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Tocharoi
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 at the hands of the Xiongnu in 176 BC, the Yuezhi split into two groups migrating in different directions: the Greater Yuezhi and Lesser Yuezhi. This started a complex domino effect that radiated in all directions and, in the process, set the course of history for much of Asia for centuries to come. The Greater Yuezhi initially migrated northwest into the Ili Valley (on the modern borders of China and Kazakhstan), where they reportedly displaced elements of the Sakas. They were driven from the Ili Valley by the Wusun and migrated southward to Sogdia and later settled in Bactria. The Greater Yuezhi have consequently often been identified with peoples mentioned in classical European sources as having overrun the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, like t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Chinese Phonology
Scholars have attempted to reconstruct the phonology of Old Chinese from documentary evidence. Although the writing system does not describe sounds directly, shared phono-semantic, phonetic components of the most ancient Chinese characters are believed to link words that were pronounced similarly at that time. The oldest surviving Chinese verse, in the ''Classic of Poetry'' (''Shijing''), shows which words rhymed in that period. Scholars have compared these bodies of contemporary evidence with the much later Middle Chinese reading pronunciations listed in the ''Qieyun'' rhyme dictionary published in 601 AD, though this falls short of a phonemic analysis. Supplementary evidence has been drawn from cognates in other Sino-Tibetan languages and in Min Chinese, which split off before the Middle Chinese period, Chinese transcriptions of foreign names, and early borrowings from and by neighbouring languages such as Hmong–Mien languages, Hmong–Mien, Tai languages, Tai and Tocharian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceous plant, herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on Earth and dominate the landscape worldwide. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural grasslands, and agricultural grasslands. They cover 31–69% of the Earth's land area. Definitions Included among the variety of definitions for grasslands are: * "...any plant community, including harvested forages, in which grasses and/or legumes make up the dominant vegetation." * "...terrestrial ecosystems dominated by herbaceous and shrub vegetation, and maintained by fire, grazing, drought and/or freezing temperatures." (Pilot Assessm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turfan
Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) 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 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the prefectural area has shifted a number of times, from Yar-Khoto (Jiaohe, to the west of modern Turpan) to Qocho (Gaochang, to the southeast of Turpan) and to Turpan itself. Names Historically, many settlements in the Tarim Basin, being situated between Chinese, Turkic, Mongolian, and Persian language users, have a number of cognate names. Turpan or Turfan is one such example. The original name of the city is unknown. The form Turfan, while older than Turpan, was not used until the middle of the 2nd millennium CE and its use became widespread only in the post-Mongol period. History Turpan has long been the centre of a fertile oasis (with water provided by the '' karez'' canal system) and an important trade centre. It was historically located along the Silk Road. At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Kushan territory in India went at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath, now near Varanasi district, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan emperor Kanishka the Great. The Kushans were most probably one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, an Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European nomadic people of possible Tocharians, Tocharian origin, who migrated from northwestern China (Xinjiang and Gansu) and settled in ancient Bactria. The founder of the dynasty, Kujula Kadphises, followed Iranian and Greek cultural ideas and iconography after the Greco-Bactrian tradition and was a follower of the Shaivism, Shaivite sect of Hinduism. Two later Kushan kings, Vima Kadphises and Vasudeva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 for the downfall of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. In Greek Mythology they were the children of Iapetus and Asia. Modern scholars have attempted to identify the Asii with other peoples known from European and Chinese sources including the: Yuezhi, Tocharians, Issedones/Wusun and/or Alans. Historical sources The classical European sources relating to the Asii are brief. They sometimes survive only as quotations in other ancient sources, with textual variations that have led to widely varying translations and interpretations. During the 4th and 3rd Centuries BCE, Megasthenes, who lived in Arachosia and was an ambassador to the Mauryan court in Pataliputra, refers in his work ''Indika'' to three tribes with similar and possibly relat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tukhara
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") and fierce warriors. Modern scholars generally see Tushara as synonymous with the historical " Tukhara", also known as Tokhara or Tokharistan – another name for Bactria. This area was the stronghold of the Kushan Empire, which ruled North India between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE. Tukhara The historical Tukhara appears to be synonymous with the land known by Ancient Chinese scholars as '' Daxia'', from the 3rd century BCE onwards. Its inhabitants were known later to Ancient Greek scholars as the ''Tokharoi'' and to the Ancient Romans as ''Tochari''. Modern scholars appear to have conflated the ''Tukhara'' with the so-called Tocharians – an Indo-European people who lived in the Tarim Basin, in present-day Xinjiang, Chi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom () was a Ancient Greece, Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central Asia, Central-South Asia. The kingdom was founded by the Seleucid Empire, Seleucid satrap Diodotus I, Diodotus I Soter in about 256 BC, and continued to dominate Central Asia until its fall around 120 BC. At its peak the kingdom consisted of present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and for a short time, small parts of Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Iran. An extension further east, with military campaigns and settlements, may have reached the borders of the Qin (state), Qin State in China by about 230 BC. Although a Greek population was already present in Bactria by the 5th century BC, Alexander the Great conquered the region by 327 BC and founded many cities, most of them named List of cities founded by Alexander the Great, Alexandria, and further settled with Ancient Macedonians, Macedonians and other Ancient Greece, Greeks. After the death of Alexande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area within the north of modern Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Bactria was strategically located south of Sogdia and the western part of the Pamir Mountains. The extensive mountain ranges acted as protective "walls" on three sides, with the Pamir on the north and the Hindu Kush on south forming a junction with the Karakoram, Karakoram range towards the east. Called "beautiful Bactria, crowned with flags" by the Avesta, the region is considered, in the Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian faith, to be one of the "Avestan geography, sixteen perfect Iranian lands" that the supreme deity, Ahura Mazda, had created. It was once a small and independent kingdom struggling to exist against nomadic Turya (Avesta), Turanians. One of the early centres of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sogdia
Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, 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 Empire, and listed on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great. Sogdiana was first conquered by Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, and then was annexed by the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great in 328 BC. It would continue to change hands under the Seleucid Empire, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, the Kushan Empire, the Sasanian Empire, the Hephthalite Empire, the Western Turkic Khaganate, and the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana. The Sogdian city-states, although never politically united, were centered on the city of Samarkand. Sogdian language, Sogdian, an Eastern Iranian language, is no longer spoken. However, a descendant of one of its dialects, Yaghnobi language, Yaghnobi, is still spoken by the Yaghnobis of Taji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wusun
The Wusun ( ) were an ancient semi-Eurasian nomads, nomadic Eurasian Steppe, steppe people of unknown origin mentioned in Chinese people, Chinese records from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. The Wusun originally lived between the Qilian Mountains and Dunhuang (Gansu) near the Yuezhi. Around 176 BC the Xiongnu raided the lands of the Yuezhi, who subsequently attacked the Wusun, killing their king and seizing their land. The Xiongnu adopted the surviving Wusun prince and made him one of their generals and leader of the Wusun. Around 162 BC the Yuezhi were driven into the Ili River Valley in Jetisu, Zhetysu, Dzungaria and Tian Shan, which had formerly been inhabited by the Saka. The Wusun then resettled in Gansu as vassals of the Xiongnu. In 133–132 BC, the Wusun drove the Yuezhi out of the Ili Valley and settled the area. The Wusun then became close allies of the Han dynasty and remained a powerful force in the region for several cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sakas
The Saka, old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin from the 9th century BC to the 5th century AD. "Modern scholars have mostly used the name Saka to refer specifically to Iranians of the Eastern Steppe and Tarim Basin" "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan to distinguish them from the related Massagetae of the Aral region and the Scythians of the Pontic steppes. These tribes spoke Iranian languages, and their chief occupation was nomadic pastoralism." The Saka were closely related to the Scythians, and both groups formed part of the wider Scythian cultures. However, they are distinguished from the Scythians by their specific geographical and cultural traits. The Saka languages formed part of the Scythi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
