Kingdom of Khotan
Encyclopedia
The Kingdom of Khotan was an ancient Buddhist
kingdom that was located on the branch of the Silk Road
that ran along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim basin
. (The area lies in present day Xinjiang
, China
.)
until at least the Tang Dynasty
it was known in Chinese as Yutian .
Built on an oasis
, its mulberry
groves allowed the production and export of silk
and silk rugs, in addition to the city's other major products such as its famous nephrite
jade
and pottery
.
However, it is likely to have existed much earlier than this as the Yuezhi
(known later as the Kushans) had been trading the famous nephrite jade from the region to China for some centuries prior to this.
The kingdom was one of the major centers of Buddhism
. Up until the 11th century, the vast majority of the population was Buddhist. The kingdom is primarily associated with the Mahayana
branch. It differed in this respect to Kucha
, a Śrāvakayāna-dominated kingdom on the opposite side of the desert. Fa-Hsien account of the city states it had fourteen large and many small Buddhist monasteries. Many foreign languages, including Chinese
, Sanskrit
, Prakrit
and Tibetan
, were used in cultural exchange.
Khotan was the first place outside of China to begin cultivating silk. The story, repeated in many sources, and illustrated in murals discovered by archaeologists, is that a Chinese princess brought silkworm eggs in her hairdo when she was sent to marry the Khotanese king. This probably took place in the first half of the 1st century CE.
It was invaded by the Karakhanids
from Kashgar
in 1006 and came under Muslim control. Marco Polo
visited Khotan between 1271 and 1275 and remarked that the people were "all followers of Mahommet."
Chapter 96A of the Hanshu or 'History of the Former Han' (which covers the period from 125 BCE to 23 CE) says that Yutian, or Khotan, had 3,300 households, 19,300 individuals and 2,400 people able to bear arms.
The town obviously grew very quickly after China opened the Silk Routes to the West, for the population had more than quadrupled by the time of the Later Han. Here is the entry on Khotan from the Hou Hanshu:
Jing was eager to acquire merit and glory for himself and, besides, he believed what Chengguo had said to him. Before reaching Yutian (Khotan), he prepared everything to receive Jian, [then] invited him, meanwhile he developed a sinister plan. Someone had warned Jian of Wang Jing’s plot. He didn’t believe it and said: “I am innocent. Why would the Chief Clerk Wang (Jing) want to kill me?” The following morning Jian, with an escort of several tens of officials, came to pay a visit to (Wang) Jing. When they were seated, Jian got up to serve the wine. (Wang) Jing then ordered his retinue in a menacing tone to seize him but, as none of the officers and soldiers wanted to kill Jian, all the officials suddenly fled.
The 8th century Tibetan Buddhist history, The Prophecy of the Li Country, claims that a Khotanese king helped the famous Kushan Emperor Kanishka
to conquer the key town of Saketa in Middle India. If this is correct, and if modern dating of the beginning of Kanishka's era in 127 CE, this must have happened at about this date - just before Ban Yong
reasserted Chinese influence over the region.
Heading on from Yutian (Khotan), you pass through Pishan (modern Pishan
or Guma) reaching Xiye (Karghalik), Zihe (Shahidulla), and Dere [Bazar Darra].
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
kingdom that was located on the branch of the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
that ran along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim basin
Tarim Basin
The Tarim Basin is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of about . It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's far west. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern is the Kunlun Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The...
. (The area lies in present day Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.)
Early names
Capital
The ancient city of Khotan was the Kingdom's capital. The Chinese (pinyin) name is Hetian . The name Hotan is also used. From the Han DynastyHan Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
until at least the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
it was known in Chinese as Yutian .
Built on an oasis
Oasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
, its mulberry
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....
groves allowed the production and export of silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
and silk rugs, in addition to the city's other major products such as its famous nephrite
Nephrite
Nephrite is a variety of the calcium and magnesium-rich amphibole mineral actinolite . The chemical formula for nephrite is Ca25Si8O222. It is one of two different mineral species called jade. The other mineral species known as jade is jadeite, which is a variety of pyroxene...
jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
and pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
.
Culture
According to legend, the foundation of Khotan occurred when Kushtana, said to be a son of the Kushan emperor in the 3rd century.However, it is likely to have existed much earlier than this as the Yuezhi
Yuezhi
The Yuezhi, or Rouzhi , also known as the Da Yuezhi or Da Rouzhi , were an ancient Central Asian people....
(known later as the Kushans) had been trading the famous nephrite jade from the region to China for some centuries prior to this.
The kingdom was one of the major centers of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. Up until the 11th century, the vast majority of the population was Buddhist. The kingdom is primarily associated with the Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
branch. It differed in this respect to Kucha
Kucha
Kuchaor Kuche Uyghur , Chinese Simplified: 库车; Traditional: 庫車; pinyin Kùchē; also romanized as Qiuzi, Qiuci, Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu from the traditional Chinese forms 屈支 屈茨; 龜玆; 龟兹, 丘玆, also Po ; Sanskrit: Kueina, Standard Tibetan: Kutsahiyui was an ancient Buddhist kingdom...
, a Śrāvakayāna-dominated kingdom on the opposite side of the desert. Fa-Hsien account of the city states it had fourteen large and many small Buddhist monasteries. Many foreign languages, including Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, Prakrit
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
and Tibetan
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
, were used in cultural exchange.
Khotan was the first place outside of China to begin cultivating silk. The story, repeated in many sources, and illustrated in murals discovered by archaeologists, is that a Chinese princess brought silkworm eggs in her hairdo when she was sent to marry the Khotanese king. This probably took place in the first half of the 1st century CE.
It was invaded by the Karakhanids
Kara-Khanid Khanate
The Kara-Khanid Khanate was a confederation of Turkic tribes ruled by a dynasty known in literature as the Karakhanids or Ilek Khanids, . Both dynastic names represent titles with Kara Kağan being the most important Turkish title up till the end of the dynasty.The Khanate ruled Transoxania in...
from Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
in 1006 and came under Muslim control. Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
visited Khotan between 1271 and 1275 and remarked that the people were "all followers of Mahommet."
History
Han DynastyChapter 96A of the Hanshu or 'History of the Former Han' (which covers the period from 125 BCE to 23 CE) says that Yutian, or Khotan, had 3,300 households, 19,300 individuals and 2,400 people able to bear arms.
The town obviously grew very quickly after China opened the Silk Routes to the West, for the population had more than quadrupled by the time of the Later Han. Here is the entry on Khotan from the Hou Hanshu:
- "The main centre of the kingdom of Yutian (Khotan) is the town of Xicheng (‘Western Town’ = Yotkan). It is 5,300 li (2,204 km) from the residence of the Senior Clerk [in Lukchun], and 11,700 li (4,865 km) from Luoyang. It controls 32,000 households, 83,000 individuals, and more than 30,000 men able to bear arms.
- At the end of the Jianwu period (25-56 CE), Xian, the powerful and prosperous king of Suoju (Yarkand), attacked and annexed Yutian (Khotan). He transferred Yulin, its king, to become the king of Ligui.
- During the Yongping period (58-76 CE), in the reign of Emperor Ming, Xiumo Ba, a Khotanese general, rebelled against Suoju (Yarkand), and made himself king of Yutian (in 60 CE). On the death of Xiumo Ba, Guangde, son of his elder brother, assumed power and then (in 61 CE) defeated Suoju (Yarkand). His kingdom became very prosperous after this. From Jingjue (NiyaNiyaNiya may refer to* Ruins of Niya , a site on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin, in modern-day Xinjiang, China* Niya, county seat of Minfeng County in the Tarim Basin, China...
) northwest, as far as Shule (KashgarKashgarKashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
), thirteen kingdoms submitted to him. Meanwhile, the king of ShanshanShanshanShanshan is the Chinese name for a kingdom that existed roughly from 200 BCE-1000 CE at the north-eastern end of the Taklamakan Desert including the great, but now mostly dry, salt lake known as Lop Nur....
(the Lop Nor region, capital Charklik) had also begun to prosper. From then on, these two kingdoms were the only major ones on the Southern Route in the whole region to the east of the Congling (Pamirs).
- In the sixth Yongjian year (131 CE), during the reign of Emperor Shun, Fangqian, the king of Yutian (Khotan), sent one of his sons to serve and offer tribute at the Imperial Palace.
- In the first Yuanjia year (151 CE), the Chief Clerk Zhao Ping was in Yutian (Khotan) and died there from a carbuncle. (Zhao) Ping's son left to mourn for him. On his way, he passed through Jumi (KeriyaKeriyaKeriya Town or Mugala Town , is a town in Keriya County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the old Southern Silk Road. As the commercial and administrative centre of Keriya County, it is about 166 km east of Khotan, 80 km east of Qira, and 120 km west of Niya...
). Now, Chengguo, the king of Jumi (Keriya), had had disagreements for some time with Jian, the king of Yutian (Khotan). He said to (Zhao) Ping’s son: “The king of Yutian (Khotan) ordered a Western (hu) doctor to put a poisonous drug in the wound, which caused [your father’s] death.” (Zhao) Ping's son believed this story. When he returned to the frontier region, he informed Ma Da, the Administrator of DunhuangDunhuangDunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today...
.
- The following year (152 CE), Wang Jing was named Chief Clerk in place [of the late Zhao Ping]. (Ma) Da ordered (Wang) Jing to make a thorough secret investigation into the affair. (Wang) Jing first passed through Jumi. Chengguo again said: “The people of Yutian (Khotan) want to have me as king. Now, you should kill Jian because of the crime he is guilty of. Yutian (Khotan) will certainly agree.”
Jing was eager to acquire merit and glory for himself and, besides, he believed what Chengguo had said to him. Before reaching Yutian (Khotan), he prepared everything to receive Jian, [then] invited him, meanwhile he developed a sinister plan. Someone had warned Jian of Wang Jing’s plot. He didn’t believe it and said: “I am innocent. Why would the Chief Clerk Wang (Jing) want to kill me?” The following morning Jian, with an escort of several tens of officials, came to pay a visit to (Wang) Jing. When they were seated, Jian got up to serve the wine. (Wang) Jing then ordered his retinue in a menacing tone to seize him but, as none of the officers and soldiers wanted to kill Jian, all the officials suddenly fled.
- At this point, Qin Mu, Chengguo’s Secretary, following (Wang) Jing, drew his sword and said, “The main issue has already been decided. Why are we still hesitating?” He immediately advanced and beheaded Jian. Then the Khotanese Marquis-General, Shupo, and some others, joined up again with the soldiers and attacked (Wang) Jing who took Jian’s head, climbed a tower, and proclaimed: “The Son of Heaven ordered us to punish Jian.”
- The Khotanese Marquis-General, Shupo, then set the camp buildings on fire killing the officials and soldiers. He climbed the tower and beheaded (Wang) Jing and hung his head in the marketplace. Shupo wanted to make himself king, but the people of the country killed him, and put Anguo, the son of Jian, on the throne.
- When Ma Da was informed of what had happened, he wanted to put himself in charge of the troops of several commanderies, and head through the frontier regions to attack Yutian (Khotan), but Emperor Huan (147-167 CE) did not allow it. He recalled (Ma) Da and substituted Song Liang to be Administrator of Dunhuang. When (Song) Liang arrived, he appealed to the people of Yutian (Khotan), asking them to behead Shupo. By then, Shupo had already been dead for more than a month, so they sent the head of a dead man to Dunhuang without saying what had really happened. (Song) Liang was informed of this trickery later but, finally, he could not get the troops to go. Encouraged by this, Yutian (Khotan) became arrogant."
The 8th century Tibetan Buddhist history, The Prophecy of the Li Country, claims that a Khotanese king helped the famous Kushan Emperor Kanishka
Kanishka
Kanishka ) was an emperor of the Kushan Empire, ruling an empire extending from Bactria to large parts of northern India in the 2nd century of the common era, and famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements...
to conquer the key town of Saketa in Middle India. If this is correct, and if modern dating of the beginning of Kanishka's era in 127 CE, this must have happened at about this date - just before Ban Yong
Ban Yong
Ban Yong ) was the youngest son of the famous Chinese General, Ban Chao , and the nephew of the illustrious historian, Ban Gu who compiled the Hanshu, the dynastic history of the Former Han dynasty.- Ban Yong's family :...
reasserted Chinese influence over the region.
- "Afterwards king Vijaya Krīti, for whom a manifestation of the Ārya Mañjuśrī, the Arhat called Spyi-pri who was propagating the religion (dharma) in Kam-śeṅ [a district of Khotan] was acting as pious friend, through being inspired with faith, built the vihāra of Sru-ño. Originally, King Kanika and the king of Gu-zan [Kucha] and the Li [Khotanese] ruler, King Vijaya Krīti, and others led an army into India, and when they captured the city called So-ked [Saketa], King Vijaya Krīti obtained many relics and put them in the stūpa of Sru-ño."
Heading on from Yutian (Khotan), you pass through Pishan (modern Pishan
Pishan
Guma Town , also known as Pishan Town is an ancient oasis town on the main caravan route between Khotan and Karghalik and, in Han times, the route left from here to go to Arachosia through Hunza...
or Guma) reaching Xiye (Karghalik), Zihe (Shahidulla), and Dere [Bazar Darra].
History Timeline
- c.84 BC: Buddhism is reportedly introduced to Khotan.
- c.56: Xian, the powerful and prosperous king of Yarkand, attacked and annexed Khotan. He transferred Yulin, its king, to become the king of Ligui, and set up his younger brother, Weishi, as king of Khotan.
- 61: Khotan defeats Yarkand. Khotan becomes very powerful after this and 13 kingdoms submitted to Khotan, which now, with ShanshanShanshanShanshan is the Chinese name for a kingdom that existed roughly from 200 BCE-1000 CE at the north-eastern end of the Taklamakan Desert including the great, but now mostly dry, salt lake known as Lop Nur....
, became the major power on the southern branch of the Silk Route. - 78: Ban ChaoBan ChaoBan Chao , courtesy name Zhongsheng , was born in Xianyang, Shaanxi, and the younger brother of the famous historian, Ban Gu who, with his father Ban Biao, and sister, Ban Zhao, wrote the famous Hanshu, or 'History of the Former Han Dynasty'....
, a Chinese General, subdues the kingdom. - 105: The 'Western Regions' rebelled, and Khotan regained its independence.
- 127: The Khotanese king Vijaya Krīti is said to have helped the Kushan Emperor KanishkaKanishkaKanishka ) was an emperor of the Kushan Empire, ruling an empire extending from Bactria to large parts of northern India in the 2nd century of the common era, and famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements...
in his conquest of Saketa in India. - 127: The Chinese general Ban YongBan YongBan Yong ) was the youngest son of the famous Chinese General, Ban Chao , and the nephew of the illustrious historian, Ban Gu who compiled the Hanshu, the dynastic history of the Former Han dynasty.- Ban Yong's family :...
attacked and subdued Karashahr; and then KuchaKuchaKuchaor Kuche Uyghur , Chinese Simplified: 库车; Traditional: 庫車; pinyin Kùchē; also romanized as Qiuzi, Qiuci, Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu from the traditional Chinese forms 屈支 屈茨; 龜玆; 龟兹, 丘玆, also Po ; Sanskrit: Kueina, Standard Tibetan: Kutsahiyui was an ancient Buddhist kingdom...
, KashgarKashgarKashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
, Khotan, Yarkand, and other kingdoms, seventeen altogether, who all came to submit to China. - 129: Fangqian, the king of Khotan, killed the king of KeriyaKeriyaKeriya Town or Mugala Town , is a town in Keriya County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the old Southern Silk Road. As the commercial and administrative centre of Keriya County, it is about 166 km east of Khotan, 80 km east of Qira, and 120 km west of Niya...
, Xing. He installed his son as the king of Keriya. Then he sent an envoy to offer tribute to Han. The Emperor pardoned the crime of the king of Khotan), ordering him to hand back the kingdom of Keriya. Fangqian refused. - 131: Fangqian, the king of Khotan, sends one of his sons to serve and offer tribute at the Chinese Imperial Palace.
- 132: The Chinese sent the king of Kashgar, Chenpan, who with 20,000 men, attacked and defeated Khotan. He beheaded several hundred people, and released his soldiers to plunder freely. He replaced the king [of Keriya] by installing Chengguo from the family of [the previous king] Xing, and then he returned.
- 175: Anguo, the king of Khotan, attacked Keriya, and defeated it soundly. He killed the king and many others.
- 399 Chinese pilgrim monk, Faxian, visits and reports on the active Buddhist community there.
- 632: Khotan pays homage to ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and becomes a vassal state. - 644: Chinese pilgrim monk, XuanzangXuanzangXuanzang was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period...
, stays 7–8 months in Khotan and writes a detailed account of the kingdom. - 670: TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
invades and conquers Khotan (now known as one of the "four garrisons"). - c.670-673: Khotan governed by Tibetan Mgar minister.
- 674: King Fudu Xiong (Vijaya Sangrāma IV), his family and followers flee to China after fighting the Tibetans. They are unable to return.
- c.680 - c.692: 'Amacha Khemeg rules as regent of Khotan.
- 692: China under Wu ZetianWu ZetianWu Zetian , personal name Wu Zhao , often referred to as Tian Hou during the Tang Dynasty and Empress Consort Wu in later times, was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Empress Regnant...
reconquers the Kingdom from Tibet. Khotan is made a protectorate. - 725: Yuchi Tiao (Vijaya Dharma III) is beheaded by the Chinese for conspiring with the Turks. Yuchi Fushizhan (Vijaya Sambhava II) is placed on the throne by the Chinese.
- 728: Yuchi Fushizhan (Vijaya Sambhava II) officially given the title "King of Khotan" by the Chinese emperor.
- 736: Fudu Da (Vijaya Vāhana the Great) succeeds Yuchi Fushizhan and the Chinese emperor bestows a title on his wife.
- c. 740: King Yuchi Gui (Btsan-bzang Btsan-la Brtan) succeeds Fudu Da (Vijaya Vāhana) and begins persecution of Buddhists. Khotanese Buddhist Monks flee to Tibet were they are given refuge by the Chinese wife of King Mes-ag-tshoms. Soon after, the Queen died in a smallpox epidemic and the monks had to flee to GandharaGandharaGandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...
. - 740: Chinese emperor bestows a title on wife of Yuchi Gui.
- 746: The Prophecy of the Li Country is completed and later added to the Tibetan Tanjur.
- 756: Yuchi Sheng hands over the government to his younger brother, Shihu (Jabgu) Yao.
- 786 to 788: Yuchi Yao still ruling Khotan at the time of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Wukong's visit to Khotan.
- 969: King Nanzongchang sends a tribute mission to China.
- 971: A Buddhist priest (Jixiang) brings a letter from the king of Khotan to the Chinese emperor offering to send a dancing elephant which he had captured from Kashgar.
- 1006: Khotan held by the Muslim Yūsuf Qadr Khān, a brother or cousin of the Muslim ruler of Kāshgar and Balāsāghūn.
- Between 1271 and 1275: Marco Polo visits Khotan.
Neighbours
- Yarkand
- KashgarKashgarKashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
- Hanmo
- Karashahr — One of the four garrisonGarrisonGarrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
s - KuchaKuchaKuchaor Kuche Uyghur , Chinese Simplified: 库车; Traditional: 庫車; pinyin Kùchē; also romanized as Qiuzi, Qiuci, Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu from the traditional Chinese forms 屈支 屈茨; 龜玆; 龟兹, 丘玆, also Po ; Sanskrit: Kueina, Standard Tibetan: Kutsahiyui was an ancient Buddhist kingdom...
— One of the four garrisons - Lop NurLop NurLop Lake or Lop Nur is a group of small, now seasonal salt lake sand marshes between the Taklamakan and Kuruktag deserts in the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, southeastern portion of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China.The lake system into which the Tarim...
- Taklamakan Desert
- Tarim BasinTarim BasinThe Tarim Basin is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of about . It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's far west. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern is the Kunlun Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The...
- ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
- TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
- XiongnuXiongnuThe Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...
Further reading
- Hill, John E. (2003). Draft version of: "The Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu. 2nd Edition." "Appendix A: The Introduction of Silk Cultivation to Khotan in the 1st Century CE." http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hhshu/appendices.html#a