Around the beginning of the 20th century, archaeologists recovered a number of manuscripts from oases in the Tarim Basin written in two closely related but previously unknown Indo-European languages, which were easy to read … See more

J. P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair wrote that the Tarim was first settled by Proto-Tocharian-speakers from an eastern offshoot of the Afanasevo culture to the north, who migrated to the south and occupied the northern and eastern edges of the See more

The first record of the oasis states is found in Chinese histories. The Book of Han lists 36 statelets in the Tarim basin in the last two centuries BC. These oases served as waystations on the trade routes forming part of the Silk Road passing along the northern and … See more

Note: Recent discoveries have rendered obsolete some of René Grousset's classic The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, published in 1939, which, however, still … See more

The Tocharian languages are known from around 7600 documents dating from about 400 to 1200 AD, found at 30 sites in the northeast Tarim area. The manuscripts are written in two … See more

Most of the Tocharian inscriptions are based on Buddhist monastical texts, which suggests that the Tocharians largely embraced Buddhism. The pre-Buddhist beliefs of the Tocharians are largely unknown, but several Chinese goddesses are similar to the … See more

Names of the rulers of Kucha are known mainly from Chinese sources.
• Hong(洪, 弘), circa 16 CE
• Chengde (丞德), circa 36 CE
• Zeluo (则罗), circa 46 CE
• Shen Du(身毒), circa 50 CE See more