Great Yuezhi Migration from Tarim Besin

Notes on Central Asian History during 200 BC and its effects on later history, Role of Yuezhi migration in Ancient History of Central Asia, settlement of Yuezhi after migration and various theories about current

form of Ancient Yuezhi tribe: (Gurjar/Gujjar/Gujar/Gusar/Gusur/Khazar/Ughar/Gazar/Gusarova)By: Adesh Katariya

Important Note

Till now many researches published on the history of Great Yuezhi/Gurjar tribe but scholars are not in position to clarify all happenings in a series. In this article, we are trying to compile all happenings as per their timings. We also would like to clarify that the material under this article is not a copyright matter and main motive of this article is, to attract good scholars to discuss and research on the great Yuezhi/Gurjar Tribe.

- Adesh Katariya( plast.adesh@gmail.com)

Great Yuezhi Migration (Westward Path):The Yuzhi migration was one of mass proportions. Some scholars believe that their migration of people comprised of hundreds of bowmen and the group of millions people of all ages and genders (Smith 1999:248). In their westward search for adequate agricultural land the Yuzhi encountered numerous hostile groups. The first of these groups, the Wu-san, were located along the basins of the Ili River (Smith 1999: 248).

First Yuezhi– Wusun War

174 BCE Modun, the shanyu of the Xiongnu, died; his son Lao Shang,(Laoshan,proper name: Jizhu) succeeded him as shanyu. The Xiongnu s' attack against the Yuezhi to the west triggered a chain reaction, In 173 BCE the Yuezhi attacked and overran the Wusun. Wu-san, were located along the basins of the Ili River (Smith 1999: 248).Nandoumi, the kunmo (supreme chieftain) of the Wusun, was killed. After that defeat, the Wusun people and the heir to their throne, still an infant, moved to Xiongnu and sought protection. They become vassals to the Xiongnu Some time later, his infant son Liejiaomi was left in the wild. Liejiaomi was eventually found by the Xiongnu. According to a legend recorded in the Hanshu (an ancient Chinese history text that is sequel to Sima Quien's Shiji), Liejiaomi was suckled by a she-wolf and fed meat by ravens while he was in the wild. Liejiaomi was eventually found by the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu's shanyu Jizhu (a.k.a. Lao Shang) adopted Liejiaomi and raised him. When Liejiaomi came of age, Jizhu saw to it that he was made the kunmo of the Xiongnu like his father had been. Jizhu also made Liejiaomi the commander of the far western region of the Xiongnu Empire as a vassal of the Xiongnu. Later, he was sent by the shanyu, together with his people, to protect the western borders of the state.

First Scythian-Yuezhi War .Under the attack of the Wusun, the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) migrated southwest to the Oxus Valley, pushing out the Scythians again, who had a larger number of individuals then the Wu-san, and also tried to defend themselves but fell to the mass fighting force of Yuzhi. The Yuzhi then settled in the prosperous agricultural region occupied by the Sakas (Smith 1999: 249). According to the ancient Book of Han: "The Yuezhi attacked the king of the Sai who moved a considerable distance to the south and the Yuezhi then occupied his lands." This forced the Scythians to undertake their own migration, south to the Iran Plateau, Afghanistan and northern India, where for a time they established a loosely defined Indo-Scythian Rule. The Yuezhi's high percentage of men under arms relative to their total size (ancient sources estimate the Yuezhi could deploy 200,000 horse archers out of a total tribal population of 400,000) made them a formidable opponent. The new country in Central Asia would be called

Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) Major the Greater Yüeh-chih. This touched off a wave of 'chain reactions'. The Scythians went to take over the Greco-Bactria kingdom. They then settled west of the Yaksarat river (Syr Darya) in Sogdiana. The event is briefly hinted at by Strabo, who simply calls them “Sakas”(Sakai) and places them there in his “Geography”. At that time, Sogdiana was probably still Greco-Bactrian territory.

Yuezhi’s Further Migration to South West

Second Yuezhi– Wusun War

In 173 B.C., Han Emperor Wendi replied to Mote (Modu) (Modok, wrongly pronounced as Maodun) Chanyu emphasizing the wish for peace. With Mote dead, his son, Jiyu, got enthroned as Laoshang Chanyu. Wendi ordered that an eunuch by the name of Zhongxing Shuo accompany a Han princess to the Xiongnu s. Zhongxing Shuo tricked Laoshang Chanyu in saying that Han Dynasty intended the Xiongnu s to wear the silk clothes instead of the cavalry clothes. Zhongxing Shuo would instigate the Xiongnu s in attacking Han, and he also taught the Xiongnu s how to count cattle and horses.

In about 161 B.C.E., when Laoshang Chanyu was still alive, the Wusun Prince, Liejiaomi became a strong young man and a ruler, he requested that the shanyu (Laoshan) allow him to take revenge on the Yuezhi. He received permission and attacked the Yuezhi who were then living west of him, defeated the Yuezhi and took over today's Ili area. The Yuzhi remained in this agricultural region for fifteen to twenty years (Smith: 249). At the time of Junchen Chanyu, under the attack of Wusun- Xiongnu alliance ,the Yuezhi, continued their march westward and settled in the valley,Oxus where they conquered the Ta-hai who had lived there (Smith: 250).

However, shortly afterwards the shanyu died and “kunmo” remained in his new country and declared himself independent. In other words, the war with and the conquest of the Yuezhi occurred during the last years of Laoshan’s reign, therefore in 160/161, when he died, the Wusuns were already masters of the Area of the Seven Rivers, which tells us the Yuezhi only inhabited the region for a few years.The Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) people were driven away from the Scythian land by the Wusun Statelet. Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) moved on to occupy Bactria .

It is clear that the two events, the migration the “Royal Sakas” and the conquest of the Area of the Seven rivers, and the Yuezhi by the Wusuni, with their subsequent migration to the southwest,around Dayuan in the land of Kangju (The lands between the rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya) (1) and the conquest of Eastern Bactria, or Daxia (Tachara / Tochara) (2) occurred within a few years of each other, almost similtaneously. TheChinese historian Xu Sung, who lived in the XVIII - XIX century (1781-1848) drew attention to this fact in his commentary to “Han-shu”. He was subsequently quoted by Stan Konov. If we look at the sentence Pompeiy Trogus uses in his “Prologues”: “How the Asians became kings of the Tocharians and destroyed

the Sakaraulians”, we see a full match. The Asians / Wusun conquered the Tocharians who are, technically, Yuezhi / Arsians, and drove the “Royal Sakas” from their land. (HSh), (CD-ZhQ, p. 39)

Yuezhi Occupy Bectria:The Yuezhi 月氏 then conquered the land of Kangju 康居 and settled westward along the valley of the Syr Darya (Yaxarat) river .There, they encountered the Sakaraukas / Sai-wang 塞王 once again and drove them south from Sogdiana. The “Sai-wang” had no other choice but to cross the Hissar ridge and invade the land, which Chang Jiang called “Daxia (Tachara / Tochara)”, located along the upper stream of the Ox river (Amu Darya). They conquered the territory and kept for half a generation. They are the elusive nomads, who stormed and burned the ancient Hellenistic city of Ai Hanuman (called Eucratideia at the time) to the ground. With the fall of this great Greek fortress, the road is open for them to take over Tochara in its entirety or the eastern part of Bactria. Bactria was a key centre on the extensive trade routes developed to transport lapis lazuli, spinel rubies and, quite possibly, emeralds – see Giuliani et al (2000), pp. 631-633 – from the mines in the mountains. Lapis lazuli from Badhakshan was being traded to Mesopotamia, and Egypt as early as the second half of the fourth millennium BCE and to the Indus River cultures by the third millennium. These routes were later to form the basis of the so-called ‘Silk Routes.’Following the settlement of the Yuezhi (referred to by the Greeks as Tókharoi), the general area of Bactria came to be called Tokharistan. The territory of Tokharistan was identical with Kushan Bactria, including the areas of Surkhandarya, Southern Tajikistan and Northern Afghanistan.

Around 145 BC, the Yuezhi sacked the Greek city of Alexandria on the Oxus, present-day Ai Khanoum. Archaeological evidence about this event was found during the excavations of the Old Town of Alexandria / Eucratideia (Ai Hanum). Archaeological analysis shows that the fortress was conquered and burned about 145 B.C.E.

Political Structure of Yuezhi States:

."The Yuezhi were organized into five major tribes, each led by a yabgu, or tribal chief, and known to the Chinese as Xiūmì (休密 ) in Western Wakhān and Zibak, Kushan (貴霜 ) in Badakhshan and the adjoining territories north of the Oxus, Shuangmi (雙靡) in the region of Shughnan, Xidun (肸頓) in the region of Balkh, and Dūmì (都密) in the region of Termez.".

The claim that Da Yuezhi 大月氏 established the five Xihou 翖侯 after they had destroyed the state of Daxia 大夏 in the Hou Hanshu 後漢書, ch. 88, is based on the Hanshu 漢書, ch. 96A. In the latter it is recorded:

Originally Daxia 大夏 had no major overlord or chief, and minor chiefs were frequently established in the towns. The inhabitants are weak and afraid of fighting, with the result that when the Yuezhi 月氏 migrated there, they made them all into their subjects. They provide supplies for Han 漢 envoys. There are five Xihou 翖侯. The first is entitled the Xihou 翖侯 of Xiumi 休密, and the seat of government is at the town of Hemo 和墨; it is distant by 2,841 li 里

from [the seat of] the Protector General and 7,802 li 里 from the Yang 陽 Barrier. The second is entitled the Xihou 翖侯 of Shuangmi 雙靡 , and the seat of government is at the town of Shuangmi 雙靡; it is distant by 3,741 li 里 from [the seat of] the Protector General and 7,782 li

里 from the Yang 陽 Barrier. The third is entitled the Xihou 翖侯 of Kushan 貴霜, and the seat of government is at the town of Huzao 護澡; it is distant by 5,940 li 里 from [the seat of] the Protector General and 7,982 li 里 from the Yang 陽 Barrier. The fourth is entitled the Xihou 翖

侯 of Bidun 肸頓 , and the seat of government is at the town of Bomao 薄茅 ; it is distant by 5,962 li 里 from [the seat of] the Protector General and 8,202 li 里 from the Yang 陽 Barrier. The fifth is entitled the Xihou 翖侯 of Gaofu 高附, and the seat of government is at the town of Gaofu 高附; it is distant by 6,041 li 里 from [the seat of the] Protector General and 9,238 li 里 from the Yang 陽 Barrier. All the five Xihou 翖侯 are subject to the Da Yuezhi 大月氏 . According to this, the five Xihou 翖侯 were in fact not the Yuezhi 月氏 people, but were the people in the state of Daxia 大夏. This is because there was no sovereign who could order the whole country in the state of Daxia 大夏, where each town carried out its affairs in its own way and was ruled by a so-called “minor chief.” The Yuezhi 月氏 did not wipe out these “minor chiefs,” but “made them all into their subjects” after they had conquered the state of Daxia 大夏.

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