Yuezhi

The yuezhi (simplified Chinese: 月氏; pinyin: Yuèzhī, Ròuzhī or Rùzhī; Wade- Giles: Yüeh⁴-chih¹, Jou⁴-chih¹ or Ju⁴-chih¹) or Kushán were an ancient northeastern Iranian town (closely related to Bactrians and Sacs, among others) first described in Chinese histories of the 5th century BCE as nomadic shepherds living in the semi-arid grasslands of western Gansu around the 4th century BCE.

In 176 BCE the Kushans were defeated by the Xiongnu and had to abandon this area, dividing c. 165 BCE into two groups that migrated in different directions: the Elder Yuezhi (Dà Yuèzhī 大月氏) and the Lesser Yuezhi (Xiǎo Yuèzhī 小 月氏).

The Lesser Yuezhi (the minority part) were divided into several subgroups that were distributed near the Gansú and ended up diluting themselves in the neighboring towns.

The Elder Yuezhi migrated westward to the area of the Ili River valley (currently on the border between China and Kazakhstan), in turn displacing the Saka tribes (Scythian peoples) who were settled there (in turn, these Sakas migrated south and formed States as far as India). Shortly afterwards, they were expelled by the Wusun and migrated towards Sogdiana and then towards Bactria, destroying the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. For this reason, the Yuezhi Mayors are usually identified with peoples that Greco-Latin sources called Tójari (Greek Τοχάριοι Tókharoi; Sanskrit Tukhāra) and the Asii (or Asioi). During the 1st century BCE, one of the five factions of the Greater Yuezhi, the Kushanas (Chinese: 貴霜; pinyin: Guìshuāng), unifies the five tribes, forming the Kushan Empire. From then on, they carried out an expansion that took them to Turfan (Tarim Basin), Khorasmia and Pataliputra (in the Indo-Gangetic plain). The Kushan Empire played an important role in the development of the Silk Road and the transmission of Buddhism along that route to Han China. It maintained friendly and commercial contacts with the Chinese Empire and the Roman Empire and hostile contacts with the Parthian Empire.

The name “Tocharian”

In all scientific and popular literature there is enormous confusion when using the term Tocharian, being applied to two clearly different but often confused peoples: the Kushán b>/yuezhi (a people we now know to be northeastern Iranians closely related to Bactrians and Sakas, with their first known location in western Gansou) and the Turphans/< b>Kucheans (a people also Indo-European but of an independent branch, always located on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin).

Application to the Kushán/Yuezhi people originating from Western Gansu

The Kushans are a northeastern Iranian people (related to Scythians-Saka and Bactrians, mainly) who, like the rest of the eastern Iranian peoples of the Yaz Culture (1500-1100 BCE, region from Margiana in Turkmenistan), migrate towards western Gansu around 1000-500 BCE.

The Kushans invade the Grecobactrian Kingdom in 120 BCE. The Greeks who lived in this kingdom gave them the name τóχαροι (pronounced tójari), from which in Latin tocharius (pl. tocharii). Some testimonies of such a Greek appellation are documented by Strabo (11.8.2) and then by Ptolemy (6.11.6, who calls them tagouraioi). Now, Thagurus was the name that in ancient times the Latins gave to Serindia (that is, to the main territory covered by the Silk Road, a territory called Tukaras or Tusharas in Sanskrit and Tu-hu-lo in Chinese). The installation of this people in Bactria caused this territory to be called by the Persians Tokharistan (also known as Tokaristan or Tokaria throughout the first millennium of the Christian era due to a phonetic transcription problem). By then, a text in Turkish designates the language spoken in that country as twqry. Therefore, the Tocharian name applied to the Kushán/Yuezhi people seems to have a Greek origin, from which it passed to the Persians and, from them, to the Arabs.

The Hindus (who were invaded by them and had direct contact) called them kushán, although in Sanskrit they were known as Tukhāra.

Bactria, the land in which they settled, was later known as Tokharistan.

They called themselves kushano or kushán.

The Chinese called them Yuezhi (月氏, "the clan of the Moon", perhaps because these people paid a special cult to the moon as a deity of fertility or because yuezhi maintained a certain parophony with his autonym), reserving Guishuang for one of his five partialities.

Therefore, in Antiquity, the name "Tocharian" was applied only from the Greek sphere and to the people that today we can call Kushán/yuezhi.

Application to the Turfano/Kucheano people originating from the north of the Tarim Basin

The Turfanos and Kucheans are part of a branch that broke off from the Indo-European trunk probably at the beginning of the III millennium BCE. It seems that around 1800 BCE they were already settled in the Tarim Basin. There is news of them until c. late I EC in the same place.

In ancient times the name "Tocharian" was not applied to these people.

The westernmost kingdom had Kucha as its capital. Thanks to texts from this kingdom, it is known that the singular demonym they used was kushiññe.

The easternmost kingdom had its capital in Turfan, then called Kushí or Gushí.

According to some researchers, these tocharians of the Tarim—or part of them—called themselves arcia and seras (which would somewhat explain the appellation to-caroi given to them by the Greeks). For this reason, it is said that their ancestral territory was called Serica, passing, by metonymy, such a name to be applied by Europeans to China with the meaning of land of silk.

Current situation

As the memory of both the Kushán/Yuezhi and the Turfanos/Kucheanos was lost, in the 20th century both were called "Tocharians", being systematically confused.

Currently the term Tocharian is being consolidated for the Turfanos/Kucheanos of the Tarim. The use of that term for the Kushán/Yuezhi is confusing; Even the researchers who have managed to identify the Kushan inscriptions in 2023 have proposed the term eteo-tocharian ("true Tocharians"), not Tocharian.

Surely, preferring endonyms to exonyms and trying to avoid confusion, the use of the term Tocharian is preferable for the Turfanos/Kucheans of the Tarim Basin and the term Kushán b> (yuezhi) for the Iranians of Bactria. However, it is a matter for debate.

Ethnicity of the Kushan/Yuezhi people

Many scholars have believed that the Yuezhi/Kushán were an Indo-European people. .

In the digital conference «Discovery of the Almosi inscriptions and their significance in the system of ancient writings of Central Asia» (National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan) in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), March 1, 2023 The linguistic identity of the Kushan language was revealed as a northeastern Iranian language, halfway between Bactrian and Saka.

Sometime between c. 530 BCE (Achaemenid conquest of Central Asia, when they inhabited Western Gansu) and c. 160 BCE (when they inhabited the valley of the Ilí River) they adopted the modified Aramaic writing to form an abugida, of which some inscriptions are preserved until the 12th century. III EC, mainly in its final destination in Bactria.

They were northwest Iranian tribes, closely related to Khorasmians, Sogdians, Bactrians and Scythians-Sarmatians-Saka. Originally from Margiana-Bactriana, they adopted a nomadic life dedicated to pastoralism until their definitive settlement in Bactriana.

They finally disappeared after the III CE century, mixed with their relatives the Bactrians.

Origins of the Yuezhi/Kushán people (to c. 210 BCE)

Origin (c. 1000-500? BCE)

Being a northeastern Iranian people, they were probably found in Margiana and Bactria as part of the Yaz Culture around 1500-1100 BCE, from which they broke off at some point in the I millennium BCE, separating itself from the rest of the northeastern Iranian peoples (Scythians-Sarmatians-Saka, Sogdians, Bactrians and Khorasmians).

First texts (c. 4th century BCE)

There are three pre-Han Chinese texts that mention the yuezhi:

• The Book of Zhuangzi (,і, is currently thought to be compiled in 26 AEC using texts of the centuries XI-II AECand not as was supposed before by Guan Zhong, a Qi official of the S. VII AEC), although considered as a philosophical text, it also contains stories and anecdotes. Mention (chapter 73, 78, 80 and 81) of nomadic herders known as Yúzhī (,, ancient Chinese: *or Niúzhī (,, ancient Chinese: ¶¶), which supplied jade to the Chinese. The export of jade from the Tarim basin, from at least the end of the II Millennium AEC, is well documented archaeologically; for example, hundreds of jade pieces found in the Fu Hao Tomb (c. 1200 AEC) originated in the area of the Kingdom of Jotan (South border of the Tarim Basin). According to this source, the Yúzhī/Niúzhī did not conflict with the Chinese states, unlike the neighbors xiongnu.
• The epic novel “Chronic of the Mu, the Son of Heaven” (principles of the centuryIV AEC) mentions the plain where the Yúzhī (知, old Chinese: *), northwest of the Zhou lands.
• Chapter 59 of Yì Zhōu Shū (simplified young man:;に; traditional Chinese::に; ancient Chinese: *) probably centuryIV-I AEC, mention the people Yúzhī (,, ancient Chinese: *GUEwjat-tij) that lives northwest of the Zhou domain and offers horses as tribute A late supplement contains the name Yuèdī (Augustine, ancient Chinese: *GUEwjat-tij), which can be an orthographic error of the name Yuèzhī (Augustine, ancient Chinese: *) that appears in later texts.

From these three Chinese texts it is deduced that the Kushán/Yuezhi were settled in western Gansu, at least since the IV century AEC. Their way of life was that of nomadic shepherds who used horses and bows, identical to the rest of the nomadic peoples of the steppes (Saká, Wusun, Xiongnu,...). They maintained good relations with Han China (with which they traded jade) and bad with the nomads with whom they competed (sacá, xiongnú, wusun).

Artifacts of the nomadic peoples of Gansu and Ningxia: the Ordos Culture (5th-4th centuries BCE)

Numerous nomadic artifacts are attributed to the areas of southern Ningxia and southeastern Gansu during the period from the V-IV centuries BCE. They are quite similar to the nomadic works of Ordos, further east, and reflect strong Scythian influences.

They are quite similar to works from the nomadic culture of Ordos, further east, and reflect strong Scythian influences. Some of these artifacts were sinicitized by the neighboring Chinese state of Qin, probably also for nomadic consumption. Nomadic figures with long noses riding camels also appear regularly in southern Ningxia from the 4th century BCE, and may represent Indo-Europeans, whether Sakas or Kushans.

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  Nomadic figure, with typical long nose, on a bactrian camel. South of Ningxia, s. IV AEC

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  Arne arne in the form of enrosted wolf, characteristic of the nomadic artifacts of the south of Ningxia and southeast of the Gansu, s.V-IV AEC

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  Belt buckle with wolf shape standing, characteristic of the nomadic artifacts of the south of Ningxia and southeast of Gansú and related to the scite styles of the Pazyryk culture. s. IV AEC.

The Kushan/Yuezhi in the steppes (from c. 210 BCE to 165 BCE)

Kushan contacts with the Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE)

Sima Qian (founder of Chinese historiography) writes a more detailed account in chapter 123 of his "Historical Memoirs" (or "Records of the Grand Historian", basically a copy of chapter 61 of the Book of Han (traditional Chinese: 漢書 or 前漢書; simplified Chinese: 汉书 or 前汉书; pinyin: Qián Hànshū; Wade-Giles: 'Ch'ien Han Shu) with some explanatory additions. Describe how During the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), Zhang Qian was sent to buy valuable jade and military horses from a town he called Wūzhī (烏氏, Chinese). ancient: *ʔa-kje), which was run by a man called Luo. The Wūzhī exchanged these products for Chinese silk, which they then sold to their neighbors. It is probably the first reference to the Yuezhi/Kushán as intermediaries on the Silk Road.

Both in Sima Qian's "Historical Memoirs" and in the "Book of Han" the name Yuèzhī (月氏, ancient Chinese: *ŋʷjat-kje), composed of characters that mean "moon" and "clan" respectively, that is, they were called the Moon Clan by the Chinese, so Yuèzhī is an exonym. Several romanizations of this name have been published in Chinese. Iranologist H. W. Bailey preferred Üe-ṭşi . Another modern Chinese pronunciation of the name would be Ròuzhī, based on the thesis that the character 月 in the name is a misspelling for 肉; However, Thierry considers this thesis "completely erroneous."

According to chapter 61 of the Book of Han, the Yuèzhī were a horde of nomadic shepherds, with a lifestyle similar to the Xiongnu, their enemies, with 100,000 warriors. They lived between the Dunhuang and Qilian mountains, that is, in western Gansú (archaeological remains have not yet been found in this area).

Conflicts between Kushan and Xiongnu

The account in chapter 61 of the Book of Han begins with the Yuezhi occupying the grasslands of northwestern China in the early 2nd century BCE: "The Elder Yuezhi were a nomadic horde. They moved following their cattle, and had the same customs as those of the Xiongnu. As their soldiers numbered more than 100,000, they were strong and despised the Xiongnu. "In the past, they lived in the region between Dunhuang and Qilian."

The region mentioned is the current Western Gansú, although no archaeological remains from this period have been found.

Some researchers have argued that "Dunhuang" should be Dunhong (a mountain in the Tian Shan), and that "Qilian" should be interpreted as the Tian Shan itself, thus displacing the original homeland of the Yuezhi 1,000 km further northwest, in the north of present-day Xinjiang). Other authors suggest that the area identified by Sima Qian should be considered the center of an empire that would encompass the western part of the Mongolian Plain, the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the Tarim Basin, and probably much of Central Asia, including Altai Mountains, the site of the Pazyryk burials of the Ukok Plateau.

At the end of the s. III BCE , the Xiongnu monarch Touman even sent his eldest son Modu as a hostage to the Yuezhi. The Yuezhi often attacked their neighbors the Wusun to acquire slaves and grazing land. The Yuezhi attacked the Wusuns, killed their monarch Nandoumi and took their territory. Nandoumi's son, Kunmo fled among the Xiongnu and was raised by their king.

Little by little, the Xiongnu became stronger and war broke out with the Yuezhi. There were at least four wars according to Chinese sources.

The first war broke out during the reign of the Xiongnu monarch Touman (died 209 BCE), who suddenly attacked the Yuezhi. The Yuezhi wanted to kill Modu (the son of the Xiongnu king whom Touman held hostage to them), but Modu stole a good horse from them and managed to escape to his country. He later killed his father and became monarch of the Xiongnu. 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 BCE). In this war, a large area of territory originally belonging to the Yuezhi was taken by the Xiongnu and the hegemony of the Yuezhi began to shake.

The third war was probably in 176 BCE (or shortly before). Led by one of the Modu tribal chiefs, the Xiongnu invaded Yuezhi territory in the Gansu region and achieved a overwhelming victory.

Modu boasted in a letter (174 BCE) to Emperor Han that, due to "the excellence of his fighting men and the strength of his horses, he has succeeded in eliminating the Yuezhi.", killing or subjecting to obedience all the tribes.

Despite their defeat against the Xiongnu, around 173 BCE, the Yuezhi attacked and defeated the Wusun, killing their king (Chinese: kunmi 昆 彌 or kunmo 昆莫) known as Nandoumi (Chinese: 難兜靡) and took over their lands.

Modu's son, Laoshang Chanyu (reigned 174-166 BCE), subsequently killed the king of the Yuezhi and, according to nomadic traditions, "made a drinking cup from his skull." » (Shiji 123).

Fate of the Lesser Yuezhi (Xiǎo Yuèzhī, 小月氏) (from 165 BCE)

A portion of the Yuezhi moved to the "southern mountains," believed to be the Qilian Mountains on the edge of the Tibet Plateau. Some are said to have settled among the Qiang (in present-day Qinghai) and participated in the rebellion in Liang Province (184-221 CE) against the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Others might have become part of the Jie people of Shanxi, who established the Later Zhao state of the 4th century CE (although this remains controversial).

Finally, another group of Yuezhi founded the city-state of Cumuḍa (present-day Kumul or Hami) in eastern Tarim.

The Elder Yuezhi (Dà Yuèzhī, 大月氏) in Central Asia (165 BCE to 30 CE)

Exodus of the Elder Yuezhi to the valley of the Ilí River (165-132 BCE) and to Sogdiana (132-120 BCE)

The main part, the Elder Yuezhi (Dà Yuèzhī, 大月氏), began migrating northwest around 165 BCE, they first settled in the valley of the Ili River (in Zhentysu, Dzungaria, immediately north of the Tian Shan Mountains), where they defeated and expelled the sai (sacas) who inhabited it: « The Yuezhi attacked the king of the Sai [sacas, for the Chinese] who moved a considerable distance to the south and the Yuezhi occupied their lands” (Book of Han 61 4B). The Wusun resettled in the former Yuezhi lands of Western Gansu as vassals of the Xiongnu.

In 133-132 BCE, the Wusun, allied with the Xiongnu, and in revenge for a previous conflict, again managed to dislodge the Yuezhi from the Ili River valley, forcing them to move towards the southwest. The Elder Yuezhi settled in the urban civilization located in neighboring Dayuan (Sogdiana, currently Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), north of the Oxus River and Bactria.

The Visit of Zhang Qian (126 BCE)

The Yuezhi were visited in 126 BCE in Sogdiana by a Chinese mission, led by Zhang Qian, who sought an offensive alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu.

Zhang Qian, who spent a year in Transoxiana and Bactria, wrote a detailed account in the Shiji, which gives a broad overview of the situation in Central Asia at that time. The son of the murdered Yuezhi king rejected the request for an alliance, preferring to keep the peace rather than seek revenge.

Zhang Qian also reported:

The Yuezhi Mayors live 2,000 or 3,000 li [832-1.247 km] west of Dayuan [ Ferganaval], north of the river Gui [in Chinese, in Greek Oxus, today Amu Darya ]. They border south with Daxia [Bactriana], west with Anxi [Partia], and north with Kangju [beyond the Jaxartes/Syr Darya half]. They are a nation of nomads, moving from one place to another with their flocks, and their customs are like those of the xiongnu. They have about 100,000 or 200,000 arched warriors. (laughs)Shiji123)

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

Although the states from Dayuan to the west to Anxi [Partia], speak quite different languages, their customs are generally similar and their mutually intelligible languages. Men have sunk eyes and big beards and mustaches. They're skilled in trade and they'll bargain a fraction of the coin. They respect women a lot, and men make decisions following the advice of their women. (laughs)Shiji123)

Zhang Qian also described the remains of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom across the Gui River (Oxus, today's Amu Darya) as a series of autonomous city-states under Yuezhi sovereignty:

Daxia [Bactriana] is located more than 2,000 li southwest of Dayuan, south of the river Gui [Oxus]. His people cultivate the land and have cities and houses. Their customs are like those of Ta-Yuan [ Dayuan, Fergana]. He does not have a single king, but many small chiefs who rule the various cities. People aren't good warriors and fear the battle, but they're smart in trade. After the Yuezhi Majors moved west and attacked those lands, the whole country remained under their rule. The country ' s population is large, of 1,000,000 or more. The capital is called the city of Lanshi and has a market where all kinds of goods are bought and sold. (laughs)Shiji123)

Latest Chinese reports

The next mention of the Yuezhi in Chinese sources is found in chapter 96A of the Book of Han (completed in 111 BCE), relating to the beginning of the 1st century BCE small>.

Here it describes that the Yuezhi occupy all of Bactria, organized into five main tribes or xīhóu (Chinese: 翖侯, "Allied Prince"). These tribes were known to the Chinese as:

• Xiūmì (associated) in West Wakhān and Zibak;
• Guìshuāng (국;) in Badakhshan and territories adjacent to the north of the Oxus;
• Shuāngmí (.) in the Shughnan or Chitral region.
• Xīdùn (.) in the Balkh region.
• Dūmì (backlog) in the Termez region.

The Book of Later Han (5th century CE) also records the visit of Yuezhi envoys to the Chinese capital in 2 BCE, who gave oral teachings on Buddhist sutras to a student, suggesting that there were Buddhist Yuezhi as early as the 1st century BCE.

Chapter 88 of the Book of Later Han is based on a report by Ban Yong, based on the campaigns of his father Ban Chao in the late 1st century CE. He reports that one of the five Yuezhi tribes, the Guishuang, had managed to take control of the tribal confederation:

More than a hundred years later, the xihou of Guishuang, called Qiujiu (chino:,국), Kujula Kadphises) attacked and exterminated the other four xihou. He established himself as king of a kingdom called Guishuang [Kushan]. He invaded Anxi [Partia] and took the region of Gaofu (chino: ₡, Kabul). He also defeated the kingdoms of Puda (chino:).️) and Jibin (chino:)., Kapiśa-Gandhāra). Qiujiu (Kujula Kadphises) was over eighty years old when he died. His son happened to him. Yan Gaozhen (Chinese:高に) (Vima Takto). He returned and defeated Tianzhu [Northwest of India] and installed a general to supervise and direct him. The Yuezhi became extremely rich. All kingdoms call [to their king] the King of Guishuang [Kushan], but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi. (Book of Han Later, trad. John Hill)

A later Chinese annotation in Shiji by Zhang Shoujie (citing Wan Zhen 萬震 in Nánzhōuzhì 南州志 ["Strange Things from the Southern Region"], a now lost text from the3rd century ECof the Wu kingdom), describes the Kushans as living in the same general area in northern India, in Greco-Roman style cities and with sophisticated craftsmanship.

The quote is doubtful, as Wan Zhen probably never visited the Yuezhi kingdom via the Silk Road, although he may have gathered his information from the trading ports on the southern coast. Chinese sources continued to use the name yuezhi and rarely used the kushan (or guishuang) as a generic term:

The Yuezhi Mayors are approximately 7,000 li [2.910 km] north of India. Its land is high; the climate is dry; the region is remote. The king calls himself “Son of Heaven”. There are so many horse riding in that country that the number often reaches several hundred thousand. The designs of cities and palaces are quite similar to those of Daqin [Roman Empire]. They've got the red skin. They're skilled in the arch-horse shooting. Local products, rarities, treasures, clothing and upholstery are very good, and even India cannot be compared with them. (Wan Zhen, century) III EC [8]

The Kushans in Bactria

The Greeks of Alexander the Great conquered Bactria in the 3rd century BCE. Since then it fell under the influence of the Hellenistic civilization of the Seleucids. The result was that the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom survived until the 2nd century BCE. Several nomadic peoples put pressure on this kingdom, even burning the city of Alexandria on the Oxus in 145 BCE. The last Greco-Bactrian king, Heliocles I, retired and moved his capital to the Kabul Valley. Around 140-130 BCE, the Greco-Bactrian state was conquered by nomads and dissolved.

The Greek geographer Strabo mentions these facts in his account of the tribes of Central Asia whom he called "Scythians":

All, or most of them, are nomads. The best known tribes are those that deprived the Greeks of Bactriana: the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari and Sacarauli, who came from the steppes located on the other side of the Jaxartes [ Syr Darya], in front of the Sacae and Sogdiani. (Strabon, [9])

Kushán coins

An anonymous kushaan copy of a coin of the Greek-Bactrian king Heliocles I.

An anonymous kushaan copy of a coin of the Greek-Bactrian king Heliocles I, with a goldenginal horse on the reverse.

King Kushán Arseiles. Fine of the s. I AEC.

King Kushán Sapadbizes. Fine of the s. I AEC.

The Roman historian Pompey Trogus (1st century BCE) attributed the destruction of the Greco-Bactrian state to the Sacaraucae and the Asian "kings of the Tochari". Both Pompey and the Roman historian Justin (2nd century CE) record that the Parthian king Artabanus II was mortally wounded in a war against the Tocharians in 124 BCE. Various relationships have been proposed between these tribes and those named in Chinese sources, but remain controversial.

Prince yuezhi of Khalchayan (s. I AEC). Artificial cranial deformation sample. At your feet, a laminate armor with neck protector, a trophy of the drawers. Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan.

After settling in Bactria, the Yuezhi became Hellenized to some extent, as evidenced by their adoption of the Greek alphabet and some remaining coins, minted in the style of the Greco-Bactrian kings, with text in Greek.

The rugs of Noin-Ula

Yuezhis in Bactriana, carpets of Noin-Ula

Figures on the embroidered carpets of the Noin-Ula burial site.

Noble kushan on altar of fire (ampliation), Noin-Ula.

Kushan horseman with armor, Noin-Ula.

Kushán warrior (left) fighting a sogdian after a shield (derech), Noin-Ula.

According to Sergey Yatsenko, the carpets with vivid embroidered scenes discovered at Noin-Ula were made by the Yuezhi in Bactria, and were obtained by the Xiongnu through trade exchange or tax payment, as the Yuezhi may have remained as tributaries of the Xiongnu for a long time after their defeat.

Embroidered rugs were among the most prized luxury items for the Xiongnu. The figures depicted on the carpets are believed to reflect the clothing and customs of the Yuezhi while they were in Bactria in the 1st centuries BCE-1st centuries CE.

The tombs of Tillya Tepe

The tombs of Tillya Tepe, in which numerous objects have been found (1st centuries BCE - 1st CE), probably belonged to the Yuezhis / Kushans of shortly after after the fall of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and before the rise of the Kushan Empire. They correspond to a time when the Yuezhis had not yet come into contact with Buddhism.

The Kushans in the Hindu Kush

The area of the Hindu Kush (Paropamisadae) was under the Western Indo-Greek Kingdom until the reign of Hermaeus (reigned 90-70 BCE). After that date, no Indo-Greek kings are known in the area. According to Bopearachchi, no trace of Indo-Scythian occupation (nor coins of major Indo-Scythian rulers such as Maues or Azes I) has been found in Paropamisade and western Gandhara. It is possible that the Kushans conquered the Hindu Kush, which had been under Greco-Bactrian domination for almost two centuries.

Just as Bactria had done with Greco-Bactrian coins, the Kushans copied Hermeaus' coins on a large scale, until around 40 CE, when the design mixed with the king's coinage. Kushan Kujula Kadphises.

In the Kushan Empire

From that moment on, they extended their control over the northwest area of the Indian subcontinent, founding the Kushan Empire, which would rule the region for several centuries. Despite their name change, most Chinese authors continued to refer to the Kushanas as the Yuezhi.

The Kushans expanded eastward during the 1st century CE. The first Kushan emperor, Kujula Kadphises, ostensibly associated his coins with those of the Greco-Bactrian king Hermaeus.

The Kushans integrated Buddhism into a pantheon of many deities and became great promoters of Mahayana Buddhism, and their interactions with Greek civilization helped the flourishing of Gandharian culture and Greco-Buddhism.

During the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, the Kushan Empire expanded militarily northward and occupied parts of the Tarim Basin, placing it at the center of the lucrative Central Asian trade with the Empire. Roman. The Kushans allied themselves militarily with the Chinese against mutual enemies. In 84 CE, he participated in a campaign with the Chinese general Ban Chao against the Sogdians, who were attempting to support a revolt by the king of Kashgar.

Around 85 CE, the Kushans also assisted the Chinese in an attack on Turpan, east of the Tarim Basin.

Following military support given to the Han, the Kushan emperor requested a marriage alliance with a Han princess and sent gifts to the Chinese court in the hope that this would happen. Following the refusal of the Han court, a Kushan army of 70,000 men marched on Ban Chao in 86 CE. The Kushan army was apparently exhausted when it reached Ban Chao and was defeated by the Chinese force. The Kushans withdrew and subsequently paid tribute to the Chinese emperor Han He (89-106CE).

Around 120 CE, Kushan troops installed Chenpan (a prince who had been sent to them as a hostage and who had become one of the Kushan emperor's favorites) on the throne of Kashgar.), thus expanding its power and influence in the Tarim basin. There they introduced the Brahmi script, the Indian Prakrit language for administration, and Greco-Buddhist art, which evolved into Serindian art.

Following this territorial expansion, the Kushans introduced Buddhism to North and Northeast Asia, both through direct missions and through the translation of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese.

Among the leading Kushan missionaries and translators were Lokaksema (born c. 147 CE) and Dharmaraksa (c. 233 - c. 311), both influential translators of the Mahayana sutras into Chinese. They went to China and established translation schools, thus placing themselves at the center of the transmission of Buddhism along the Silk Road.

In the Records of the Three Kingdoms (ch. 3), it was recorded that in 229 CE "The king of the Da Yuezhi [Kushán], Bodiao 波調 [ Vasudeva I ], sent his envoy to present tribute, and His Majesty [Emperor Cao Rui] granted him the title of King of the Da Yuezhi Intimate of the Wei (Ch: 親魏大月氏王, Qīn Wèi Dà Yuèzhī Wáng). . 4;

Shortly after, the military power of the Kushanas began to decline. The Sassanid Empire of Persia, rival of the Kushans, extended its rule into Bactria during the reign of Ardashir I around 230 CE. The Sassanids also occupied neighboring Sogdiana around 260 CE. small> and they turned it into a satrapy.

Throughout the III and IV centuries, the Kushan Empire was divided and conquered between the Sassanids, the northern Hephthalite tribes, and the Gupta and Yaudheya empires. of India.

Late references to the Little Yuezhi

Xiao Yuezhi refers to the less militarized Yuezhi who settled in northern China (after the migration of the Great Yuezhi). The term is used of people from places as diverse as Tibet, Qinghai, Shanxi, and the Tarim Basin.

Some of the Little Yuezhi settled among the Qiang of Huangzhong, Qinghai, according to archaeologist Sophia-Katrin Psarras. The Yuezhi and Qiang are said to have been part of the Huangzhong Loyal Barbarian Auxiliaries that mutinied against the Han dynasty in the Liangzhou Rebellion (184-221 CE).

It is said that elements of Little Yuezhi were part of the Jie people, originally from Yushe county in Shanxi. Other theories link the Jie more closely to the Xiongnu, the Kangju, or the Tocharian-speaking peoples of the Tarim. Led by Shi Le (Ming emperor of later Zhao), the Jie established the Zhao dynasty (319-351). Later, Ran Min of the short-lived Ran Wei dynasty massacred the Jie populations during the Wei-Jie War.

In Tibet, the Gar or mGar—a clan name associated with blacksmiths—may descend from the Lesser Yuezhi, who resettled in Qiang in 162 BCE.

A Chinese monk named Gao Juhui, who traveled to the Tarim Basin in the 10th century, described the Zhongyun (仲雲; Wade-Giles Tchong-yun) as descendants of the Lesser Yuezhi. This was the city-state of Cumuḍa (also Cimuda or Cunuda), south of Lop Nur, in eastern Tarim. (Following the subsequent settlement of Uighur-speaking people in the area, Cumuḍa became known as Čungul, Xungul and Kumul. Under later influence of the Han Chinese ethnic group, was renamed Hami).

Whatever their fate, the Xiao Yuezhi were no longer identifiable with that name and seem to have been subsumed by other ethnicities, such as Tibetans, Uyghurs and Han.