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, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

against the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern 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, Ch ...

kingdom of Karakhoja, based in the city of

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 ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

. The Western Turks 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, Karakhoja 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, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. 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 or groups are acculturated or assimilated into Chinese culture, particularly the language, ...

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 The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian traditi ...

, 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 () was a Turkic khaganate in Eurasia, formed as a result of the wars in the beginning of the 7th century (593–603 CE) after the split of the First Turkic Khaganate (founded in the 6th century o ...

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

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

trade route that connected Tang China with Central Asia. In response, Emperor Taizong dispatched a military campaign led by general Hou Junji. 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 (imperial China), protectorate (640 – ) established by the Chinese Tang dynasty in 640 ...

, 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 Ancient Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of the Yumen Pass, most often the Tarim Basin in prese ...

of Xinjiang. Soon after the conquest, a population

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

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 dynasty to the mid-Tang dynasty. By the Han dynasty, the well-field system of land distribution had fallen ...

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 (), which was originally known in the Tocharian languages as ''Ārśi'' (or Arshi), Qarašähär, or Agni or the Chinese derivative Yanqi ( zh, s=焉耆, p=Yānqí, w=Yen-ch'i), is an ancient town on the Silk Road and the capi ...

. 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 History of the Chinese in Central Asia Military history of the Göktürks 640s conflicts 7th century in Xinjiang 7th century in China 640 Emperor Taizong of Tang