The Kingdom of Khotan is 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).
Capital
The ancient city of Khotan was the capital, now known by its modern Chinese name Hetian (pinyin; 和田. Also romanized Hoton, Khoton). Built on an oasis, its mulberry groves allowed the production and export of silk and silk rugs, in addition to the city's other products such as jade and pottery.
Culture
According to legend, the foundation of Khotan occured when the eldest son of the Indian Buddhist emperor Ashoka's eldest son settled there in the early 3rd century BC.
However, it is likely to have existed 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 became one of the major centers of Buddhism, and is primarily associated with the Mahayana branch. It differed in this respect to Kucha, a Shravakayana-dominated kingdom on the opposite side of the desert. 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 AD.
It came under Muslim control in the first decade of the 11th century. Marco Polo visited Khotan between 1271 and 1275 and remarked that the people were "all worshippers of Mahommet."
References
- Hulsewe, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. 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. E. J. Brill, Leiden.
- Hill, John E. 1993. "The Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu. 2nd Edition." "Appendix A: The Introduction of Silk Cultivation to Khotan in the 1st Century CE." [1] (http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hhshu/appendices.html#a)
- Stein, Aurel M. 1907. Ancient Khotan. Oxford. For the foundation stories: pp. 156-166; for the introduction of sericulture: pp. 229-230; for the introduction of Islam: pp. 180-182; for Marco Polo's visit: p. 168. [2] (http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/)
History
- 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 Shanshan, became the major power on the southern branch of the Silk Route.
- 78: Ban Chao a Chinese General subdues the kingdom.
- 105: The 'Western Regions' rebelled, and Khotan regained its independence.
- 127: The Chinese general Ban Yong attacked and subdued Karashahr; and then Kucha, Kashgar, Khotan, Yarkand, and other kingdoms, seventeen altogether, who all came to submit to China.
- 129: Fangqian, the king of Khotan, killed the king of Keriya, 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: Pays hommage to China, becomes a vassal state.
- 644: Chinese pilgrim monk, Xuanzang, stays 7-8 months in Khotan and writes a detailed account of the kingdom.
- 670: Tibet invades and conquers Khotan (now know 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: Fudu Jing (Vijaya Vikrama), son of Fudu Xiong, is placed on the Khotanese throne by the Chinese.
- 694: China under Wu Zetian reconquers the Kingdom from Tibet. Khotan is made a protectorate.
- 725: Yuchi Tiao (Vijaya Dharma III) is beheaded by the Chinese fo 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 again to Gandhara.
- 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 Tibeten Tanjur.
- 747: Yuchi Sheng, after going to China and marrying an Imperial princess, helps Chinese defeat "Little Bolu" (the Gilgit Valley).
- 756: Yuchi Sheng hands over the government to his younger brother, Shihu (Jabgu) Yao.
- 787 or 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.
- 1006: Khotan held by the Muslim Yūsuf Qadr Khān, a brother or cousin of the Muslim ruler of Kāshgar and Balāsāghūn.
John Hill 22:45, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)
References
- Beal, Samuel. 1884. Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, by Hiuen Tsiang. 2 vols. Trans. by Samuel Beal. London. Reprint: Delhi. Oriental Books Reprint Corporation. 1969.
- Beal, Samuel. 1911. The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang by the Shaman Hwui Li, with an Introduction containing an account of the Works of I-Tsing. Trans. by Samuel Beal. London. 1911. Reprint: Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi. 1973.
- Emmerick, R. E. 1967. Tibetan Texts Concerning Khotan. Oxford University Press, London.
- Hill, John E. July, 1988. "Notes on the Dating of Khotanese History." Indo-Iranian Journal, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 179-190.
- Hill, John E. 2003. "Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu." 2nd Edition.[3] (http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html)
- Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation. [4] (http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html)
- Legge, James. Trans. and ed. 1886. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: being an account by the Chinese monk Fâ-hsien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline. Reprint: Dover Publications, New York. 1965.
- Stein, M. Aurel. 1907. Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan, 2 vols. Oxford, Clarendon Press. [5] (http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/)
- Watters, Thomas (1904-1905). On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India. London. Royal Asiatic Society. Reprint: 1973.
Neighbors
See also
zh:于阗
|
