Origin of Yuezhi Tribe: The Gurjars

Notes on Central Asian History during 200 BC and its effects on later history, Role of Yuezhi migration in Ancient History of Central Asia, settlement of Yuezhi after migration and various theories about current

form of Ancient Yuezhi tribe: (Gurjar/Gujjar/Gujar/Gusar/Gusur/Khazar/Ughar/Gazar/Gusarova)By: Adesh Katariya

Important Note

Till now many researches published on the history of Great Yuezhi/Gurjar tribe but scholars are not in position to clarify all happenings in a series. In this article, we are trying to compile all happenings as per their timings. We also would like to clarify that the material under this article is not a copyright matter and main motive of this article is, to attract good scholars to discuss and research on the great Yuezhi/Gurjar Tribe.

- Adesh Katariya( plast.adesh@gmail.com)

Origin of Yuezhi peoples: As per manusmriti, tocher (yuezhi) is an Aryan tribe and kingdom located in the north west of India. They are Chanda-Vanshi ( Moon- root) Arya . In Chinese , Tocharians were mentioned are Yue-chi, which means Moon –Tribe ( Yue for moon and Chi for family). Tocharian language was influenced with Sanskrit, which sows that tocharians were Aryan origin people. Original Tocharians or Tukharas/Tusharas were Iranic Bactrian speakers, which was Aryan languages of Aryans , who had migrate to Bectria ( Iran) side, as Iran was also Indian part in Ancient time. Scythians were neigviour of Yuezhi country. scythians and tocharians are still closely related because they share common indoeuropean heritage and lived for a long time isolated from high developed civilizations which could change their culture radically so they preserved longer old indoeuropan customs and traditions.Scythians probably settled later in the tarim basin than the tocharians but chinese records not recorded a scythian invasion there so they immigrated to this region already before 200 bc when the first chinese records about khotan were written. According to Douglas Q. Adams, the Tocharians may have called themselves ākñi, meaning "borderers, marchers...The historian Bernard Sergent has called them Arśi-Kuči, recently revised to Agni-Kuči.

In the epic Mahabharata, tocher called as Tushar were descendents of ancient Lunar dynasty . In Hindu mythology, the Lunar dynasty (also known as Somavansha, Chandravansha and as Ailas) was one of the four principal houses of the Kshatriya varna, or warrior–ruling caste. This legendary dynasty was descended from the moon (Soma or Chandra), while the other principal houses, the Solar Dynasty (Suryavanshi) claims descent from the sun (surya).The legendary capital of the Lunar dynasty was Pratisthana, said to be founded by Pururavas, the son of Ila and Budha, the illegitimate child of Soma, the moon-god. The Rig Veda (X.95.18) states that he was a son of Ila and was a pious king. According to the Vishnu Purana, his father was Budha, and he was ancestor of the tribe of Pururavas, from whom descended the Kauravas and Pandavas. The tale of his love for the nymph Urvasi is one of the few tales that has caught the Indian imagination for generations. The Ṛg-veda, X.129 contains a conversational fragment, written in a highly wrought poetic style. The hymn suggests that Uṣas (also known as Urvaśi) is a Gandharvi orApsara (an aquatic nymph). Having been united with a human king, Purūravas, and after living together for four autumns, suddenly left him on his unintentional violation of the stipulated conditions of the union. Later Purūravas made futile entreaties to her to return to him.

The narrative displays multiple levels of symbolism by playing on the multiplicity of meanings in the Vedic Saṃskṛt terms. While it is a love poem, expressing the conflict of interest between a lover and his beloved, who spurns his love, it also expresses the immortal relationship between the Sun (Purūravas) and the Dawn (Uṣas). In addition to these two levels of meaning, it also

offers mantric prescriptions for a ritual activity bent on taking rebirth as a Gandharva or Apsaras.

The love story of king Pururavas and celestial nymph Urvashi is found in the Sanskrit drama, Vikramōrvaśīyam, written by the celebrated poet Kalidasa . The Vedic Vayupurana mention Chandravanshi king Pururava and his Queen Ira.

Pururava’s younger son, Amavasu founds the kingdom of Kanyakubja (modern Kannauj).

The dynasty again splits into two after the reign of Ayus, the eldest son of Pururavas. Nahusa, the eldest son of Ayus, obtains the position of Indra in the heaven but is banished from there when he lusts after Sachi, the wife of Indra. Ksatravrddha, another son of Ayu, establishes the dynasty of Kashi (Varanasi). His descendents were called Kaseyas.

Nahusa’s son and successor Yayati was a renowned conqueror and was reckoned as a cakravartin. He had five sons Yadu and Turvasu from Devayani, the daughter of Sukra, the preceptor of asuras and Druhyu,Anu and Puru from Sarmistha, the daughter of asura king Vrsaparva. Yayati installs Puru, the youngest but the most dutiful son as his successor in the ancestral sovereignty in Pratisthana.The elder sons obtain the outlying areas. From the sons of Yayati descend the five famous royal lines of the Yadavas, the Turvasus, the Druhyus, the Anavas and the Pauravas.

Immediately after Yadu, the Yadava dynasty is bifurcated – the main line continued by Krosti and the independent line of Haihayas led by Sahasrajit. The Yadava branch first develops a great principality under king Sasabindu, who becomes a cakravrtin. Mandhatr, the son of Yuvansva, the king of Ayodhya marries his daughter Bindumati and rises to eminence. He follows in the footsteps of his father-in-law, extends his sway very widely and becomes a cakravrtin himself.[15] His son Purukutsa marries Narmada, the river goddess. Another son, also a famous king, called Mucukunda builds and fortifies a town on the bank of that river; it was Mahismati.

Soon thereafter, the Druhyu king Gandhara retires to the northwest (modern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) and establishes the kingdom of Gandhara there. His descendants scatter into the regions beyond India and establish many principalities. Later, the Anavas divide into two branches under Usinara and Titiksu. The sons of Usinara establish separate tribes of the Yaudheyas, Ambasthas, Navarastras, Krimilas and Sivis in eastern Punjab. Sivi, the son of Usinara and the originator of the Sivis in Sivapura, is celebrated in the Indian mythology for his generosity. His sons set up the kingdoms of Vrsadarbhas, Madrakas,Kaikayas and Sauviras, and occupy the whole Punjab. One branch of Anavs migrated to Iran, Turkmenistan, Turkistan (inAfghanistan) and Turkey. The Tushara country mentioned in the epic Mahabharata could be Turkmenistan, a Central Asian Republic or the Turkistan of Afghanistan. The other branch of the Anavas under Titiksu moved east and founded the principalities of Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Suhma and Pundra. Before this migration , they lived in North-western India. According to legend, Brahma was in search of a place for Mahayagna and he found this place suitable. After a long time, Brahma came to known that a demon, Vajranash, was killing people here so the Lord intoned a mantra on a lotus flower and killed the demon. During this process the parts of flower fell on three places which were later known as Jyaistha, Madhya and

Kanistha Pushkar. After this Brahma performed a yagna to protect this place from demons. The consort of Brahma, Saraswati, were needed to offer Ahuti for the yagna but she was not there that time so Gayatri, a Anav girl of Chechi-Gurjar sub-tribe, was married to brahma and performned yagna. This act made first wife of Brahma, Saraswati, angry and she cursed Brahma saying that he would be worshiped in Pushkar only. There are still priests from the Gurjar community in Pushkar temple, known as Bhopas.So all these proofs indicate that Gurjars( Yuezhi_ are originally Indians, related to the ancient Aryas of the Vedas, the majority of them moved out of India in very ancient times and then got re-introduced to India as people with a strong connection to the Persian and Central-Asian lands.

Migrations Out of India : The Vedic Vayupurana describes a battle waged among the Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi lineages of Arya. It was as a result of this war that Anavs part of the Chandravanshi clan , called Gurjar had to immigrate to the modern Iran (Iran means "land of Aryans") . It was in these regions, where the fertile soil of the mountainous country is surrounded by the Turanian desert, that the prophet Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) was said to have been born and gained his first adherents. Avestan, the language of the oldest portions of the Zoroastrian Avesta, was once called "old-iranic" which is related to Sanskrit. Today some scholars believe the Avestan-Language was the western dialect of the Sanskrit because both languages are the oldest Indo-Iranian language of Aryans we know. With the time the Avestan-Language became developed by own western style.The Tarim Basin region was later regarded as the land of the Uttara Kurus and as a land of the gods.

We do note the names of rivers like the Don, Dneiper, Dneister, Donets and Danube to the north of the Black are largely cognate with Aryans. This could reflect such a movement of peoples from West or Central Asia, including migrants originally from regions of greater India and Iran. At the end of the Ice Age, as west became warmer, it became a suitable land for agriculture. This would have made it a desirable place of migration for people from the east and the south, which were flooded or became jungles.

In Chineese, reference was made in the name Yuezhi Guanzi around 7th century BCE by the Chinese economist Guan Zhong, though the book is generally considered to be a forgery of later generations. The author attributes, Guan Zhong, described the Yuzhi, as a people which supplies northwestern jade (nephrite) Chinese nearby mountains of Yuzhi. The name of the Yuzhi occurs in a list of tribute bearers from the Beidi (or northern minorities) for the first time in Yi Zhoushu (Lost Book of Zhou). The Yuezhi reached the Shang court in King Tang’s era (corresponding to 11th century B. C.) and arrived again in the Zhou court to contribute “the Yuezhi’s Taotu” (a kind of horse, equal to “Chigatai” in Mongol) during the Zhou King Cheng’s era (corresponding to 11th century B. C.).[1] Besides, Guan Zi, compiled in third century B. C., states that a politician named Guan Zhong put forward his suggestion that “[we]

should accept the jades of the Yuzhi from the North.”[2] These facts show that the Yuezhi had originally lived in north west part of ancient China.The country of the yuezhi, "Yuzhi" covers the areas of Lyanchzhou, Ganchzhou, Suchzhou and Yanchzhou, which correspond to the modern provinces of Gansu and Shanxi in the northern regions of Modern China. Later Chinese commentators specify that the yuzhi/yushi are “northwest barbarians”. Sima Qian wrote that one of the main sites of the production of jade are the Kunlun mountains and the city of Hotan, or that mountain “Yuzhi” is actually Kunlun.(in her easternmost branches). The next mention of the "yuezhi" people is recorded written as Yuzhi 禺知 , in “The Journey of Mu, Son of Heaven” (Mu Tianzi zhuan), written about 4-3 century B.C.E.. In it, it is stated that "the country Yuzhi is 5 days away on foot and is situated west of the Yanmenguan mountain pass, north of Shanxi and east of the corner of Huanhe, where the Jade- Mountain is1". (YuT-MTZh,pp.9-10)The name “yuezhi” in the earliest texts is written with Chinese characters in the following way: As or , in the “Guanzi” treatise, and in “Mu Tianzi zhuan, (The Journey of Mu, Son of Heaven). The three different variations are easily comparable: , and can be reduced to two: . At that time the first two the characters: and , were pronounced in a very similar way: *ngīu/*ngük. The latter two the characters, resp. and , also sounded very similar: *tiēg / *diēg.The foreign name is mentioned in more than two older sources before the Han era, and probably reflected a foreign word that the Chinese speakers interpreted as“Yu-ji” (Ju-dsi).It is interesting to note that Sima Qian used the characters to relay the name “yuezhi”. Finding the transcription in“Guanzi” inaccurate, he replaced the two alternative the characters and with , the first syllable of the name of which is pronounced as *nīök, while the second the character , is unchanged *diēg, which, in modern Chinese is pronounced as as Yu-ji (Yu-dsi). These fluctuations in the imposition of the transcription of this important ethnic name appear in Chapter 129 of the “Shi-ji” where we find yet another transcription from before the Han era: - *åğ- diēg, which in modern Chinese would sound like, “O-dzi” which shows that the name contains the original, atypical for Chinese sound. The first syllable of the name is obviously difficult, if not impossible to transcribe the way he wrote it. We very well know that in such cases, the sound „n”, or „ŋ” (ng), usually represents the alien and difficult to pronounce for the Chinese “r” sound, which does not have an equivalent in modern Chinese, yet existed in proto-Chinese and exists in the similar Tibetan language. If this were the case, wouldn’t we have seen the word written as *råğ-diēg?

The Yuezhi was the major supplier of horses during the third century BCE, when Xiongnu became a real threat to the border of the Chinese empire. In dealing with the incursion of the horse riding nomads from the north, mainly the Xiongnu, cavalry was most important. Securing the supply of horses was a great concern of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. Good horses, however, must have come from the steppe where the vast grassland provides the environment for breeding and training. Chinese agricultural societies who needed horses and other draft animals had to obtain them from the pastoral peoples. During the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BCE), the conflicts with the Xiongnu who caused the great endeavor of building the Great Wall created demand rather the supply for horses. The Yuezhi tribe, which was still powerful on the steppe and kept a friendly trading relationship with Chinese rulers, was naturally the provider for horses. According to Sima Qian, a chief named Lou of the “Wuzhi” was the major horse

supplier of the First Emperor. “Wuzhi” was another variation of Yuezhi in archaic Chinese. The chief traded horses and cattle for silks then resold silks to other chiefs of the steppe. It was said that Lou made ten times profit out of his principle in this trade and became very rich. The First Emperor was so pleased with his services that granted him a very high status that he could join ministers in the court for the emperor’s audience.If Sima Qian’s record is reliable, we may consider the Yuezhi as the very people who initiated the Silk Road trade. While redistributing silks to tribes on the steppe, they stimulated the silk-horse transactions as well as the fame of silk products--yarn, floss and textiles--from China around the third century BCE. Meanwhile, the Yuezhi sold so many horses to China for silk, the reputation of their horses spread to sedentary societies. The fame of Yuezhi horses was not limited in China but spread to the entire Central Asia. A Sogdhian writer from the third century CE once said in his geographical book that while China was famous for its numerous people, and Rome was famous for its numerous treasures, the Yuezhi was famous for its numerous horses.1[6] This reputation of the Yuezhi probably prompted the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, Han Wudi, sent Zhang Qian to the west to seek the alliance with Yuezhi in the warfare against the Xiongnu. When the Xiongnu made Chinese pay them silks, food grains and other products of agricultural societies, the Han court heard the news of the animosity between the Xiongnu and the Yuezhi. Meanwhile, remembering the more friendly transactions between the Yuezhi and Chinese, the Han emperor naturally assumed that the Yuezhi should be his ally against the Xiongnu. Zhang Qian could not convince the Yuezhi, who already settled at the fertile bank of the Oxus, to fight with the Xiongnu again. But the Han China finally found the Yuezhi who lost from the sight for several decades and resumed the exchanges of goods. A large part of the Yuezhi, vanquished by the Xiongnu, were to migrate to southern Asia in the 2nd century BCE, and later establish the Kushan Empire. General Cunningham identified the Kushans as Gurjars or Gujjar. The word Gusur is referenced in the Rabatak inscription of Kushan king Kanishka. According to some scholars, in this inscription the word Gusur, which means Kulputra or a "man or woman born in high family", stands for Gurjara. Kusana is a gotr (Part ) Gurjars living in India and Pakistan. Now a days, this theories is widely accepted that Gurjars of India, Pakistan, afganitan are descendent of ancient Yuezhi or tochar of Tarim besin.

Other theories about meaning of word, Gujjar or Gurjar:In different countries the word “Gujjar” has come to be known differently but yet it has not changed

altogether e.g. Gurjar( North India), Gorjar( East India), Gujjar( Nortwest india and Pakistan),Gojar

( Kazakhastan) , Gujar ( Afganistan and Iran), Muslim Ughur ( Western China), Gusarova ( Russia), Gusar (

Turkey and Chechenya ), Huna-girian( Hangari:Means Giri: Mountain area of Hunas) and Chechen

( Chechenya).

In Sanskrit the word Gurjar was used and now-a-day. Gujjar is used in place of Gurjar which predicts the

qualities of a warrior Tribe. The historians tried to explain the meaning of word Gujjar/Gurjar with their

views and logics. Some opinions about the creation of word “Gujjar” are:

1

1. Few people estimated that the word Gujjar has formed from the word “Gauchar” (means the

person who grazes cow). However this is completely wrong because the word “Gujjar” has

deformed from the word Gurjar not Gauchar. In addition, the word Gurjar has used in the several

pillar inscription, not Gujjar or Gujar. The word Gurjar could not be form by any means with the

word Gauchar.

2. According to Prof Abdul Gani Shashi, a famous scholar of Arabic and Persion history, the word

‘Khizar’(a tribe name that had left for Koh-e-Kaf during the era of Christ) got changed to “Garz” to

“Garzar” and with the passage of time this Tribe come to be called as Gujjar.

3. Another perspective is of Ch. Fayez Ahmed written in “Marat Gujjran Tareekh”. He had consulted

several scholars before reaching his conclusion. According to Ch. Fayez Ahmed, when Gujjar used to

rule in India. Their armies fought with the help of “Gurz” that is “Gada” (weapon of lord Hanuman),

which was their symbol, Gada was to later become Gurzar and then changed to Gurjar or Gujjar.

4. According to Gujjar Histories like” Tareekh-e-Gujran”, “Shahan-e-Gujjar”, “Gurjar Itihas”, “Gujjar aur

Gujri Zaban”, “Gujjar Tareekh aur Sakafat”, the word “Gujjar” has been derived from Persian word

“Gauzar” which mean Body Builder or Fighter. Because this community was famous for its moves

and tactics in wars, its members were called “Gauzar” who gradually came to be called as Gujjars.

5. Few scholars agree that Gujjar actually have come from Georgia which is located near Russia and is

after called as Gurjistan. According to them Gurjar is derived from Gurjistan.

6. Abdul Malik Chouhan in the book “Shahan-e-Gujjar” has described the word Gujjar in a different

way.

7. Ali Hassan Chouhan writes in his history that the word Gujjar is derived from the word Gurjar or

Garjar. In Urdu, Hindi and English the word Guarjar or Gujjar is in use but in all ancient records upto

1300-AD, It is Gurjar its Prakrit is Gujjar which is generally spoken by the people.

8. Sanskrit dictionary complied by Pandit Radha Kant (Shakabada 1181) explains:

Gurjar Gur (enemy) + Ujar (destroyer)

Gurjar means destroyer of the enemy

9. The most acceptable view is given by Pandit Chotalal Sharma and M.R.A Phulera in the book “Khslria

Vansh Pardeepika”, is that the word Gurjar is derived from Guruttar. It has explained that Guruttar

has deformed into Gurujan and Gurujan has changed to Gurjar wih time. Also explained that word

Guruttar has used fro Maharaja Dashrath in Ramayann of Valmiki. In some parts of India the

"Gujjars" are known as "Gurjan". The Puranas (ancient texts of Hinduism) mention that Arya king

Raja Dasharat Gurtar created an army of warriors and named it "Gurjan". The word "Gurjan" is the

Prakrit (or spoken Sanskrit) form of the Sanskrit word "Gurujan"/"Guru-Jan" which means "leaders-

of the People". The Gurjans were also known as "Gurtar-Kshtriyas", since they were a personal army

of Raja Dasharat Gurtar. The word "Gurtar" was the royal title of Raja Dasharat and not his real

name, and it means "Greatest-Warrior". It is believed that overtime the two words "Gurjan" and

"Gurtar" changed into "Gurjar".

10. Pundit Vasudeva Prasad a famous Sanskrit Pandit of Banaras, has proved through ancient Sanskrit

literature that the word “Gujjar” used to be spoken after the names of antique “Kashatrias”.

Scientific evidence also has proved that Gujjar belong to “Aryans”.

11. Mr. Baij Nath Puri, a famous historian of India, in his book “The History of Gurjars and Pratharas”

and historian K.M. Munshi, in his book “The Glory that was Gurjar Desh”, Ali Hassan Chouhan, in his

book “A Short History of Gurjars” and “Tareekh-e-Gurjar” (5 volume in Urdu), Mr. Jatinder Kumar

Verma, in his book “Gurjar Ithas”, by way of historical records, have fully proved that Gurjar and

Gujjar were same word and they belonged to Aryan Density”

According to these historians, Lord Krishan Ji with some of the Kashatrias who survived the

Mahabarat War abandoned Mathura and went towards the west to Dwarik. The ancient Kashatria

clans thronged around Lord Krishna who United them into a class and named it as “Gurjar” and their

Government come to be known as “Gujratar”, the first capital of which was established at Dawarika.

Occupation OF Yuezhi:

Some of the Yuzhi were farmers but most were known as traders. They often were involved in the long distance trading of jade and horses to the rulers of agricultural China (Liu: 286). The Yuzhi were known for being great traders in their former land of China, where they constantly were trading their resources. According to Sima Quin, an ancient historian, the Yuzhi may be considered as the people that initiated the trading along the Silk Roads. He also adds that the Yuzhi started the horse for silk transactions, and thus gave fame to the Chinese silk products (Liu: 278).

Evidences of Yuezhi/Tochorian: Mummies found in Tarim Besin:

I would like to start my thesis with currently escavated well-preserved human bodies remains—men, women, and infants—around the Tarim Basin of northwestern China. In the dry hills of the central Asian province of Xingjiang, archaeologists have unearthed more than 100 corpses astonishingly well-preserved and Caucasian! Who were these people, and where did they come from? Some evidence indicates, they were displaced Indo-Aryan peoples .All together, these bodies, dating from about 2000 B.C. to 300 B.C., constitute significant addition to the world's

catalog of prehistoric mummies. Although they are no actual mummies but bodies are naturally preserved through desiccation in the arid desert environment. And we are using term “Mummi”for these preserver human bodies.

Xinjiang,(formerly Sinkiang), the northwestern province of China in which these mummies have been excavated, is one of the most landlocked regions in the world, situated justnorth of Tibet. Since then, numerous other mummies have been found and analysed, many of them now displayed in the museums of Xinjiang. Most of these mummies were found on the eastern end of the Tarim Basin (around the area of Lopnur, Subeshi near Turpan, Kroran, Kumul), or from (Khotan, Niya, and Cherchen or Qiemo), along the southern edge of the Tarim Basin. Xinjiang covers over 600,000 square miles, incorporating one-sixth of the entireland area of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) (Kamberi 1994: 1). It is also the region inwhich the world’s second-largest desert, the Taklamakan, is situated. The region is surrounded by some of the world’s tallest mountains: the Pamirs on the west, the Altai Mountains on thenorth, and the Kunlun Mountains to the south. The province is bisected by the Tianshan (Tängri Tagh), or Heavenly Mountains. The famous Silk Road passed through this region.In 1884, the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu Dynasty ruling China at the time, named theregion. Xinjiang , meaning ‘New Territory.’ After 1955, the region was renamed the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) (id.), so called because the XUAR is the traditionalhomeland of one of the largest minority groups in China: the Turkic-speaking Uyghurs.However, the XUAR is actually home to 47 different ethnic groups (Mallory and Mair 2000: 9).The Uyghurs arrived in the Tarim Basin ca. 800 CE from their Mongolian homeland. Biologicalevidence, as we shall see, supports the arrival of East Asians, or early Chinese, ca. 300 BCE.Prior to this, the Tarim Basin was inhabited primarily by those we now call ‘Tokharians’.

This certainty on behalf of most European and American scholars of the IE origin of many of themummies from the Tarim Basin has led to the connection of these mummies with a now-extinctIE group called the Tokharians (Greek Tokharoi, Sanskrit Tukhāra, Chinese Tu Hou luo 吐火

罗 ). This connection, and the name “Tokharian” itself, originally arose from an Old Uyghur translation of a Sanskrit Buddhist text, called the Maitreyasamiti (Uyghur Maitrisimit) in whichone of the languages into which these texts were translated was called ‘Twghry,’ or tokhri Original Old Uyghur text (based on Adams 1998: 2):3

Scholars then associated tokhri with Strabo’s writings in which the Tokharians were named as anomadic group that defeated one of the Greek rulers of Bactria (now Kazakhstan), across thePamir Mountains to the west of Xinjiang. Baumer further places these Kaukasier , Caucasians, inmodern Turkmenistan with the “Yamnaya-Kultur, woraus die Afanasievo-Kultur hervorging”(id.). Later we will see that the Afanasievo Culture was likely formed by migrants from theYamnaya horizon, as Baumer suggests. Many Chinese scholars associate Tokharian-speakerswith the Yuezhi, nomadic residents of the Tarim “mentioned in Chinese texts of the Han period”(Thornton and Schurr 2004: 92).

The Celts have been linked to the Hallstatt Culture that extended across central Europe,ca. 1200-475 BCE (Barber 1999, James 1993), strategically located at the headwaters of theDanube, Rhine, Seine, Loire, and Rhône Rivers. The Hallstatt Culture in turn developed into theLa Tène Culture, which Greeks and Romans documented as Celtic (Barber 1999: 144). TheseProto-Celts are believed to have commanded a lucrative trade network, mining and selling saltand salted meat ,around much of Late Bronze Age Europe, including with the large Greek port,established in what is now France, of Massalia, modern Marseilles (id.).

“The sacred book Maitreya-samiti which the Bodhisattva guru ācārya Āryacandra,who was born in the country of Nagaradeśa, hadcomposed in the Twghry language out of the Indianlanguage, and which the guru ācārya Prajñaraksita, who was born in Il-bliq, translatedfrom the Twghry language into the Turkish language.” Hal(l) appears to be an old Celtic term for ‘salt’; for this reason, hal - or gal - seems to recur in place namesthroughout Europe, including the names Gaul, Halych or Galicia, Hallein, and Hallstatt, the latter meaning ‘salt city’(Barber 1999: 136-137).

Although the evidence is inconclusive, the mummies, particularly the earlier ones, are frequently associated with the presence of the Indo-European Tocharian languages in the Tarim Basin. Notable mummies are the tall, red-haired "Chärchän man" or the "Ur-David" (1000 BCE); his son (1000 BCE), a small 1-year-old baby with brown hair protruding from under a red and blue felt cap, with two stones positioned over its eyes; the "Hami Mummy" (c. 1400–800 BCE), a "red-headed beauty" found in Qizilchoqa; and the "Witches of Subeshi" (4th or 3rd century BCE), who wore 2-foot-long (0.61 m) black felt conical hats with a flat brim.6 Also found at Subeshi was a man with traces of a surgical operation on his abdomen; the incision is sewn up with sutures made of horsehair.

The mummies had aquiline nose and long skulls, thin lips, reddish-blond or brown hair; deep-set round eyes and among the adult males, prolific facial hairand other unmistakably Indo-Aryan features. These Aryan feature of mummies, has led to considerable historical and political controversy about all theories about ancient central Asian peoples.

One such mummy of a teenaged girl with blond hair and blue eyes, found in a cave, has become quite a tourist attraction in Beijing. Her remains are in such a remarkable state of preservation that the dead girl looks as if she were just sleeping.She has been nicknamed "The Lady of Tarim" and she is on display to throngs of museum visitors in the Chinese capital. Apparently she was a princess or a priestess of some kind over 3,000 years ago, for she was buried in fine embroidered garments of wool and leather, along with beautiful jewelry, jars and ornaments of gold, silver, jade and onyx. Here it is remarkable point that Yuezhi peoples are famous for jade and jems trade from India to China and these linkages indicates about expansion of the Indo- European people from their homeland, Aryavert (Ancient India) to North.

According to the independent invention theory, the list of things non-Whites have independently invented includes the dozens of Asiatic dialects from Hindu to Punjabi to Uighur, all clearly based on a common Aryan root language; pure coincidence, say the PC profs! The agricultural techniques of the Aztecs and Incas such as crop rotation and terrace farming, so similar to ancient Roman and medieval European practices; bah, say the intellectual gangsters of liberalism, the Indians made it up themselves!

Unlike the roughly contemporaneous mummies of ancient Egypt, the Xinjiang mummies were not ruler or nobles; they were not interred in pyramids or other such monuments, nor were they subjected to deliberate mummification procedures. They were preserved merely by being buried in the parched, stony desert, where daytime temperatures often soar over 100 degrees.

In the heat the bodies were quickly dried, with facial hair, skin, and other tissues remaining largely intact. Where exactly did these apparent Caucasians come from? And what were they doing at remote desert oases in central Asia?

Any answers to these questions will most likely fuel a wide-ranging debate about the role outsiders played in the rise of Chinese civilization. As far back as the second century B.C., Chinese texts refer to alien peoples called the Yuezhi and the Wusun, who lived on China's far western borders; the texts make it clear that these people were regarded as troublesome "barbarians."

Until recently, scholars have tended to downplay evidence of any early trade or contact between China and the West, regarding the development of Chinese civilization as an essentially homegrown affair scaled off from outside influences; indeed, this view is still extremely congenial to the present Chinese regime. Yet some archeologists have begun to argue that these supposed barbarians might have been responsible for introducing into China such basic items as the wheel and the first metal objects.

Exactly who these central Asian outsiders might have been, however - what language they spoke and where they came from - is a puzzle. No wonder, then, that scholars see the discovery of the blond mummies as a sensational new clue. But we should focus on Ancient Indian Sources also. As per Mahabharat and Ramayan, Wheel and metal were used in India from BC 5000 and Indians had knowledge of many languages, Weapons, Clinical techniques, Society rules , Justice Rules at that time. Though the idea is highly speculative, a number of archeologists and linguists think the spread of Indo-European languages may be linked to the gradual spread of horse-riding and horse-drawn- vehicle technology from its origins in Aryavart , 6,000 years ago.These mummies may help confirm these speculations. Intriguingly, evidence of a long-extinct language belonging to the Indo- European family does exist in central Asia.

Could the Xinjiang people have been their ancestors, speaking an early version of Tocharian? "My guess is that they would have been speaking some form of Indo-European," comments Don Ringe, a historical linguist at the University of Pennsylvania, "but whether it was an early form of Tocharian or some other branch of the family, such as Indo-Iranian, we may never know for sure." Perhaps a highly distinctive language would help explain why the Xinjiang people's distinctive appearance and culture persisted over so many centuries. Eventually they might well have assimilated with the local population - the major ethnic group in the area today, the Uygur, includes people with unusually fair hair and complexions.

Yuezhi(Tocharians)and other Central Asian People in Indian Literature :

The Ancient Sanskrit literature refers to Tocharians as Tusharas, Tukharas, Tokharas and Tuharas etc. There are numerous references to this people in the ancient Sanskrit texts.

There are extensive references to people of Central Asia in Indian literature like Atharvaveda, Vamsa Brahmana of Samveda, Aitareya Brahmana, Satapatha Brahmana, Puranas, Manusmiriti, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Raghuvamsa, Brihat-Katha -Manjari, Katha-Saritsagara, Rajaratrangini, Mudra-rakshasa, Kavymimansa and host of other old Sanskrit literature. A brief outline is given below:

Atharvaveda:

Atharvaveda makes references to Gandhari, Mujavat and Bahlika from north-west (Central Asia). Gandharis are Gandharas, the Bahlikas are Bactrians, Mujavat (land of Soma) refer to Hindukush–Pamirs (the Kamboja region).

Post-Vedic Atharvaveda-Parisista (Ed Bolling & Negelein) makes first direct reference to the Kambojas (verse 57.2.5). It also juxtaposes the Kambojas, Bahlikas and Gandharas. At another place, it juxtaposes the Shakas, Yavanas, Tusharas and Bahlikas (Saka. Yavana. Tushara. Bahlikashcha). This shows the Kambojas, Shakas, Tusharas, Bahlikas and Gandharas at this time were all located as neighbors in the Uttarapatha.

Sama Veda

The Vamsa Brahmana 1 of the Sama Veda refers to Madrakara Shaungayani as the teacher of Aupamanyava Kamboja. Sage Shangayani Madrakara, as his name itself shows, and as the scholars have rightly pointed out, belonged to the Madra people.

Prof Jean Przylusky has shown that Bahlika (Balkh) was an Iranian settlement of the Madras who were known as Bahlika-Uttaramadras i.e. the northern Madras, living in Bahlika

or Bactria country. These Bahlika Uttara Madras are the Uttara Madras of the Aitareya Brahamana.

This connection between the Uttara Madras and the Kambojas is said to be but natural, as they were close neighbors in the north-west.

The Kambojas as neighbors of the Uttara Madras here obviously refers to the trans-Himalayan branch of the Kambojas who became known as Parama-Kambojas in epic times. Both these nations belonged to Central Asia.

Aitareya Brahmana

Aitareya Brahmana refers to some ancient nations lying beyond Trans-Himalaya boundaries. As an illustration, the name of Uttara Kuru and Uttara Madra are given. But other literature affirms that, besides Uttara Kuru and Uttara Madra, the janapadas of Parama Kambojas, Rshikas and the Lohas etc were also located beyond Himalaya boundaries into Central Asia. These Central Asian people were undoubtedly in intensive intercourse with ancient Indian people.

Indian epics

The vast area across the Himalayas and Hindukush from Pamirs up to Arctic (Somagiri) is stated by some to form ancient Uttara Kuru. There is picturesque mention of this region in the epics Ramayana and the Mahabharata. There are also numerous references to the people forming part of this vast region.

Valmiki Ramayana

The Valmiki Ramayana portrays the topography of the whole land of Central Asia in very details and in some cases, very picturesquely. It gives very vivid account of Uttarapatha and several countries located in that direction. It mentions the lands and towns of the Kambojas, Shakas, Yavanas, Varadas (=Paradas: according to Dr Jayswal, Dr Singh and others) along with Himavanta. After this mentions is made of Uttara Kuru and Somagiri (Arctica). The region is described as without the sun and yet very much lighted. There are said to be no National boundaries there.

The Bala Kanda section (1.55/2-3) of Ramayana refers to a joint mythical creation of the Central Asian tribes of the Kambojas, Yavanas, Shakas, Paradas and Mlechchas by sage Vasishatha through the divine powers of his Kamdhenu.

Bala Kanda of Ramayana also refers to the famed horses imported by princes of Ayodhya of Mid India from the Central Asian nations of Kamboja and Bahlika (Bactria).

Mahabharata

According to Mahabharata, the kings of the Kambojas and the Tusharas were present in the Rajasuya Yajna of Yudhisthira. They had later participated in Mahabharata war from the Kaurava side. They were very ferocious warriors.

The Shakas, Xiongnu as, Paradas and Tusharas had paid tribute to Yudhishtra. The epic also mentions that Pandava Nakula had defeated the Xiongnu as, Pahalvas, Yavanas and Shakas in the western horizon.

Mahabharata mentions that Arjuna had brought tributes from the Daradas, Kambojas, Lohas, Rishikas, Parama Kambojas and the Uttara Kurus of trans-Himalyan regions.

Mahabharata attests that the northern Rishikas and the Lohas were close neighbors and allied to Parama-Kambojas i.e. Trans-Hindukush Kambojas of the Trans-Himalyan territories.17

At other places (5.4.18) in Mahabharata also, the Rishikas are shown as very intimitately connected with the Kambojas.

The Rishikas are said to be same as the Yuezhis (Dr V. S. Aggarwala). The Kushanas or Kanishkas are also the same people (Dr J. C. Vidyalnkara). Prof Stein says that the Tukharas were a branch of the Yue-chi or Yuezhi. Tusharas/Tukharas (Tokharois/Tokarais) and the Yuezhi are stated to be same people (Dr P.C. Bagchi).

According to Vayu Purana and Matsya Purana, river Chakshu (Oxus) flowed through the countries of Tusharas (Rishikas?), Lampakas, Pahlavas, Paradas and Shakas etc.

The above references indicate that the countries of Rishikas (=Tusharas?), Parama-Kambojas, Lohas, Pahlavas, Paradas, Shakas etc were close geographical neighbors and were all located in Central Asia.

King Drapupada of Panchala had advised Yudhishtra to invite the Kambojas, Shakas, Pahlavas, Rishikas and the Daradas (Paradas?) in the Mahabharata war on Pandava's side. But it was too late for Yudhishtra.

General Sudakshina of the Kambojas had joined the Mahabharata war on Kurus' side leading one Akshauhini army of ferocious Central Asian warriors which included Shakas, and Yavanas, besides the Kambojas. Of the ten distinguished military Generals appointed by Duryodhana to efficiently manage his vast host of army, Suadakshin Kamboj was one of such distinguished Generals.

This ancient epic evidence shows that there was an intensive political and military intercourse between the Mid Indians and the Central Asians.

Mahabharata brackets the Kambojas, Shakas and the Khashas together and styles them as tribes of Udichya or Uttarapatha, which obviously means Central Asia.

The Bhishamaparava and Shantiparavas of Mahabharata repeatedly assert that beyond the Uttara (north) are located the Mlechcha Janas (tribes) like the Yavanas, Kambojas, Darunas, Kiratas and other Mlechchas/Barbarians.

These above references also obviously point to Central Asian fringe of people located on the north of Bharatavarsa.

However, the Anusasanaparva of Mahabharata also asserts that the clans of the Kambojas, Yavanas, Shakas, Pahlavas were formerly noble Kshatriyas, but in later time had turned into degraded Kshatriyas due to the wrath of the Brahminas.

Manusmriti

Manusmriti asserts that the Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas, Paradas, Pahlavas etc were originally Kshatriyas of good birth but were gradually degraded to the barbaric status due to their not following the Brahmanas and the Brahmanical code of conduct.

This statement of Manu is designed to accommodate these foreign hordes into the social set-up of the Hindus. The foreigners were expected to practice same normal pieties as the Hindus and the later, in return, regarded them henceforth as belonging to their own social organisation.

According to James Tod, this ancient testimony from Manu presents a conclusive proof of a perfect intercourse which had existed between the people of Oxus (Central Asia) and those of the Gangesregion in remote antiquity.

Puranas

According to Bahu-Sagara legend, the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Paradas and Pahlavas, the so-called five hordes (panca-ganah), from north-west were invited by the Haihaya Yadavas for military support against king Bahu of Ayodhya. Bahu was defeated and ran off Ayodhya. A generation later, Bahu's son, Sagara regained Ayodhya after totally destroying the Haihaya and Talajangha Kshatriyas in the battle. He was about to annihilate the five assisting hordes, but Sagara's priest Vashishta intervened and persuaded him to save their lives by subjecting them to lighter punishments. Story says that King Sagara consented to the advice of his spiritual guide but punished these foreigners by changing their hair-styles and turning them into degraded Kshatriyas.

These are the first known invaders in the recorded history of the sub-continent. The invaders were eventually assimilated into the local community as Kshatriyas 2.

Alberuni refers to this Puranic story in his classic book Alberuni's India and testifies that the above referred to five hordes belonged to his own people i.e. Central Asia.

Puranic traditions (Bhagavata Purana) say that Budha, the patriarchic figure the Yadu, Turvasa, Druhyu, Anu and Puru clans had come from Central Asia to Bharatkhand to perform penitential rites and he espoused Ella, the daughter of Manu, by whom was born Pururavas. Pururavas had six sons, one of whom is said to be Ayu. This Ayu or Ay is said to be the patriarch figure of the Tartars of Central Asia as well as of the first race of the kings of China.

Whatever may be value of these conjectures, this literary tradition definitely alludes to intimate relations which existed, since antiquity, between the Indian people and the Central Asians.

Puranic cosmography divides our earth into seven concentric islands, viz. Jambudvipa, Plakasadvipa, Salmalidvipa, Kushadvipa, Krounchadvipa, Shakadvipa, and Pushkaradvipa, separated by seven encircling seas. Insular continent Jambudvipa forms the innermost concentric island in the above scheme of continents. Jambudvipa includes nine varsa and nine mountains. Varsa of Illa-vrta lies at the center of Jambudivipa at whose center is located Mount Meru (Plateau of Pamir). The varsa of Uttara Kuru lies to the north of Mount Meru and extending beyond north-wards. The varsa of Illa Vrta includes parts of Central Asia.

The Puranic Bhuvanakosha attests that the boundaries of Bharata varsa extended in the Uttarapatha as far as the Vamkshu or Oxus in Central Asia. The Oxus to be the northmost limit of thegeographical territories once included in the Bharata varsa was a real fact in political history of ancient India. It was the most well-defined geographical feature delimiting the boundaries of Bharata Varsa in the north.

The Puranic Bhuvanakosha attests that Bahlika or Bactria was the northern-most Puranic Janapada of ancient India and was located in Udichya or Uttarapatha division of Indian sub-continent.

The Uttarapatha or northern division of Jambudvipa comprised very vast area of Central Asia, as far as the Urals and the Caspian Sea to the Yenisei and from Turkistan and Tien Shan ranges to as far as the Arctic (Dr S. M. Ali).

Mudra-Rakashasa drama

The Buddhist drama Mudra-rakshas by Visakha Dutta as also the Jaina work Parisishtaparvan refer to Chandragupta's alliance with Himalayan king Parvatka. The Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a composite formidable army made up of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Kiratas, Parasikas and Bahlikas as attested by Mudra-rakashas. With the help of these frontier martial tribes from Central Asia, Chandragupta was able to defeat the Greek successors

of Alexander the Great and the Nanda/Nandin rulers of Magadha so as to found the powerful Maurya empire in northern India.

Raghuvamsha

Poet Kalidasa provides graphic picture of northern mountainous region of India. This is especially so in the case of his works like Meghdoota, Vikramorvashiam and Raghuvamsha. He also brings refreshing reference of the Uttara Kuru.

Raghuvamsha tells of a war expion of king Raghu (Chandragupta Vikramaditya) against the Parasikas (Sassanians), Xiongnu as and the Kambojas located in northern division or Uttarapatha. The encounters with the Xiongnu as and the Kambojas had occurred around river Oxus, right in Central Asia.32

Rajtrangini

Rajatarangini of Kalhana makes king Lalitaditya Mukatapida of Kashmir undertake a war expion against his neighboring countries. He launched onto the region of north (from Kashmir) against the Kambojas, Tusharas, Bhauttas, Daradas, Valukambudhi, Strirajya and Uttarakurus (mythical or not). There is also a reference to the humiliation of the Xiongnu as by Lalitaditva in the Rajataramgini.34The nations named above are all located in Central Asia.

Brahata Katha of Kshmendra

Brahata Katha indicates that king Vikramaditya of Ujjaini (60 c BC) had mobilised his forces against the invading hordes of the Mlechchas from north west. He had ridded the mother earth off the sinfuls by completely destroying the Mlechcha hordes of the Sakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Parasikas etc.

Katha-Saritsagara of Somadeva

The Katha-Saritsagara of Somadeva also refers to the subjugation of numerous kings and the destruction of the Sanghas (republics) of the Mlechchas by king Vikramditiya. Those who survived paid tributes to him or joined him militarily. The reference to the Sanghas of the Mlechchas, undoubtedly alludes to the Sanghas of the Kambojas, Yavavans, Abhiras as well as of the Vahikas etc.

This, again affirms the ongoing inter-action between the Indian-mainland and the people of Central Asia.

Kavyamimamsa of Rajashekhara

The 10th century CE Kavyamimamsa of Pandit Rajashekhara knows about the existence of several Central Asian tribes. He furnishes an exhaustive list of the extant tribes of his times and places the Shakas, Tusharas, Vokanas, Xiongnu as, Kambojas, Vahlika, Vahlava, Tangana, Limpaka, Turukshas etc together, styling them all as the tribes from Uttarapatha or north division. There is also a mention of Tushara-Giri (Tushara mountain) in the Mahabharata, Harshacharita of Bana Bhata and Kavyamimansa of Rajshekhar.

Conclusion of India Literaure about Central Tribes:

This ancient epic evidence shows that there was an intensive political and military intercourse between the Mid Indians and the Central Asians.Mahabharata brackets the Kambojas, Shakas and the Khashas together and styles them as tribes of Udichya or Uttarapatha, which obviously means Central Asia.The Bhishamaparava and Shantiparavas of Mahabharata repeatedly assert that beyond the Uttara (north) are located the Mlechcha Janas (tribes) like the Yavanas, Kambojas, Darunas, Kiratas and other Mlechchas/Barbarians. These above references also obviously point to Central Asian fringe of people located on the north of Bharatavarsa.The Rishikas are said to be same people as the Yuezhis (Dr V. S. Aggarwala, K. D. Sethna). The Kushanas or Kanishkas are also the same people (Dr J. C. Vidyalnkara). Prof Stein says that the Tukharas (Tokharois/Tokarais) were a branch of the Yue-chi or Yuezhi. Thus, the Rishikas (q.v.), Tusharas/Tukharas (Tokharoi/Tokaroi) and the Yuezhis probably were either same or an allied people. Prof Stein says that the Tukharas (Tokharois/Tokarais) were a branch of the Yue-chi or Yuezhi. Thus, the Rishikas (q.v.), Tusharas/Tukharas (Tokharoi/Tokaroi) and the Yuezhis probably were either same or an allied people.

In Balmiki Ramayan , there is no details about Tocharion unlike other Central Asian tribes of the Kambojas, Yavanas, Shakas, Paradas and Mlechchas.In Balmiki Ramayan, King Dasratha was known as Gurtar, i.e. Gurjar . In many research it is proves that Yuezhi is Chineeese nomenclature for Gurjars. Also it is proves that Tocharion and Yuezhi were same . "It is important to note that the Chinese word 'Yue-che" is pronounced as "Gu( r )t-tia" according to Karl-Gren, meaning the "Moon People".

While Tocharians/Rishikas are mentioned in later Indian literatures. Exception is Atharavaveda, but it could be later amendment in original Atharavaveda. However, the Anusasanaparva of Mahabharata also asserts that the clans of the Kambojas, Yavanas, Shakas, Pahlavas were formerly noble Kshatriyas, but in later time had turned into degraded Kshatriyas due to the wrath of the Brahminas.

On behalf of Indian Literature it could be an theory that Tocharian(Yuezhi) were belong to Ancient India during Ramayan Period and They would full/partially moved into North before Mahabharata period, may be due to political reason or for trade.As per Chineese Literatures, Yuezhi were sell Zade in Ancient China. May be , these people gone for another places for trading of Zade and James. From ancient period, Gurjaratra (Gujarat) Region of India was well known for Jems.

Tocharian languages

Wooden plate with inscriptions in the Tocharian language. Kucha,China, 5th-8th century. Tokyo National Museum.

The Tocharians appear to have originally spoken two distinct languages of the Indo-European Tocharian family, an Eastern ("A") form and a Western ("B") form. According to some, only the Eastern ("A") form can be properly called "Tocharian", as the native name for the Western form is referred to asKuchean (see below). Tocharian shares of course commonalities with all other Indo-European languages, which does not help in identifying a next neighbor. However, nearly all lexicostatistical studies put it as next neighbor to Hittite, with which it e.g. shares the absence of palatalization, common among the regional neighbors as Indic and Iranian.

Tocharian A of the eastern regions seems to have declined in use as a popular language or mother tongue faster than did Tocharian B of the west, where it was more insulated from outside linguistic influences.6 It appears that Tocharian A ultimately became a liturgical language, no longer a living one, at the same time that Tocharian B was still widely spoken in daily life. Among the monasteries of the lands inhabited by Tocharian B speakers, Tocharian A seems to have been used in ritual alongside the Tocharian B of daily life.

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