Origin of the Alans

[Alanus]

The Yuezhi Empire and Origin of the Silk Road: Part 2

An identification of the Yuezhi as the Pazyryk culture was first proposed by John Haskins in a talk given in 1955. In 1967, Jettmar likened them to the Massagetae, noted the high honor paid to women in the kurgans, used Tomyris as an illustration, but stopped short of finding a historical society to fit the Pazyryks. Three years later, Sulimirski linked the Pazyryks to the Arimaspi of Herodotus. Not until 1994 would Haskins' original premise find strong advocates.

In that year, History of Central Asian Civilizations, Vol. II was published. The book included a major chapter, The Yue-chih and Their Migrations (p. 165-178), written by a select team-- K. Enoki, G.A. Koshelenko, and Z. Haidary. The book's editor was Janos Harmatta, the premier authority on Saka-Sarmatian cultures. Here are two incredibly interesting paragraphs on the Yuezhi by Enoki et al.

"They ruled the greater part of the Mongolian plain, possibly Dzungaria, the north of the Tien Shan where the Wusun lived, countries in the Tarim Basin, and the upper waters of the Yellow River. Their principle territory may have been Tun-huang [Dunhuang] and K'ang-chu [Kangju] which were the two most important places on the so-called Silk Route, but we should not consider that this region was the only territory held by them."

The position of the Yueh-chih as a predominant power in Central Asia, before being pressed by the Hsiung-nu, is also evident from the statement of Szu-ma Chien. He records that the authority of the Yueh-chih ruler was accepted by the countries of Central Asia. They provided free food to [Yuezhi] envoys moving through their countries, but messengers from China had to pay for their food as well as horses... the migration of the Yueh-chih was not that of a group of people from one place to another, but a withdrawal from the eastern and northern frontiers of the Yueh-chih Empire. [my bold print]"

Finally, I'll bore you to death with one more quote, this time from Enoki et al's. sub-chapter, The Yueh-chih and Pazirik: "The tombs at Pazirik, excavated by Professor S. I. Rudenko, are very well known, and are dated between the fifth and third centuries B.C. The third century B.C. coincides with the date when the Yueh-chih were at the apex of their power, before they were challenged by the Hsiung-nu. The Altai region in fact was part of the Yueh-chih Empire, and the sites at Pazirik should be related to the Yueh-chih."

Most important, if we plot Yuezhi holdings on a map we discover the Altai represents the hub of their dominion. From this location-- today termed the "epicenter of Central Asia"-- we can see how the Yuezhi Empire fanned out to reach multiple civilizations. from Eastern Europe to Persia, down to India, and finally to China.

   
Within the Yuezhi branch of the Saka, we're not only viewing the origin of the Alans, but also one of Asia's great cultures. This map, hanging on the wall of the Hermitage, shows the incredible connections founded by the Yuezhi State. The map actually dates back to Arzhan (800 BC to 650 BC), and shows how the Yuezhi snaffle-bit reached all corners of Asia and Eastern Europe. This multiplex of connectivity binds Europe to beyond the Great Wall. It reveals the amazing links formed by a hitherto unknown yet influential society with the better-known prehistory and history of the ancient world.