The Tang campaign against Karakhoja, known as Gaochang in Chinese sources, was a military campaign in 640 CE conducted by Emperor Taizong of 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 ...

against 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." Hyd ...

kingdom of

Karakhoja Gaochang (; Old Uyghur: ''Qocho''), also called Khocho, Karakhoja, Qara-hoja, Kara-Khoja or Karahoja (قاراغوجا in Uyghur), was a ruined, ancient oasis city on the northern rim of the inhospitable Taklamakan Desert in present-day Xinj ...

, based in the city of

Turfan Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015). Geonyms The original name of the cit ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...

. 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 ...

provided their ally Karakhoja with soldiers, but the army retreated when the Tang forces arrived. Karakhoja surrendered and the kingdom was incorporated as a Tang prefecture.

Background

Sporadically controlled by previous Chinese dynasties,

was home to a large Chinese population. The kingdom was heavily influenced by Chinese culture and was the closest of the

oasis states to

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

. Karakhoja had been ruled since 498 by the Qu royal family, who governed the state as the most

sinicized Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix , 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies come under the influence of Chinese culture, particularly the language, societal norms, cul ...

of the Tarim Basin kingdoms. During the reign of the Qu, Chinese was the official written language of Karakhoja, students were taught with the

Chinese classics Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confuci ...

, and the government bureaucracy was based on the political structure of imperial China.

Campaign

The Tu-lu Qaghan, who had risen to power in 638, offered Karakhoja the military protection of the

Western Turkic Khaganate 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 ...

. With the support of the Western Turks, Karakhoja halted the

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and rel ...

trade route that connected Tang China with Central Asia. In response, Emperor Taizong dispatched a military campaign led by general

Hou Junji Hou Junji (died April 29, 643) was a Chinese general and official who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Taizong in the Tang dynasty. He is best known for leading the Tang military campaigns against the Gaochang and Tuyuhun kingd ...

. The army reached Karakhoja in 640 and defeated the oasis state. The Western Turk forces sent to defend Karakhoja fled as the Tang soldiers approached. The son of Qu Wentai, the king of Karakhoja, surrendered and the former kingdom was annexed.

Aftermath

Following the annexation of Karakhoja, the oasis state was placed under direct Tang administration and structured as a prefecture. Karakhoja was overseen as part of the

Anxi Protectorate 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 ...

, or Protectorate General to Pacify the West, established to govern the

Western Regions The Western Regions or Xiyu (Hsi-yü; ) was a historical name specified in the Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of Yumen Pass, most often Central Asia or sometimes more sp ...

of Xinjiang. Soon after the conquest, a population

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

was conducted to implement the

equal-field system The equal-field system () or land-equalization system was a system of land ownership and distribution in China used from the Northern Wei to the mid-Tang dynasty. By the Han dynasty, the well-field system of land distribution had fallen out of ...

mandatory for Chinese prefectures. In 640, the year of Karakhoja's annexation, it was reported that there were 8,000 households and 37,700 inhabitants living in Turfan. The fall of Karakhoja raised the suspicions of the nearby kingdom of

Karasahr Karasahr or Karashar ( ug, قاراشەھەر, Qarasheher, 6=Қарашәһәр), which was originally known, in the Tocharian languages as ''Ārśi'' (or Arshi) and Agni or the Chinese derivative Yanqi ( zh, s=焉耆, p=Yānqí, w=Yen-ch'i), is an ...

. Threatened by Chinese troops stationed in the region, Karasahr sided with the Western Turks. The Tang responded by invading and annexing Karasahr in 644.

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{Tang dynasty topics Wars involving the Tang dynasty Battles involving the Tang dynasty Chinese Central Asia Military history of the Göktürks 640s conflicts History of Xinjiang 7th century in China 640 Emperor Taizong of Tang