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| Yuezhi king and attendants |
In the second century b.c.e. the Yuezhi people, described as light-skinned and speaking an Indo-European language (and without a written language), lived in western Gansu (Kansu) Province and the region between the Altai and Tianshan (T’ien-shan) Mountains in present-day northwestern China. They were hereditary enemies of another nomadic group, the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu).
Their misfortune began when Maotun (Mao-t’un), who had spent time as a hostage among them, became leader of the Xiongnu in 209 b.c.e. Maotun would lead his people to unprecedented power by defeating both the newly established Han dynasty in China and other nomadic tribes. The Yuezhi were among his first victims: After being defeated in 175–174 b.c.e., they were expelled from the Gansu Corridor and began their westward migration.
Maotun’s successors continued to wage war against the Yuezhi who had settled in the Ili Valley in present-day Xinjiang (Sinkiang) in China. One branch, called the Xiao Yuezhi (Hsiao Yueh-chih), or Small Yuezhi, moved south into areas controlled by another, nomadic people called Qiang (Ch’iang) and lost their separate identity.
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Another branch, called the Da Yuezhi (Ta Yueh-chih), or Greater Yuezhi, moved further west, eventually playing a role in the destruction of the Greek kingdom of Bactria and settling in the northwestern edge of the Indian world. There they prospered, due to the location of their new home: an important meeting point along the Silk Road between China, India, Persia, and the Roman Empire.
A mosaic of peoples mingled in the cosmopolitan state they created, called the Kushan Empire. Archaeologists have excavated the rich remains at Begram in modern Afghanistan, the capital of the Kushan Empire, and at other sites.
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| Yuezhi warriors |
The remains included Greco-Roman sculptures and bronzes, Indian ivory, jewelry and gold ornaments, Chinese bronzes, silks and lacquerware, and Alexandrian glass, indicating that rich trade existed under the Kushans over 2,000 years ago.
The dominance of Buddhist religious art shows the primacy of Buddhism among the Kushan people, though the presence of Persian and Greco-Roman deities suggest the presence of other religions among the population.
In 138 b.c.e. the Han emperor Wu sent an envoy Zhang Qian (Chang Ch’ien) west to seek out the Da Yuezhi for an alliance against their mutual enemy the Xiongnu. After many tribulations Zhang did find them, not in the Ili Valley, but in Afghanistan. They had however settled down and refused to cross swords with the Xiongnu again.
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| Yuezhi migration |