Shule Kingdom 疏勒 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 200 BC–790 AD | |||||||
 Tarim Basin in the 3rd century AD (the territory of Shule is colored purple) | |||||||
| Capital | Kashgar | ||||||
| Common languages | Kanchaki (dialect of the Saka language, one of the Eastern Iranian languages) | ||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||
• ?–73 AD | Cheng | ||||||
• 73 AD – 73 AD | Douti | ||||||
• ?–? | Zhong | ||||||
• ?–? | Chenpan | ||||||
• 168–170 | Hede | ||||||
| History | |||||||
• Founded | c. 200 BC | ||||||
• Shule becomes a tributary of the Eastern Han | 127 AD | ||||||
• Gained independence from Northern Liang | 460 AD | ||||||
• Shule becomes a tributary of the gokturks | c. 400 | ||||||
• Independence from the Gokturks | 630 | ||||||
• Vassalized by Tang dynasty | 632 AD | ||||||
• Conquered by Tibet | 670 AD | ||||||
• Declares vassalage to Tang | 673 | ||||||
• Reconquered by Tang | 692 | ||||||
• Conquered by Tibetans | 790 AD | ||||||
| |||||||
| Today part of | China Kyrgyzstan | ||||||
The Shule Kingdom (Chinese: 疏勒) was an ancient oasis kingdom of the Taklamakan Desert that was on the Northern Silk Road, in the historical Western Regions of what is now Xinjiang in Northwest China. Its capital was Kashgar,[1] the source of Kashgar's water being a river of the same name. Much like the neighboring people of the Kingdom of Khotan, people of Kashgar spoke Saka, one of the Eastern Iranian languages.[2]
Although a vassal of the Chinese Tang dynasty from the 7th century, Shule was conquered by the Tibetan Empire in the late 8th century and was eventually incorporated into the Kara-Khanid Khanate during the Islamicisation and Turkicisation of Xinjiang.
- ^ Millward 2007:23
- ^ Tremblay, Xavier (2007). "The Spread of Buddhism in Serindia: Buddhism Among Iranians, Tocharians and Turks before the 13th Century". In Heirman, Ann; Bumbacker, Stephan Peter (eds.). The Spread of Buddhism. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. p. 77. ISBN 978-90-04-15830-6.