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Kingdom of Khotan

Kingdom of Khotan
56–1006
Map of Tarim Basin in the 3rd century AD Khotan kingdom shown in green in the southern region.
Capital Khotan
Languages Gāndhārī language 3-4th century.

Khotanese, a dialect of the Saka language, in a variant of the Brāhmī script.

Religion Buddhism
Government Monarchy
King
 •  c. 56 Yulin: Jianwu period (25–56 AD)
 •  969 Nanzongchang (last)
History
 •  Khotan established c. 300 BC
 •  Established 56
 •  Yarkant attacks and annexes Khotan. Yulin abdicates and becomes king of Ligui 56
 •  Tibet invades and conquers Khotan 670
 •  Khotan held by the Muslim, Yūsuf Qadr Khān 1006
 •  Disestablished 1006
 •  Islamization
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Khotan
Kara-Khanid Khanate

Khotanese, a dialect of the Saka language, in a variant of the Brāhmī script.

The Kingdom of Khotan was an ancient Saka Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang, China). The ancient capital was originally sited to the west of modern-day Hotan (Chinese: 和田) at Yotkan. From the Han dynasty until at least the Tang dynasty it was known in Chinese as Yutian (Chinese: 于闐, 于窴, or 於闐). This largely Buddhist kingdom existed for over a thousand years until it was conquered by the Muslim Kara-Khanid Khanate in 1006, during the Islamicisation and Turkicisation of Xinjiang.

Built on an oasis, Khotan's mulberry groves allowed the production and export of silk and carpets, in addition to the city's other major products such as its famous nephrite jade and pottery. Despite being a significant city on the silk road as well as a notable source of jade for ancient China, Khotan itself is relatively small – the circumference of the ancient city of Khotan at Yōtkan was about 2.5 to 3.2 km (1.5 to 2 miles). Much of the archaeological evidence of the ancient city of Khotan however had been obliterated due to centuries of treasure hunting by local people.

The inhabitants of Khotan used Khotanese, an Eastern Iranian language, and Gandhari Prakrit, a language related to Sanskrit. There is debate as to how much Khotan's original inhabitants were ethnically and anthropologically South Asian and speakers of the Gāndhārī language versus the Saka, an Indo-European people from the Eurasian Steppe. From the 3rd century onwards they also had a visible linguistic influence on the Gāndhārī language spoken at the royal court of Khotan. The Khotanese Saka language was also recognized as an official court language by the 10th century and used by the Khotanese rulers for administrative documentation.


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