Shule Kingdom

The Shule Kingdom (Chinese: 疏勒) was an ancient oasis kingdom of the Taklamakan Desert that was on the Northern Silk Road, in the historical Western Regions of what is now Xinjiang in Northwest China. Its capital was Kashgar,[1] the source of Kashgar's water being a river of the same name. Much like the neighboring people of the Kingdom of Khotan, people of Kashgar spoke Saka, one of the Eastern Iranian languages.[2]

Shule Kingdom
疏勒
c. 200 BC–790 AD
Tarim Basin in the 3rd century AD (the territory of Shule is colored purple)
Tarim Basin in the 3rd century AD (the territory of Shule is colored purple)
CapitalKashgar
Common languagesKanchaki (dialect of the Saka language, one of the Eastern Iranian languages)
GovernmentMonarchy
• ?–73 AD
Cheng
• 73 AD – 73 AD
Douti
• ?–?
Zhong
• ?–?
Chenpan
• 168–170
Hede
History 
• Founded
c. 200 BC
• Shule becomes a tributary of the Eastern Han
127 AD
• Gained independence from Northern Liang
460 AD
• Shule becomes a tributary of the gokturks
c. 400
• Independence from the Gokturks
630
• Vassalized by Tang dynasty
632 AD
• Conquered by Tibet
670 AD
• Declares vassalage to Tang
673
• Reconquered by Tang
692
• Conquered by Tibetans
790 AD
Succeeded by
Tibetan Empire
Today part ofChina
Kyrgyzstan

Although a vassal of the Chinese Tang dynasty from the 7th century, Shule was conquered by the Tibetan Empire in the late 8th century and was eventually incorporated into the Kara-Khanid Khanate during the Islamicisation and Turkicisation of Xinjiang.

History
Further information: Saka

The earliest mention of the Shule is around 120 BC, by Western Han Chinese when they were exploring their borders.[3] In 127 AD Shule began to pay tribute to the Eastern Han.[3] In 168, following Hede's murder of the current ruler (name unknown), the Han declared war on the Shule, ending in the unsuccessful Siege of Zhenzhong in 170 AD.[3]

By the end of the Eastern Han period (220 AD), Shule had conquered the city-states of Zhenzhong, Yarkent, Jieshi, Qusha, Xiye, and Yinai.[3] In the 5th century the Shule kingdom became a tributary of the Gokturks. They gained independence from the Gokturks in 630, when the Gokturks fell in battle to the Chinese Tang dynasty.[3] In 632 AD it was vassalized by the Tang, as part of the Tang campaign against the oasis states.[4] Some sources say that they were only made into a tributary and the Tang had very loose suzerainty.[5][6][7] After being conquered by the Tang it was part of the Protectorate General to Pacify the West between c. 640 and c. 790.[8] It was one of the stations of the Four Garrisons of Anxi between 649 and 670, after 670 one of the garrisons was changed, but Kashgar was still a seat of the four garrisons.[9]

In 670 AD Shule was conquered by the Tibetan Empire. In 673 the Shule kingdom declared itself a vassal of the Tang,[10] but was not reconquered by the Tang Chinese until 692 AD.[11]

It is alleged and probably untrue that Qutayba ibn Muslim in 715 attacked Kashgar.[12][13]

Kara Khanid Muslim Turks absorbed Kashgar during the Islamicisation and Turkicisation of Xinjiang. According to Mahmud al-Kashgari within Kashgar's vicinity, some non-Turkic languages like the Kanchaki and Sogdian were still used in some areas.[14] It is believed that the Saka language group was what Kanchaki belonged to.[15][16] It is believed that the Tarim Basin was linguistically Turkified before the end of the 11th century.[17]

Economy

As it was on the Northern Silk Road, Shule traded mostly through the Yumen Pass[18] and the Pamir Mountains.[19]

The capital of the Shule Kingdom, Kashgar, is marked

The Northern Silk Road that passed through Kashgar split off into the northern Tarim Basin route which ran from Kashgar over Aksu, Kucha, Korla, through the Iron Gate Pass, over Karasahr, Jiaohe, Turpan, Gaochang and Kumul to Anxi. The southern Tarim Basin route ran from Kashgar over Yarkant, Karghalik, Pishan, Khotan, Keriya, Niya, Qarqan, Qarkilik, Miran and Dunhuang to Anxi.[20]

Rulers
  • Cheng (成) 70
  • Dou Ti (兜題) 72
  • Zhong (忠) 74
  • Cheng Da (成大) 84
  • An Guo (安國) 116
  • Yi Fu (遺腹) 125
  • Chen Pan (臣磐) 127
  • He De (和得) 168
  • A Mijue (阿彌厥) 605
  • Pei Chuo (裴綽) 618
  • Pei Amozhi (裴阿摩支) 627
  • Pei Yijian (裴夷健) 698
  • Pei Anding (裴安定) 728
  • Pei Guoliang (裴國良) 753
  • Pei Lengleng (裴冷冷) 784–789? / Tang general – Lu Yang (魯陽) 789

See also

References
  1. Millward 2007:23
  2. Tremblay, Xavier (2007). "The Spread of Buddhism in Serindia: Buddhism Among Iranians, Tocharians and Turks before the 13th Century". In Heirman, Ann; Bumbacker, Stephan Peter (eds.). The Spread of Buddhism. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. p. 77. ISBN 978-90-04-15830-6.
  3. Su-il, Jeong (July 18, 2016). The Silk Road Encyclopedia. Seoul: Seoul Selection. ISBN 978-1624120763.
  4. Wechsler, Howard J.; Twitchett, Dennis C. (1979). Denis C. Twitchett; John K. Fairbank, eds. The Cambridge History of China, Volume 3: Sui and T'ang China, 589–906, Part I. Cambridge University Press. pp. 225–227. ISBN 978-0-521-21446-9.
  5. Whitfield 2004, p. 47.
  6. Twitchett 2000, pp. 116–118.
  7. Wechsler 1979, pp. 226–228.
  8. Millward, James A. (2007). Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang (illustrated ed.). Columbia University Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-231-13924-3.
  9. Xue, p. 596-598.
  10. Wechsler 1979, p. 226.
  11. Beckwith, 36, 146.
  12. Michael Dillon (August 1, 2014). Xinjiang and the Expansion of Chinese Communist Power: Kashgar in the Early Twentieth Century. Routledge. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-1-317-64721-8.
  13. Marshall Broomhall (1910). Islam in China: A Neglected Problem. Morgan & Scott, Limited. pp. 17–.
  14. Scott Cameron Levi; Ron Sela (2010). Islamic Central Asia: An Anthology of Historical Sources. Indiana University Press. pp. 72–. ISBN 978-0-253-35385-6.
  15. Ahmad Hasan Dani; B. A. Litvinsky; Unesco (January 1, 1996). History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750. UNESCO. pp. 283–. ISBN 978-92-3-103211-0.
  16. Ahmad Hasan Dani (January 1999). History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 283–. ISBN 978-81-208-1540-7.
  17. Akiner (October 28, 2013). Cultural Change & Continuity In. Routledge. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-1-136-15034-0.
  18. Bonavia, Judy (2004). The Silk Road From Xi’an to Kashgar. Revised by Christoph Baumer. 2004. Odyssey Publications.
  19. "Silk Road, North China, C.Michael Hogan, the Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham". Megalithic.co.uk. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
  20. "Silk Road Trade Routes". University of Washington. Retrieved August 25, 2007.

Bibliography
  • Xue, Zongzheng (1992), Turkic peoples, 中国社会科学出版社
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