Tokharistan (formed from "Tokhara" and the suffix ''-stan'' meaning "place of" in Persian) is an ancient

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

name given to the area which was known as

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

sources. In the 7th and 8th century CE, Tokharistan came under the rule of the

Chinese Empire The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...

, administered by the

Protectorate General to Pacify the West The Protectorate General to Pacify the West (Anxi Grand Protectorate), initially the Protectorate to Pacify the West (Anxi Protectorate), was a protectorate (640 – ) established by the Chinese Tang dynasty in 640 to control the Tarim Basin. Th ...

. Today, Tokharistan is fragmented between

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Names of Tokharistan

Several languages have used variations of the word "Tokhara" to designate the region: * Tokharistan may appear in ancient India sources as the Kingdom of

Tushara The kingdom of Tushara according to Ancient Indian literature, such as the epic ''Mahabharata'' was a land located beyond north-west India. In the ''Mahabharata'', its inhabitants, known as the Tusharas, are depicted as ''mlechchas'' ("barbarians" ...

, to the northwest of India. "Tushara" is the Sanskrit word for "snowy" "frigid", and is known to have been used to designate the country of Tukhara. In Sanskrit, it became तुखार (Tukhāra). * In ancient Greek, the name was Tokharoi ( grc, Τόχαροι ) or Thaguroi. * Tochari for Latin historians. * The name "Tokhara" appeared in the 4th century CE, in

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

texts, such as the ''Vibhasa-sastra''. * In Tibetan, the name for the region was Thod-kar or Tho-gar."The population was called by the Greeks Tokharoi, Thaguroi; by the Romans Tochar; or Thogarii (in Sanskrit, Tukhara; in Tibetan, Thod-kar or Tho-gar; in Khotanese, Ttaugara; in Uigurian, Twghry; in Armenian, T'ukri-k'" in * The name appears in Chinese as ''Tukhara'' (覩货罗 ''Duhuoluo'' or 吐火罗 ''Tuhuoluo''). "Tokhara" was known in Chinese sources as ''Tuhuluo'' (吐呼羅), which is first mentioned during the

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

era (386-534 CE). In the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, the name is transcribed as Tuhuoluo (土豁羅). Other Chinese names are Doushaluo 兜沙羅, Douquluo 兜佉羅 or Duhuoluo 覩貨羅. * In Khotanese, Ttaugara; in Uigurian, Twghry; in Armenian, T'ukri-k'.

Ethnicities

Several portraits of ambassadors from the region of Tokharistan are known from the ''

Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang The ''Portraits of Periodical Offering'' () were tributary documentative paintings (with illustration on each of the portrait) produced by various Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese dynasties and later as well in other East Asian dynasties, su ...

'', originally painted in 526–539 CE. They were at that time under the overlordship of the

Hephthalites The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during th ...

, who led the embassies to the Southern Liang court in the early 6th century CE. File:Kabadiyan ambassador to the Southern Liang court 516-520 CE.jpg,

Kabadiyan Qubodiyon, also Qubadiyan, ancient Kobadiyan (russian: Кабодиён; tg, Қубодиён, fa, قبادیان ''Qobādiyān'') is a town in the Khatlon Region of Tajikistan. It is the capital of Qubodiyon District. The population of the town ...

ambassador to the Chinese court of

Emperor Yuan of Liang Emperor Yuan of Liang () (16 September 508 – 27 January 555), personal name Xiao Yi (), courtesy name Shicheng (), childhood name Qifu (), was an emperor of the Chinese Liang Dynasty. After his father Emperor Wu and brother Emperor Jianwen we ...

in his capital

Jingzhou Jingzhou () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the 2020 census, 1,068,291 of whom resided in the built-up (''or metro' ...

in 516–520 CE, with explanatory text. ''

'', 11th century Song copy. The ambassador accompanied the

to China. File:Kumedh ambassador to the Southern Liang court 516-520 CE.jpg, Kumedh ambassador to the Chinese court of

in his capital

in 516–520 CE, with explanatory text. ''

'', 11th century Song copy. File:Ambassadors from Kabadiyan (阿跋檀), Balkh (白題國) and Kumedh (胡密丹), visiting the court of the Tang Dynasty. The Gathering of Kings (王会图) circa 650 CE.jpg, Ambassadors from

(阿跋檀),

Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

(白題國) and Kumedh (胡密丹), visiting the court of the

. ''

The Gathering of Kings The ''Portraits of Periodical Offering'' () were tributary documentative paintings (with illustration on each of the portrait) produced by various Chinese dynasties and later as well in other East Asian dynasties, such as Japan and Vietnam. These ...

'' (王会图), c. 650 CE File:Silver gilt bowl. Northwest Frontier Province, Pakistan, 6th c. CE. British Museum OA 1963.12-10.2. I. I. Smirnov (1869-1918), Vostochnoe serebro (St. Petersburg, 1909).jpg, Bactrian types on a silver gilt bowl, 6th c. CE. British Museum. File:Silver bowl portraits.jpg, Silver bowl portraits. File:Ajanta Cave 1 ceiling foreign dignitary.jpg, Possible Bactrians revelling, on the ceiling of the central hall of Cave 1 of

Ajanta caves The Ajanta Caves are approximately thirty rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state in India. The caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures des ...

, India (460–480 CE).

"Tocharians" in the Tarim Basin

The name of "

Tocharians The Tocharians, or Tokharians ( US: or ; UK: ), were speakers of Tocharian languages, Indo-European languages known from around 7600 documents from around 400 to 1200 AD, found on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang, China). ...

" was mistakenly applied by early 20th century authors to the Indo-European people of the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hydr ...

, from the areas of

Kucha Kucha, or Kuche (also: ''Kuçar'', ''Kuchar''; ug, كۇچار, Кучар; zh, t= 龜茲, p=Qiūcí, zh, t=庫車, p=Kùchē; sa, कूचीन, translit=Kūcīna), was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road ...

and

Agni Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu ...

. These scholars erroneously believed that these Indo-Europeans had originated in Tokharistan (

), and hence applied the term "Tocharians" to them. This appellation remains in common usage although the Indo-European people of the Tarim Basin probably referred to themselves as ''Agni'', '' Kuči'' and ''

Krorän Loulan, also called Krorän or Kroraina ( zh, s=, t=, p=Lóulán <

Eastern Han Chinese

''lo-lɑn'' <

''.

Chinese sources

In the Nestorian Stele of Xi'an, erected in 781 CE, the East Syriac Christian monk

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

, author of the stele, mentioned in

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

that his grandfather was a missionary-priest from

(

: ) in Tokharistan (

: ).

Geography

Geographically, Tokharistan corresponds to the upper

Oxus The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

valley, between the mountain ranges of the

Hindu-Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...

to the south and the

Pamir-Alay The Pamir-Alay (also ''Pamiro-Alay'', russian: Памиро-Алай) is a mountain system in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, encompassing four main mountain ranges extending west from the Tian Shan Mountains, and located north of the main ...

to the north. The area reaches west as far as the

Badakshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...

mountains, south as far as

Bamiyan Bamyan or Bamyan Valley (); ( prs, بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan or Bamian is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 70,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an alti ...

. Arab sources considered

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

as part of the southern border of Tokharistan, and Shaganiyan as part of its northern border. In a narrow sense, Tokharistan may only refer to the region south of the

. The region used the East Iranian

Bactrian language Bactrian (, , ) is an extinct Eastern Iranian language formerly spoken in the Central Asian region of Bactria (in present-day Afghanistan) and used as the official language of the Kushan, and the Hephthalite empires. Name It was long thought t ...

, which was current from the 2nd to the 9th century CE. The most important city of Tokharistan was

, which was at the center of the trade between

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

) and India. The region of Tokharistan had been outside of Sasanian control for the three centuries preceding the

Muslim conquest of Persia The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion. Th ...

in 633–651 CE. During that time, Tokharistan was under the rule of dynasties of

Hunnish The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

or Turkic origin, such as the

Kidarites The Kidarites, or Kidara Huns, were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Kidarites belonged to a complex of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna, and in Euro ...

, the

Alchon Huns The Alchon Huns, ( Bactrian: αλχον(ν)ο ''Alchon(n)o'') also known as the Alchono, Alxon, Alkhon, Alkhan, Alakhana and Walxon, were a nomadic people who established states in Central Asia and South Asia during the 4th and 6th centuries CE. ...

and the

. At the time of the Arab conquest, Tokharistan was under the control of the

Western Turks The Western Turkic Khaganate () or Onoq Khaganate ( otk, 𐰆𐰣:𐰸:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, On oq budun, Ten arrow people) was a Turkic khaganate in Eurasia, formed as a result of the wars in the beginning of the 7th century (593–603 CE) after t ...

, through the

Tokhara Yabghus The Tokhara Yabghus or Yabghus of Tokharistan () were a dynasty of Western Turk– Hephtalite sub-kings with the title "Yabghus", who ruled from 625 CE in the area of Tokharistan north and south of the Amu Darya, Oxus River, with some smaller rem ...

Art of early medieval Tokharistan

Numerous artefacts exist from the art of early medieval Tokharistan, which shows influence from the Buddhist art of Gandhara.

5th–6th century CE

Many authors have suggested that the figures in the

Dilberjin Tepe Dilberjin Tepe, also Dilberjin or Delbarjin, is the modern name for the remains of an ancient town in modern (northern) Afghanistan. The town was perhaps founded in the time of the Achaemenid Empire. Under the Kushan Empire it became a major local ...

or Balalyk Tepe paintings are characteristic of the

(450–570 CE). In this context, parallels have been drawn with the figures from

Kizil Caves The Kizil Caves ( zh, t=克孜爾千佛洞, s=克孜尔千佛洞, l=Kizil Caves of the Thousand Buddhas; ug, قىزىل مىڭ ئۆي, translation=The Thousand Red Houses; also romanized Qizil Caves, spelling variant Qyzyl; Kizil means 'red') ar ...

Chinese Turkestan Xinjiang, SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autono ...

, which seem to wear broadly similar clothing. The paintings of Balalyk Tepe would be characteristic of the court life of the Hephthalites in the first half of the 6th century CE, before the arrival of the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

. File:Dilberjin frescoe, 5th-6th century.jpg, Dilberjin fresco, 5th-6th century. File:Dilberjin frescoe fragment.jpg, Dilberjin fresco fragment. File:Balalyk_Tepe_mural_detail.jpg, Mural detail, Balalyk Tepe, late 5th-7th century CE File:Balalyk_Tepe_festivities.jpg, Balalyk Tepe banquet scene, 6th-7th century CE

7th century CE

In painting, there is " Tokharistan school of art" with examples from

Kalai Kafirnigan Kalai Kafirnigan, also Kala-i Kafirnigan was a Buddhist temple in the region of Tokharistan (Classical Bactria), dated to the 7th-8th century CE. Buddhism in Tokharistan is said to have enjoyed a revival under the Western Turks (known as Tokhara Ya ...

, Kafyr Kala or Ajina Tepe, as Buddhism and Buddhist art enjoyed a renaissance, possibly owing to the sponsorships and religious tolerance of the

(

). File:Mural from Kalai Kafirnigan, Museum of National Antiquities, Dushanbe, Tajikistan.jpg, Buddhist mural from

, National Museum of Antiquities, Dushanbe, Tajikistan. 7th-early 8th century. File:Adults in caftan and child, Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE.jpg, Adults in caftan and child, Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE.

National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan The Tajikistan National Museum of Antiquities ( tg, Осорхонаи миллии бостоншиносии Тоҷикистон, ''Osorhona-i milli-i bostonšinosi-i Tojikiston''; russian: Национальный музей древносте� ...

File:Buddha head, Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE.jpg, Buddha head, Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE.

File:Hunting scene, Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE.jpg, Hunting scene, Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE.

File:Hunting scene,Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE, National Museum of Antiquities ofTajikistan (433).jpg, Hunting scene,Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE.

Samanids and Ghaznavids 10–11th century

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...

developed with the

Samanid Empire The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate society, Persianate Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian peoples, Ira ...

and the

Ghaznavids The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

from the 10th to 12th century CE. File:Bowl from Khulbuk, Tajikistan, 10-11th century, National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan (KN 1060).jpg, Bowl from

Khulbuk Hulbuk ( tg, Ҳулбук), formerly Vose' (Восеъ), Poytug (Пойтуғ) is the capital of the Vose' District of the Khatlon Region, Tajikistan. It had an estimated population of 24,500 as of 2020. It is located in the southern portion of Ta ...

, Tajikistan, 10-11th century,

(KN 1060)

References

{{Authority control Bactria Historical regions of China Historical regions of Afghanistan Historical regions Regions of Tajikistan Regions of Uzbekistan States and territories disestablished in the 8th century States and territories established in the 4th century