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Chapter 54: The Eastern Silk Road
The Silk Road, an ancient trade route connecting China with Mesopotamia, is perhaps the longest terrestrial trade route in the world. Stretching for over 7000 kilometers, connecting Antioch at the Mediterranean coast of Syria to Luoyang in the heart of China. In between, carvans would have to cross the Hexi corridor between Lanzhou and Yumen, the area directly north of the Tibetan highlands and vulnerable to nomadic raids from the eastern steppe. Then, they would continue into the Tarim Basin, going from one oasis town to the other, seeking to avoid the desert of Taklamakan. The most important of these oasis-towns would Qocho, Khotan and Kashgar, before crossing the mountains into the Farghana valley.
Over here, the trade would be taken over by the Sogdians, and in the Karakhanid realm, the Silk Road would pass through the cities of Osh, Isfara, Kokand, Istaravshan, Samarqand, Bokhara and Amol, before entering the Persian sector. There it would enter via Merv, through Nishapur, via damghan to Reyy, before going through Hamadan into Qtespon, and then up the Euphrates to Callicus , and then to Antioch.
When merchants would arrive at Kashgar, they would know that they are very well in roughly half of the journey. So let’s take a look at this area has been developing.
The western parts of the Tarim Basin continue to be held by the Kingdom of Khotan throughout the entire 10th century, although towards the end of the 10th century they would face increased pressure from the Karluks in the form of the Karakhanid Khanate.
Buddhist art from Khotan
The inhabitants of Khotan would feed themselves on the scarce, but incredibly fertile arable land of the oases, by growing cereal and fruits, and manufacture carpets and fine silk. In fact, Khotan would be the first place to produce silk outside of China. The second most important export would be jade.
The people of Khotan themselves speak an Eastern Iranian language known as Saka and practice Buddhism of the Mahayana lineage.
Their north-eastern neighbours, dominating the Dzungar basin, eastern Tarim basin and the Turpan oasis would be the Kingdom of Qocho, being a successor state to the previous Uyghur Khanate dominating the eastern steppe before the arrival of the Yenisei Kyrgyz.
Uyghur king from Turpan
The incoming Uyghurs would speak a Siberian Turkic (2) language and follow Manicheism of the Toxoxian variety; on the other hand the previous inhabitants would speak Arsian language (1), Sakan and practice Buddhism, of the Mahayana variety. The two religions would very well coexist in one state, much to the surprise of a western observer.
For all practical purposes, the Arsian languages would have very well died out by 1000 AD, perhaps even by 900AD. While Saka would continue to survive in some parts of the eastern Tarim basin, the area would come to be dominate by the Uyghur.
View attachment 472219
The mountain ranges of the Eastern Steppe
The northern parts of the eastern steppe remain disunited, with the Kyrghyz returning back to the region of Tuva and adjacent areas; the Naimans dominating the basin between the Altai and the Khangai (3). The Orkhon basin of Mongolia would be dominated by the Kerait people, while the Merkits would be established in the lands between Lake Baykal and the Selenga River.
The southern parts of Outer Mongolia, the entire Gobi desert, Inner Mongolia, as well as the regions of Outer and Inner Manchuria would be ruled by the Liao dynasty. The Liaos would not be ethnically Han (Chinese), but rather belong to the Khitan people – assumed to be either of Tungusic origin, or be some kind of cousins of the Koreans. However, the most commonly held idea is that they were a para-Mongolic people, meaning that they were distantly related to the Mongols.
View attachment 472220
A Buddhist stupa in the city of Bars-Hot, in Mongolia
The Liao lands are thought to have been populated by some 750 000 Khitans and somewhere between 2 to 3 million ethnic Chinese. Ruling over a half-sedentary and half-nomadic realm was not easy – to accomplish the task the Liao set up two different adminsitrations: a northern one for the nomadic populations (Uyghur, Khitan, Jurchen,) and a southern one for the Han dominated regions, but also populated by a people called the Balhae, living in the northern parts of the Korean peninsula.
The northern administration would respect and retain the nomadic government structure; the administration of the southern regions would very well be an imitation of the Tang administration.
Prior to the establishment of the Liao dynasty, the Khitans did not have a written language. However, they would develop two writing systems of their own, known as the Khitan large and Khitan small scripts. As you can see below, they were heavily inspired by the Chinese writing system.
View attachment 472221
A Khitan bronze mirror, with examples of Khitan script
The Khitans (4) themselves would practice Buddhism and set up many monasteries in their realm. Archeology suggests that besides Buddhism, original Tengriistic shamanist practices would continue among the nomadic population; and Daoist and Zoroastrian (sic!) influences have been found in the burial practices.
To the west of the Liao Empire, the Tangut people, or Tibetan origin established their realm known as the Xi-Xia (Western Xia). They would establish control over the Hexi or Gansu corridor, over the Ordos desert and the northeastern portions of the Tibetan plateau (Qinghai).
The Xi-Xia dynasty is attributed to have made significant contributions in culture such as art and literature, but also in military organizations – combining various forms of military untis such as infantry, cavalry, chariots, archery, and even artillery.
View attachment 472222
A Tangut character meaning “Man”
The Tangut people would also develop a specific script for their language, greatly influenced by Chinese. The religion practiced in the Xi-Xia realm would be mainly Tantric Buddhism; and the sexual culture there would make Manichean and Nestorian merchants all but wonder.
(1) Pseudo-Tokharian
(2) The OTL Uyghur language of Xinjiag is a Karluk language, brought to the region by the Karakhanids. The Old Uyghur language of Qocho and the Uyghur Khanate was of the Siberian Turkic branch, making it closer to Sakha (Yakut) than to Uzbek.
(3) West Outer Mongolia. You know what I mean.
(4) The etymology of the word Cathay, denoting China, is most likely to be connected to the ethnonym Khitan.
Disclaimer: This is the last update for some one or two weeks. After, that we re heading to Africa
The Silk Road, an ancient trade route connecting China with Mesopotamia, is perhaps the longest terrestrial trade route in the world. Stretching for over 7000 kilometers, connecting Antioch at the Mediterranean coast of Syria to Luoyang in the heart of China. In between, carvans would have to cross the Hexi corridor between Lanzhou and Yumen, the area directly north of the Tibetan highlands and vulnerable to nomadic raids from the eastern steppe. Then, they would continue into the Tarim Basin, going from one oasis town to the other, seeking to avoid the desert of Taklamakan. The most important of these oasis-towns would Qocho, Khotan and Kashgar, before crossing the mountains into the Farghana valley.
Over here, the trade would be taken over by the Sogdians, and in the Karakhanid realm, the Silk Road would pass through the cities of Osh, Isfara, Kokand, Istaravshan, Samarqand, Bokhara and Amol, before entering the Persian sector. There it would enter via Merv, through Nishapur, via damghan to Reyy, before going through Hamadan into Qtespon, and then up the Euphrates to Callicus , and then to Antioch.
When merchants would arrive at Kashgar, they would know that they are very well in roughly half of the journey. So let’s take a look at this area has been developing.
The western parts of the Tarim Basin continue to be held by the Kingdom of Khotan throughout the entire 10th century, although towards the end of the 10th century they would face increased pressure from the Karluks in the form of the Karakhanid Khanate.
Buddhist art from Khotan
The inhabitants of Khotan would feed themselves on the scarce, but incredibly fertile arable land of the oases, by growing cereal and fruits, and manufacture carpets and fine silk. In fact, Khotan would be the first place to produce silk outside of China. The second most important export would be jade.
The people of Khotan themselves speak an Eastern Iranian language known as Saka and practice Buddhism of the Mahayana lineage.
Their north-eastern neighbours, dominating the Dzungar basin, eastern Tarim basin and the Turpan oasis would be the Kingdom of Qocho, being a successor state to the previous Uyghur Khanate dominating the eastern steppe before the arrival of the Yenisei Kyrgyz.
Uyghur king from Turpan
The incoming Uyghurs would speak a Siberian Turkic (2) language and follow Manicheism of the Toxoxian variety; on the other hand the previous inhabitants would speak Arsian language (1), Sakan and practice Buddhism, of the Mahayana variety. The two religions would very well coexist in one state, much to the surprise of a western observer.
For all practical purposes, the Arsian languages would have very well died out by 1000 AD, perhaps even by 900AD. While Saka would continue to survive in some parts of the eastern Tarim basin, the area would come to be dominate by the Uyghur.
View attachment 472219
The mountain ranges of the Eastern Steppe
The northern parts of the eastern steppe remain disunited, with the Kyrghyz returning back to the region of Tuva and adjacent areas; the Naimans dominating the basin between the Altai and the Khangai (3). The Orkhon basin of Mongolia would be dominated by the Kerait people, while the Merkits would be established in the lands between Lake Baykal and the Selenga River.
The southern parts of Outer Mongolia, the entire Gobi desert, Inner Mongolia, as well as the regions of Outer and Inner Manchuria would be ruled by the Liao dynasty. The Liaos would not be ethnically Han (Chinese), but rather belong to the Khitan people – assumed to be either of Tungusic origin, or be some kind of cousins of the Koreans. However, the most commonly held idea is that they were a para-Mongolic people, meaning that they were distantly related to the Mongols.
View attachment 472220
A Buddhist stupa in the city of Bars-Hot, in Mongolia
The Liao lands are thought to have been populated by some 750 000 Khitans and somewhere between 2 to 3 million ethnic Chinese. Ruling over a half-sedentary and half-nomadic realm was not easy – to accomplish the task the Liao set up two different adminsitrations: a northern one for the nomadic populations (Uyghur, Khitan, Jurchen,) and a southern one for the Han dominated regions, but also populated by a people called the Balhae, living in the northern parts of the Korean peninsula.
The northern administration would respect and retain the nomadic government structure; the administration of the southern regions would very well be an imitation of the Tang administration.
Prior to the establishment of the Liao dynasty, the Khitans did not have a written language. However, they would develop two writing systems of their own, known as the Khitan large and Khitan small scripts. As you can see below, they were heavily inspired by the Chinese writing system.
View attachment 472221
A Khitan bronze mirror, with examples of Khitan script
The Khitans (4) themselves would practice Buddhism and set up many monasteries in their realm. Archeology suggests that besides Buddhism, original Tengriistic shamanist practices would continue among the nomadic population; and Daoist and Zoroastrian (sic!) influences have been found in the burial practices.
To the west of the Liao Empire, the Tangut people, or Tibetan origin established their realm known as the Xi-Xia (Western Xia). They would establish control over the Hexi or Gansu corridor, over the Ordos desert and the northeastern portions of the Tibetan plateau (Qinghai).
The Xi-Xia dynasty is attributed to have made significant contributions in culture such as art and literature, but also in military organizations – combining various forms of military untis such as infantry, cavalry, chariots, archery, and even artillery.
View attachment 472222
A Tangut character meaning “Man”
The Tangut people would also develop a specific script for their language, greatly influenced by Chinese. The religion practiced in the Xi-Xia realm would be mainly Tantric Buddhism; and the sexual culture there would make Manichean and Nestorian merchants all but wonder.
(1) Pseudo-Tokharian
(2) The OTL Uyghur language of Xinjiag is a Karluk language, brought to the region by the Karakhanids. The Old Uyghur language of Qocho and the Uyghur Khanate was of the Siberian Turkic branch, making it closer to Sakha (Yakut) than to Uzbek.
(3) West Outer Mongolia. You know what I mean.
(4) The etymology of the word Cathay, denoting China, is most likely to be connected to the ethnonym Khitan.
Disclaimer: This is the last update for some one or two weeks. After, that we re heading to Africa
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 1.1k