James A. (2007).Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang.Columbia University Press, New York. p. 15.ISBN978-0-231-13924-3.
  63. ^Runion, Meredith L. (2007).The history of Afghanistan.Westport: Greenwood Press. p.46.ISBN978-0-313-33798-7.The Yuezhi people conquered Bactria in the second century BC, and divided the country into five chiefdoms, one of which would become the Kushan Empire. Recognizing the importance of unification, these five tribes combined under the one dominate Kushan tribe, and the primary rulers descended from the Yuezhi.
  64. ^abLiu 2001b,p. 156.
  65. ^abcKrause, Todd B.; Slocum, Jonathan."Tocharian Online: Series Introduction".University of Texas at Austin.Retrieved21 November2016.
  66. ^Bernard 1994,p. 100.
  67. ^abcEnoki, Koshelenko & Haidary 1994,p. 174.
  68. ^Strabo,11-8-1.
  69. ^Grousset, Rene (1970).The Empire of the Steppes.Rutgers University Press. p.31.ISBN0-8135-1304-9.This would seem to prove that the Yueh-chih of Chinese history – if they correspond, as supposed, to the Tokharoi of Greek history – were from that time established in Bactria, a country of which they later made a 'Tokharistan'.
  70. ^Narain 1990,p. 161.
  71. ^Yatsenko, Sergey A. (2012)."Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia"(PDF).The Silk Road.10.
  72. ^abSrinivasan, Doris (30 April 2007).On the Cusp of an Era: Art in the Pre-Kuṣāṇa World.BRILL. p. 16.ISBN978-90-474-2049-1.
  73. ^Runion, Meredith L. (2007).The history of Afghanistan.Westport: Greenwood Press. p.46.ISBN978-0-313-33798-7.The Yuezhi people conquered Bactria in the second century BC and divided the country into five chiefdoms, one of which would become the Kushan Empire. Recognizing the importance of unification, these five tribes combined under the one dominate Kushan tribe, and the primary rulers descended from the Yuezhi.
  74. ^Beckwith 2009,pp. 84–85.
  75. ^Hill 2009,pp. 14, 43.
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  77. ^Mark J. Dresden (1981), "Introductory Note," in Guitty Azarpay,Sogdian Painting: the Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art,Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, p. 5,ISBN0-520-03765-0.
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  84. ^Haw, Stephen G. (2006).Beijing – A Concise History.Routledge. p. 201.ISBN978-1-134-15033-5.
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  86. ^Ouyang Xiu & Xin Wudai Shi, 1974,New Annals of the Five Dynasties,Beijing, Zhonghua Publishing House, p. 918 – cited by:Eurasian History, 2008–09,The Yuezhi and Dunhuang( nguyệt thị dữ đôn hoàng )(18 March 2017).
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  88. ^Francfort, Henri-Paul(1 January 2020)."Sur quelques vestiges et indices nouveaux de l'hellénisme dans les arts entre la Bactriane et le Gandhāra (130 av. J.-C.-100 apr. J.-C. environ)".Journal des Savants:26–27, Fig.9.
  89. ^abMallory & Mair 2000,pp. 98–99, 281–283.
  90. ^Mallory & Mair 2000,p. 318.
  91. ^Jhutti, Sundeep S. (2003)."The Getes"(PDF).Sino-Platonic Papers.127:15–17.
  92. ^Henning, W.B. (1978) "The first Indo-Europeans in history"
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  95. ^Kim, Hyun Jin (2013-04-18).The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe.Cambridge University Press. p. 201.ISBN978-1-107-06722-6.
  96. ^Enoki, Koshelenko & Haidary 1994,p. 171.
  97. ^abManko Namba Walter (October 1998)."Tokharian Buddhism in Kucha: Buddhism of Indo-European Centum Speakers in Chinese Turkestan before the 10th Century C.E"(PDF).Sino-Platonic Papers(85).
  98. ^ab"Introduction to Tocharian".lrc.la.utexas.edu.
  99. ^Adams, Douglas Q. (1988).Tocharian Historical Phonology and Morphology.American Oriental Society. pp. 2–4.ISBN978-0-940490-71-0.
  100. ^Mallory & Adams 1997,p. 590.
  101. ^Narain 1990,p. 153.
  102. ^Beckwith 2009,p. 5, footnote 16, as well as pp. 380–383 in appendix B, but also seeHitch 2010,p. 655: "He equates the Tokharians with the Yuezhi, and the Wusun with the Asvins, as if these are established facts, and refers to his arguments in appendix B. But these identifications remain controversial, rather than established, for most scholars."
  103. ^Aydemir 2019,p. 273.
  104. ^Aydemir 2019,p. 263 "based on various toponymic evidence, *Arkiand *Yarkiseem to be the oldest reconstructable forms. However, it is for the time being not quite clear which one is the primary form. In order to know this, we first need to know the etymology of the name. Without doing so, it would be difficult to determine the primary form. This, however, must be left to the specialists in Indo-European linguistics. "
  105. ^abcdefBunker, Emma C. (2002).Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The Eugene V. Thaw and Other Notable New York Collections.Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 24–25.
  106. ^Komissarov, S.A (2017)."Shajing Culture (Gansu, China): Main Sites and Problems of Chronology".Paeas.ru.The Shajing culture of the Early Iron Age. The sites of this culture have been discovered in the central part of Gansu Province (China). Seven big burial grounds and almost the same amount of fortified settlements (with walls made of compacted loess) have been excavated. Painted pottery, associated with the local tradition of Neolithic-Early Bronze Age, has been found at the early sites, but the Scythian-like artifacts constitute the core of this culture. This makes it possible to clarify the chronological limits of the culture as 900-400 BC, but probably with the later specific dates. Different suggestions have been made concerning the ethnic origins of the "Shajing people," who may have some connections with the Tocharian-speaking Yuezhi, the proto-Tibetean Qiang and Rong, or even with the Iranian Wusuns. The Shajing culture might have emerged from the interaction of all these (or close) ethnic and cultural components.
  107. ^Bunker, Emma C. (2002).Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The Eugene V. Thaw and Other Notable New York Collections.Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 120–121, item 92.
  108. ^Bunker, Emma C. (2002).Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The Eugene V. Thaw and Other Notable New York Collections.Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 45, item 7.
  109. ^Bunker, Emma C. (2002).Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The Eugene V. Thaw and Other Notable New York Collections.Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 122, item 94.
  110. ^Lan-Hai Wei, Ryan; Li, Hui (2013)."The separate origins of the Tocharians and the Yuezhi: Results from recent advances in archaeology and genetics".International Conference on Tocharian Manuscripts and Silk Road CultureAt: University of Vienna, Vienna. 26–28 June 2013.

Works cited

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