02-09-2016, 03:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-10-2016, 09:55 AM by Michael Kerr.)
Hi Alanus,
The Yueh-shih must have been a strong nation or tribal grouping as the Hsiung-nu from the rise of Mao-tun in 209 BC took about 40 years to wear them down. I think before Mao-tun's rise to the leadership of his tribe, after murdering his father, the Yueh-shih were the prominent steppe group, even Mao-tun was held as a hostage to the Yueh-shih before he stole a horse and escaped back home.
Even by the time of Claudius, it seemed that the traders who bartered with the Chera traders of India could have been Yueh-shih. The goods, including a lot of silk of these blue-eyed and red haired central Asians were laid out on the northern bank of the river, possibly the Indus for the Chera traders to inspect. A lot of these goods probably found itself heading for Rome via the Red Sea thereby by-passing the enemy of Rome at the time, Parthia.
The Yueh-shih must have been a strong nation or tribal grouping as the Hsiung-nu from the rise of Mao-tun in 209 BC took about 40 years to wear them down. I think before Mao-tun's rise to the leadership of his tribe, after murdering his father, the Yueh-shih were the prominent steppe group, even Mao-tun was held as a hostage to the Yueh-shih before he stole a horse and escaped back home.
Even after being defeated and splitting into two groups the Ta Yueh-shih still had the strength to defeat both the Wusun and the Saka and even after being expelled from the Ili Valley by the Wusun they were still able to attack the Saka again and destroy the Greek Bactrian kingdom and eventually establish themselves as the Kushan empire. I read where a lot of Yueh-shih remained in the Ili Valley after their defeat as did a lot of Sakas which would have made the Wusun stronger militarily, helping them to disassociate themselves with the Hsiung-nu and sign a treaty with Han China which lasted a while. I suppose we have to assume that their numbers were many.
Even by the time of Claudius, it seemed that the traders who bartered with the Chera traders of India could have been Yueh-shih. The goods, including a lot of silk of these blue-eyed and red haired central Asians were laid out on the northern bank of the river, possibly the Indus for the Chera traders to inspect. A lot of these goods probably found itself heading for Rome via the Red Sea thereby by-passing the enemy of Rome at the time, Parthia.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
