View source for Yuezhi

{{Short description|Ancient people mentioned in Chinese histories}}
{{distinguish|Yueshi culture}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group         = Yuezhi
|native_name   = {{lang|zh|月氏}}<br / >{{small|[[Old Chinese phonology|*]]ŋod  kje}}
|image         = 
{{multiple image|border=infobox|perrow=1/1|total_width=250
| align    = center
| caption_align = center
| direction =vertical
| image1   = Noin-Ula nobleman and priest over fire altar.jpg
| caption1 = Figures in the embroidered carpets of the [[Noin-Ula burial site]], proposed to be Yuezhis (1st century BC – 1st century AD).<ref name="CAY"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Francfort |first1=Henri-Paul|author-link= Henri-Paul Francfort |title=Sur quelques vestiges et indices nouveaux de l'hellénisme dans les arts entre la Bactriane et le Gandhāra (130 av. J.-C.-100 apr. J.-C. environ) |journal=Journal des Savants |date=1 January 2020 |pages=26–27, Fig.8 ''"Portrait royal diadémé Yuezhi"'' ("Diademed royal portrait of a Yuezhi")|url=https://www.academia.edu/45042820 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="YUESA">Considered as Yuezhi-Saka or simply Yuezhi in {{cite journal |last1=Polos'mak |first1=Natalia V. |last2=Francfort |first2=Henri-Paul |last3=Tsepova |first3=Olga |title=Nouvelles découvertes de tentures polychromes brodées du début de notre ère dans les "tumuli" n o 20 et n o 31 de Noin-Ula (République de Mongolie) |journal=Arts Asiatiques |date=2015 |volume=70 |pages=3–32 |doi=10.3406/arasi.2015.1881 |jstor=26358181 |quote=p.3: "These tapestries were apparently manufactured in Bactria or in Gandhara at the time of the Saka-Yuezhi rule, when these countries were connected with the Parthian empire and the "Hellenized East." They represent groups of men, warriors of high status, and kings and/ or princes, performing rituals of drinking, fighting or taking part in a religious ceremony, a procession leading to an altar with a fire burning on it, and two men engaged in a ritual." }}</ref><ref name="LN">{{cite journal |last1=Nehru |first1=Lolita |title=KHALCHAYAN |journal=Encyclopaedia Iranica Online |date=14 December 2020 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/*-COM_215?lang=en |publisher=Brill |language=en|quote=About "[[Khalchayan]]", "site of a settlement and palace of the nomad Yuezhi": "Representations of figures with faces closely akin to those of the ruling clan at Khalchayan (PLATE I) have been found in recent times on woollen fragments recovered from a nomad burial site near Lake Baikal in Siberia, Noin Ula, supplementing an earlier discovery at the same site), the pieces dating from the time of Yuezhi/Kushan control of Bactria. Similar faces appeared on woollen fragments found recently in a nomad burial in south-eastern Xinjiang ([[Sampul tapestry|Sampula]]), of about the same date, manufactured probably in Bactria, as were probably also the examples from Noin Ula."}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite journal |last1=Yatsenko |first1=Sergey A. |title=Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia |journal=The Silk Road |date=2012 |volume=10 |url=http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol10/SilkRoad_10_2012_yatsenko.pdf}}</ref><ref name="History Embroidered in Wool">{{cite journal |last1=Polosmak |first1=Natalia V. |title=History Embroidered in Wool |journal=SCIENCE First Hand |date=2012 |volume=31 |issue=N1 |url=https://scfh.ru/en/papers/history-embroidered-in-wool/ |language=en}}</ref><ref name="We Drank Soma, We Became Immortal…">{{cite journal |last1=Polosmak |first1=Natalia V. |title=We Drank Soma, We Became Immortal… |journal=SCIENCE First Hand |date=2010 |volume=26 |issue=N2 |url=https://scfh.ru/en/papers/we-drank-soma-we-became-immortal-/ |language=en}}</ref>
| image2   = Yuezhi migrations.jpg
| caption2 = The migrations of the Yuezhi through Central Asia, from around 176&nbsp;BC to 30&nbsp;AD
}}
|image_caption = 
|population    = Some 100,000 to 200,000 horse archers, according to the ''Shiji'', Chapter 123.{{sfn|Watson|1993|p=234}} The ''Hanshu'' Chapter 96A records: 100,000 households, 400,000 people with 100,000 able to bear arms.<ref>Hulsewé, A.F.P. and Loewe, M.A.N. ''China in Central Asia: The Early Stage: 125 B.C.-A.D. 23: An Annotated Translation of Chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty''. Leiden. E. J. Birll. 1979. {{ISBN|90-04-05884-2}}, pp. 119–120.</ref>
|region1       = [[Western China]] 
|pop1=(pre-2nd century BC){{sfn|Watson|1993|p=234}}
|region2       = [[Central Asia]] 
|pop2=(2nd century BC-1st century AD)
|region3       = [[Northern India]] 
|pop3=(1st century AD-4th century AD)
|languages     = [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]]{{sfn|Hansen|2012|p=72}} (in Bactria in the 1st century AD)
|religions     = [[Buddhism]]<br/>[[Hinduism]]{{sfn|Bopearachchi|2007|p=45}}<br />[[Jainism]]<ref name="Wink">{{cite book |first=André |last=Wink |title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: The Slavic Kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th–13th centuries |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1997 |page=57 |isbn=90-04-10236-1 }}</ref><br/>[[Shamanism]]<br/>[[Zoroastrianism]]<br/>[[Manichaeism]]<br/>[[Nana (Bactrian goddess)|Kushan deities]]
}}

The '''Yuezhi'''{{efn|{{zh|c=月氏|p=Yuèzhī, Ròuzhī or Rùzhī|w=Yüeh<sup>4</sup>-chih<sup>1</sup>, Jou<sup>4</sup>-chih<sup>1</sup> or Ju<sup>4</sup>-chih<sup>1</sup>}}}} were an ancient people first described in [[China|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'''{{efn|''Dà Yuèzhī'' 大月氏}} and '''Lesser Yuezhi'''.{{efn|''Xiǎo Yuèzhī'' 小月氏}} 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dean |first=Riaz |title=The Stone Tower: Ptolemy, the Silk Road, and a 2,000-Year-Old Riddle |publisher=Penguin Viking |year=2022 |isbn=978-0670093625 |location=Delhi |pages=73–81 (Ch.7, Migration of the Yuezhi) |language=English}}</ref>

The Greater Yuezhi initially migrated northwest into the [[Ili River|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 the ''[[Tukhara|Tókharoi]]''{{efn|Greek ''Τοχάροι''; Sanskrit ''Tukhāra''}} and ''[[Asii]]''.{{efn|or ''Asioi''}} During the 1st century BC, one of the five major Greater Yuezhi tribes in Bactria, the ''[[Kushanas]]'',{{efn|{{zh|c=貴霜|p=Guìshuāng}}}} began to subsume the other tribes and neighbouring peoples. The subsequent [[Kushan Empire]], at its peak in the 3rd century AD, stretched from [[Turfan]] in the [[Tarim Basin]] in the north to [[Pataliputra]] on the [[Gangetic plain]] of [[India]] in the south. The Kushanas played an important role in the development of trade on the [[Silk Road]] and the [[Silk Road transmission of Buddhism|introduction of Buddhism to China]].

The Lesser Yuezhi migrated southward to the edge of the [[Tibetan Plateau]]. Some are reported to have settled among the [[Qiang (historical people)|Qiang people]] in [[Qinghai]], and to have been involved in the [[Liang Province Rebellion]] (184–221 AD) against the [[Han dynasty#Eastern Han|Eastern Han dynasty]]. Another group of Yuezhi is said to have founded the [[city state]] of [[Cumuḍa]] (now known as ''Kumul'' and [[Hami City|Hami]]) in the eastern Tarim. A fourth group of Lesser Yuezhi may have become part of the [[Jie people]] of [[Shanxi]], who established the [[Later Zhao]] state of the 4th century AD (although this remains controversial).

Many scholars believe that the Yuezhi were an [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] people.<ref name="Narain">{{harvnb|Narain|1990|pp=152–155}} "[W]e must identify them [Tocharians] with the Yueh-chih of the Chinese sources... [C]onsensus of scholarly opinion identifies the Yueh-chih with the Tokharians... [T]he Indo-European ethnic origin of the Yuehchih = Tokharians is generally accepted... Yueh-chih = Tokharian people... Yueh-chih = Tokharians..."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Roux|1997|p=90}} "They are, by almost unanimous opinion, Indo-Europeans, probably the most oriental of those who occupied the steppes."</ref>
Although some scholars have associated them with artifacts of extinct cultures in the Tarim Basin, such as the [[Tarim mummies]] and texts recording the [[Tocharian languages]], there is no evidence for any such link.{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2000|pp=283–284}}

{{Sidebar timeline
| title    = &nbsp;&nbsp;Timeline of the Yuezhi <ref>Based on Benjamin (2007), except where otherwise stated.</ref>
| years1   = Before<br>'''221&nbsp;BCE'''&nbsp;
| color1   = 
| events1  = The Yuezhi are powerful near Dunhuang, near the western end of the [[Hexi Corridor]], and control the jade trade from the [[Tarim Basin]]. Somewhere west are the [[Wusun]],<ref>{{cite book |first1=Wei |last1=Lanhai |first2=Li |last2=Hui |first3=Xu |last3=Wenkan |chapter=The separate origins of the Tocharians and the Yuezhi |pages=284 |title=Tocharian Texts in Context: International Conference on Tocharian Manuscripts and Silk Road Culture, June 25-29th, 2013 |publisher=Hempen |year=2015 |isbn=978-3-944312-26-2 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318897882 }}</ref> and further east near the [[Ordos plateau]] are the [[Xiongnu]] or their precursors.
| years2   = '''215 BCE'''  
| color2   = 
| events2  = The Xiongnu are defeated by the [[Qin dynasty]] and retreat northwards into the [[Mongolian Plateau]].
| years3   = '''207 BCE '''
| color3   = 
| events3  = The Xiongnu begin a campaign of raids against the Yuezhi.
| years4   = Circa<br>'''176 BCE'''
| color4   = 
| events4  = The Xiongnu inflict a major defeat on the Yuezhi.
| years5   = '''173 BCE''' 
| color5   = 
| events5  = The Yuezhi defeat the [[Wusun]].
| years6   = <br>'''165 BCE'''
| color6   = 
| events6  = The majority of the Yuezhi begin migrating west to the [[Ili valley]]; this faction is known later as the "Great Yuezhi". Most of the other faction, known as the "Lesser Yuezhi", settle on the [[Tibetan Plateau]] and in the Tarim basin.  
| years7   = '''132 BCE'''
| color7   = 
| events7  = The Wusun attack the Great Yuezhi, forcing them southward from the Ili valley.
| years8   = '''132–130&nbsp;BCE'''
| color8   = 
| events8  = The Great Yuezhi migrate west, then south and settle in north-west [[Bactria]].
| years9   = '''128 BCE'''
| color9   = 
| events9  = A Chinese envoy named [[Zhang Qian]] reaches the Great Yuezhi.
| years10  = Circa<br>'''30 CE'''
| color10  = 
| events10 = One of five tribes comprising the Great Yuezhi tribes, the Kushana, become dominant and form the basis of the [[Kushan Empire]].
| below    =
}}

== Earliest references in Chinese texts ==
[[File:Yuezhi map 210 BCE.jpg|thumb|260px|Circa 210 BC, the Yuezhi resided to the northwest of [[Qin empire|Qin China]].]]
Three pre-Han texts mention peoples who appear to be the Yuezhi, albeit under slightly different names.{{sfn|Thierry|2005}}
* The philosophical tract ''[[Guanzi (text)|Guanzi]]'' (73, 78, 80 and 81) mentions [[nomadic pastoralism|nomadic pastoralists]] known as the ''Yúzhī''{{efn|禺氏 ([[Old Chinese]]: *ŋʷjo-kje)}} or ''Niúzhī'',{{efn|牛氏 ([[Old Chinese|OC]]: *ŋʷjə-kje)}} who supplied [[jade]] to the Chinese.<ref>"Les Saces", Iaroslav Lebedynsky, {{ISBN|2-87772-337-2}}, p. 59</ref>{{sfn|Thierry|2005}} (The ''Guanzi'' is now generally believed to have been compiled around 26 BC, based on older texts, including some from the [[Qi (state)|Qi state era]] of the 11th to 3rd centuries BC. Most scholars no longer attribute its primary authorship to [[Guan Zhong]], a Qi official in the 7th century BC.<ref>Liu Jianguo (2004). ''Distinguishing and Correcting the pre-Qin Forged Classics''. Xi'an: Shaanxi People's Press. {{ISBN|7-224-05725-8}}. pp. 115–127</ref>) The export of jade from the Tarim Basin, since at least the late 2nd millennium BC, is well-documented archaeologically. For example, hundreds of jade pieces found in the [[Tomb of Fu Hao]] ({{Circa|1200 BC}}) originated from the [[Khotan]] area, on the southern rim of the Tarim Basin.{{sfn|Liu|2001a|p=265}} According to the ''Guanzi'', the Yúzhī/Niúzhī, unlike the neighbouring [[Xiongnu]], did not engage in conflict with nearby Chinese states.
* The epic novel ''[[Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven]]'' (early 4th century BC) also mentions a plain of ''Yúzhī''{{efn|禺知 (OC: *ŋʷjo-kje)}} to the northwest of the Zhou lands.{{sfn|Thierry|2005}}
* Chapter 59 of the ''[[Yi Zhou Shu]]'' (probably dating from the 4th to 1st century BC) refers to a ''Yúzhī''{{efn|禺氏 (OC: *ŋʷjo-kje)}} people living to the northwest of the Zhou domain and offering horses as tribute. A late supplement contains the name ''Yuèdī'',{{efn|月氐 (OC: *ŋʷjat-tij)}} which may be a misspelling of the name ''Yuèzhī''{{efn|月氏 (OC: *ŋʷjat-kje)}} found in later texts.{{sfn|Thierry|2005}}

In the 1st century BC, [[Sima Qian]] – widely regarded as the founder of [[Chinese historiography]] – describes how the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206 BC) bought jade and highly valued military [[horse]]s from a people that Sima Qian called the ''Wūzhī'',{{efn|烏氏 (OC: *ʔa-kje)}} led by a man named Luo. The ''Wūzhī'' traded these goods for Chinese [[silk]], which they then sold on to other neighbours.{{sfn|Benjamin|2007|p=32}}{{sfn|Liu|2010|pp=3–4}} This is probably the first reference to the Yuezhi as a lynchpin in trade on the [[Silk Road]],{{sfn|Liu|2001a|p=273}} which in the 3rd century BC began to link Chinese states to Central Asia and, eventually, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Europe.

== Account of Zhang Qian ==
The earliest detailed account of the Yuezhi is found in chapter 123 of the ''[[Records of the Great Historian]]'' by [[Sima Qian]], describing a mission of [[Zhang Qian]] in the late 2nd century BC. Essentially the same text appears in chapter 61 of the ''[[Book of Han]]'', though Sima Qian has added occasional words and phrases to clarify the meaning.<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael A.N. |last=Loewe |chapter=Introduction |pages=1–70 |title=China in Central Asia: The Early Stage: 125 BC – AD 23; an Annotated Translation of Chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty |editor-first=Anthony François Paulus |editor-last=Hulsewé |publisher=Brill |year=1979 |isbn=978-90-04-05884-2 }} pp. 23–24.</ref>

Both texts use the name ''Yuèzhī'',{{efn|月氏 (OC: *ŋʷjat-kje)}} composed of characters meaning "moon" and "clan" respectively.{{sfn|Thierry|2005}} Several different [[romanization]]s of this [[Chinese language|Chinese-language]] name have appeared in print. The Iranologist [[Harold Walter Bailey|H. W. Bailey]] preferred ''Üe-ṭşi''.<ref name="Bailey">H. W. Bailey, ''Indo-Scythian Studies: Being Khotanese Texts'' (vol. 7). Cambridge, [[Cambridge University Press]], pp. 6–7, 16, 101, 116, 121, 133.</ref> Another modern Chinese pronunciation of the name is ''Ròuzhī'', based on the thesis that the character {{linktext|月}} in the name is a scribal error for {{linktext|肉}}; however Thierry considers this thesis "thoroughly wrong".{{sfn|Thierry|2005}}

=== Conflict with Xiongnu ===
The ''Book of Han'' account of the Yuezhi begins with them occupying the grasslands to the northwest of China at the beginning of the 2nd century BCE:
{{Continental Asia in 200 BCE|right|Original location of the Yuezhi in [[Gansu]] circa 200 BCE, per Chinese sources (in black, ''"between [[Dunhuang]] and [[Qilian County|Qilian]]"''). Alternate possible original location in red ([[Tian Shan]] mountains), suggested by some authors.{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2000|pp=283–284}}{{sfn|Liu|2001a|pp=267–268}}|{{Annotation|182|65|[[File:Orange dot (semi-transparent).png|20px]]}}{{Annotation|142|59|[[File:Orange dot (semi-transparent).png|20px]]}}{{Annotation|140|65|[[Yuezhis|<span style="color:#FF0000">''YUEZHI''</span>]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=6|color=#000000}}|}} {{blockquote|The Great Yuezhi were a nomadic horde. They moved about following their cattle, and had the same customs as those of the [[Xiongnu]]. As their soldiers numbered more than a hundred thousand, they were strong and despised the Xiongnu. In the past, they lived in the region between Dunhuang and Qilian.|title=''[[Book of Han]]''|source=61}} The area between the [[Qilian Mountains]] and [[Dunhuang]] lies in the western part of the modern Chinese province of [[Gansu]], but no archaeological remains of the Yuezhi have yet been found in this area.{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2000|pp=283–284}} Some scholars have argued that "Dunhuang" should be [[Dunhong]], a mountain in the [[Tian Shan]], and that Qilian should be interpreted as a name for the Tian Shan. They have thus placed the original homeland of the Yuezhi 1,000&nbsp;km further northwest in the grasslands to the north of the Tian Shan (in the northern part of modern [[Xinjiang]]).{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2000|pp=283–284}}{{sfn|Liu|2001a|pp=267–268}} Other authors suggest that the area identified by Sima Qian was merely the core area of an empire encompassing the western part of the Mongolian plain, the upper reaches of the [[Yellow River]], the [[Tarim Basin]] and possibly much of central Asia, including the [[Altai Mountains]], the site of the [[Pazyryk burials]] of the [[Ukok Plateau]].{{sfn|Enoki|Koshelenko|Haidary|1994|pp=169–172}}

By the late 3rd century BCE the Yuezhi appear to have often been in conflict with the Xiongnu and the [[Wusun]] – another neighbouring people, who had originally lived together alongside the Yuezhi, in the region between Dunhuang and Qilian Mountain. (The only surviving accounts of these interactions were evidently obtained later from non-Yuezhi sources – as shown by the fact that they did not record the personal names of individual Yuezhi, including their leaders.) Gradually the Xiongnu grew stronger, and  began to challenge the Yuezhi militarily. There were at least four wars between the two peoples, according to Chinese accounts. The first war broke out during the reign of the Xiongnu monarch [[Touman]] (who died in 209 BCE). After Touman had sent his eldest son, [[Modu Chanyu]], to the Yuezhi as a hostage, Touman made a surprise attack on the Yuezhi. Despite attempts by the Yuezhi to kill him, Modu stole a horse and managed to escape to his country. It appears that the Xiongnu did not prevail in this first war; Modu subsequently killed his father and became ruler of the Xiongnu.{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2000|p=94}} The second war took place in the seventh year of Modu's reign (203 BCE), when the Xiongnu  seized a large area of the territory originally belonging to the Yuezhi, and their dominance began to fade. In a third war, probably before or in 176 BCE, one of Modu's subordinate tribal chiefs led an invasion of Yuezhi territory in the [[Gansu]] region, and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Yuezhi.<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak">{{cite journal|last=Benjamin|first=Craig|author-link=Craig Benjamin|date=October 2003|title=The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia|url=http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html|journal=Transoxiana Webfestschrift|publisher=Transoxiana|volume=1|issue=Ēran ud Anērān|access-date=29 May 2015}}</ref>{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|pp=380–383}} Modu boasted in a letter (174 BC) to the Han emperor,<ref>{{cite book |title=Early Türks: Essays on History and Ideology |first=Yu. A. |last=Zuev |author-link=Yury Zuev |page=15 |location=Almaty |year=2002 |quote=...Maodun proudly informed emperor Han: . . . Due to the favor of the Sky, the commanders and soldiers were in sound condition, and the horses were strong, which allowed me to destroy Uechji, who were exterminated or surrendered.}}</ref> that due to "the excellence of his fighting men, and the strength of his horses, he has succeeded in wiping out the Yuezhi, slaughtering or forcing to submission every number of the tribe." (''Shiji'' 123.{{sfn|Watson|1993|p=234}})
The wife of the murdered king became the new monarch of the Greater Yuezhi.<ref>[[:s:zh:漢書/卷061|Book of Han, vol. 61]]</ref><ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Mair |editor-first=Victor H. |editor-link=Victor H. Mair|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.3699/page/777/mode/1up |title=The Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Peoples of Eastern Central Asia |date=1998 |publisher=The Institute for the Study of Man in collaboration with The University of Pennsylvania Museum Publications |volume=2|page=777|isbn=978-0-941694-63-6|quote=Among the Greater Yuezhi it appears that a lady was appointed to be the ruling queen on at least one occasion. "Zhang Qian zhuan" 張騫傳 (Biography of Zhang Qian) in the ''History of the Han'' records that after the king of the Greater Yuezhi was killed by the Xiongnu, his wife was appointed to be the queen.}}</ref> Shortly afterward (173 BCE), the Wusun were reportedly attacked by the Yuezhi, who sought slaves and pasture lands. The Yuezhi killed the Wusun ''kunmo'' (monarch),{{efn|''kunmi'' {{zh|昆彌}} or ''kunmo'' {{zh|昆莫}}}} named Nandoumi,{{efn|{{zh|難兜靡}}}}<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak"/>{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|pp=6–7}} and took his territory. The son of Nandoumi, known only by the title ''kunmo'', fled to the Xiongnu and was brought up by their monarch – probably Modu and/or his son, [[Laoshang Chanyu]] (who reigned 174–166 BCE). Laoshang later reportedly killed a king of the Yuezhi and, in accordance with nomadic traditions "made a [[skull cup|drinking cup]] out of his skull." (''Shiji'' 123.{{sfn|Watson|1993|p=234}})

[[File:Noin-Ula carpet.jpg|thumb|upright=2|Figures in one of the embroidered carpets of the [[Xiongnu]] [[Noin-Ula burial site]], a luxury item probably imported from [[Bactria]].<ref name="We Drank Soma, We Became Immortal…"/> They are thought to represent Yuezhis. 1st century BC - 1st century AD.<ref name="CAY">{{cite book |last1=Betts |first1=Alison |last2=Vicziany |first2=Marika |last3=Jia |first3=Peter Weiming |last4=Castro |first4=Angelo Andrea Di |title=The Cultures of Ancient Xinjiang, Western China: Crossroads of the Silk Roads |date=19 December 2019 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-78969-407-9 |page=104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxUSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 |language=en|quote="In Noin-Ula (Noyon Uul), Mongolia, the remarkable elite Xiongnu tombs have revealed textiles that are linked to the pictorial tradition of the Yuezhi: the decorative faces closely resemble the [[Khalchayan]] portraits, while the local ornaments have integrated elements of Graeco-Roman design. These artifacts were most probably manufactured in Bactria"}}</ref><ref name="YUESA"/><ref name="LN"/><ref name="auto"/><ref name="History Embroidered in Wool"/><ref name="academia.edu">{{cite journal |last1=Francfort |first1=Henri-Paul|author-link= Henri-Paul Francfort |title=Sur quelques vestiges et indices nouveaux de l'hellénisme dans les arts entre la Bactriane et le Gandhāra (130 av. J.-C.-100 apr. J.-C. environ) |journal=Journal des Savants |date=1 January 2020 |pages=26–27, Fig.8 |url=https://www.academia.edu/45042820 |language=en}}</ref>]]

=== Exodus of the Great Yuezhi ===
{{ Annotated image 
| image=Western Regions 1st century BC(en).png
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| caption=Central Asia in the 1st century BC, and transitory location of the "Great Yuezhi".
}}
After their defeat by the Xiongnu, the Yuezhi split into two groups. The Lesser or Little Yuezhi{{efn|''Xiao Yuezhi''}} moved to the "southern mountains", believed to be the [[Qilian Mountains]] on the edge of the [[Tibetan Plateau]], to live with the [[Qiang (historical people)|Qiang]].{{sfn|Enoki|Koshelenko|Haidary|1994|p=170}}

The so-called Greater or Great Yuezhi{{efn|''Dà Yuèzhī'', 大月氏}} began migrating north-west in about 165 BC,<ref>Chavannes (1907) "Les pays d'occident d'après le ''Heou Han chou''". ''T'oung pao'', ser.2:8, p. 189, n. 1</ref> first settling in the [[Ili valley]], immediately north of the [[Tian Shan]] mountains, where they defeated the [[Saka|Sai]] (Sakas): "The Yuezhi attacked the king of the Sai who moved a considerable distance to the south and the Yuezhi then occupied his lands" (''Book of Han'' 61 4B). This was "the first historically recorded movement of peoples originating in the high plateaus of Asia."<ref name=Rene>{{Cite book|last=Grousset|first=Rene|title=The Empire of the Steppes|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=1970|isbn=0-8135-1304-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/27 27–28]|url=https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/27}}</ref>

In 132 BC the [[Wusun]], in alliance with the Xiongnu and out of revenge from an earlier conflict, again managed to dislodge the Yuezhi from the Ili Valley, forcing them to move south-west.<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak"/> The Yuezhi passed through the neighbouring urban civilization of [[Dayuan]] (in [[Ferghana]]) and settled on the northern bank of the [[Oxus]], in the region of northern [[Bactria]], or [[Transoxiana]] (modern [[Tajikistan]] and [[Uzbekistan]]).

=== Visit of Zhang Qian ===
[[File:ZhangQianTravels.jpg|thumb|225px|A later mural ({{Circa|618}}–712 AD) from the [[Mogao Caves]], depicting the Chinese mission of [[Zhang Qian]] to the Yuezhi in 126 BC.]]

The Yuezhi were visited in [[Transoxiana]] by a Chinese mission, led by [[Zhang Qian]] in 126 BC,<ref>[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006 ''Silk Road, North China''], C. Michael Hogan, The Megalithic Portal, A. Burnham, ed.</ref> which sought an offensive alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu. His request for an alliance was denied by the Yuezhi, who now had a peaceful life in Transoxiana and had no interest in revenge. Zhang Qian, who spent a year in Transoxiana and [[Bactria]], wrote a detailed account in [[Shiji|the ''Shiji'']], which gives considerable insight into the situation in [[Central Asia]] at the time.{{sfn|Watson|1993|pp=233–236}}

Zhang Qian also reported:

{{blockquote|text=the Great Yuezhi live 2,000 or 3,000 ''li'' [832–1,247 kilometers] west of ''[[Dayuan]]'', north of the ''Gui'' {{bracket|[[Oxus]] }} river. They are bordered on the south by ''[[Daxia]]'' {{bracket|[[Bactria]]}}, on the west by ''Anxi'' {{bracket|[[Parthia]]}}, and on the north by ''[[Kangju]]'' [beyond the middle [[Jaxartes]]/Syr Darya]. They are a nation of [[nomad]]s, moving from place to place with their herds, and their customs are like those of the Xiongnu. They have some 100,000 or 200,000 archer warriors.|title=''Shiji''|source=123{{sfn|Watson|1993|p=234}}}}

In a sweeping analysis of the physical types and cultures of Central Asia, Zhang Qian reports:

{{blockquote|text=Although the states from Dayuan west to Anxi (Parthia), speak rather different languages, their customs are generally similar and their languages mutually intelligible. The men have deep-set eyes and profuse beards and whiskers. They are skilful at commerce and will haggle over a fraction of a cent. Women are held in great respect, and the men make decisions on the advice of their women.|title=''Shiji''|source=123{{sfn|Watson|1993|p=245}}}}

[[File:Amudaryamap.jpg|thumb|right|Watershed of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya)]]
Zhang Qian also described the remnants of the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] on the other side of the [[Oxus River]] (Chinese ''Gui'') as a number of autonomous city-states under Yuezhi suzerainty:{{sfn|Enoki|Koshelenko|Haidary|1994|p=175}}

{{blockquote|text=Daxia is located over 2,000 li southwest of Dayuan, south of the Gui river. Its people cultivate the land and have cities and houses. Their customs are like those of Ta-Yuan. It has no great ruler but only a number of petty chiefs ruling the various cities. The people are poor in the use of arms and afraid of battle, but they are clever at commerce. After the Great Yuezhi moved west and attacked the lands, the entire country came under their sway. The population of the country is large, numbering some 1,000,000 or more persons. The capital is called the city of Lanshi and has a market where all sorts of goods are bought and sold.|title=''Shiji''|source=123{{sfn|Watson|1993|p=235}}}}

== Later Chinese accounts ==
The next mention of the Yuezhi in Chinese sources is found in chapter 96A of the ''[[Book of Han]]'' (completed in AD 111), relating to the early 1st century BC. At this time, the Yuezhi are described as occupying the whole of Bactria, organized into five major tribes or ''xīhóu''{{efn|Ch:翖侯, "Allied Prince"}}.{{sfn|Narain|1990|p=158}} These tribes were known to the Chinese as:

* ''Xiūmì'' (休密) in Western [[Wakhān]] and [[Zibak]];
* ''Guìshuāng'' (貴霜) in [[Badakhshan]] and adjoining territories north of the [[Oxus]];
* ''Shuāngmí'' (雙靡) in the region of [[Shughnan]] or [[Chitral]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sagar|first=Krishna Chandra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0UA4rkm9MgkC&q=Chitral&pg=PA162|title=Foreign Influence on Ancient India|date=1992|publisher=Northern Book Centre|isbn=978-81-7211-028-4|language=en}}</ref>
* ''Xīdùn'' (肸頓) in the region of [[Balkh]], and;
* ''Dūmì'' (都密) in the region of [[Termez]].<ref>Hill (2004), pp. 29, 318–350</ref>

{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
| align    = right
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| image1   = Kalchayan Prince warrior (full).jpg
| image2   = Khalchayan Prince, side view.jpg
| footer=Yuezhi Prince from [[Khalchayan]], 1st century BCE. He displays [[artificial cranial deformation]].<ref>{{cite book |title=KHALCHAYAN – Encyclopaedia Iranica |page=Figure 1 |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khalchayan#prettyPhoto[content]/0/}}</ref><ref name="BR">{{cite journal |last1=Rowland |first1=Benjamin |title=Graeco-Bactrian Art and Gandhāra: Khalchayan and the Gandhāra Bodhisattvas |journal=Archives of Asian Art |date=1971 |volume=25 |pages=29–35 |jstor=20111029 |issn=0066-6637}}</ref> At his feet, a lamellar armour with neck-guard, a trophy from the [[Saka]] Scythians.<ref name="SPL56">{{cite book |last1=Frantz |first1=Grenet |title=Splendeurs des oasis d'Ouzbékistan |date=2022 |publisher=Louvre Editions |location=Paris |isbn=978-8412527858 |page=56}}</ref> [[Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan]], nb 40.
}}
The ''[[Book of the Later Han]]'' (5th century CE) also records the visit of Yuezhi envoys to the Chinese capital in 2 BC, who gave oral teachings on [[Buddhist]] sutras to a student, suggesting that some Yuezhi already followed the [[Buddhist]] faith during the 1st century BC (Baldev Kumar 1973).

Chapter 88 of the ''[[Book of the Later Han]]'' relies on a report of [[Ban Yong]], based on the campaigns of his father [[Ban Chao]] in the late 1st century AD. It reports that one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi, the ''Guishuang'', had managed to take control of the tribal confederation:{{sfn|Narain|1990|p=159}}

{{blockquote|text=More than a hundred years later, the ''xihou'' of Guishuang, named Qiujiu Que{{efn|Ch: 丘就卻, Kujula Kadphises}} attacked and exterminated the four other ''xihou''. He set himself up as king of a kingdom called Guishuang (Kushan). He invaded Anxi ([[Parthia]]) and took the Gaofu{{efn|Ch:高附, [[Kabul]]}} region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda{{efn|Ch: 濮達}} and Jibin.{{efn|Ch: 罽賓, [[Kapiśa]]-[[Gandhāra]]}} Qiujiu Que (Kujula Kadphises) was more than eighty years old when he died.

His son, ''Yan Gaozhen''{{efn|Ch:閻高珍}} ([[Vima Takto]]), became king in his place. He returned and defeated [[Names of India#Tianzhu|Tianzhu]] (Northwestern India) and installed a General to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang (Kushan) king, but the [[Han dynasty|Han]] call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi.|source=''Book of the Later Han'', trans. John Hill{{sfn|Hill|2009|pp=28–29}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.guoxue.com/discord/xwm/jnsj.htm|title=迦腻色伽王与大月氏王系|website=www.guoxue.com}}</ref>}}

A later Chinese annotation in Zhang Shoujie's ''[[Shiji]]'' (quoting Wan Zhen 萬震 in ''Nánzhōuzhì'' 南州志 ["Strange Things from the Southern Region"], a now-lost 3rd-century text from the [[Eastern Wu|Wu kingdom]]), describes the Kushans as living in the same general area north of India, in cities of Greco-Roman style, and with sophisticated handicraft. The quotes are dubious, as Wan Zhen probably never visited the Yuezhi kingdom through the [[Silk Road]], though he might have gathered his information from the trading ports in the coastal south.<ref name=taishan>Yu Taishan (2nd Edition 2003). ''A Comprehensive History of Western Regions''. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Guji Press. {{ISBN|7-5348-1266-6}}</ref> Chinese sources continued to use the name Yuezhi and seldom used the Kushan (or ''Guishuang'') as a generic term:

{{blockquote|text=The Great Yuezhi are located about seven thousand ''li'' [2,910 km] north of India. Their land is at a high altitude; the climate is dry; the region is remote. The king of the state calls himself "son of heaven". There are so many riding horses in that country that the number often reaches several hundred thousand. City layouts and palaces are quite similar to those of [[Daqin]] [the Roman Empire]. The skin of the people there is reddish white. People are skilful at horse archery. Local products, rarities, treasures, clothing, and upholstery are very good, and even India cannot compare with it.|author=Wan Zhen (3rd century AD)<ref name="notes13">[http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hhshu/notes13.html Notes to Section 13], ''The Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu'', trans. John Hill.</ref>}}

== Kushana ==
{{multiple image|perrow=3|total_width=550|caption_align=center
| align    = right
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| header=Yuezhis in Bactria, on Noin-Ula carpets
| image1   = Noin-Ula nobleman over firealtar.jpg
| caption1 = Yuezhi nobleman over firealtar, [[Noin-Ula]].<ref name="auto"/><ref name="academia.edu"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Betts |first1=Alison |last2=Vicziany |first2=Marika |last3=Jia |first3=Peter Weiming |last4=Castro |first4=Angelo Andrea Di |title=The Cultures of Ancient Xinjiang, Western China: Crossroads of the Silk Roads |date=19 December 2019 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-78969-407-9 |page=104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxUSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 |language=en}}</ref>
| image2   = Noin-Ula horseman.jpg
| caption2 = Yuezhi armoured horseman, [[Noin-Ula]].<ref name="auto"/>
| image3=Noin-Ula battle scene.jpg
| caption3=Yuezhi (left) fighting a [[Sogdia]]n behind a shield (right), [[Noin-Ula]].<ref name="auto"/>
| footer=
}}
The Central Asian people who called themselves ''Kushana'', were among the conquerors of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom during the 2nd century BC,<ref>{{cite book|author=Millward, James A.|year=2007|title=Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang|publisher=Columbia University Press, New York|page=15|isbn= 978-0-231-13924-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA15}}</ref> and are widely believed to have originated as a dynastic clan or tribe of the Yuezhi.<ref>{{cite book|last=Runion|first=Meredith L.| title=The history of Afghanistan|url=https://archive.org/details/historyafghanist00runi_653|url-access=limited|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport|isbn=978-0-313-33798-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyafghanist00runi_653/page/n66 46]|quote=The Yuezhi people conquered Bactria in the second century BC, and divided the country into five chiefdoms, one of which would become the Kushan Empire. Recognizing the importance of unification, these five tribes combined under the one dominate Kushan tribe, and the primary rulers descended from the Yuezhi.}}</ref>{{sfn|Liu|2001b|p=156}} The area of Bactria they settled came to be known as [[Tokharistan]]. Because some inhabitants of Bactria became known as ''Tukhāra'' (Sanskrit) or ''Tókharoi'' (Τοχάριοι; Greek), these names later became associated with the Yuezhi.

The Kushana spoke [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]], an [[Eastern Iranian language]].<ref name="Tocharian Online Introduction">{{cite web |title=Tocharian Online: Series Introduction |first1=Todd B. |last1=Krause |first2=Jonathan |last2=Slocum |publisher=University of Texas at Austin |url=https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/tokol/00 | access-date=21 November 2016 }}</ref>

===Bactria===
In the 3rd century BC, Bactria had been conquered by the Greeks under [[Alexander the Great]] and since settled by the [[Hellenistic civilization]] of the [[Seleucids]].
The resulting [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] lasted until the 2nd century BC. The area came under pressure from various nomadic peoples and the Greek city of [[Alexandria on the Oxus]] was apparently burnt to the ground in about 145 BC.{{sfn|Bernard|1994|p=100}} The last Greco-Bactrian king, [[Heliocles I]], retreated and moved his capital to the Kabul Valley. In about 140–130 BC, the Greco-Bactrian state was conquered by the nomads and dissolved. The Greek geographer [[Strabo]] mentions this event in his account of the central Asian tribes he called "[[Scythians]]":{{sfn|Enoki|Koshelenko|Haidary|1994|p=174}} {{blockquote|text=All, or the greatest part of them, are nomads. The best known tribes are those who deprived the Greeks of [[Bactria]]na: the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari, and Sacarauli, who came from the country on the other side of the [[Jaxartes]] [Syr Darya], opposite the Sacae and [[Sogdians|Sogdiani]].|author=[[Strabo]]|source=<ref>[[Strabo]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+11.8.1 11-8-1].</ref>}}

{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
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| header=Early Yuezhis coinage
| image1   = Yuezhi copy of Heliocles I coin.jpg
| caption1 = Yuezhi anonymous copy of a coin of [[Greco-Bactrian]] king [[Heliocles]]
| image2   = Yuezhi copy of Heliocles I coin with horse.jpg
| caption2 = Yuezhi anonymous of a coin of [[Greco-Bactrian]] king [[Heliocles]], with original horse on the reverse
| image3 =YUEZHI. Arseiles. Late 1st century BCE.jpg
| caption3=Yuezhi ruler [[Arseiles]]. Late 1st century BCE
| image4 =Coin of Sapadbizes.jpg
| caption4=Yuezhi ruler [[Sapadbizes]]. Late 1st century BCE
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}}
Writing in the 1st century BC, the Roman historian [[Pompeius Trogus]] attributed the destruction of the Greco-Bactrian state to the Sacaraucae and the Asiani "kings of the Tochari".{{sfn|Enoki|Koshelenko|Haidary|1994|p=174}} Both Pompeius and the Roman historian [[Justin (historian)|Justin]] (2nd century AD) record that the Parthian king [[Artabanus I of Parthia|Artabanus I]] was mortally wounded in a war against the Tochari in 124 BC.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Grousset|first=Rene|title=The Empire of the Steppes|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=1970|isbn=0-8135-1304-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/31 31]|quote=This would seem to prove that the Yueh-chih of Chinese history – if they correspond, as supposed, to the Tokharoi of Greek history – were from that time established in Bactria, a country of which they later made a 'Tokharistan'.|url=https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/31}}</ref> Several relationships between these tribes and those named in Chinese sources have been proposed, but remain contentious.{{sfn|Enoki|Koshelenko|Haidary|1994|p=174}}

After they settled in Bactria, the Yuezhi became [[Hellenisation|Hellenized]] to some degree – as shown by their adoption of the [[Greek alphabet]] and by some remaining coins, minted in the style of the [[Greco-Bactrian]] kings, with the text in Greek.{{sfn|Narain|1990|p=161}}

====Noin-Ula carpets====
According to Sergey Yatsenko, the carpets with vivid embroidered scenes discovered in [[Noin-Ula]] were made by the Yuezhi in [[Bactria]], and were obtained by the [[Xiongnu]] through commercial exchange or tributary payment, as the Yuezhi may have remained tributaries of the Xiongnu for a long time following their defeat. Embroidered carpets were among the highest-prized luxury items for the Xiongnu. The figures depicted in the carpets are believed to reflect the clothing and customs of the Yuezhi while they were in Bactria in the 1st century BCE-1st century CE.<ref name="auto"/>

====Tillya Tepe====
[[File:TillyaTepe dagger.jpg|thumb|A dagger excavated in [[Tillya Tepe]].]]
The graves of [[Tillya Tepe]], complete with numerous artifacts, dated to the period between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE, probably belonged to the Yuezhis/early Kushans after the fall of the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] and before the rise of the [[Kushan Empire]].<ref name="DS16"/> They correspond to a time when the Yuezhis had not yet encountered Buddhism.<ref name="DS16">{{cite book |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Doris |title=On the Cusp of an Era: Art in the Pre-Kuṣāṇa World |date=30 April 2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-2049-1 |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZuevCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 |language=en}}</ref>

===In the Hindu Kush===
The area of the [[Hindu Kush]] ([[Paropamisadae]]) was ruled by the western [[Indo-Greek]] king until the reign of [[King Hermaeus|Hermaeus]] (reigned {{Circa|90 BC}}–70 BC). After that date, no Indo-Greek kings are known in the area. According to [[Bopearachchi]], no trace of [[Indo-Scythian]] occupation (nor coins of major Indo-Scythian rulers such as [[Maues]] or [[Azes I]]) have been found in the [[Paropamisade]] and western [[Gandhara]]. The Hindu Kush may have been subsumed by the Yuezhi, {{Original research inline|date=August 2008}} who by then had been dominated by [[Greco-Bactria]] for almost two centuries.

As they had done in Bactria with their copying of [[Greco-Bactrian]] coinage, the Yuezhi copied the coinage of [[King Hermaeus|Hermeaus]] on a vast scale, up to around 40 AD, when the design blends into the coinage of the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] king [[Kujula Kadphises]]. Such coins may provide the earliest known names of Yuezhi ''[[yabgu]]'' (a minor royal title, similar to prince), namely [[Sapadbizes]]{{Original research inline|date=August 2008}} and/or [[Agesiles]], who both lived in or about 20 BC.

===Kushan Empire===
{{main|Kushan Empire}}
[[File:Heraios_coin.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The first self-declared Kushan ruler [[Heraios]] (1–30 AD) in [[Greco-Bactrian]] style<br>'''Obv:''' Bust of Heraios, with Greek royal headband.<br>'''Rev:''' Horse-mounted King, crowned with a wreath by the [[Greek mythology|Greek]] goddess of victory [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]]. Greek legend: TVPANNOVOTOΣ HΛOV – ΣΛNΛB – KOÞÞANOY "The Tyrant Heraios, Sanav (meaning unknown), of the Kushans"]]

After that point, they extended their control over the northwestern area of the Indian subcontinent, founding the [[Kushan Empire]], which was to rule the region for several centuries.<ref>{{cite book|last=Runion|first=Meredith L.| title=The history of Afghanistan|url=https://archive.org/details/historyafghanist00runi_653|url-access=limited|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport|isbn=978-0-313-33798-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyafghanist00runi_653/page/n66 46]|quote=The Yuezhi people conquered Bactria in the second century BC and divided the country into five chiefdoms, one of which would become the Kushan Empire. Recognizing the importance of unification, these five tribes combined under the one dominate Kushan tribe, and the primary rulers descended from the Yuezhi.}}</ref>{{sfn|Liu|2001b|p=156}}{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|pp=84–85}} Despite their change of name, most Chinese authors continued to refer to the Kushanas as the Yuezhi.

The Kushanas expanded to the east during the 1st century AD. The first Kushan emperor, [[Kujula Kadphises]], ostensibly associated himself with [[King Hermaeus]] on his coins.{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}

The Kushanas integrated [[Buddhism]] into a pantheon of many deities and became great promoters of [[Mahayana Buddhism]], and their interactions with Greek civilization helped the [[Gandhara]]n culture and [[Greco-Buddhism]] flourish.

During the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Kushan Empire expanded militarily to the north and occupied parts of the [[Tarim Basin]], putting them at the center of the lucrative Central Asian commerce with the [[Roman Empire]]. The Kushanas collaborated militarily with the Chinese against their mutual enemies. This included a campaign with the Chinese general [[Ban Chao]] against the Sogdians in 84 CE, when the latter were trying to support a revolt by the king of [[Kashgar]]. In around AD 85,{{Citation needed|date=March 2007}} the Kushanas also assisted the Chinese in an attack on [[Turpan]], east of the Tarim Basin.

[[File:YuezhiKingAndAttendants.jpg|thumb|left|Possible Yuezhi king and attendants, [[Gandhara]] [[stone palette]], 1st century AD]]

Following the military support provided to the Han, the Kushan emperor requested a marriage alliance with a [[Han dynasty|Han]] princess and sent gifts to the Chinese court in expectation that this would occur. After the Han court refused, a Kushan army 70,000 strong marched on Ban Chao in 86 AD. The army was apparently exhausted by the time it reached its objective and was defeated by the Chinese force. The Kushanas retreated and later paid tribute to the Chinese emperor [[Emperor He of Han China|Han He]] (89–106).

In about 120 AD, Kushan troops installed Chenpan—a prince who had been sent as a hostage to them and had become a favorite of the Kushan Emperor—on the throne of [[Kashgar]], thus expanding their power and influence in the [[Tarim Basin]].{{sfn|Hill|2009|pp=14, 43}} There they introduced the [[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]] script, the Indian [[Prakrit]] language for administration, and [[Greco-Buddhist art]], which developed into [[Serindian art]].

[[File:Buddha triad monk layman Guimet MG21157.jpg|285px|thumb|right|Buddhist art {{Circa|300 AD}}, depicting (left to right) a Kushan lay Buddhist, [[Maitreya]], [[Buddha]], [[Avalokitesvara]], and a Kushan Buddhist monk.]]
Following this territorial expansion, the Kushanas introduced [[Buddhism]] to northern and northeastern Asia, by both direct missionary efforts and the translation of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese.<ref>{{cite journal |surname=Rong |given=Xinjiang |year=2004 |title=Land route or sea route? Commentary on the study of the paths of transmission and areas in which Buddhism was disseminated during the Han period |translator-given=Xiuqin |translator-surname=Zhou |journal=[[Sino-Platonic Papers]] |volume=144 |pages=26–27 |url=http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp144_han_dynasty_buddhism.pdf }}</ref> Major Kushan missionaries and translators included [[Lokaksema (Buddhist monk)|Lokaksema]] (born {{Circa|147 CE}}) and [[Dharmaraksa]] ({{Circa|233|311}}), both of whom were influential translators of the [[Mahayana sutras]] into Chinese. They went to China and established translation bureaus, thereby being at the center of the [[Silk Road transmission of Buddhism]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2007}}

In the ''[[Records of the Three Kingdoms]]'' (chap. 3), it was recorded that in 229 AD, "The king of the Da Yuezhi [Kushanas], Bodiao 波調 ([[Vasudeva I]]), sent his envoy to present tribute, and His Majesty (Emperor [[Cao Rui]]) granted him the title of King of the Da Yuezhi Intimate with the [[Cao Wei|Wei]] (Ch: 親魏大月氏王, ''Qīn Wèi Dà Yuèzhī Wáng'')."

Soon afterwards, the military power of the Kushanas began to decline. The rival [[Sasanian Empire]] of Persia extended its dominion into Bactria during the reign of [[Ardashir I]] around 230 CE. The Sasanians also occupied neighboring [[Sogdia]] by 260 AD and made it into a [[satrap]]y.<ref>Mark J. Dresden (1981), "Introductory Note," in Guitty Azarpay, ''Sogdian Painting: the Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art'', Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, p. 5, {{ISBN|0-520-03765-0}}.</ref>

During the course of the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Kushan Empire was divided and conquered by the Sasanians, the [[Hephthalite]] tribes from the north,<ref name="lcwb2">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0005) |title=Afghanistan: Central Asian and Sassanian Rule, ca. 150 B.C.-700 A.D. |access-date=16 September 2016 |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |location=United States|year=1997}}</ref> and the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] and [[Yaudheya]] empires from India.

==Later references to the Lesser Yuezhi==
[[File:Heraios on horse.jpg|thumb|Yuezhi horseman on the coinage of [[Heraios]].]]
''Xiao Yuezhi'' refers to the less militarized Yuezhi who settled in northern China (following the migration of the Greater Yuezhi).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Romane |first1=Julian |title=Rise of the Tang Dynasty: The Reunification of China and the Military Response to the Steppe Nomads (AD 581-626) |date=2018 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1-4738-8779-4 |pages=237–238 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrPNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT237 |language=en}}</ref> The term is used of peoples in locations as diverse as [[Tibet]], [[Qinghai]], [[Shanxi]] and the Tarim Basin.

Some of the Lesser Yuezhi settled among the [[Qiang (historical people)|Qiang people]] of [[Huangzhong]], [[Qinghai]], according to archaeologist Sophia-Katrin Psarras.<ref>Sophia-Karin Psarras, ''Han Material Culture'', New York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 31, 297.</ref> Yuezhi and Qiang were said to be among members of the Auxiliary of Loyal Barbarians From Huangzhong that mutinied against the Han dynasty, in the [[Liangzhou Rebellion]] (184–221 CE).<ref>{{cite journal |given=Gustav |surname=Haloun |author-link=Gustav Haloun |title=The Liang-chou rebellion 184–221 A.D. |journal=Asia Major |series=New Series |volume=1 |issue=1 |year=1949 |pages=119–132 |url=http://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1340AmfYFxT.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124091318/http://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1340AmfYFxT.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 November 2016 }}</ref> The [[Lushuihu]] people, who founded the [[Northern Liang]] dynasty (397–439), have been theorized by modern researchers to be descendants of the Lesser Yuezhi that intermingled with the Qiang.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhou |first=Yiliang |title=《魏晋南北朝史论集》 |date=June 1997 |publisher=[[Beijing University Press]] |isbn=9787301031919 |location=Beijing |language=zh |chapter=〈北朝的民族問題與民族政策〉}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tang |first=Changru |title=《魏晋南北朝史论丛》 |date=December 2010 |publisher=[[Commercial Press]] |isbn=9787100074513 |pages= |language=zh |chapter=〈魏晋杂胡考 二 卢水胡〉}}</ref>

Elements of the Lesser Yuezhi are said to have been part of the [[Jie people]], who originated from [[Yushe County]] in Shanxi.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haw |first1=Stephen G. |title=Beijing – A Concise History |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-15033-5 |page=201 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8J8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 |language=en}}</ref> Other theories link the Jie more strongly to the Xiongnu, Kangju, or the Tocharian-speaking peoples of the Tarim. Led by [[Shi Le]] (Emperor Ming of Later Zhao), the Jie people established the [[Later Zhao]] dynasty (319–351). The Jie populations were later massacred by [[Ran Min]] of the short-lived [[Ran Min#Ran Wei|Ran Wei dynasty]] during the [[Wei–Jie war|Ran Wei–Later Zhao war]].

In [[Tibet]], the ''Gar'' or ''mGar'' – a clan name associated with [[blacksmiths]] - may have been descended from the Lesser Yuezhi who resettled in Qiang in 162 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baumer |first1=Christoph |title=History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set |date=18 April 2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83860-868-2 |page=RA1-352 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA352 |language=en}}</ref>

A Chinese monk named Gao Juhui, who traveled from Kaifeng to Khotan in or about 938 CE, mentioned a people known in Chinese as ''[[Zhongyun]]'' (仲雲; Wade–Giles ''Tchong-yun''), describing them as descendants of the Lesser Yuezhi.<ref>Ouyang Xiu & Xin Wudai Shi, 1974,''New Annals of the Five Dynasties'', Beijing, Zhonghua Publishing House, p. 918 – cited by: [http://www.eurasianhistory.com/data/articles/l01/2024.html Eurasian History, 2008–09, ''The Yuezhi and Dunhuang'' （月氏与敦煌）] (18 March 2017).</ref> The Zhongyun were the founders of the city state of [[Cumuḍa]] (also ''Cimuda'' or ''Cunuda''), south of [[Lop Nur]] in the eastern Tarim.<ref name="Bailey"/> (Following the subsequent settlement of [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]]-speaking people in the area, Cumuḍa became known as ''Čungul'', ''Xungul'' and ''Kumul''. Under subsequent Han Chinese influence, it became known as [[Hami City|Hami]].)

Before the middle of the 1st millennium, the ''Xiao Yuezhi'' had ceased to be identifiable by that name and appear to have been subsumed by other ethnicities, including [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]], [[Uyghur people|Uyghurs]] and [[Han Chinese|Han]].

== Proposed links to other groups ==
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=Sampul tapestry
| image1   = Sampul tapestry (complete).jpg
| caption1 = Full length
| image2   = UrumqiWarrior.jpg
| caption2 = Detail
| footer=Probable Yuezhi soldier in red jacket and trousers, in the [[Sampul tapestry]]. Embroidered in Hellenistic style, with motif of a [[centaur]], 1st century AD, Sampul, [[Ürümqi]] [[Xinjiang Region Museum]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yatsenko |first1=Sergey A. |title=Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia |journal=The Silk Road |date=2012 |volume=10 |pages=45–46|url=http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol10/SilkRoad_10_2012_yatsenko.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Francfort |first1=Henri-Paul|author-link= Henri-Paul Francfort |title=Sur quelques vestiges et indices nouveaux de l'hellénisme dans les arts entre la Bactriane et le Gandhāra (130 av. J.-C.-100 apr. J.-C. environ) |journal=Journal des Savants |date=1 January 2020 |pages=26–27, Fig.9 |url=https://www.academia.edu/45042820 |language=en}}</ref>
}} 
The relationship between the Yuezhi and other Central Asian peoples is unclear. Based on claimed similarities of names, different scholars have linked them to several groups, but none of these identifications is widely accepted.{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2000|pp=98–99, 281–283}}

Mallory and Mair suggest that the Yuezhi and Wusun were among the nomadic peoples, at least some of whom spoke [[Iranian languages]], who moved into northern [[Xinjiang]] from the Central Asian steppe in the 2nd millennium BC.{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2000|p=318}}

Scholars such as [[Edwin Pulleyblank]], [[Josef Markwart]], and [[László Torday]], suggest that the name ''[[Iatioi]]''—a Central Asian people mentioned by [[Ptolemy]] in ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]'' (AD 150)—may also be an attempt to render Yuezhi.<ref name="Jhutti">{{cite journal |given=Sundeep S. |surname=Jhutti |year=2003 |title=The Getes |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |volume=127 |pages=15–17 |url=http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp127_getes.pdf }}</ref>

There has been only limited scholarly support for a theory developed by [[W. B. Henning]], who proposed that the Yuezhi were descended from the [[Gutian people|Guti]] (or Gutians) and an associated, but little known tribe known as the [[Tukri]], who were native to the [[Zagros Mountains]] (modern Iran and Iraq), during the mid-3rd millennium BC. In addition to phonological similarities between these names and ''*ŋʷjat-kje'' and Tukhāra, Henning pointed out that the Guti could have migrated from the [[Zagros Mountains|Zagros]] to [[Gansu]],<ref>Henning, W.B. (1978) "The first Indo-Europeans in history"</ref> by the time that the Yuezhi entered the historical record in China, during the 1st millennium BC. However, the only material evidence presented by Henning, namely similar ceramic ware, is generally considered to be far from conclusive.<ref name="notes13"/>

Proposed links with the [[Aorsi]], [[Asii]], [[Getae]], [[Goths]], [[Gushi culture|Gushi]], [[Jats]], [[Massagetae]],{{sfn|Jhutti|2003|p=22}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe |page=201 |isbn=978-1-107-06722-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fX8YAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 |last1=Kim |first1=Hyun Jin |date=18 April 2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref>{{sfn|Enoki|Koshelenko|Haidary|1994|p=171}} and other groups have also gathered little support.{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2000|pp=98–99, 281–283}}

===Yuezhi-Tocharian hypothesis===
When manuscripts dating from the 6th to 8th centuries AD written in two hitherto unknown Indo-European languages were discovered in the northern Tarim Basin, the early 20th-century linguist [[Friedrich W. K. Müller]] identified them with the enigmatic "''twγry'' ("Toγari") language" used to translate Indian Buddhist [[Sanskrit]] texts and mentioned as the source of an [[Old Turkic]] ([[Uyghur language|Uyghur]]) manuscript.<ref name="tokharian">{{cite journal |title=Tokharian Buddhism in Kucha: Buddhism of Indo-European Centum Speakers in Chinese Turkestan before the 10th Century C.E |url=http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp085_tokharian_buddhism_kucha.pdf |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |author=Manko Namba Walter |number=85 |date=October 1998 }}</ref><ref name="ITT">{{cite web |title=Introduction to Tocharian |url=https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/tokol |website=lrc.la.utexas.edu}}</ref> 

Müller then proposed to connect the name "Toγari" (Togar/Tokar) to the ''Tókharoi'' people of [[Tokharistan]] (themselves associated with the Yuezhi) described in early Greek histories.<ref name="tokharian" /><ref name="ITT" /> He thus referred to the newly discovered languages as "[[Tocharian languages|Tocharian]]", which became the common name for both the languages of the Tarim manuscripts and the people who produced them.<ref name="Tocharian Online Introduction" /><ref>{{cite book|title=Tocharian Historical Phonology and Morphology|first=Douglas Q.|last=Adams|year=1988|isbn=978-0-940490-71-0|pages=2–4|publisher=American Oriental Society }}</ref> Most historians have been rejecting the identification of the Tocharians of the Tarim with the ''Tókharoi'' of Bactria, mainly because they are not known to have spoken any languages other than Bactrian, a quite dissimilar [[Eastern Iranian language]].{{sfn|Hansen|2012|p=72}}{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|1997|p=590}} Other scholars suggest that the Yuezhi/[[Kushans|Kushanas]] may previously have spoken Tocharian before shifting to Bactrian on their arrival in Bactria, an example of an invading or colonising elite [[language shift|adopting a local language]] (as also seen for the [[Greco-Bactrians|Greeks]], the [[Tokhara Yabghus|Turks]] or the Arabs upon their successive settlements in Bactria).{{sfn|Narain|1990|p=153}}<ref>{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009}}, p. 5, footnote 16, as well as pp. 380–383 in appendix B, but also see {{harvnb|Hitch|2010|p=655}}: "He equates the Tokharians with the Yuezhi, and the Wusun with the Asvins, as if these are established facts, and refers to his arguments in appendix B. But these identifications remain controversial, rather than established, for most scholars."</ref> However, while Tocharian contains some loanwords from Bactrian, there are no traces of Tocharian in Bactrian.<ref name="Tocharian Online Introduction" />

Another possible [[endonym]] of the Yuezhi was put forward by [[H. W. Bailey]], who claimed that they were referred to, in 9th and 10th century [[Saka language|Khotan Saka]] Iranian texts, as the ''Gara''. According to Bailey, the ''Tu&nbsp;Gara'' ("Great Gara") were the Great Yuezhi.<ref name="Bailey"/> This is consistent with the [[Ancient Greek]] Τόχαροι ''Tokharoi'' (Latinised ''Tochari'') in reference to the faction of the Kushans that conquered Bactria, as well as the [[Classical Tibetan|Tibetan language]] name ''Gar'' (or ''mGar''), for the members of the Lesser Yuezhi who settled in the [[Tibetan Empire]].

Hakan Aydemir, assistant professor at [[Istanbul Medeniyet University]], reconstructs the ethnonym *''Arki'' ~ *''Yarki'' which underlay Chinese transcriptions 月氏{{efn|[[Old Chinese]] *''ŋwat-tēɦ'' ~''[ŋ]ʷat-tēɦ''}} and 月支{{efn|[[Eastern Han Chinese|Later Han Chinese]] *''ŋyat-tśe''}} as well as various other foreign transcriptions and [[Tocharian languages#Tocharian A and B|Tocharian A]] ethnonym ''Ārśi''.{{sfn|Aydemir|2019|page=273}} Aydemir suggests that *''Arki'' ~ *''Yarki'' is etymologically [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]].<ref name="Aydemir263">{{harvnb|Aydemir|2019|page=263}} "based on various toponymic evidence, *''Arki'' and *''Yarki'' seem to be the oldest reconstructable forms. However, it is for the time being not quite clear which one is the primary form. In order to know this, we first need to know the etymology of the name. Without doing so, it would be difficult to determine the primary form. This, however, must be left to the specialists in Indo-European linguistics."</ref>

===Nomadic artifacts in Gansu and Ningxia (5th-4th century BC)===
{{see also|Ordos culture}}
Numerous nomadic artifacts are attributed to the areas of southern [[Ningxia]] and southeastern [[Gansu]] during the period of the 5th-4th century BC. They are quite similar to the works of the nomadic [[Ordos culture]] further east, and reflect strong [[Sakas|Scythian]] influences.<ref name="NA24">{{cite book |last1=Bunker |first1=Emma C. |title=Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The Eugene V. Thaw and Other Notable New York Collections |date=2002 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |pages=24–25 |url=https://archive.org/details/NomadicArtoftheEasternEurasianSteppesTheEugeneVThawandOtherNotableNewYorkCollection/page/n37/mode/2up |language=English}}</ref> Some of these [[:File:MET 2002 201 80 O1.jpg|artifacts were sinicized]] by the neighbouring [[Qin (state)|Qin state]] in China, probably also for nomadic consumption.<ref name="NA24"/> Nomadic figures with long noses riding on a camel also appear regularly in southern Ningxia from the 4th century BC.<ref name="NA24"/> Particularly, the [[Shajing culture]] (700–100 BCE) of [[Gansu]] has been proposed as a candidate for the origin of the Yuezhi.<ref name="SAK">{{cite journal |last1=Komissarov |first1=S.A |title=Shajing Culture (Gansu, China): Main Sites and Problems of Chronology |journal=Paeas.ru |date=2017 |url=http://paeas.ru/Articleen/189 |quote=The Shajing culture of the Early Iron Age. The sites of this culture have been discovered in the central part of Gansu Province (China). Seven big burial grounds and almost the same amount of fortified settlements (with walls made of compacted loess) have been excavated. Painted pottery, associated with the local tradition of Neolithic-Early Bronze Age, has been found at the early sites, but the Scythian-like artifacts constitute the core of this culture. This makes it possible to clarify the chronological limits of the culture as 900-400 BC, but probably with the later specific dates. Different suggestions have been made concerning the ethnic origins of the “Shajing people,” who may have some connections with the Tocharian-speaking Yuezhi, the proto-Tibetean Qiang and Rong, or even with the Iranian Wusuns. The Shajing culture might have emerged from the interaction of all these (or close) ethnic and cultural components. }}</ref>

<gallery class="center" widths="150px" heights="150px" perrow="4">
File:MET 2002 201 83 O1.jpg|Nomadic figure, typically with a long nose, on a [[Bactria]]n camel. Southern [[Ningxia]], 4th century BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bunker |first1=Emma C. |title=Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The Eugene V. Thaw and Other Notable New York Collections |date=2002 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |pages=120–121, item 92 |url=https://archive.org/details/NomadicArtoftheEasternEurasianSteppesTheEugeneVThawandOtherNotableNewYorkCollection/page/n133/mode/2up |language=English}}</ref><ref name="NA24"/>
File:狼紋青銅車馬飾-Harness Ornament in the Shape of a Coiled Wolf MET 2002 201 61.jpg|Harness ornament in the shape of a coiled wolf, characteristic of nomadic artifacts of southern [[Ningxia]] and southeastern [[Gansu]], 5th-4th century BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bunker |first1=Emma C. |title=Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The Eugene V. Thaw and Other Notable New York Collections |date=2002 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |page=45, item 7 |url=https://archive.org/details/NomadicArtoftheEasternEurasianSteppesTheEugeneVThawandOtherNotableNewYorkCollection/page/n59/mode/2up |language=English}}</ref><ref name="NA24"/>
File:狼紋青銅帶飾-Belt Plaque in the Shape of a Standing Wolf MET DT5398.jpg|Belt plaque in the shape of a standing wolf, characteristic of nomadic artifacts of southern [[Ningxia]] and southeastern [[Gansu]], and related to the Scythian styles of [[Pazyryk culture|Pazyryk]]. 4th century BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bunker |first1=Emma C. |title=Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The Eugene V. Thaw and Other Notable New York Collections |date=2002 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |page=122, item 94 |url=https://archive.org/details/NomadicArtoftheEasternEurasianSteppesTheEugeneVThawandOtherNotableNewYorkCollection/page/n137/mode/2up |language=English}}</ref><ref name="NA24"/>
File:Shajing_Culture_Bronze_Ornament_(10095596513).jpg|Bronze horse ornament ([[Shajing culture]] 700-100 BCE)
</gallery>

===Shirenzigou culture===
[[File:Shirenzigou panorama.png|thumb|right|Surroundings of the [[Shirenzigou]] archaeological site in [[Barkol County]].]]
{{main|Shirenzigou culture}}
Looking at the archaeological and genetic evidence, another area of origin on the northeastern border of the [[Tarim Basin]] has also been proposed: the Yuegongtai-Xiheigou (岳公台-西黑沟) archaeological sites, corresponding to the [[Shirenzigou culture]] and Barkol culture in the [[Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County|Barkol County]] of [[Xinjiang]]. This would have positioned the Yuezhi between the [[Subeshi culture]] to their west, the [[Yanbulaq culture]] to their east, the aftermaths of the [[Chemurchek culture]] to the north, and a wide desertical area to south about a thousand kilometers away from the [[Zhongyuan|Central Plains]] of China.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lan-Hai Wei |first1=Ryan |last2=Li |first2=Hui |title=The separate origins of the Tocharians and the Yuezhi: Results from recent advances in archaeology and genetics |journal=International Conference on Tocharian Manuscripts and Silk Road CultureAt: University of Vienna, Vienna. 26–28 June 2013. |date=2013 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318897882}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Indo-European topics}}
*[[Hephthalite]]
*[[History of Afghanistan]]
*[[History of Central Asia]]
*[[History of China]]
*[[History of India]]
*[[History of the central steppe]]
*[[Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom|Indo-Sassanids]]
*[[Indo-Scythians]]
*[[Iranians in China]]
*[[Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Works cited===
* {{cite journal|last= Aydemir|first=Hakan|title= The Reconstruction of The Name Yuezhi 月氏 / 月支|journal = International Journal of Old Uyghur Studies | issue = 1/2 | year = 2019 | url = https://www.academia.edu/41490166 | pages = 249–282}}
* {{cite book |last=Beckwith |first=Christopher I. |author-link=Christopher I. Beckwith |year=2009 |title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Ue8BxLEMt4C |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-1-4008-2994-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Benjamin |first=Craig |author-link=Craig Benjamin |date=2007 |title=The Yuezhi: Origin, Migration and the Conquest of Northern Bactria |publisher=Brepols |isbn=978-2-503-52429-0 }}
*{{cite book |last=Bernard |first=P. |chapter=The Greek Kingdoms of Central Asia |pages=96–126 |title=History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250 |editor-last=Harmatta |editor-first=János |year=1994 |location=Paris |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-102846-5 |url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001057/105703eo.pdf }}
*{{cite book |last=Bopearachchi |first=Osmund |date=2007 |chapter=Some Observations on the Chronology of the Early Kushans |editor-last=Gyselen |editor-first=Rika |title=Des Indo-Grecs aux Sassanides: données pour l'histoire et la géographie historique |volume=XVII |location=Bures-sur-Yvette |publisher=Group pour l'Etude de la Civilisation du Moyen-Orient |isbn=978-2-9521376-1-4}}
* Dorn'eich, Chris M. (2008). ''Chinese sources on the History of the Niusi-Wusi-Asi(oi)-Rishi(ka)-Arsi-Arshi-Ruzhi and their Kueishuang-Kushan Dynasty. Shiji 110/Hanshu 94A: The Xiongnu: Synopsis of Chinese original Text and several Western Translations with Extant Annotations''. Berlin. To read or download go to: [http://chrisdorneich.tumblr.com/ 月氏, ऋषिक, ACIOI, ARSI]
*{{cite book |last1=Enoki |first1=K. |last2=Koshelenko |first2=G.A. |last3=Haidary |first3=Z. |author-link2=:ru:Кошеленко, Геннадий Андреевич |chapter=The Yu'eh-chih and their migrations |editor-last=Harmatta |editor-first=János |editor-link=János Harmatta |date=1 January 1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations, 700 B. C. to A. D. 250 |url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001057/105703eo.pdf |location=Paris |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |pages=171–191 |isbn=978-92-3-102846-5 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Hanks |first1=Brian K. |last2=Linduff |first2=Katheryn M. |title=Social Complexity in Prehistoric Eurasia: Monuments, Metals and Mobility |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-51712-6 |year=2009 }}
*{{cite book |last=Hansen |first=Valerie |author-link=Valerie Hansen |title=The Silk Road: A New History  |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-19-993921-3 }}
*{{cite book |last=Haw |first=Stephen G. |title=Beijing – A Concise History |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-15032-8 }}
*Hill, John E. (2003). [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html ''The Peoples of the West from the Weilüe'' 魏略] ''by Yu Huan'' 魚豢'': A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE.'' Draft annotated English translation
*{{cite book |last=Hill |first=John E. |author-mask=3 | title=Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries AD |year=2009 |publisher=BookSurge |location=Charleston SC | isbn=978-1-4392-2134-1 }}
*{{cite journal|title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present |first=Doug |last=Hitch |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |year=2010 |volume=130 |issue=4 |pages=654–658 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-9270.2009.00260_11.x |bibcode=2010IJNAr..39..207P |url=http://www.ynlc.ca/ynlc/staff/hitch/review_of_Beckwith.pdf |access-date=2 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226105908/http://www.ynlc.ca/ynlc/staff/hitch/review_of_Beckwith.pdf |archive-date=26 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}
*{{cite journal |last=Liu |first=Xinru |author-link=Xinru Liu |title=Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan. Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies |journal=Journal of World History |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=261–292 |year=2001a |doi=10.1353/jwh.2001.0034 |jstor=20078910 |s2cid=162211306 }}
*{{cite book |last=Liu |first=Xinru |author-mask=3 |chapter=The Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Interactions in Eurasia |year=2001b |editor-last=Adas |editor-first=Michael |title=Agricultural and pastoral societies in ancient and classical history |location=Philadelphia PA |publisher=Temple University Press |pages=151–179 |isbn=978-1-56639-832-9 }}
*{{cite book |last=Liu |first=Xinru |author-mask=3 |year=2010 |title=The Silk Road in World History |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-516174-8 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Loewe |first1=Michael |last2=Shaughnessy |first2=Edward L. |author-link1=Michael Loewe |author-link2=Edward L. Shaughnessy |title=The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory00loew |url-access=limited |year=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-47030-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory00loew/page/n117 87]–88 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Mallory |first1=J. P. |author1-link=J. P. Mallory |last2=Adams |first2=Douglas Q. |date=1997 |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-884964-98-5 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World |last1=Mallory |first1=J. P. |author1-mask=3 |last2=Adams |first2=Douglas Q. |author2-mask=3 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-929668-2 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Mallory |first1=J. P. |last2=Mair |first2=Victor H. |author2-link=Victor H. Mair |year=2000 |title=The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West |location=London |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-05101-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/tarimmummiesanci00mall }}
* {{cite book |last=Narain |first=A. K. |author-link=A. K. Narain |year=1990 |chapter=Indo-Europeans in Central Asia |editor-last=Sinor |editor-first=Denis |editor-link=Denis Sinor |title=The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia |title-link=The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia |volume=1 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=151–177 |isbn=978-1-139-05489-8 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521243049.007 }}
*Ricket, W.A. (1998). ''Guanzi: Political, Economic, and Philosophic Essays from Early China'', vol. 2. Princeton: Princeton University Press
* {{cite book |last1=Roux |first1=Jean-Paul |author-link1=Jean-Paul Roux |year=1997 |title=L'Asie Centrale, Histoire et Civilization |trans-title=Central Asia: History and Civilization |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sLlqQgAACAAJ |language=fr |publisher=[[Fayard]] |isbn=978-2-213-59894-9 }}
*{{cite book |first=François |last=Thierry |chapter=Yuezhi et Kouchans, Pièges et dangers des sources chinoises |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/11069062 |editor1-first=Osmund |editor1-last=Bopearachchi |editor2-first=Marie-Françoise |editor2-last=Boussac |title=Afghanistan, Ancien carrefour entre l'est et l'ouest |publisher=Brepols |location=Turnhout |year=2005 |pages=421–539 |isbn=978-2-503-51681-3 }}
*{{cite book |last=Watson |first=Burton |year=1993 |title=Records of the Grand Historian of China: Han Dynasty II |publisher=Columbia University Press |edition=revised |isbn=978-0-231-08166-5 }} {{ISBN|978-0-231-08167-2}} (pbk.) Translated from the ''[[Shiji]]'' of [[Sima Qian]]
*{{cite book |last=West |first=Barbara A. |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC |date=1 January 2009 |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7 |access-date=29 May 2015 }}
*Yap, Joseph P. (2009). ''Wars With The Xiongnu, A Translation From Zizhi tongjian'' Chapters 2 & 4, AuthorHouse. {{ISBN|978-1-4490-0604-4}}
*{{cite book |first=E. |last=Zürcher |chapter=The Yüeh-chih and Kanișka in the Chinese sources |pages=346–390 |title=Papers on the Date of Kaniṣka |editor-first=Arthur Llewellyn |editor-last=Basham |publisher=Brill |year=1969 |isbn=978-90-04-00151-0 }}

==External links==
*[http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html#sec13 "Section 13 – The Kingdom of the Da Yuezhi"], The Western Regions according to the ''Hou Hanshu'', trans. John Hill
**[http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hhshu/notes13.html Notes to Section 13] – Linguistic analysis of the connection between ''Yuezhi'' and ''Kushan''
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Yue-Chi | volume= 28 |last= Eliot |first=Charles Norton Edgcumbe |author1-link= Charles Eliot (diplomat) | pages = 944&ndash;945 |short=1}}
*[http://reference.allrefer.com/country-guide-study/mongolia/mongolia14.html Mongolia: Xiongnu and Yuezhi] – Overview of Xiongnu history and their wars with the Yuezhi
*[http://www.transoxiana.com.ar/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html "The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia"], by Craig Benjamin.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040110174334/http://www.britac.ac.uk/events/programmes/2004/abstracts/asia-abdullaev.html "After Alexander: Central Asia Before Islam"] – nomad migration in Central Asia, by Kasim Abdullaev
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040404050535/http://ignca.nic.in/ks_41023.htm "India and China: beyond and the within"], Lokesh Chandra
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070504035720/http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/01/kz.htm Guanzi] – online text from [[National Sun Yat-sen University]]
*[http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1741-7007-8-15.pdf "Evidence that a west–east admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age"], Li et al. ''BMC Biology'' 2010, 8:15.
{{Central Asian history}}
{{Rulers of Ancient Central Asia}}
{{Historical Non-Chinese peoples in China}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Yuezhi| ]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of China]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Former countries in Chinese history]]
[[Category:Indo-European peoples]]
[[Category:Kushan Empire]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]