Great Yuezhi Migration

from
Tarim Besin

Notes on Central Asian History during 200 BC and its effects on later
history, Role of Yuezhi migration in Ancient History of Central Asia,
settlement of Yuezhi after migration and various theories about
current form of Ancient Yuezhi tribe:
(Gurjar/Gujjar/Gujar/Gusar/Gusur/Khazar/Ughar/Gazar/Gusarova)

By: Adesh Katariya

Important Note

Till

now

many

researches

published

on

the

history

of

Great

Yuezhi/Gurjar tribe but scholars are not in position to clarify all

happenings in a series.

In this article, we are trying to compile all

happenings as per their timings. We also would like to clarify that the
material under this article is not a copyright matter and main motive of
this article is, to attract good scholars to discuss and research on the
great Yuezhi/Gurjar Tribe.

Adesh Katariya
( [email protected])

Great Yuezhi Migration (Westward Path):

The Yuzhi migration was one of mass proportions. Some scholars believe that their migration of
people comprised of hundreds of bowmen and the group of millions people of all ages and
genders (Smith 1999:248).
In their westward search for adequate agricultural land the Yuzhi encountered numerous
hostile groups. The first of these groups, the Wu-san, were located along the basins of the Ili
River (Smith 1999: 248).

First Yuezhi Wusun War

174 BCE Modun, the shanyu of the Xiongnu, died; his son Lao Shang,(Laoshan,proper name:
Jizhu) succeeded him as shanyu. The Xiongnu s' attack against the Yuezhi to the west triggered
a chain reaction, In 173 BCE the Yuezhi attacked and overran the Wusun. Wu-san, were located
along the basins of the Ili River (Smith 1999: 248).Nandoumi, the kunmo (supreme chieftain) of
the Wusun, was killed. After that defeat, the Wusun people and the heir to their throne, still an
infant, moved to Xiongnu and sought protection. They become vassals to the Xiongnu Some
time later, his infant son Liejiaomi was left in the wild. Liejiaomi was eventually found by the
Xiongnu. According to a legend recorded in the Hanshu (an ancient Chinese history text that is
sequel to Sima Quien's Shiji), Liejiaomi was suckled by a she-wolf and fed meat by ravens while
he was in the wild. Liejiaomi was eventually found by the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu's shanyu Jizhu
(a.k.a. Lao Shang) adopted Liejiaomi and raised him. When Liejiaomi came of age, Jizhu saw to it
that he was made the kunmo of the Xiongnu like his father had been. Jizhu also made Liejiaomi
the commander of the far western region of the Xiongnu Empire as a vassal of the Xiongnu.
Later, he was sent by the shanyu, together with his people, to protect the western borders of
the state.

First Scythian-Yuezhi War

.
Under the attack of the Wusun, the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) migrated southwest to the Oxus Valley,
pushing out the Scythians again, who had a larger number of individuals then the Wu-san, and
also tried to defend themselves but fell to the mass fighting force of Yuzhi. The Yuzhi then
settled in the prosperous agricultural region occupied by the Sakas (Smith 1999: 249).
According to the ancient Book of Han: "The Yuezhi attacked the king of the Sai who moved a
considerable distance to the south and the Yuezhi then occupied his lands." This forced the
Scythians to undertake their own migration, south to the Iran Plateau, Afghanistan and
northern India, where for a time they established a loosely defined Indo-Scythian Rule. The
Yuezhi's high percentage of men under arms relative to their total size (ancient sources

estimate the Yuezhi could deploy 200,000 horse archers out of a total tribal population of
400,000) made them a formidable opponent. The new country in Central Asia would be called
Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) Major the Greater Yeh-chih. This touched off a wave of 'chain reactions'.
The Scythians went to take over the Greco-Bactria kingdom. They then settled west of the
Yaksarat river (Syr Darya) in Sogdiana. The event is briefly hinted at by Strabo, who simply calls
them Sakas(Sakai) and places them there in his Geography. At that time, Sogdiana was
probably still Greco-Bactrian territory.

Yuezhis Further Migration to South West

Second Yuezhi Wusun War
In 173 B.C., Han Emperor Wendi replied to Mote (Modu) (Modok, wrongly pronounced as
Maodun) Chanyu emphasizing the wish for peace. With Mote dead, his son, Jiyu, got enthroned
as Laoshang Chanyu. Wendi ordered that an eunuch by the name of Zhongxing Shuo
accompany a Han princess to the Xiongnu s. Zhongxing Shuo tricked Laoshang Chanyu in saying
that Han Dynasty intended the Xiongnu s to wear the silk clothes instead of the cavalry clothes.
Zhongxing Shuo would instigate the Xiongnu s in attacking Han, and he also taught the Xiongnu
s how to count cattle and horses.
In about 161 B.C.E., when Laoshang Chanyu was still alive, the Wusun Prince, Liejiaomi became
a strong young man and a ruler, he requested that the shanyu (Laoshan) allow him to take
revenge on the Yuezhi. He received permission and attacked the Yuezhi who were then living
west of him, defeated the Yuezhi and took over today's Ili area. The Yuzhi remained in this
agricultural region for fifteen to twenty years (Smith: 249). At the time of Junchen Chanyu,
under the attack of Wusun- Xiongnu alliance ,the Yuezhi, continued their march westward and
settled in the valley,Oxus where they conquered the Ta-hai who had lived there (Smith: 250).
However, shortly afterwards the shanyu died and kunmo remained in his new country and
declared himself independent. In other words, the war with and the conquest of the Yuezhi
occurred during the last years of Laoshans reign, therefore in 160/161, when he died, the
Wusuns were already masters of the Area of the Seven Rivers, which tells us the Yuezhi only
inhabited the region for a few years.The Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) people were driven away from the
Scythian land by the Wusun Statelet. Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) moved on to occupy Bactria .
It is clear that the two events, the migration the Royal Sakas and the conquest of the Area of
the Seven rivers, and the Yuezhi by the Wusuni, with their subsequent migration to the
southwest,around Dayuan in the land of Kangju (The lands between the rivers Amu Darya and
Syr Darya) (1) and the conquest of Eastern Bactria, or Daxia (Tachara / Tochara) (2) occurred
within a few years of each other, almost similtaneously. TheChinese historian Xu Sung, who
lived in the XVIII - XIX century (1781-1848) drew attention to this fact in his commentary to
Han-shu. He was subsequently quoted by Stan Konov. If we look at the sentence Pompeiy

Trogus uses in his Prologues: How the Asians became kings of the Tocharians and destroyed
the Sakaraulians, we see a full match. The Asians / Wusun conquered the Tocharians who are,
technically, Yuezhi / Arsians, and drove the Royal Sakas from their land. (HSh), (CD-ZhQ, p. 39)

Yuezhi Occupy Bectria:

The Yuezhi then conquered the land of Kangju and settled westward along the valley
of the Syr Darya (Yaxarat) river .There, they encountered the Sakaraukas / Sai-wang once
again and drove them south from Sogdiana. The Sai-wang had no other choice but to cross
the Hissar ridge and invade the land, which Chang Jiang called Daxia (Tachara / Tochara),
located along the upper stream of the Ox river (Amu Darya). They conquered the territory and
kept for half a generation. They are the elusive nomads, who stormed and burned the ancient
Hellenistic city of Ai Hanuman (called Eucratideia at the time) to the ground. With the fall of this
great Greek fortress, the road is open for them to take over Tochara in its entirety or the
eastern part of Bactria. Bactria was a key centre on the extensive trade routes developed to
transport lapis lazuli, spinel rubies and, quite possibly, emeralds see Giuliani et al (2000), pp.
631-633 from the mines in the mountains. Lapis lazuli from Badhakshan was being traded to
Mesopotamia, and Egypt as early as the second half of the fourth millennium BCE and to the
Indus River cultures by the third millennium. These routes were later to form the basis of the
so-called Silk Routes.
Following the settlement of the Yuezhi (referred to by the Greeks as Tkharoi), the general area
of Bactria came to be called Tokharistan. The territory of Tokharistan was identical with Kushan
Bactria, including the areas of Surkhandarya, Southern Tajikistan and Northern Afghanistan.
Around 145 BC, the Yuezhi sacked the Greek city of Alexandria on the Oxus, present-day Ai
Khanoum. Archaeological evidence about this event was found during the excavations of the
Old Town of Alexandria / Eucratideia (Ai Hanum). Archaeological analysis shows that the
fortress was conquered and burned about 145 B.C.E.

Political Structure of Yuezhi States:

."The Yuezhi were organized into five major tribes, each led by a yabgu, or tribal chief, and
known to the Chinese as Xim () in Western Wakhn and Zibak, Kushan () in
Badakhshan and the adjoining territories north of the Oxus, Shuangmi () in the region of
Shughnan, Xidun () in the region of Balkh, and Dm () in the region of Termez.".
The claim that Da Yuezhi established the five Xihou after they had destroyed the
state of Daxia in the Hou Hanshu , ch. 88, is based on the Hanshu , ch. 96A. In
the latter it is recorded:
Originally Daxia had no major overlord or chief, and minor chiefs were frequently
established in the towns. The inhabitants are weak and afraid of fighting, with the result that
when the Yuezhi migrated there, they made them all into their subjects. They provide

supplies for Han envoys. There are five Xihou . The first is entitled the Xihou of
Xiumi , and the seat of government is at the town of Hemo ; it is distant by 2,841 li
from [the seat of] the Protector General and 7,802 li from the Yang Barrier. The second is
entitled the Xihou of Shuangmi , and the seat of government is at the town of
Shuangmi ; it is distant by 3,741 li from [the seat of] the Protector General and 7,782 li
from the Yang Barrier. The third is entitled the Xihou of Kushan , and the seat
of government is at the town of Huzao ; it is distant by 5,940 li from [the seat of] the
Protector General and 7,982 li from the Yang Barrier. The fourth is entitled the Xihou
of Bidun , and the seat of government is at the town of Bomao ; it is distant by
5,962 li from [the seat of] the Protector General and 8,202 li from the Yang Barrier.
The fifth is entitled the Xihou of Gaofu , and the seat of government is at the town of
Gaofu ; it is distant by 6,041 li from [the seat of the] Protector General and 9,238 li
from the Yang Barrier. All the five Xihou are subject to the Da Yuezhi . According
to this, the five Xihou were in fact not the Yuezhi people, but were the people in the
state of Daxia . This is because there was no sovereign who could order the whole country
in the state of Daxia , where each town carried out its affairs in its own way and was ruled
by a so-called minor chief. The Yuezhi did not wipe out these minor chiefs, but made
them all into their subjects after they had conquered the state of Daxia .

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