Protectorate General to Pacify the West
| Protectorate General to Pacify the West | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 安西都護府 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 安西都护府 | ||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Ānxī Dūhù Fǔ |
| Wade–Giles | Anhsi Tuhu Fu |
The Protectorate General to Pacify the West, Grand Protectorate General to Pacify the West, or Anxi Protectorate (640–790) was a protectorate established by the Tang Dynasty in 640 to control the Tarim Basin. The head office was first established at the prefecture of Xi, now known as Turpan, but was later shifted to Qiuci (Kucha) and situated there for most of the period. The Four Garrisons of Anxi in Kucha, Khotan, Kashgar, and Karashahr were installed between 648 and 658 as garrisons under the western protectorate. In 659 Soghd and Ferghana along with cities like Tashkent, Samarkand, Balkh, Herat, and Kabul became part of the protectorate under Emperor Gaozong of Tang. Afghanistan's Herat and Uzbekistan's Bukhara and Samarkand became part of the Tang protectorate. The defeat of the Western Turks and the defeat of the Sassanids by the Arabs had facilitated the Chinese expansion under Emperor Gaozong into Herat, northeastern Iran and Afghanistan (Tukharistan), Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, and Soghdiana which previously belonged to the western Turks. Kashmir, Kabul, Tokharistan, Pamir, and Tashkent came under the Chinese protectorate. After the An Lushan Rebellion the office of Protector General was given to Guo Xin who defended the area and the four garrisons even after communication had been cut off from Chang'an by the Tibetan Empire. The last five years of the protectorate are regarded as an uncertain period in its history, but most sources agree that the last vestiges of the protectorate and its garrisons were defeated by Tibetan forces by the year 790, ending nearly 150 years of Tang influence in central Asia.
The Western Regions during the Tang era were known as Qixi (磧西). Qi refers to the Gobi Desert while Xi refers to the west.
On 19 September 640 Hou Junji of Tang conquered Gaochang and set up Xi Prefecture in its place. Xi Prefecture became the seat of the Anxi Protectorate on 11 October. Qiao Shiwang became the first protector general of the Anxi and served from 640-642. Guo Xiaoke received the next post and served from 640-648.
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