Kangju (;

Eastern Han Chinese Eastern Han Chinese or Later Han Chinese is the stage of the Chinese language revealed by poetry and glosses from the Eastern Han period (first two centuries AD). It is considered an intermediate stage between Old Chinese and the Middle Chinese ...

: ''kʰɑŋ-kɨɑ'' < *''khâŋ-ka'' (c. 140 BCE)) was the Chinese name of a kingdom in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

during the first half of the

first millennium File:1st millennium montage.png, From top left, clockwise: Depiction of Jesus, the central figure in Christianity; The Colosseum, a landmark of the once-mighty Roman Empire; Kaaba, the Great Mosque of Mecca, the holiest site of Islam; Chess, ...

CE. The name ''Kangju'' is now generally regarded as a variant or mutated form of the name

Sogdiana Sogdia ( Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Empi ...

. According to contemporaneous Chinese sources, Kangju was the second most powerful state in

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

, after the

Yuezhi The Yuezhi (;) were an ancient people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat ...

. Its people, known in Chinese as the ''Kāng'' (康), were evidently of Indo-European origins, spoke an

Eastern Iranian language The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from c. the 4th century BC). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the Middle Western Iranian dial ...

, and had a semi-nomadic way of life. They were probably identical to the "

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

" Sogdians,: "... the Sogdians, known as K'ang-chii to the Chinese..." or other Iranian groups closely related to them, such as the

Asii The Asii, Osii, Ossii, Asoi, Asioi, Asini or Aseni were an ancient Indo-European people of Central Asia, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. Known only from Classical Greek and Roman sources, they were one of the peoples held to be responsible ...

Name

According to John E. Hill, a historian specialising in ancient Central Asia, "Kangju (W-G: K'ang-chü) 康居" was in or near the " Talas basin, odern

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

and Sogdiana".Hill (2015), Vol. 1, note 2.17, p. 183. (According to

Edwin Pulleyblank Edwin George "Ted" Pulleyblank (August 7, 1922 – April 13, 2013) was a Canadian sinologist and professor at the University of British Columbia. He was known for his studies of the historical phonology of Chinese. Life and career Edwin G. ...

, Beitian – the summer capital of Kangju – was in or near modern metropolitan Tashkent.)

It is not clear whether the Chinese name 康居 Kangju was intended to transcribe an ethnic name, or to be descriptive, or both. 居 ''ju'' can mean: 'seat', 'central place of activity or authority; 'to settle down,' 'residence,' or 'to occupy (militarily).'... The term, therefore, could simply mean "the abode of the Kang," or "territory occupied by the Kang." ... As ''kang'' 康 means 'well-being', 'peaceful,' 'happy;' 'settle', 'stability,' Kangju can be translated as the 'Peaceful Land,' or 'Abode of the Peaceful (People).' ... Even if the name Kangju was originally an attempt to transcribe the sounds of a foreign name, it would still have carried the sense of a peaceful place to Chinese speakers, and the name 'Kang' would have had overtones of a peaceful people.

Later Chinese sources, during the Sui and Tang dynasties, refer to Kangju as the State of Kang () By that time it was part of the Göktürk Khaganate. Pulleyblank linked Kangju to the

Tocharian A The Tocharian (sometimes ''Tokharian'') languages ( or ), also known as ''Arśi-Kuči'', Agnean-Kuchean or Kuchean-Agnean, are an extinct branch of the Indo-European language family spoken by inhabitants of the Tarim Basin, the Tocharians. The l ...

word ''kāṅka-'', probably meaning "stone" and proposed that the Kangju were originally

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). ...

who had migrated westward into Sogdia and established themselves in Chach (modern

). Pulleyblank also suggested that the Jié (羯) tribe Qiāngqú (羌渠) might be Kangju people who had been incorporated into the Xiongnu tribal confederation. Pulleyblank further connected Kangju to Kànjié 瞰羯 (*''Kamkar''?) and the name ''Kankar'' given to the lower Yaxartes by Persian geographer

ibn Khordadbeh Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh ( ar, ابوالقاسم عبیدالله ابن خرداذبه; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih; ), was a high-ranking Persian bureaucrat and ...

. Joseph Marquart,

Omeljan Pritsak Omeljan Yosypovych Pritsak ( uk, Омелян Йосипович Пріцак; 7 April 1919, Luka, Sambir County, West Ukrainian People's Republic – 29 May 2006, Boston) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Har ...

and Peter B. Golden have noted phonetic similarities between Kangju and Kengeres mentioned in the Orkhon inscriptions, the Kangarâyê in Transcaucasia, the city of Kengü Tarban, and the three

Pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...

tribes collectively known as

Kangar Kangar ( Northern Malay: ''Kangaq''; Jawi: كڠار) is the state capital and the largest town in Perlis, Malaysia. It has a population of 48,898 and an area of 2,619.4 ha. It is located next to the Thailand border, in the northernmost point ...

mentioned by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. Nevertheless, all those connections remain hypothetical. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Kangju spoke an

, which was probably identical to Sogdian, or derived from it.

History

According to 2nd century BCE Chinese sources, Kangju lay north of the

Dayuan Dayuan (or Tayuan; ; Middle Chinese ''dâiC-jwɐn'' < LHC: ''dɑh-ʔyɑn'') is the Chinese

and west of the

Wusun The Wusun (; Eastern Han Chinese *''ʔɑ-suən'' <

Old Chinese

(140 BCE < 436 BCE): *''Ɂâ-sûn'') were an ancient semi-

, bordering the

in the south. Their territory covered the region of the

Ferghana Valley The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...

and the area between the

Amu Darya 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 ...

and Syr Darya rivers, with the core territory along the middle Syr Darya. Since historians of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

do not mention the existence of any political power in the area except the Khwarezmians, the Kangju must have appeared a little later. It is likely that the state of the Kangju emerged during the great upheaval in

following the withdrawal of the

from Gansu and then the

Ili Valley The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...

after their defeat by the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

and Wusun respectively. Chinese sources state that the Kangju were tributiaries of the Yuezhi in the south and the Xiongnu in the east. Coin with legend, Wanunkhur, du peuple de Chach, 3rd-6th centuries CE

Coin with legend, Wanunkhur, du peuple de Chach, 3rd-6th centuries CE

Kangju was mentioned by the Chinese traveller and diplomat

Zhang Qian Zhang Qian (; died c. 114) was a Chinese official and diplomat who served as an imperial envoy to the world outside of China in the late 2nd century BC during the Han dynasty. He was one of the first official diplomats to bring back valuable inf ...

who visited the area c. 128 BCE, whose travels are documented in Chapter 123 of the ''

Shiji ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'' (whose author, Sima Qian, died c. 90 BCE):

"Kangju is situated some 2,000 li
32 kilometers 3 (three) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cu ...
northwest of Dayuan. Its people are nomads and resemble the Yuezhi in their customs. They have 80,000 or 90,000 skilled archers. The country is small, and borders Dayuan ( Ferghana). It acknowledges sovereignty to the Yuezhi people in the South and the Xiongnu in the East.

Qian also visited a land known to the Chinese as

Yancai Yancai ( < LHC *''ʔɨam^A''-''sɑ^C'' < O ...

奄蔡 (literally "vast steppe"), which lay north-west of the Kangju. The people of Yancai and were said to resemble the Kangju in their customs:

Yancai lies some 2,000 '' li'' (832 km) northwest of Kangju (centered on
Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turk ...
at Beitian). The people are nomads and their customs are generally similar to those of the people of Kangju. The country has over 100,000 archer warriors, and borders a great shoreless lake erhaps what is now known as the Northern Sea (Aral Sea, distance between
Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...
to Aralsk is about 866 km].

By the time of the ''Hanshu'' (which covers the period from 206 BCE to 23 CE), Kangju had expanded considerably to a nation of some 600,000 individuals, with 120,000 men able to bear arms. Kangju was clearly now a major power in its own right. By this time it had gained control of Dayuan and

in which it controlled “five lesser kings” (小王五). In 101 BCE, the Kangju allied themselves with the Dayuan, helping them preserve their independence against the Han. The account on 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 ...

' in the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

Chinese chronicle, the '' Hou Hanshu'', 88 (covering the period 25–220 and completed in the 5th century), based on a report to the Chinese emperor c. 125 CE, mentions that, at that time, Liyi 栗弋 (= Suyi 粟弋) = Sogdiana, and both the "old" Yancai (which had changed its name to ''Alanliao'' and seems here to have expanded its territory to the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

), and ''Yan'', a country to Yancai's north, as well as the strategic city of "Northern Wuyi" 北烏伊 ( Alexandria Eschate, or modern

Khujand Khujand ( tg, Хуҷанд, Khujand; Uzbek: Хўжанд, romanized: Хo'jand; fa, خجند‌, Khojand), sometimes spelled Khodjent and known as Leninabad (russian: Ленинабад, Leninabad; tg, Ленинобод, Leninobod; fa, لنی ...

), were all dependent on Kangju. Hulsewé (1979) p. 129 Y. A. Zadneprovskiy suggests that the Kangju subjection of Yancai occurred in the 1st century BCE. Yancai is identified with the

Aorsi The Aorsi, known in Greek sources as the Aorsoi (Ἄορσοι), were an ancient Iranian people of the Sarmatian group, who played a major role in the events of the Pontic Steppe from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. They are often rega ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

records. Scholars have connected name Alanliao to

Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...

. The Yan people of the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

, paid tribute to the Kangju in

fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

s. The Kangju established close connections with the

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...

, their western neighbors. The westward expansion of the Kangju obliged many of the Sarmatians to migrate further west, and it may therefore be concluded that the Kangju played a major in the great migrations of the time, which played a major role in world history. Through this expansion the Kangju gained control over key parts of the

Silk Route 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 reli ...

. The Kangju state came to unite a number of regions which had

sedentary Sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle type, in which one is physically inactive and does little or no physical movement and or exercise. A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like soci ...

, agricultural and

nomadic A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

populations. Although their territory was small, the fertility of the land and their sophisticated civilization enabled the Kangju to maintain a large population, becoming a major military power. Orlat plaque encounter

The Kangju were in frequent struggles with the Wusun, during which they in the mid 1st century BCE allied themselves with the northern Xiongnu. The Kangju ruler gave his daughter in marriage to the northern Xiongnu ruler Zhizhi, while the Kangju king married the daughter of the Xiongnu ruler. The Xiongnu and Kangju were initially successful, besieging the Wusun in 42 BCE. The Han however intervened, defeating and killing the northern Xiongnu ruler in at Talas in 36 BCE (

Battle of Zhizhi The Battle of Zhizhi (郅支之戰) was fought in 36 BC between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu chieftain Zhizhi Chanyu. Zhizhi was defeated and killed. The battle was probably fought near Taraz on the Talas River in eastern Kazakhstan, whi ...

). The Kangju ruler was subsequently forced to send his son as a

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...

to the Han court. Nevertheless, the Kangju continued to send embassies to the Han court and pursued an independent policy, which they were able to maintain until the 3rd century CE. Evidence of Kangju independence can be seen in the

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

age issued in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, during which they issued their own

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

which was similar to that of Khwarezm. The biography of the Chinese General Ban Chao in the '' Hou Hanshu'' says in 94 CE that the Yuezhi were arranging a marriage of their king with a Kangju princess. The Chinese then sent "considerable presents of silks" to the Yuezhi successfully gaining their help in pressuring the Kangju to stop supporting the king of Kashgar against them. The 3rd century ''

Weilüe The ''Weilüe'' () was a Chinese historical text written by Yu Huan between 239 and 265. Yu Huan was an official in the state of Cao Wei (220–265) during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280). Although not a formal historian, Yu Huan has been h ...

'' states that Kangju was among a number of countries that "had existed previously and neither grown nor shrunk." The Kangju subsequently declined. Around 270 CE they were subdued by the

Xionites Xionites, Chionites, or Chionitae (Middle Persian: ''Xiyōn'' or ''Hiyōn''; Avestan: ''Xiiaona''; Sogdian ''xwn''; Pahlavi ''Xyon'') were a nomadic people in the Central Asian regions of Transoxiana and Bactria. The Xionites appear to be syno ...

. Like other Central Asian peoples, the Kangju probably became subsumed into 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 ...

. Kangju was later known as the State of Kang (康国) during the Sui and Tang dynasties. In the 8th century, some of them seem to have been adherents of

Manicheanism Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (AD ...

Culture

The

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. ...

describes the way of life of the Kangju elite. Its ruler spent his winter in the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...

of Beitian, and his summers at his steppe headquarters, which was a seven days' journey away on horseback. The Kangju are regarded as an

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

people, and are generally held to have been an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

people identical with the

Sogdians :''This category lists articles related to historical Iranian peoples'' Historical Peoples Iranian Iranian Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples ...

,: "... the Sogdians, known as K'ang-chii to the Chinese..." or the closely related

. Sinologist

Edwin G. Pulleyblank Edwin George "Ted" Pulleyblank (August 7, 1922 – April 13, 2013) was a Canadian sinologist and professor at the University of British Columbia. He was known for his studies of the historical phonology of Chinese. Life and career Edwin G. ...

has however suggested that the Kangju could have been

. "On the basis of both linguistic and historical evidence , Pulleyblank has identified the

, the

Wusun The Wusun (; Eastern Han Chinese *''ʔɑ-suən'' <

Old Chinese

(140 BCE < 436 BCE): *''Ɂâ-sûn'') were an ancient semi-

, the

Dayuan Dayuan (or Tayuan; ; Middle Chinese ''dâiC-jwɐn'' < LHC: ''dɑh-ʔyɑn'') is the Chinese

, Kangju, and the people of Yanqi, all names occurring in the Chinese historical sources for the Han dynasty, as Tocharian speakers." The ruling elite of the Kangju consisted of

tribes whose customs were very similar to those of the Yuezhi. Kangju burials of the early period have been excavated at Berk-kara and Tamdî, in which the dead were placed in pit-graves, often covered with logs, under

kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central As ...

mounds. These graves often contain hand-made pots, iron swords, arrow-heads and jewellery. The burials show that the traditional culture of the Kangju resembled characteristics of the

. From the beginning of the Christian era "catacomb graves" (in shaft and chamber tombs) became widespread. This is seen from the burials of the Kaunchi and Dzhun cultures of the 1st to the 4th centuries CE, which are generally accepted as having belonged to the Kangju. The Kangju regarded the

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

as a noble animal. References from written sources and archaeological finds show that the Kangju reached a considerable level of agricultural sophistication. Much of the population consisted of a sedentary farming population. Wide canals from the Kangju period have been discovered, with the land area under

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya being four times greater than today. The irrigation systems of Central Asia reached their highest levels of development under the Kangju-

Kushans The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...

and was in fact superior to those fully developed in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Archaeology

Kaunchi culture

Kangju appears to be a civilisation known to

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

archaeologists as the "Kaunchi Culture", dating from the 2nd century BCE to the early 8th century CE, and centred on the middle course of the Syr Darya and its tributaries: the Angren, Chirchik, and

Keles : Keles is a town and district of Bursa Province in the Marmara region of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the An ...

. The culture was named after an ancient townsite now known as Kaunchi-Tepe, which was first studied by G. V. Grigoriev in 1934–37. Settlements of the Kaunchi culture were typically located in proximity to water and usually have monumental oval buildings in the center, at times with a defensive wall. The largest settlement was a 150 hectare city known apparently as Kang (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

''Kanka''), south of modern

and founded in the 1st century CE. Kang had a square layout, encircled by a wall with inner passages. The settlements were surrounded by

burials of a catacomb type with long dromoses, crypts, and burial vaults, with horse bone trappings and rites typical of nomads.Masson V.M., ''Pre-Islamic Central Asia'', http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/archeology-v The people predominantly practiced cattle husbandry and nonirrigated agriculture (grain cultures of millet, barley, wheat, and rice, cotton, melons, and fruits). Materials typical of the culture are typical hand-formed pottery: ''khums'' (large bowls for water and produce), pots, pitchers, and cups adorned with ram's head on the handles. In the 1st century CE ceramics made on a

potter's wheel In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, a ...

became more common. A

's head motif at first common was replaced by a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

's head during the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. At that period weapons started appearing in the kurgans. Kaunchi-type sites apparently spread from the

Otrar Otrar or Utrar ( kk, Отырар, ''Otyrar'', otəˈɾɑɾ otk, 𐰚𐰭𐱃𐰺𐰢𐰣, Keŋü Tarman), also called Farab, is a Central Asian ghost town that was a city located along the Silk Road in Kazakhstan. Otrar was an important town ...

region along Syr Darya to the south of Tashkent. The Kaunchi culture significantly impacted the archeological cultures in the vast territories of the

Middle Asia Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

Inscriptions

Some important inscriptions were discovered recently that provide information about Kangju and its contacts with China. * A dozen wooden slips with Chinese writing were found at the Xuanquan site in Dunhuang, China. They are dated to the late Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE-24 CE). * A set of Sogdian inscriptions from Kultobe in Kazakhstan; they were analyzed and deciphered by

Nicholas Sims-Williams Nicholas Sims-Williams, FBA (born 11 April 1949, Chatham, Kent) is a British professor of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, where he is the Research Professor of Iranian and Central Asian Studies at the Dep ...

. They complement the existing Chinese historical records about Kangju. Sims-Williams also assigned a likely date to these inscriptions.New Evidence from Dunhuang, China and Central Asia for the Kangju
nyu.edu * Several fragmentary Sogdian inscriptions discovered by A. N. Podushkin in his excavations at Kultobe. They contain archaic features which shed light on the development of the Sogdian script and language.

Genetics

A genetic study published in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' in May 2018 examined the remains of 6 Kangju buried between ca. 200 CE and 300 CE. The 2 samples of

Y-DNA The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...

extracted belonged to the paternal haplogroups R1a1a1b2a and R1a1a1b2a2b, while the 6 samples

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

extracted belonged to the maternal haplogroups H6a1a, C4a1, U2e2a1, HV13b, U2e1h and A8a1. The authors of the study found that the Kangju and

Wusun The Wusun (; Eastern Han Chinese *''ʔɑ-suən'' <

Old Chinese

(140 BCE < 436 BCE): *''Ɂâ-sûn'') were an ancient semi-

had less East Asian admixture than the

and

s. Both the Kangju and Wusun were suggested to be descended from

Western Steppe Herders In archaeogenetics, the term Western Steppe Herders (WSH), or Western Steppe Pastoralists, is the name given to a distinct ancestral component first identified in individuals from the Eneolithic steppe around the turn of the 5th millennium BCE, ...

(WSHs) of the Late Bronze Age who admixed with Siberian hunter-gatherers and peoples related to the

Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (short BMAC) or Oxus Civilization, recently dated to c. 2250–1700 BC,Lyonnet, Bertille, and Nadezhda A. Dubova, (2020b)"Questioning the Oxus Civilization or Bactria- Margiana Archaeological Cultu ...

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * Hulsewé, ''China in Central Asia: The Early Stage: 125 BC - AD 23 ; an Annotated Transl. of Chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty''. A.F.P. Hulsewé, with an Introd. by M.A.N.Loewe. * * Hill, John E. 2004. ''The Peoples of the West from the Weilüe'' 魏略 ''by Yu Huan'' 魚豢'': A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE.'' Draft annotated English translatio

*Hill, John E. (2015) ''Through the Jade Gate - China to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes 1st to 2nd Centuries CE''. CreateSpace, North Charleston, South Carolina. . * * * * The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West. J. P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair. Thames & Hudson. London. (2000), * * Schuessler, Axel. 2007. ''An Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese''. University of Hawaii Press. * * Xinru Liu, Liu, Xinru: Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan. Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies in: ''

Journal of World History The ''Journal of World History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that presents historical analysis from a global point of view, focusing especially on forces that cross the boundaries of cultures and civilizations, including large-scale populat ...

'', 12 (No. 2) 2001, p. 261-292. Se

* * * * *''Drevnosti Chardary'', Alma-Ata, 1968 (''In Russian'') *Grigoriev G.V., ''Kaunchi-Tepe (excavations of 1935), Tashkent, 1940 (''In Russian'') *Isamiddin M.,Suleymanov R.Kh., ''Yerkurgan (stratigraphy and periodization)'', Tashkent, 1984 (''In Russian'') *Levina L.M. ''Ceramics of lower and middle Syrdarya''//Works of Khorezm Archeological & Ethnographic Expedition, Vol 17, Moscow, 1971 (''In Russian'') *The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition, 1970-1979 (''In Russian'') {{Refend Iranian countries and territories Historical Iranian peoples Ancient Central Asia Indo-European peoples Sogdians Tocharians Archaeological cultures of Central Asia Archaeology of Kazakhstan Archaeology of Uzbekistan Former countries in Central Asia Historical Chinese exonyms