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{{Short description|Ancient semi-nomadic people in Central Asia}} {{Short description|Ancient semi-nomadic people in Central Asia}}
{{hatnote|This article is about the ancient nomadic people. For the mountain range, see ].}}
{{Continental Asia in 200 BCE|right|The Wusun and neighbouring polities circa 200 BCE, before their westward migration|{{location map~ |Continental Asia |lat=45|N |long=100|E |label=|position=|label_size=|mark=Orange dot (semi-transparent).png|marksize=20}}}} {{Continental Asia in 200 BCE|right|The Wusun and neighbouring polities circa 200 BC, before their westward migration|{{location map~ |Continental Asia |lat=45|N |long=100|E |label=|position=|label_size=|mark=Orange dot (semi-transparent).png|marksize=20}}}}
] ]


The '''Wusun''' ({{zh|c=烏孫|p=Wūsūn|w=|s=|t=}}; ] *''ʔɑ-suən'' < ] (140 BCE - 436 CE): *''Ɂâ-sûn''){{sfn|Schuessler|2014|p=264}} were an ancient semi-] ] people mentioned in ] records from the 2nd&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC to the 5th&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD. The '''Wusun''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|uː|s|ʌ|n}} {{respell|WOO-sun}}){{efn|{{IPA|zh|wúswə́n}}; {{zh|t=烏孫|p=Wūsūn|s=乌孙}}; ] *''ʔɑ-suən'' < ] (140 BC{{snd}}436 AD): *''Ɂâ-sûn''){{sfn|Schuessler|2014|p=264}}}} were an ancient semi-] ] people mentioned in ] records from the 2nd&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC to the 5th&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD.


The Wusun originally lived between the ] and ] (]) near the ].<ref>《汉书·西域传》：乌孙国，大昆弥治赤谷城，去长安八千九百里。户十二万，口六十三万，胜兵十八万八千八百人。……故服匈奴，后盛大，取羁属，不肯往朝会。东与匈奴、西北与康居、西与大宛、南与城郭诸国相接。本塞地也，大月氏西破走塞王，塞王南越县度，大月氏居其地。后乌孙昆莫击破大月氏，大月氏徙、西臣大夏，而乌孙昆莫居之，故乌孙民有塞种、大月氏种云。</ref> Around 176&nbsp;BC the ] raided the lands of the ], who subsequently attacked the Wusun, killing their king and seizing their land. The Xiongnu adopted the surviving Wusun prince and made him one of their generals and leader of the Wusun. Around 162&nbsp;BC the Yuezhi were driven into the ] valley in ], ] and ], which had formerly been inhabited by the ]. The Wusun then resettled in ] as vassals of the Xiongnu. In 133–132&nbsp;BC, the Wusun drove the Yuezhi out of the Ili Valley and settled the area. The Wusun originally lived between the ] and ] (]) near the ].<ref>《汉书·西域传》：乌孙国，大昆弥治赤谷城，去长安八千九百里。户十二万，口六十三万，胜兵十八万八千八百人。……故服匈奴，后盛大，取羁属，不肯往朝会。东与匈奴、西北与康居、西与大宛、南与城郭诸国相接。本塞地也，大月氏西破走塞王，塞王南越县度，大月氏居其地。后乌孙昆莫击破大月氏，大月氏徙、西臣大夏，而乌孙昆莫居之，故乌孙民有塞种、大月氏种云。</ref> Around 176&nbsp;BC the ] raided the lands of the ], who subsequently attacked the Wusun, killing their king and seizing their land. The Xiongnu adopted the surviving Wusun prince and made him one of their generals and leader of the Wusun. Around 162&nbsp;BC the Yuezhi were driven into the ] valley in ], ] and ], which had formerly been inhabited by the ]. The Wusun then resettled in ] as vassals of the Xiongnu. In 133–132&nbsp;BC, the Wusun drove the Yuezhi out of the Ili Valley and settled the area.


The Wusun then became close allies of the ] and remained a powerful force in the region for several centuries. The Wusun are last mentioned by the Chinese as having settled in the ] in the 5th&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD due to pressure from the ]. They possibly became subsumed into the later ]. The Wusun then became close allies of the ] and remained a powerful force in the region for several centuries. The Wusun are last mentioned by the Chinese as having settled in the ] in the 5th&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD due to pressure from the ]. They possibly became subsumed into the later ].
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''Wusun'' is a modern pronunciation of the ]s '烏孫'. The Chinese name '烏孫' (Wūsūn) literally means ''wū'' 'crow, raven' + ''sūn'' 'grandson, descendant'.<ref name="Mayor">{{cite book |last=Mayor |first=Adrienne |author-link=Adrienne Mayor |date=September 22, 2014 |title=The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j8kmAQAAMAAJ |publisher=] |page=421 |isbn=978-1400865130 |access-date=February 13, 2015}}</ref> There are several theories about the origin of the name.<ref name="Mingzhe">王明哲, 王炳華 (Mingzhe Wang & Binhua Wang): 從文獻與考古資料論烏孫歷史的幾個重大問題 (Important questions about the history of Wusun arising from the contemporary documents and archaeological investigations). In: 烏孫研究 (Wusun research), 1, 新疆人民出版社 (People's publisher Xinjiang), Ürümqi 1983, S. pp. 1–42.</ref> ''Wusun'' is a modern pronunciation of the ]s '烏孫'. The Chinese name '烏孫' (Wūsūn) literally means ''wū'' 'crow, raven' + ''sūn'' 'grandson, descendant'.<ref name="Mayor">{{cite book |last=Mayor |first=Adrienne |author-link=Adrienne Mayor |date=September 22, 2014 |title=The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j8kmAQAAMAAJ |publisher=] |page=421 |isbn=978-1400865130 |access-date=February 13, 2015}}</ref> There are several theories about the origin of the name.<ref name="Mingzhe">王明哲, 王炳華 (Mingzhe Wang & Binhua Wang): 從文獻與考古資料論烏孫歷史的幾個重大問題 (Important questions about the history of Wusun arising from the contemporary documents and archaeological investigations). In: 烏孫研究 (Wusun research), 1, 新疆人民出版社 (People's publisher Xinjiang), Ürümqi 1983, S. pp. 1–42.</ref>


Canadian Sinologist ] reconstructed the pronunciation of 烏孫' Wūsūn as in ] as ''ou-suən'', from ] ''aĥ-smən'' and linked the Wusun to the Άσμίραιοι ''Asmiraioi'', who inhabited modern ] and ] and were mentioned in ]'s ] (VI.16.3).{{sfn|Pulleyblank|1963a|p=136}}<ref>Lieu, Samuel N.C. (2014) , p. 23</ref> Another theory links them to the ].{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=51}} Canadian Sinologist ] reconstructed the pronunciation of 烏孫' Wūsūn as in ] as ''ou-suən'', from ] ''aĥ-smən'' and linked the Wusun to the Άσμίραιοι ''Asmiraioi'', who inhabited modern ] and ] and were mentioned in ]'s ] (VI.16.3).{{sfn|Pulleyblank|1963a|p=136}}<ref>Lieu, Samuel N.C. (2014) , p. 23</ref> Another theory links them to the ].{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=51}}


Sinologist Victor H. Mair compared ''Wusun'' with ] ''áśva'' 'horse', ''aśvin'' 'mare' and ] ''ašvà'' 'mare'. The name would thus mean 'the horse people'. Hence he put forward the hypothesis that the Wusun used a ]-like language within the ]. However, the latter hypothesis is not supported by ].{{sfn|Pulleyblank|2002|pp=426–427}} ]'s analysis is similar to Mair's, reconstructing the Chinese term Wusun as ] *''âswin'', which he compares to ] ''aśvin'' 'the horsemen', the name of the ] ].<ref name="Beckwith376">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=376–377}}</ref> Sinologist Victor H. Mair compared ''Wusun'' with ] ''áśva'' 'horse', ''aśvin'' 'mare' and ] ''ašvà'' 'mare'. The name would thus mean 'the horse people'. Hence he put forward the hypothesis that the Wusun used a ]-like language within the ]. However, the latter hypothesis is not supported by ].{{sfn|Pulleyblank|2002|pp=426–427}} ]'s analysis is similar to Mair's, reconstructing the Chinese term Wusun as ] *''âswin'', which he compares to ] ''aśvin'' 'the horsemen', the name of the ] ].<ref name="Beckwith376">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=376–377}}</ref>
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] ]


The Wusun were first mentioned by ] sources as living together with the ] between the ] and ] (]).<ref> '''Original text''' 臣居匈奴中，聞烏孫王號昆莫。昆莫父難兜靡本與大月氏俱在祁連、焞煌間，小國也。tr. " minister, while living among the Xiongnu, heard that the Wusun king was called Kunmo; Kunmo's father Nandoumi had originally been dwelling together with the Great Yuezhi in a small state between Qilian and Dunhuang."</ref><ref name="Beckwith84">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=84–85}}</ref><ref name="ChineseHistory"/><ref name="Benjamin_Marshak">{{cite journal |last=Benjamin |first=Craig |author-link=Craig Benjamin |date=October 2003 |title=The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia |url=http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html |journal=Transoxiana Webfestschrift |publisher=Transoxiana |volume=1 |issue=Ēran ud Anērān |access-date=29 May 2015}}</ref> although different locations have been suggested for these toponyms.<ref>], (2001)</ref> The Wusun were first mentioned by ] sources as living together with the ] between the ] and ] (]).<ref> '''Original text''' 臣居匈奴中，聞烏孫王號昆莫。昆莫父難兜靡本與大月氏俱在祁連、焞煌間，小國也。tr. " minister, while living among the Xiongnu, heard that the Wusun king was called Kunmo; Kunmo's father Nandoumi had originally been dwelling together with the Great Yuezhi in a small state between Qilian and Dunhuang."</ref><ref name="Beckwith84">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=84–85}}</ref><ref name="ChineseHistory"/><ref name="Benjamin_Marshak">{{cite journal |last=Benjamin |first=Craig |author-link=Craig Benjamin |date=October 2003 |title=The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia |url=http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html |journal=Transoxiana Webfestschrift |publisher=Transoxiana |volume=1 |issue=Ēran ud Anērān |access-date=29 May 2015}}</ref> although different locations have been suggested for these toponyms.<ref>], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042106/http://www.learner.org/courses/worldhistory/support/reading_11_2.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }} (2001)</ref>


Beckwith suggests that the Wusun were an eastern remnant of the ], who had been suddenly pushed to the extremities of the ] by the ] in the 2nd&nbsp;millennium&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="Beckwith29">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=29–38}}</ref> Beckwith suggests that the Wusun were an eastern remnant of the ], who had been suddenly pushed to the extremities of the ] by the ] in the 2nd&nbsp;millennium&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Beckwith29">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=29–38}}</ref>


Around 210–200&nbsp;BCE, prince ], a former hostage of the Yuezhi and prince of the ], who were also vassals of the Yuezhi,<ref name="Beckwith380">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=380–383}}</ref> became leader of the Xiongnu and conquered the ], subjugating several peoples.<ref name="EKH">{{harvnb|Enoki|Koshelenko|Haidary|1994|pp=171–191}}</ref> Around 176&nbsp;BCE Modu Chanyu launched a fierce raid against the Yuezhi.<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak"/> Around 173&nbsp;BCE, the Yuezhi subsequently attacked the Wusun,<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak"/> at that time a small nation,<ref name="Beckwith6">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=6–7}}</ref> killing their king (Kunmi {{zh|昆彌}} or Kunmo {{zh|昆莫}}) Nandoumi ({{zh|難兜靡}}).<ref name="Beckwith6"/> Around 210–200&nbsp;BC, prince ], a former hostage of the Yuezhi and prince of the ], who were also vassals of the Yuezhi,<ref name="Beckwith380">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=380–383}}</ref> became leader of the Xiongnu and conquered the ], subjugating several peoples.<ref name="EKH">{{harvnb|Enoki|Koshelenko|Haidary|1994|pp=171–191}}</ref> Around 176&nbsp;BC Modu Chanyu launched a fierce raid against the Yuezhi.<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak"/> Around 173&nbsp;BC, the Yuezhi subsequently attacked the Wusun,<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak"/> at that time a small nation,<ref name="Beckwith6">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=6–7}}</ref> killing their king (Kunmi {{zh|昆彌}} or Kunmo {{zh|昆莫}}) Nandoumi ({{zh|難兜靡}}).<ref name="Beckwith6"/>


According to legend Nandoumi's infant son Liejiaomi was left in the wild. He was miraculously saved from hunger being suckled by a she-wolf, and fed meat by ravens.<ref name="FH215">{{harvnb|François|Hulsewé|1979|p=215}}</ref><ref> '''Original text''': 匈奴攻殺其父，而昆莫生棄於野。烏嗛肉蜚其上，狼往乳之。</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|p=6}}</ref><ref name="Watson237">{{harvnb|Watson|1993|pp=237–238}}</ref> The Wusun ancestor myth shares striking similarities with those of the ], the ], the ], the ], the ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|p=2}}</ref> Based on the similarities between the ancestor myth of the Wusun and later ], ] has suggested that the Wusun, ], or both could represent an ] influence, or even the origin of the royal ] ].<ref name="Sinor328">{{harvnb|Sinor|Klyashtorny|1996|pp=328–329}}</ref> According to legend Nandoumi's infant son Liejiaomi was left in the wild. He was miraculously saved from hunger being suckled by a she-wolf, and fed meat by ravens.<ref name="FH215">{{harvnb|François|Hulsewé|1979|p=215}}</ref><ref> '''Original text''': 匈奴攻殺其父，而昆莫生棄於野。烏嗛肉蜚其上，狼往乳之。</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|p=6}}</ref><ref name="Watson237">{{harvnb|Watson|1993|pp=237–238}}</ref> The Wusun ancestor myth shares striking similarities with those of the ], the ], the ], the ], the ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|p=2}}</ref> Based on the similarities between the ancestor myth of the Wusun and later ], ] has suggested that the Wusun, ], or both could represent an ] influence, or even the origin of the royal ] ].<ref name="Sinor328">{{harvnb|Sinor|Klyashtorny|1996|pp=328–329}}</ref>


In 162&nbsp;BCE, the Yuezhi were finally defeated by the Xiongnu, after which they fled ].<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak" /> According to ], the Yuezhi were defeated by the rising Xiongnu empire and fled westward, driving away the ] (Scythians) from the ] in the ] and ] area.<ref> '''Original text''' 時，月氏已為匈奴所破，西擊塞王。</ref> The Sai would subsequently migrate into ], where they founded various ] kingdoms.<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak" /> After the Yuezhi retreat the Wusun subsequently settled the modern province of Gansu, in the valley of the ''Wushui-he'' (lit. "Raven Water-River"), as vassals of the Xiongnu.<ref name="Beckwith6" /> It is not clear whether the river was named after the tribe or vice versa. In 162&nbsp;BC, the Yuezhi were finally defeated by the Xiongnu, after which they fled ].<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak" /> According to ], the Yuezhi were defeated by the rising Xiongnu empire and fled westward, driving away the ] (Scythians) from the ] in the ] and ] area.<ref> '''Original text''' 時，月氏已為匈奴所破，西擊塞王。</ref> The Sai would subsequently migrate into ], where they founded various ] kingdoms.<ref name="Benjamin_Marshak" /> After the Yuezhi retreat the Wusun subsequently settled the modern province of Gansu, in the valley of the ''Wushui-he'' (lit. "Raven-Water River"), as vassals of the Xiongnu.<ref name="Beckwith6" /> It is not clear whether the river was named after the tribe or vice versa.


===Migration to the Ili Valley=== ===Migration to the Ili Valley===
The Xiongnu ruler was impressed with ], considering him a supernatural being, and adopted the child.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> When the child grew up the Chanyu made him leader of the Wusun and a Xiongnu general.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> He won many victories for the Xiongnu and the Wusun became powerful.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> Liejiaomi constantly requested the Xiongnu ruler for permission to avenge his father, and around 133–132&nbsp;BCE, he successfully attacked the Yuezhi in the Ili Valley.<ref name="Beckwith84"/><ref name="Benjamin_Marshak"/><ref name="Beckwith6"/> The Yuezhi then migrated to ] and then ], where they became unified under ] and expanded into South Asia, founding the ], which at its peak under ] stretched from ] in the ] to ] on the ] and played an important role in the development of the ] and the ] to China.<ref name="Beckwith84"/> The Xiongnu ruler was impressed with ], considering him a supernatural being, and adopted the child.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> When the child grew up the Chanyu made him leader of the Wusun and a Xiongnu general.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> He won many victories for the Xiongnu and the Wusun became powerful.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> Liejiaomi constantly requested the Xiongnu ruler for permission to avenge his father, and around 133–132&nbsp;BC, he successfully attacked the Yuezhi in the Ili Valley.<ref name="Beckwith84"/><ref name="Benjamin_Marshak"/><ref name="Beckwith6"/> The Yuezhi then migrated to ] and then ], where they became unified under ] and expanded into South Asia, founding the ], which at its peak under ] stretched from ] in the ] to ] on the ] and played an important role in the development of the ] and the ] to China.<ref name="Beckwith84"/>


The Wusun subsequently took over the Ili Valley, expanding over a large area and trying to keep away from the Xiongnu. According to ], Wusun was a state located west of the Xiongnu.<ref> '''Original text''': 匈奴西邊小國也</ref> When the Xiongnu ruler died, Liejiaomi refused to serve the Xiongnu.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> The Xiongnu then sent a force against the Wusun but were defeated, after which the Xiongnu even more than before considered Liejiaomi a supernatural being, avoiding conflict with him.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> The Wusun subsequently took over the Ili Valley, expanding over a large area and trying to keep away from the Xiongnu. According to ], Wusun was a state located west of the Xiongnu.<ref> '''Original text''': 匈奴西邊小國也</ref> When the Xiongnu ruler died, Liejiaomi refused to serve the Xiongnu.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> The Xiongnu then sent a force against the Wusun but were defeated, after which the Xiongnu even more than before considered Liejiaomi a supernatural being, avoiding conflict with him.<ref name="Beckwith6"/>


===Establishing relations with the Han=== ===Establishing relations with the Han===
] ]
After settling in the Ili Valley the Wusun became so strong that the Han was compelled to win their friendship in alliance.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy">{{harvnb|Zadneprovskiy|1994|pp=458–462}}</ref> Chinese sources name the Scythian ''Sai'' (Saka), and the ''Yuezhi'' who are often identified as ], among the people of the Wusun state in the Zhetysu and Dzungaria area.<ref name="FH145">{{harvnb|François|Hulsewé|1979|p=145}}</ref> The Wusun realm probably included both Yuezhi and Saka.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> It is clear that the majority of the population consisted of linguistically Iranian Saka tribes.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> After settling in the Ili Valley the Wusun became so strong that the Han was compelled to win their friendship in alliance.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy">{{harvnb|Zadneprovskiy|1994|pp=458–462}}</ref> Chinese sources name the Scythian ''Sai'' (Saka), and the ''Yuezhi'' who are often identified as ], among the people of the Wusun state in the Zhetysu and Dzungaria area.<ref name="FH145">{{harvnb|François|Hulsewé|1979|p=145}}</ref> The Wusun realm probably included both Yuezhi and Saka.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> It is clear that the majority of the population consisted of linguistically Iranian Saka tribes.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/>


In 125&nbsp;BCE, under the ] ] (156–87&nbsp;BCE), the Chinese traveller and diplomat ] was sent to establish an alliance with the Wusun Against the Xiongnu.{{sfn|Yap|2019|p=164}}<ref name="ChineseHistory">{{cite web |title=Chinese History – Wusun 烏孫 |url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/wusun.html |website=] |access-date=1 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="EB_Zhang_Qian">{{cite web |title=Zhang Qian |website=] |publisher=] |url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/105520/Zhang-Qian |access-date=29 May 2015 }}</ref> Qian estimated the Wusun to number 630,000, with 120,000 families and 188,000 men capable of bearing arms.<ref>Hanshu, ch.61 & 96.{{full citation needed|date=April 2022}}</ref> ] described them as occupying land that previously belonged to the Saka (Sai).<ref> 西域傳 '''Original text:''' 本塞地也，大月氏西破走塞王，塞王南越縣度。大月氏居其地。後烏孫昆莫擊破大月氏，大月氏徙西臣大夏，而烏孫昆莫居之，故烏孫民有塞種、大月氏種雲。</ref><ref>{{harvnb|So|2009|p=133}}</ref> To their north-west the Wusun bordered ], located in modern Kazakhstan. To the west was ] (]), and to the south were various city states.<ref>《漢書·卷九十六下》 '''Original text:''' 東與匈奴、西北與康居、西與大宛、南與城郭諸國相接。</ref> The Royal Court of the Wusun, the walled city of Chigu ({{zh|c=赤谷|p=chìgǔ|l=Red Valley}}), was located in a side valley leading to Issyk Kul.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref>Hill (2009), "Appendix I: Chigu 赤谷 (Royal Court of the Wusun Kunmo)," pp. 527–531.{{full citation needed|date=April 2022}}</ref> Lying on one of the branches of the ] Chigu was an important trading centre, but its exact location has not been established.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> In 125&nbsp;BC, under the ] ] (156–87&nbsp;BC), the Chinese traveller and diplomat ] was sent to establish an alliance with the Wusun Against the Xiongnu.{{sfn|Yap|2019|p=164}}<ref name="ChineseHistory">{{cite web |title=Chinese History – Wusun 烏孫 |url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/wusun.html |website=] |access-date=1 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="EB_Zhang_Qian">{{cite web |title=Zhang Qian |website=] |publisher=] |url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/105520/Zhang-Qian |access-date=29 May 2015 }}</ref> Qian estimated the Wusun to number 630,000, with 120,000 families and 188,000 men capable of bearing arms.<ref>Hanshu, ch.61 & 96.{{full citation needed|date=April 2022}}</ref> ] described them as occupying land that previously belonged to the Saka (Sai).<ref> 西域傳 '''Original text:''' 本塞地也，大月氏西破走塞王，塞王南越縣度。大月氏居其地。後烏孫昆莫擊破大月氏，大月氏徙西臣大夏，而烏孫昆莫居之，故烏孫民有塞種、大月氏種雲。</ref><ref>{{harvnb|So|2009|p=133}}</ref> To their north-west the Wusun bordered ], located in modern Kazakhstan. To the west was ] (]), and to the south were various city states.<ref>《漢書·卷九十六下》 '''Original text:''' 東與匈奴、西北與康居、西與大宛、南與城郭諸國相接。</ref> The Royal Court of the Wusun, the walled city of Chigu ({{zh|c=赤谷|p=chìgǔ|l=Red Valley}}), was located in a side valley leading to Issyk Kul.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref>Hill (2009), "Appendix I: Chigu 赤谷 (Royal Court of the Wusun Kunmo)," pp. 527–531.{{full citation needed|date=April 2022}}</ref> Lying on one of the branches of the ] Chigu was an important trading centre, but its exact location has not been established.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/>


According to ] in the '']'': According to ] in the '']'':
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{{Quote|Wusun as a nation, has its great Kunmi presiding at Chigu City which is 8900 '']'' away from ] (...) It land is bare and flat, rainy and chilly. Its hills are covered with pines. Its people do not plow of plant but follow their flocks to where water and grass are found. Its customs are similar to those of the Xiongnu. The nation has plenty of horses... and its people violent, greedy and not trustworthy. There are abundant bandits and thieves. Its territories originally belonged to the ], the latter king went south to Bolor (]) whereby the ] took over and settled on the land. (...) Later, when the Yuezhi moved west to subjugate ], the Wusun Kunmo replaced them and lived there. For that reason, the Wusun population is admixed with Sakas and Yuezhi peoples.|Sima Qian, ''Shiji''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Findeisen |first1=Raoul David |title=At Home in Many Worlds: Reading, Writing and Translating from Chinese and Jewish Cultures : Essays in Honour of Irene Eber |date=2009 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-06135-3 |page=133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Esz2vwNkzNMC&pg=PA133 |language=en}}</ref>}} {{Quote|Wusun as a nation, has its great Kunmi presiding at Chigu City which is 8900 '']'' away from ] (...) It land is bare and flat, rainy and chilly. Its hills are covered with pines. Its people do not plow of plant but follow their flocks to where water and grass are found. Its customs are similar to those of the Xiongnu. The nation has plenty of horses... and its people violent, greedy and not trustworthy. There are abundant bandits and thieves. Its territories originally belonged to the ], the latter king went south to Bolor (]) whereby the ] took over and settled on the land. (...) Later, when the Yuezhi moved west to subjugate ], the Wusun Kunmo replaced them and lived there. For that reason, the Wusun population is admixed with Sakas and Yuezhi peoples.|Sima Qian, ''Shiji''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Findeisen |first1=Raoul David |title=At Home in Many Worlds: Reading, Writing and Translating from Chinese and Jewish Cultures : Essays in Honour of Irene Eber |date=2009 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-06135-3 |page=133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Esz2vwNkzNMC&pg=PA133 |language=en}}</ref>}}


The Wusun approved of a possible alliance, and Zhang Qian was sent as ambassador in 115&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> According to the agreement the Wusun would jointly attack the Xiongnu with the Han, while they were offered a Han princess in marriage and the return of their original Gansu homeland (]).<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> Due to fear of the Xiongnu, the Wusun however had second thoughts and suggested sending a delegation to the Han rather than moving their capital further west.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref name="ChineseHistory"/> The Wusun approved of a possible alliance, and Zhang Qian was sent as ambassador in 115&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> According to the agreement the Wusun would jointly attack the Xiongnu with the Han, while they were offered a Han princess in marriage and the return of their original Gansu homeland (]).<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> Due to fear of the Xiongnu, the Wusun however had second thoughts and suggested sending a delegation to the Han rather than moving their capital further west.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref name="ChineseHistory"/>


===As Han allies=== ===As Han allies===
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{{Blockquote|My family sent me off to be married on the other side of heaven. They sent me a long way to a strange land, to the king of Wusun. A domed lodging is my dwelling place with walls of felt. Meat is my food, with fermented milk as the sauce. I live with constant thoughts of my home, my heart is full of sorrow. I wish I were a golden swan, returning to my home country.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/><ref name="Wood57">{{harvnb|Wood|2004|p=57}}</ref>}} {{Blockquote|My family sent me off to be married on the other side of heaven. They sent me a long way to a strange land, to the king of Wusun. A domed lodging is my dwelling place with walls of felt. Meat is my food, with fermented milk as the sauce. I live with constant thoughts of my home, my heart is full of sorrow. I wish I were a golden swan, returning to my home country.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/><ref name="Wood57">{{harvnb|Wood|2004|p=57}}</ref>}}


Xijun bore the Wusun a daughter but died soon afterward, at which point the Han court sent ] ({{zh|解憂公主}}) to succeed her.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> After the death of Cenzou, Jieyou married Wengguimi ({{zh|翁歸靡}}), Cenzou's cousin and successor. Jieyou lived for fifty years among the Wusun and bore five children, including the oldest Yuanguimi ({{zh|元貴靡}}), whose half-brother Wujiutu ({{zh|烏就屠}}) was born to a Xiongnu mother.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> She sent numerous letters to the Han requesting assistance against the Xiongnu.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> Xijun bore the Wusun a daughter but died soon afterward, at which point the Han court sent ] ({{zh|解憂公主}}) to succeed her.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> After the death of Cenzou, Jieyou married Wengguimi ({{zh|翁歸靡}}), Cenzou's cousin and successor. Jieyou lived for fifty years among the Wusun and bore five children, including the oldest Yuanguimi ({{zh|元貴靡}}), whose half-brother Wujiutu ({{zh|烏就屠}}) was born to a Xiongnu mother.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> She sent numerous letters to the Han requesting assistance against the Xiongnu.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/>


Around 80&nbsp;BCE, the Wusun were attacked by the Xiongnu, who inflicted a devastating defeat upon them.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref name="ChineseHistory"/> In 72&nbsp;BCE, Kunmi, chief of the Wusun requested assistance from the Han against the Xiongnu.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref name="ChineseHistory"/> The Han sent an army of 160,000&nbsp;men, inflicting a crushing defeat upon the Xiongnu, capturing much booty and many slaves.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> In the campaign the Han captured the ] ] of ] (] region), a previous ally of the Xiongnu, giving them direct contact with the Wusun.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> Afterwards the Wusun allied with the ] and ] to counter Xiongnu attacks.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> After their crushing victory against the Xiongnu the Wusun increased in strength, achieving significant influence over the city-states of the Tarim Basin.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> The son of the Kunmi became the ruler of ], while his daughter became the wife of the lord of ].<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> They came to play a role as a third force between the Han and the Xiongnu.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> Around 80&nbsp;BC, the Wusun were attacked by the Xiongnu, who inflicted a devastating defeat upon them.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref name="ChineseHistory"/> In 72&nbsp;BC, Kunmi, chief of the Wusun requested assistance from the Han against the Xiongnu.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref name="ChineseHistory"/> The Han sent an army of 160,000&nbsp;men, inflicting a crushing defeat upon the Xiongnu, capturing much booty and many slaves.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> In the campaign the Han captured the ] ] of ] (] region), a previous ally of the Xiongnu, giving them direct contact with the Wusun.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> Afterwards the Wusun allied with the ] and ] to counter Xiongnu attacks.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> After their crushing victory against the Xiongnu the Wusun increased in strength, achieving significant influence over the city-states of the Tarim Basin.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> The son of the Kunmi became the ruler of ], while his daughter became the wife of the lord of ].<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> They came to play a role as a third force between the Han and the Xiongnu.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/>


Around 64&nbsp;BCE, according to ], Chinese agents were involved in a plot with a Wusun kunmi known as Wengguimi ("Fat King"), to kill a Wusun kunmi known to the Chinese as Nimi ("Mad King"). A Chinese deputy envoy called Chi Tu who brought a doctor to attend to Nimi was punished by castration by the Han dynasty when he returned to China for treating the mad king's illness instead of killing him which the Han court ordered them to do.<ref name="Wood59">{{harvnb|Wood|2004|p=59}}</ref><ref name="FH155">{{harvnb|François|Hulsewé|1979|p=155}}</ref> Around 64&nbsp;BC, according to ], Chinese agents were involved in a plot with a Wusun kunmi known as Wengguimi ("Fat King"), to kill a Wusun kunmi known to the Chinese as Nimi ("Mad King"). A Chinese deputy envoy called Chi Tu who brought a doctor to attend to Nimi was punished by castration by the Han dynasty when he returned to China for treating the mad king's illness instead of killing him which the Han court ordered them to do.<ref name="Wood59">{{harvnb|Wood|2004|p=59}}</ref><ref name="FH155">{{harvnb|François|Hulsewé|1979|p=155}}</ref>


In 64&nbsp;BCE another Han princess was sent to Kunmi Wengguimi, but he died before her arrival. Han emperor ] then permitted the princess to return, since Jieyou had married the new Kunmi, Nimi ({{zh|尼靡}}), the son of Cenzou. Jieyou bore Nimi the son Chimi ({{zh|鴟靡}}). Prince Wujiutu later killed Nimi, his half-brother. Fearing the wrath of the Han, Wujiutu adopted the title of Lesser Kunmi, while Yuanguimi was given the title Greater Kunmi. The Han accepted this system and bestowed both of them with the ]. After both Yuanguimi and Chimi were dead, Jieyou asked Emperor Xuan for permission to return to China. She died in 49&nbsp;BCE. Over the next decades the institution of Greater and Lesser Kunmi continued, with the Lesser Kunmi being married to a Xiongnu princess and the Greater Kunmi married to a Han princess.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> In 64&nbsp;BC another Han princess was sent to Kunmi Wengguimi, but he died before her arrival. Han emperor ] then permitted the princess to return, since Jieyou had married the new Kunmi, Nimi ({{zh|尼靡}}), the son of Cenzou. Jieyou bore Nimi the son Chimi ({{zh|鴟靡}}). Prince Wujiutu later killed Nimi, his half-brother. Fearing the wrath of the Han, Wujiutu adopted the title of Lesser Kunmi, while Yuanguimi was given the title Greater Kunmi. The Han accepted this system and bestowed both of them with the ]. After both Yuanguimi and Chimi were dead, Jieyou asked Emperor Xuan for permission to return to China. She died in 49&nbsp;BC. Over the next decades the institution of Greater and Lesser Kunmi continued, with the Lesser Kunmi being married to a Xiongnu princess and the Greater Kunmi married to a Han princess.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/>


In 5&nbsp;BCE, during the reign of ] (8&nbsp;BCE – CE&nbsp;13), the Wusun attempted to raid ] pastures, but Wuzhuliu repulsed them, and the Wusun commander had to send his son to the Yueban court as a hostage. The forceful intervention of the Chinese usurper ] and internal strife brought disorder, and in 2&nbsp;BCE one of the Wusun chieftains brought 80,000&nbsp;Wusun to Kangju, asking for help against the Chinese. In a vain attempt to reconcile with China, he was duped and killed in 3&nbsp;CE.<ref name="kulichki1">{{cite book |author=Gumilev L.N. |title=History of Hun People |location=Moscow |series=Science |chapter=12 |chapter-url=http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/HPH/hph12.htm |language=ru}}</ref><ref name="Taishan45">{{harvnb|Taishan|2004|p=45}}</ref> In 5&nbsp;BC, during the reign of ] (8&nbsp;BC{{snd}}AD&nbsp;13), the Wusun attempted to raid ] pastures, but Wuzhuliu repulsed them, and the Wusun commander had to send his son to the Yueban court as a hostage. The forceful intervention of the Chinese usurper ] and internal strife brought disorder, and in 2&nbsp;BC one of the Wusun chieftains brought 80,000&nbsp;Wusun to Kangju, asking for help against the Chinese. In a vain attempt to reconcile with China, he was duped and killed in 3&nbsp;AD.<ref name="kulichki1">{{cite book |author=Gumilev L.N. |title=History of Hun People |location=Moscow |series=Science |chapter=12 |chapter-url=http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/HPH/hph12.htm |language=ru}}</ref><ref name="Taishan45">{{harvnb|Taishan|2004|p=45}}</ref>


In 2&nbsp;CE, ] issued a list of four regulations to the allied Xiongnu that the taking of any hostages from Chinese vassals, i.e. Wusun, ] and the statelets of the ], would not be tolerated.<ref name="FH192">{{harvnb|François|Hulsewé|1979|p=192}}</ref> In 2&nbsp;AD, ] issued a list of four regulations to the allied Xiongnu that the taking of any hostages from Chinese vassals, i.e. Wusun, ] and the statelets of the ], would not be tolerated.<ref name="FH192">{{harvnb|François|Hulsewé|1979|p=192}}</ref>


In 74&nbsp;CE the Wusun are recorded as having sent tribute to the Han military commanders in Cheshi.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> In 80&nbsp;CE ] requested assistance from the Wusun against the city-state Quchi (Kucha) in the Tarim Basin.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> The Wusun were subsequently rewarded with silks, while diplomatic exchanges were resumed.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> During the 2nd&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE the Wusun continued their decline in political importance.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> In 74&nbsp;AD the Wusun are recorded as having sent tribute to the Han military commanders in Cheshi.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> In 80&nbsp;AD ] requested assistance from the Wusun against the city-state Quchi (Kucha) in the Tarim Basin.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> The Wusun were subsequently rewarded with silks, while diplomatic exchanges were resumed.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> During the 2nd&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD the Wusun continued their decline in political importance.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/>


===Later history=== ===Later history===
{{Self-contradictory|section|date=November 2024}}
In the 5th&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE the Wusun were pressured by the ] and may have migrated to the ].<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref name="ChineseHistory"/><ref>], ch.&nbsp;102</ref> They are last mentioned in Chinese historical sources in 436&nbsp;CE, when a Chinese envoy was sent to their country and the Wusun reciprocated.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> It is possible that they became subsumed into the later ].<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> After this event the Wusun seem to disappear from Chinese records: Wusun were last mentioned in 938 CE alongsides ] and Mohe, as ]s to the ].<ref>], vol. 4 "庚子，吐谷渾、烏孫、靺鞨皆來貢。"</ref> In the 5th&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD the Wusun were pressured by the ] and may have migrated to the ].<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref name="ChineseHistory"/><ref>], ch.&nbsp;102</ref> They are last mentioned in Chinese historical sources in 436&nbsp;AD, when a Chinese envoy was sent to their country and the Wusun reciprocated.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> It is possible that they became subsumed into the later ].<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> After this event the Wusun seem to disappear from Chinese records: Wusun were last mentioned in 938 AD alongsides ] and Mohe, as ]s to the ].<ref>], vol. 4 "庚子，吐谷渾、烏孫、靺鞨皆來貢。"</ref>


==Physical appearance== ==Physical appearance==
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{{Blockquote|Among the barbarians (戎; ]) in the Western Regions, the look of the Wusun is the most unusual. The present barbarians (胡人; ''húrén'') who have green eyes and red hair, and look like macaque monkeys, are the offspring of this people.<ref name="Maenchen-Helfen"/><ref name="yanshigu">'']'', '''Original text''':　烏孫於西域諸戎其形最異。今之胡人青眼、赤須，狀類彌猴者，本其種也。</ref><ref name="So134">{{harvnb|So|2009|p=134}}</ref>}} {{Blockquote|Among the barbarians (戎; ]) in the Western Regions, the look of the Wusun is the most unusual. The present barbarians (胡人; ''húrén'') who have green eyes and red hair, and look like macaque monkeys, are the offspring of this people.<ref name="Maenchen-Helfen"/><ref name="yanshigu">'']'', '''Original text''':　烏孫於西域諸戎其形最異。今之胡人青眼、赤須，狀類彌猴者，本其種也。</ref><ref name="So134">{{harvnb|So|2009|p=134}}</ref>}}


Initially, when only a few number of skulls from Wusun territory were known, the Wusun were recognized as a ] people with slight ] admixture.<ref name="Maenchen-Helfen"/> Later, in a more thorough study by ] archaeologists of eighty-seven skulls of ], the six skulls of the Wusun period were determined to be purely Caucasoid or close to it.<ref name="Maenchen-Helfen"/><ref name="MalloryMair93">{{harvnb|Mallory|Mair|2000|pp=93–94}}</ref> Initially, when only a few number of skulls from Wusun territory were known, the Wusun were recognized as a ] people with slight ] admixture.<ref name="Maenchen-Helfen"/> Later, in a more thorough study by ] archaeologists of eighty-seven skulls of ], the six skulls of the Wusun period were determined to be purely Caucasoid or close to it.<ref name="Maenchen-Helfen"/><ref name="MalloryMair93">{{harvnb|Mallory|Mair|2000|pp=93–94}}</ref>


==Language== ==Language==
{{Infobox language
⚫ The Wusun are generally believed to be an ] people<ref>{{cite journal|last= Yu|first= Taishan|title= A Study of Saka History|journal= Sino-Platonic Papers|issue= 80|date= July 1998|url= http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp080_saka_sai.pdf|quote= The four tribes of the Asii and others, including the Da Yuezhi and the Wusun, were all Europoid and spoke Indo-European languages.}}</ref> and speak a language belonging to the ].<ref name="Sinor153">{{harvnb|Sinor|1990|p=153}}</ref><ref name="Mair2013">{{harvnb|Mair|2013|p=}}</ref><ref name="Baumer212">{{harvnb|Baumer|2012|p=212}}</ref><ref name="So131">{{harvnb|So|2009|p=131}}</ref> They are thought to be ]-speaking by the archaeologist ],<ref name="Kusmina">{{harvnb|Kusmina|2007|pp=78, 83}}</ref> ] ],<ref name="Harmatta">{{harvnb|Harmatta|1994|pp=488–489}}</ref> ],<ref name="Kitagawa">{{harvnb|Kitagawa|2013|p=228}}</ref> David Durand-Guédy,<ref name="Durand-Guédy">{{harvnb|Durand-Guédy|2013|pp=24–25}}</ref> ] ]<ref name="Golden2011">{{harvnb|Golden|2011|p=29}}</ref><ref name="Golden2010">{{harvnb|Golden|2010|p=}}</ref> and ] scholar Denis Sinor.<ref name="Sinor328"/><ref name="Sinor236">{{harvnb|Sinor|1997|p=236}}</ref> ] (581 – 645 CE) described the Wusun's descendants with the exonym {{zh|c=胡人|labels=no}} ''Húrén'' "foreigners, barbarians",<ref name="yanshigu"/> which had been used since the 6th century to denote ], especially ], in ], besides other non-Chinese peoples.{{sfn|Atwood|2015|p=62 }} Archaeological evidence also supports the idea that Wusuns were Iranian speakers.{{sfn|Damgaard et al.|2018}}
| name = Wusun
| familycolor = indo-european
| fam2 = ]?<br>]?
| fam3 = ]?<br>]?
| extinct = after 5th century
| ethnicity = Wusun
| region = ] (latest)
| glottoname =
| iso3 = none
| glotto = none
}}
⚫ The Wusun are generally believed to be an ] people<ref>{{cite journal|last= Yu|first= Taishan|title= A Study of Saka History|journal= Sino-Platonic Papers|issue= 80|date= July 1998|url= http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp080_saka_sai.pdf|quote= The four tribes of the Asii and others, including the Da Yuezhi and the Wusun, were all Europoid and spoke Indo-European languages.}}</ref> and speak a language belonging to the ].<ref name="Sinor153">{{harvnb|Sinor|1990|p=153}}</ref><ref name="Mair2013">{{harvnb|Mair|2013|p=}}</ref><ref name="Baumer212">{{harvnb|Baumer|2012|p=212}}</ref><ref name="So131">{{harvnb|So|2009|p=131}}</ref> They are thought to be ]-speaking by the archaeologist ],<ref name="Kusmina">{{harvnb|Kusmina|2007|pp=78, 83}}</ref> ] ],<ref name="Harmatta">{{harvnb|Harmatta|1994|pp=488–489}}</ref> ],<ref name="Kitagawa">{{harvnb|Kitagawa|2013|p=228}}</ref> David Durand-Guédy,<ref name="Durand-Guédy">{{harvnb|Durand-Guédy|2013|pp=24–25}}</ref> ] ]<ref name="Golden2011">{{harvnb|Golden|2011|p=29}}</ref><ref name="Golden2010">{{harvnb|Golden|2010|p=}}</ref> and ] scholar Denis Sinor.<ref name="Sinor328"/><ref name="Sinor236">{{harvnb|Sinor|1997|p=236}}</ref> ] (581–645) described the Wusun's descendants with the exonym {{zh|c=胡人|labels=no}} ''Húrén'' "foreigners, barbarians",<ref name="yanshigu"/> which had been used since the 6th century to denote ], especially ], in ], besides other non-Chinese peoples.{{sfn|Atwood|2015|p=62 }} Archaeological evidence also supports the idea that Wusuns were Iranian speakers.{{sfn|Damgaard et al.|2018}}


] has suggested that the Wusun, along with the Yuezhi, the Dayuan, the Kangju and the people of ], could have been ]-speaking.{{sfn|Pulleyblank|1963b|p=227}}{{sfn|Pulleyblank|1966|pp=9–39}}<ref name="CHAC">{{harvnb|Loewe|Shaughnessy|1999|pp=87–88}}</ref><ref name="Benjamin52">{{harvnb|Benjamin|2007|p=52}}</ref> ] and ] also suggest that the Wusun were Tocharian-speaking.<ref name="Masica">{{harvnb|Masica|1993|p=48}}</ref><ref name="Kneightley">{{harvnb|Kneightley|1983|pp=457–460}}</ref> Sinor finds it difficult to include the Wusun within the Tocharian category of Indo-European until further research.<ref name="Sinor153"/> ] has suggested that the Wusun contained both Tocharian and Iranian elements.<ref name="Golden2010"/><ref name="Mallory1989">{{harvnb|Mallory|1989|pp=59–60}}</ref> Central Asian scholar ] suggests that the Wusun were ]-speaking.<ref name="Beckwith376"/> The first syllable of the Wusun royal title Kunmi was probably the royal title while the second syllable referred to the royal family name.<ref name="Beckwith376"/><ref name="Jixu">{{cite journal |last=Jixu |first=Zhou |date=July 2003 |editor-last1=Mair |editor-first1=Victor H. |editor-link1=Victor H. Mair |title=Correspondences of Cultural Words Between Old Chinese and Proto-Indo-European |url=http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp125_chinese_proto_indo_european.pdf |journal=] |publisher=Department of ], ] |volume=125 |access-date=26 May 2015}}</ref> Beckwith specifically suggests an Indo-Aryan etymology of the title Kunmi.<ref name="Beckwith376"/> ] has suggested that the Wusun, along with the Yuezhi, the Dayuan, the Kangju and the people of ], could have been ]-speaking.{{sfn|Pulleyblank|1963b|p=227}}{{sfn|Pulleyblank|1966|pp=9–39}}<ref name="CHAC">{{harvnb|Loewe|Shaughnessy|1999|pp=87–88}}</ref><ref name="Benjamin52">{{harvnb|Benjamin|2007|p=52}}</ref> ] and ] also suggest that the Wusun were Tocharian-speaking.<ref name="Masica">{{harvnb|Masica|1993|p=48}}</ref><ref name="Kneightley">{{harvnb|Kneightley|1983|pp=457–460}}</ref> Sinor finds it difficult to include the Wusun within the Tocharian category of Indo-European until further research.<ref name="Sinor153"/> ] has suggested that the Wusun contained both Tocharian and Iranian elements.<ref name="Golden2010"/><ref name="Mallory1989">{{harvnb|Mallory|1989|pp=59–60}}</ref> Central Asian scholar ] suggests that the Wusun were ]-speaking.<ref name="Beckwith376"/> The first syllable of the Wusun royal title Kunmi was probably the royal title while the second syllable referred to the royal family name.<ref name="Beckwith376"/><ref name="Jixu">{{cite journal |last=Jixu |first=Zhou |date=July 2003 |editor-last1=Mair |editor-first1=Victor H. |editor-link1=Victor H. Mair |title=Correspondences of Cultural Words Between Old Chinese and Proto-Indo-European |url=http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp125_chinese_proto_indo_european.pdf |journal=] |publisher=Department of ], ] |volume=125 |access-date=26 May 2015}}</ref> Beckwith specifically suggests an Indo-Aryan etymology of the title Kunmi.<ref name="Beckwith376"/>


In the past, some scholars suggested that the Wusun spoke a ] language. Chinese scholar Han Rulin, as well as ], A. Scherbak, P. Budberg, L. Bazin and V.P. Yudin, noted that the Wusun king's name ''Fu-li'' 拊離 (] (20 BCE) {{lang|och|*phoʔ-rai}} > ] {{lang|mis|*pʰuoᴮ-liai ~ *pʰuoᴮ-lie}}{{sfn|Schuessler|2014|p=283}}), as reported in Chinese sources and translated as 'wolf', resembles Proto-Turkic *''bȫrü'' 'wolf'. This suggestion however is rejected by Classical Chinese Literature expert Francis K. H. So, Professor at ].<ref name="So133">{{harvnb|So|2009|pp=133–134}}</ref> Other words listed by these scholars include the title ''bag'', ''beg'' 'lord'.<ref>Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 35</ref> This theory has been criticized by modern Turkologists, including Peter B. Golden and ], who explain that none of the mentioned words are actually Turkic in origin.<ref name="Golden1992">{{harvnb|Golden|1992|pp=121–122}}</ref><ref name="Findley39" /><ref name="Findley45" /> Findley notes that the term ''böri'' is probably derived from one of the Iranian languages of Central Asia (cf. ] ''birgga-'').<ref name="Findley39">{{harvnb|Findley|2005|p=39}} "The term ''fu-li'' , used to identify the ruler's retinue as 'wolves,' probably also derived from one of the Iranian languages."</ref> Meanwhile, Findley considers the title '']'' as certainly derived from the ] ''baga'' 'lord',<ref name="Findley45">{{harvnb|Findley|2005|p=45}} "Many elements of non-Turkic origin also became part of Türk statecraft. Important terms, for example, often came from non-Turkic languages, as in the cases of ''khatun'' for the ruler's wife and ''beg'' for 'aristocrat', both terms of Sogdian origin and ever since in common use in Turkish."</ref> a cognate of ] ''baγ'' (as used by the rulers of the ]), as well as ] '']'' and ] ''bog''. According to ]: "The origin of beg is still disputed, though it is mostly agreed that it is a loan-word. Two principal etymologies have been proposed. The first etymology is from a Middle Iranian form of Old Iranian '']''; though the meaning would fit since the Middle Persian forms of the word often mean 'lord,' used of the king or others. The second etymology is from Chinese 伯 (] ''pˠæk̚'' > ''bó'') 'eldest (brother), (feudal) lord'. ] on the other hand seriously considers the possibility that the word is genuinely Turkish. Whatever the truth may be, there is no connection with Turkish ''berk'', Mongolian ''berke'' 'strong' or Turkish ''bögü'', Mongolian ''böge'' 'wizard, shaman.'"<ref>http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/beg-pers Beg at Encyclopædia Iranica</ref><ref>http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baga-an-old-iranian-term-for-god-sometimes-designating-a-specific-god Baga at Encyclopædia Iranica</ref> In the past, some scholars suggested that the Wusun spoke a ] language. Chinese scholar Han Rulin, as well as ], A. Scherbak, P. Budberg, L. Bazin and V.P. Yudin, noted that the Wusun king's name ''Fu-li'' 拊離 (] (20 BC) {{lang|och|*phoʔ-rai}} > ] {{lang|mis|*pʰuoᴮ-liai ~ *pʰuoᴮ-lie}}{{sfn|Schuessler|2014|p=283}}), as reported in Chinese sources and translated as 'wolf', resembles Proto-Turkic *''bȫrü'' 'wolf'. This suggestion however is rejected by Classical Chinese Literature expert Francis K. H. So, Professor at ].<ref name="So133">{{harvnb|So|2009|pp=133–134}}</ref> Other words listed by these scholars include the title ''bag'', ''beg'' 'lord'.<ref>Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 35</ref> This theory has been criticized by modern Turkologists, including Peter B. Golden and ], who explain that none of the mentioned words are actually Turkic in origin.<ref name="Golden1992">{{harvnb|Golden|1992|pp=121–122}}</ref><ref name="Findley39" /><ref name="Findley45" /> Findley notes that the term ''böri'' is probably derived from one of the Iranian languages of Central Asia (cf. ] ''birgga-'').<ref name="Findley39">{{harvnb|Findley|2005|p=39}} "The term ''fu-li'' , used to identify the ruler's retinue as 'wolves,' probably also derived from one of the Iranian languages."</ref> Meanwhile, Findley considers the title '']'' as certainly derived from the ] ''baga'' 'lord',<ref name="Findley45">{{harvnb|Findley|2005|p=45}} "Many elements of non-Turkic origin also became part of Türk statecraft. Important terms, for example, often came from non-Turkic languages, as in the cases of ''khatun'' for the ruler's wife and ''beg'' for 'aristocrat', both terms of Sogdian origin and ever since in common use in Turkish."</ref> a cognate of ] ''baγ'' (as used by the rulers of the ]), as well as ] '']'' and ] ''bog''. According to ]: "The origin of beg is still disputed, though it is mostly agreed that it is a loan-word. Two principal etymologies have been proposed. The first etymology is from a Middle Iranian form of Old Iranian '']''; though the meaning would fit since the Middle Persian forms of the word often mean 'lord,' used of the king or others. The second etymology is from Chinese 伯 (] ''pˠæk̚'' > ''bó'') 'eldest (brother), (feudal) lord'. ] on the other hand seriously considers the possibility that the word is genuinely Turkish. Whatever the truth may be, there is no connection with Turkish ''berk'', Mongolian ''berke'' 'strong' or Turkish ''bögü'', Mongolian ''böge'' 'wizard, shaman.'"<ref>http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/beg-pers Beg at Encyclopædia Iranica</ref><ref>http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baga-an-old-iranian-term-for-god-sometimes-designating-a-specific-god Baga at Encyclopædia Iranica</ref>


==Economy== ==Economy==
According to the ''Shiji'' (c.&nbsp;123) and the ''Hanshu'' (c.&nbsp;96), ], a daughter of the Han prince ], was sent to the ruler (Kunmi or Kunmo) of the Wusun between 110&nbsp;BCE and 105&nbsp;BCE. She describes them as nomads who lived in ], ate ] and drank ].<ref> 西域傳 '''Original text:''' 昆莫年老，言語不通，公主悲愁，自為作歌曰：「吾家嫁我兮天一方，遠托異國兮烏孫王。穹廬為室兮旃為牆，以肉為食兮酪為漿。居常土思兮心內傷，願為黃鵠兮歸故鄉。」</ref> Some early Chinese descriptions of the people were pejorative, describing them as "bad, greedy and unreliable, and much given to robbery", but their state was also described as very strong.<ref>Hanshu, '''Original text:''' 民剛惡，貪狼無信，多寇盜，最為強國。</ref> However, the Wusun were also noted for their harmony towards their neighbours, even though they were constantly raided by the Xiongnu and Kangju. According to the ''Shiji'' (c.&nbsp;123) and the ''Hanshu'' (c.&nbsp;96), ], a daughter of the Han prince ], was sent to the ruler (Kunmi or Kunmo) of the Wusun between 110&nbsp;BC and 105&nbsp;BC. She describes them as nomads who lived in ], ate ] and drank ].<ref> 西域傳 '''Original text:''' 昆莫年老，言語不通，公主悲愁，自為作歌曰：「吾家嫁我兮天一方，遠托異國兮烏孫王。穹廬為室兮旃為牆，以肉為食兮酪為漿。居常土思兮心內傷，願為黃鵠兮歸故鄉。」</ref> Some early Chinese descriptions of the people were pejorative, describing them as "bad, greedy and unreliable, and much given to robbery", but their state was also described as very strong.<ref>Hanshu, '''Original text:''' 民剛惡，貪狼無信，多寇盜，最為強國。</ref> However, the Wusun were also noted for their harmony towards their neighbours, even though they were constantly raided by the Xiongnu and Kangju.


The principal activity of the Wusun was cattle-raising, but they also practiced ]. Since the climate of Zhetysu and Dzungaria did not allow constant wandering, they probably wandered with each change of season in the search of pasture and water. Numerous archaeological finds have found querns and agricultural implements and bones of domesticated animals, suggesting a semi-nomadic ] economy.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> The principal activity of the Wusun was cattle-raising, but they also practiced ]. Since the climate of Zhetysu and Dzungaria did not allow constant wandering, they probably wandered with each change of season in the search of pasture and water. Numerous archaeological finds have found querns and agricultural implements and bones of domesticated animals, suggesting a semi-nomadic ] economy.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/>
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==Archaeology== ==Archaeology==
Numerous sites belonging to the Wusun period in Zhetysu and the ] have been excavated. Most of the cemeteries are burial grounds with the dead interred in pit-graves, referred to as the Chil-pek group, which probably belong the local Saka population.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> A second group of ]s with burials in lined "catacomb" chamber graves, of the so-called Aygîrdzhal group, are found together with the Chil-pek tombs from the 2nd&nbsp;century&nbsp;BCE to the 5th&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE, and have been attributed to the Yuezhi.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> Graves of the Wusun period typically contain personal belongings, with the burials of the Aygîrdzhal group often containing weapons.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> Numerous sites belonging to the Wusun period in Zhetysu and the ] have been excavated. Most of the cemeteries are burial grounds with the dead interred in pit-graves, referred to as the Chil-pek group, which probably belong the local Saka population.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> A second group of ]s with burials in lined "catacomb" chamber graves, of the so-called Aygîrdzhal group, are found together with the Chil-pek tombs from the 2nd&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC to the 5th&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD, and have been attributed to the Yuezhi.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> Graves of the Wusun period typically contain personal belongings, with the burials of the Aygîrdzhal group often containing weapons.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/>


A famous find is the ] of a female ] discovered at an altitude of 2,300&nbsp;m, near ], containing jewellery, clothing, head-dress and nearly 300&nbsp;gold objects. A beautiful diadem of the Kargali burial attest to the artistic skill of these ancient jewellers.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> Another find at ] in eastern Zhetysu contained the grave of a high-ranking warrior, whose clothing had been decorated with around 100&nbsp;golden bosses.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> A famous find is the ] of a female ] discovered at an altitude of 2,300&nbsp;m, near ], containing jewellery, clothing, head-dress and nearly 300&nbsp;gold objects. A beautiful diadem of the Kargali burial attest to the artistic skill of these ancient jewellers.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> Another find at ] in eastern Zhetysu contained the grave of a high-ranking warrior, whose clothing had been decorated with around 100&nbsp;golden bosses.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/>
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| caption2 = Genetic makeup of Iron Age Central Asian Scythians. The three main ancestry components are shown in green, red and violet representing the ancestries maximized in ], ], and ], respectively. | caption2 = Genetic makeup of Iron Age Central Asian Scythians. The three main ancestry components are shown in green, red and violet representing the ancestries maximized in ], ], and ], respectively.
}} }}
A genetic study published in '']'' in May 2018 examined the remains of four Wusun buried between ca. 300 BC and 100 BC. The sample of ] extracted belonged to ]. The samples of ] extracted belonged to ], ], ] and ]. The authors of the study found that the Wusun and ] had less ] admixture than the ] and the ]. Both the Wusun and Kangju were suggested to be descended from ] (WSHs) of the Late Bronze Age who admixed with Siberian hunter-gatherers and peoples related to the ].{{sfn|Damgaard et al.|2018}} A genetic study published in '']'' in May 2018 examined the remains of four Wusun buried between {{Circa}} 300 BC and 100 BC. The sample of ] extracted belonged to ]. The samples of ] extracted belonged to ], ], ] and ]. The authors of the study found that the Wusun and ] had less ] admixture than the ] and the ]. Both the Wusun and Kangju were suggested to be descended from ] (WSHs) of the Late Bronze Age who admixed with Siberian hunter-gatherers and peoples related to the ].{{sfn|Damgaard et al.|2018}}


One theory has suggested that the Uissun tribe of Kazakhstan is descended from the Wusun, based on the superficial similarity of the ethnonym 'Uissun' to Wusun.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tynyshpaev |first1=M |title=Materials on the history of Kyrgyz-kazakh people. Tashkent: Eastern branch of the Kyrgyz State |date=1925 |publisher=Kyrgyz State Publishing |location=Tashkent |page=77}}</ref> A 2020 study could not find support for this theory, as the Uissun have a very low frequency of Haplogroup R1a (6%), most of it belonging to the Z94 clade rather than the Iranian Z93 clade.{{sfn|Zhabagin et al.|2020}} Most of the Uissun lineages were typical of Mongols, supporting their historically attested Mongolian origin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Al-Din |first1=Rashid |title=Collection of histories. Volume 1, Book 1. |date=1952 |publisher=Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR |location=Moscow-Leningrad |page=151}}</ref> One theory has suggested that the Uissun tribe of Kazakhstan is descended from the Wusun, based on the superficial similarity of the ethnonym 'Uissun' to Wusun.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tynyshpaev |first1=M |title=Materials on the history of Kyrgyz-kazakh people. Tashkent: Eastern branch of the Kyrgyz State |date=1925 |publisher=Kyrgyz State Publishing |location=Tashkent |page=77}}</ref> A 2020 study could not find support for this theory, as the Uissun have a very low frequency of Haplogroup R1a (6%), most of it belonging to the Z94 clade rather than the Iranian Z93 clade.{{sfn|Zhabagin et al.|2020}} Most of the Uissun lineages were typical of Mongols, supporting their historically attested Mongolian origin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Al-Din |first1=Rashid |title=Collection of histories. Volume 1, Book 1. |date=1952 |publisher=Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR |location=Moscow-Leningrad |page=151}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
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==References== ==References==
===Notes===
{{Notelist}}


===Citations=== ===Citations===
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*{{cite book |last1=Mallory |first1=J. P. |author-link1=J. P. Mallory |last2=Mair |first2=Victor H. |author-link2=Victor H. Mair |title=The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West |url=https://archive.org/details/tarimmummiesanci00mall |date=2000 |publisher=] |location=] |isbn=0-500-05101-1 |url-access=registration }} *{{cite book |last1=Mallory |first1=J. P. |author-link1=J. P. Mallory |last2=Mair |first2=Victor H. |author-link2=Victor H. Mair |title=The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West |url=https://archive.org/details/tarimmummiesanci00mall |date=2000 |publisher=] |location=] |isbn=0-500-05101-1 |url-access=registration }}
*{{cite book |last=Masica |first=Colin P. |author-link=Colin P. Masica |date=September 9, 1993 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Itp2twGR6tsC |publisher=] |isbn=0521299446 |access-date=February 13, 2015 }} *{{cite book |last=Masica |first=Colin P. |author-link=Colin P. Masica |date=September 9, 1993 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Itp2twGR6tsC |publisher=] |isbn=0521299446 |access-date=February 13, 2015 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |title=The consonantal system of Old Chinese |journal=Asia Major |volume=9 |date=1963a |pages=58–144 |url=http://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1110cxVuiEg.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216231730/https://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1110cxVuiEg.PDF}} *{{cite journal |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |title=The consonantal system of Old Chinese |journal=Asia Major |volume=9 |date=1963a |pages=58–144 |url=http://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1110cxVuiEg.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216231730/https://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1110cxVuiEg.PDF }}
*{{cite journal |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |title=The consonantal system of Old Chinese. Part II |journal=Asia Major |volume=9 |date=1963b |pages=206–265 |url=https://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1114AUnNESH.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216234812/http://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1114AUnNESH.pdf}} *{{cite journal |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |title=The consonantal system of Old Chinese. Part II |journal=Asia Major |volume=9 |date=1963b |pages=206–265 |url=https://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1114AUnNESH.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216234812/http://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1114AUnNESH.pdf }}
*{{cite book |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |author-link=Edwin G. Pulleyblank |date=1966 |title=Chinese and Indo-Europeans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EOytGwAACAAJ |publisher=] |access-date=February 14, 2015 }} *{{cite book |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |author-link=Edwin G. Pulleyblank |date=1966 |title=Chinese and Indo-Europeans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EOytGwAACAAJ |publisher=] |access-date=February 14, 2015 }}
*{{cite book |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |date=2002 |chapter=Why Tocharians? |title=Central Asia and non-Chinese peoples of ancient China |volume=1 |place=Aldershot, Hampshire; Burlington, VT |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=0-86078-859-8}} *{{cite book |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |date=2002 |chapter=Why Tocharians? |title=Central Asia and non-Chinese peoples of ancient China |volume=1 |place=Aldershot, Hampshire; Burlington, VT |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=0-86078-859-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Schuessler |first= Axel| title= ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese|date = 2007|publisher = University of Hawai'i Press|location = Honolulu}} *{{cite book|last=Schuessler |first= Axel| title= ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese|date = 2007|publisher = University of Hawai'i Press|location = Honolulu}}
*{{cite journal|last=Schuessler|first=Axel|title=Phonological Notes on Hàn Period Transcriptions of Foreign Names and Words|journal= Studies in Chinese and Sino-Tibetan Linguistics: Dialect, Phonology, Transcription and Text|series= Language and Linguistics Monograph Series|issue= 53|publisher= Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica|location= Taipei, Taiwan|year=2014|url= http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/Files/LL/UploadFiles/MonoFullText/Studies%20in%20Chinese%20and%20Sino-Tibetan%20Linguistics.pdf}} *{{cite journal|last= Schuessler|first= Axel|title= Phonological Notes on Hàn Period Transcriptions of Foreign Names and Words|journal= Studies in Chinese and Sino-Tibetan Linguistics: Dialect, Phonology, Transcription and Text|series= Language and Linguistics Monograph Series|issue= 53|publisher= Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica|location= Taipei, Taiwan|year= 2014|url= http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/Files/LL/UploadFiles/MonoFullText/Studies%20in%20Chinese%20and%20Sino-Tibetan%20Linguistics.pdf|access-date= 2021-11-25|archive-date= 2021-06-07|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210607101617/http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/Files/LL/UploadFiles/MonoFullText/Studies%20in%20Chinese%20and%20Sino-Tibetan%20Linguistics.pdf|url-status= dead}}
*{{cite book |last=Sinor |first=Denis |author-link=Denis Sinor |title=The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ST6TRNuWmHsC |date=1 March 1990 |publisher=] |isbn=0521243041 |access-date=1 January 2015 }} *{{cite book |last=Sinor |first=Denis |author-link=Denis Sinor |title=The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ST6TRNuWmHsC |date=1 March 1990 |publisher=] |isbn=0521243041 |access-date=1 January 2015 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Sinor |first1=Denis |author-link1=Denis Sinor |last2=Klyashtorny |first2=S. G. |chapter=The Türk Empire |editor1-last=Litvinsky |editor1-first=B. A. |date=1 January 1996 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC |publisher=] |pages=327–346 |isbn=9231032119 |access-date=29 May 2015 }} *{{cite book |last1=Sinor |first1=Denis |author-link1=Denis Sinor |last2=Klyashtorny |first2=S. G. |chapter=The Türk Empire |editor1-last=Litvinsky |editor1-first=B. A. |date=1 January 1996 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC |publisher=] |pages=327–346 |isbn=9231032119 |access-date=29 May 2015 }}
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*{{cite book |last1=Yong |first1=Ma |last2=Bingua |first2=Wang |chapter=The Culture of the Xinjiang Region |editor1-last=Harmatta |editor1-first=János |editor1-link=János Harmatta |date=1 January 1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations, 700 B. C. to A. D. 250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9U6RlVVjpakC |publisher=] |pages=209–227 |isbn=9231028464 |access-date=29 May 2015 }} *{{cite book |last1=Yong |first1=Ma |last2=Bingua |first2=Wang |chapter=The Culture of the Xinjiang Region |editor1-last=Harmatta |editor1-first=János |editor1-link=János Harmatta |date=1 January 1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations, 700 B. C. to A. D. 250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9U6RlVVjpakC |publisher=] |pages=209–227 |isbn=9231028464 |access-date=29 May 2015 }}
*{{cite book |last=Zadneprovskiy |first=Y. A. |chapter=The Nomads of Northern Central Asia After The Invasion of Alexander |editor1-last=Harmatta |editor1-first=János |editor1-link=János Harmatta |date=1 January 1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations, 700 B. C. to A. D. 250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9U6RlVVjpakC |publisher=] |pages=457–472 |isbn=9231028464 |access-date=29 May 2015 }} *{{cite book |last=Zadneprovskiy |first=Y. A. |chapter=The Nomads of Northern Central Asia After The Invasion of Alexander |editor1-last=Harmatta |editor1-first=János |editor1-link=János Harmatta |date=1 January 1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations, 700 B. C. to A. D. 250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9U6RlVVjpakC |publisher=] |pages=457–472 |isbn=9231028464 |access-date=29 May 2015 }}
*{{cite journal|first1= Maxat|last1= Zhabagin|first2= Zhaxylyk|last2= Sabitov|first3= Pavel|last3= Tarlykov|first4= Inkar|last4= Tazhigulova|first5= Zukhra|last5=Junissova|first6= Dauren|last6= Yerezhepov|first7= Rakhmetolla|last7= Akilzhanov|first8= Elena|last8= Zholdybayeva|first9= Lan-Hai|last9= Wei|first10= Ainur|last10= Akilzhanova|first11= Oleg|last11= Balanovsky|first12= Elena|last12= Balanovska|display-authors= 3|date= 2020|title= The medieval Mongolian roots of Y-chromosomal lineages from South Kazakhstan|journal= BMC Genomic Data|volume= 21|issue=21|page= 87|url= |doi=10.1186/s12863-020-00897-5|pmid= 33092538|ref={{harvid|Zhabagin et al.|2020}}|pmc= 7583311|doi-access= free}} *{{cite journal|first1= Maxat|last1= Zhabagin|first2= Zhaxylyk|last2= Sabitov|first3= Pavel|last3= Tarlykov|first4= Inkar|last4= Tazhigulova|first5= Zukhra|last5=Junissova|first6= Dauren|last6= Yerezhepov|first7= Rakhmetolla|last7= Akilzhanov|first8= Elena|last8= Zholdybayeva|first9= Lan-Hai|last9= Wei|first10= Ainur|last10= Akilzhanova|first11= Oleg|last11= Balanovsky|first12= Elena|last12= Balanovska|display-authors= 3|date= 2020|title= The medieval Mongolian roots of Y-chromosomal lineages from South Kazakhstan|journal= BMC Genomic Data|volume= 21|issue=21|page= 87|url= |doi=10.1186/s12863-020-00897-5|pmid= 33092538|ref={{harvid|Zhabagin et al.|2020}}|pmc= 7583311|doi-access= free}}

{{Refend}} {{Refend}}


Latest revision as of 04:27, 23 December 2024

Ancient semi-nomadic people in Central Asia This article is about the ancient nomadic people. For the mountain range, see Wusun Mountains. Wusun is located in Continental AsiaWusun-200GRECO
BACTRIANSPAR-
THIASAKASKorgantasSargatPazyrykTagarSaglyChandmanShuleKhotanSha-
jingDONGHUSABEANSOrdos
cultureDian
cultureJINYUEZHISubeshiWusunSELEUCID
EMPIREMAURYA
EMPIREHAN
DYNASTYXIONGNUPTOLE-
MIESMEROËScythiansSarma-
tiansclass=notpageimage| The Wusun and neighbouring polities circa 200 BC, before their westward migration
Rider burial mound Tenlik (III.-II. B.C.) The Tenlik kurgan is associated with the Wusun.

The Wusun (/ˈwuːsʌn/ WOO-sun) were an ancient semi-nomadic steppe people mentioned in Chinese records from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD.

The Wusun originally lived between the Qilian Mountains and Dunhuang (Gansu) near the Yuezhi. Around 176 BC the Xiongnu raided the lands of the Yuezhi, who subsequently attacked the Wusun, killing their king and seizing their land. The Xiongnu adopted the surviving Wusun prince and made him one of their generals and leader of the Wusun. Around 162 BC the Yuezhi were driven into the Ili River valley in Zhetysu, Dzungaria and Tian Shan, which had formerly been inhabited by the Saka. The Wusun then resettled in Gansu as vassals of the Xiongnu. In 133–132 BC, the Wusun drove the Yuezhi out of the Ili Valley and settled the area.

The Wusun then became close allies of the Han dynasty and remained a powerful force in the region for several centuries. The Wusun are last mentioned by the Chinese as having settled in the Pamir Mountains in the 5th century AD due to pressure from the Rouran. They possibly became subsumed into the later Hephthalites.

Etymology

Wusun is a modern pronunciation of the Chinese Characters '烏孫'. The Chinese name '烏孫' (Wūsūn) literally means wū 'crow, raven' + sūn 'grandson, descendant'. There are several theories about the origin of the name.

Canadian Sinologist Edwin Pulleyblank reconstructed the pronunciation of 烏孫' Wūsūn as in Middle Chinese as ou-suən, from Old Chinese aĥ-smən and linked the Wusun to the Άσμίραιοι Asmiraioi, who inhabited modern Issyk-Kul and Semirechiye and were mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography (VI.16.3). Another theory links them to the Issedones.

Sinologist Victor H. Mair compared Wusun with Sanskrit áśva 'horse', aśvin 'mare' and Lithuanian ašvà 'mare'. The name would thus mean 'the horse people'. Hence he put forward the hypothesis that the Wusun used a satem-like language within the Indo-European languages. However, the latter hypothesis is not supported by Edwin G. Pulleyblank. Christopher I. Beckwith's analysis is similar to Mair's, reconstructing the Chinese term Wusun as Old Chinese *âswin, which he compares to Old Indic aśvin 'the horsemen', the name of the Rigvedic twin equestrian gods.

Étienne de la Vaissière identifies the Wusun with the wδ'nn'p, mentioned on Kultobe inscriptions as enemies of the Sogdian-speaking Kangju confederation. Wδ'nn'p contains two morphemes n'p "people" and *wδ'n , which is cognate with Manichaean Parthian wd'n and means "tent". Vaissière hypothesized that the Wusun likely spoke an Iranian language closely related to Sogdian, permitting Sogdians to translate their endonym as *wδ'n and Chinese to transcribe their endonym with a native Chinese /s/ standing for a foreign dental fricative. Therefore, Vaissière reconstructs Wusun's endonym as *Wəθan " Tent(s)".

History

Early history

Migration of the Wusun

The Wusun were first mentioned by Chinese sources as living together with the Yuezhi between the Qilian Mountains and Dunhuang (Gansu). although different locations have been suggested for these toponyms.

Beckwith suggests that the Wusun were an eastern remnant of the Indo-Aryans, who had been suddenly pushed to the extremities of the Eurasian Steppe by the Iranian peoples in the 2nd millennium BC.

Around 210–200 BC, prince Modu Chanyu, a former hostage of the Yuezhi and prince of the Xiongnu, who were also vassals of the Yuezhi, became leader of the Xiongnu and conquered the Mongolian Plain, subjugating several peoples. Around 176 BC Modu Chanyu launched a fierce raid against the Yuezhi. Around 173 BC, the Yuezhi subsequently attacked the Wusun, at that time a small nation, killing their king (Kunmi Chinese: 昆彌 or Kunmo Chinese: 昆莫) Nandoumi (Chinese: 難兜靡).

According to legend Nandoumi's infant son Liejiaomi was left in the wild. He was miraculously saved from hunger being suckled by a she-wolf, and fed meat by ravens. The Wusun ancestor myth shares striking similarities with those of the Hittites, the Zhou Chinese, the Scythians, the Romans, the Goguryeo, Turks, Mongols and Dzungars. Based on the similarities between the ancestor myth of the Wusun and later Turkic peoples, Denis Sinor has suggested that the Wusun, Sogdians, or both could represent an Indo-Aryan influence, or even the origin of the royal Ashina Türks.

In 162 BC, the Yuezhi were finally defeated by the Xiongnu, after which they fled Gansu. According to Zhang Qian, the Yuezhi were defeated by the rising Xiongnu empire and fled westward, driving away the Sai (Scythians) from the Ili Valley in the Zhetysu and Dzungaria area. The Sai would subsequently migrate into South Asia, where they founded various Indo-Scythian kingdoms. After the Yuezhi retreat the Wusun subsequently settled the modern province of Gansu, in the valley of the Wushui-he (lit. "Raven-Water River"), as vassals of the Xiongnu. It is not clear whether the river was named after the tribe or vice versa.

Migration to the Ili Valley

The Xiongnu ruler was impressed with Liejiaomi, considering him a supernatural being, and adopted the child. When the child grew up the Chanyu made him leader of the Wusun and a Xiongnu general. He won many victories for the Xiongnu and the Wusun became powerful. Liejiaomi constantly requested the Xiongnu ruler for permission to avenge his father, and around 133–132 BC, he successfully attacked the Yuezhi in the Ili Valley. The Yuezhi then migrated to Sogdia and then Bactria, where they became unified under Kujula Kadphises and expanded into South Asia, founding the Kushan Empire, which at its peak under Kanishka stretched from Turpan in the Tarim Basin to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain and played an important role in the development of the Silk Road and the transmission of Buddhism to China.

The Wusun subsequently took over the Ili Valley, expanding over a large area and trying to keep away from the Xiongnu. According to Shiji, Wusun was a state located west of the Xiongnu. When the Xiongnu ruler died, Liejiaomi refused to serve the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu then sent a force against the Wusun but were defeated, after which the Xiongnu even more than before considered Liejiaomi a supernatural being, avoiding conflict with him.

Establishing relations with the Han

Wusun and their neighbours around 200 AD.

After settling in the Ili Valley the Wusun became so strong that the Han was compelled to win their friendship in alliance. Chinese sources name the Scythian Sai (Saka), and the Yuezhi who are often identified as Tocharians, among the people of the Wusun state in the Zhetysu and Dzungaria area. The Wusun realm probably included both Yuezhi and Saka. It is clear that the majority of the population consisted of linguistically Iranian Saka tribes.

In 125 BC, under the Han Emperor Wu of Han (156–87 BC), the Chinese traveller and diplomat Zhang Qian was sent to establish an alliance with the Wusun Against the Xiongnu. Qian estimated the Wusun to number 630,000, with 120,000 families and 188,000 men capable of bearing arms. Hanshu described them as occupying land that previously belonged to the Saka (Sai). To their north-west the Wusun bordered Kangju, located in modern Kazakhstan. To the west was Dayuan (Ferghana), and to the south were various city states. The Royal Court of the Wusun, the walled city of Chigu (Chinese: 赤谷; pinyin: chìgǔ; lit. 'Red Valley'), was located in a side valley leading to Issyk Kul. Lying on one of the branches of the Silk Road Chigu was an important trading centre, but its exact location has not been established.

According to Sima Qian in the Shiji:

Wusun as a nation, has its great Kunmi presiding at Chigu City which is 8900 li away from Chang'an (...) It land is bare and flat, rainy and chilly. Its hills are covered with pines. Its people do not plow of plant but follow their flocks to where water and grass are found. Its customs are similar to those of the Xiongnu. The nation has plenty of horses... and its people violent, greedy and not trustworthy. There are abundant bandits and thieves. Its territories originally belonged to the Sakas, the latter king went south to Bolor (Baltistan) whereby the Yuezhi took over and settled on the land. (...) Later, when the Yuezhi moved west to subjugate Bactria, the Wusun Kunmo replaced them and lived there. For that reason, the Wusun population is admixed with Sakas and Yuezhi peoples.

— Sima Qian, Shiji

The Wusun approved of a possible alliance, and Zhang Qian was sent as ambassador in 115 BC. According to the agreement the Wusun would jointly attack the Xiongnu with the Han, while they were offered a Han princess in marriage and the return of their original Gansu homeland (heqin). Due to fear of the Xiongnu, the Wusun however had second thoughts and suggested sending a delegation to the Han rather than moving their capital further west.

As Han allies

Some time after the Han-Wusun negotiations had ended, the Han inflicted several blows to the Xiongnu. The Han then threatened war upon the Wusun, after which Liejiaomi finally agreed to an alliance, sending tributary horses and accepting Princess Xijun as his wife. Along with the Yuezhi and the Kangju of the Ferghana Valley, the Wusun became the main suppliers of horses for the Han. The Xiongnu had however also sent a princess to marry Liejiaomi, and the Xiongnu princess was declared his senior consort, with Xijun becoming his junior wife. Since Liejiaomi was already an old man, Xijun was however married to his successor Cenzou (Chinese: 岑陬), to which Wu agreed. Xijun wrote a famous poem, the Beichouge (Chinese: 悲愁歌), in which she complains about her exile in the land of the "barbarians":

My family sent me off to be married on the other side of heaven. They sent me a long way to a strange land, to the king of Wusun. A domed lodging is my dwelling place with walls of felt. Meat is my food, with fermented milk as the sauce. I live with constant thoughts of my home, my heart is full of sorrow. I wish I were a golden swan, returning to my home country.

Xijun bore the Wusun a daughter but died soon afterward, at which point the Han court sent Princess Jieyou (Chinese: 解憂公主) to succeed her. After the death of Cenzou, Jieyou married Wengguimi (Chinese: 翁歸靡), Cenzou's cousin and successor. Jieyou lived for fifty years among the Wusun and bore five children, including the oldest Yuanguimi (Chinese: 元貴靡), whose half-brother Wujiutu (Chinese: 烏就屠) was born to a Xiongnu mother. She sent numerous letters to the Han requesting assistance against the Xiongnu.

Around 80 BC, the Wusun were attacked by the Xiongnu, who inflicted a devastating defeat upon them. In 72 BC, Kunmi, chief of the Wusun requested assistance from the Han against the Xiongnu. The Han sent an army of 160,000 men, inflicting a crushing defeat upon the Xiongnu, capturing much booty and many slaves. In the campaign the Han captured the Tarim Basin city-state of Cheshi (Turpan region), a previous ally of the Xiongnu, giving them direct contact with the Wusun. Afterwards the Wusun allied with the Dingling and Wuhuan to counter Xiongnu attacks. After their crushing victory against the Xiongnu the Wusun increased in strength, achieving significant influence over the city-states of the Tarim Basin. The son of the Kunmi became the ruler of Yarkand, while his daughter became the wife of the lord of Kucha. They came to play a role as a third force between the Han and the Xiongnu.

Around 64 BC, according to Hanshu, Chinese agents were involved in a plot with a Wusun kunmi known as Wengguimi ("Fat King"), to kill a Wusun kunmi known to the Chinese as Nimi ("Mad King"). A Chinese deputy envoy called Chi Tu who brought a doctor to attend to Nimi was punished by castration by the Han dynasty when he returned to China for treating the mad king's illness instead of killing him which the Han court ordered them to do.

In 64 BC another Han princess was sent to Kunmi Wengguimi, but he died before her arrival. Han emperor Xuan then permitted the princess to return, since Jieyou had married the new Kunmi, Nimi (Chinese: 尼靡), the son of Cenzou. Jieyou bore Nimi the son Chimi (Chinese: 鴟靡). Prince Wujiutu later killed Nimi, his half-brother. Fearing the wrath of the Han, Wujiutu adopted the title of Lesser Kunmi, while Yuanguimi was given the title Greater Kunmi. The Han accepted this system and bestowed both of them with the imperial seal. After both Yuanguimi and Chimi were dead, Jieyou asked Emperor Xuan for permission to return to China. She died in 49 BC. Over the next decades the institution of Greater and Lesser Kunmi continued, with the Lesser Kunmi being married to a Xiongnu princess and the Greater Kunmi married to a Han princess.

In 5 BC, during the reign of Wuzhuliu Chanyu (8 BC – AD 13), the Wusun attempted to raid Yueban pastures, but Wuzhuliu repulsed them, and the Wusun commander had to send his son to the Yueban court as a hostage. The forceful intervention of the Chinese usurper Wang Mang and internal strife brought disorder, and in 2 BC one of the Wusun chieftains brought 80,000 Wusun to Kangju, asking for help against the Chinese. In a vain attempt to reconcile with China, he was duped and killed in 3 AD.

In 2 AD, Wang Mang issued a list of four regulations to the allied Xiongnu that the taking of any hostages from Chinese vassals, i.e. Wusun, Wuhuan and the statelets of the Western Regions, would not be tolerated.

In 74 AD the Wusun are recorded as having sent tribute to the Han military commanders in Cheshi. In 80 AD Ban Chao requested assistance from the Wusun against the city-state Quchi (Kucha) in the Tarim Basin. The Wusun were subsequently rewarded with silks, while diplomatic exchanges were resumed. During the 2nd century AD the Wusun continued their decline in political importance.

Later history

Exclamation mark with arrows pointing at each otherThis section appears to contradict itself. Please see the talk page for more information. (November 2024)

In the 5th century AD the Wusun were pressured by the Rouran and may have migrated to the Pamir Mountains. They are last mentioned in Chinese historical sources in 436 AD, when a Chinese envoy was sent to their country and the Wusun reciprocated. It is possible that they became subsumed into the later Hephthalites. After this event the Wusun seem to disappear from Chinese records: Wusun were last mentioned in 938 AD alongsides Tuyuhun and Mohe, as tributary states to the Khitan Liao.

Physical appearance

A Chinese depiction of the Wusun, from Gujin Tushu Jicheng, 18th century.

The Hanshu and Shiji do not make any special note of the physical appearance of the Wusun. The first description of the Wusun's physical appearance is found in a Western Han dynasty book of divination, the Jiaoshi Yilin, which describes the women of the Wusun as "with deep eyesockets, dark, ugly: their preferences are different, past their prime without spouse." A later 7th century commentary to the Hanshu by Yan Shigu says:

Among the barbarians (戎; Róng) in the Western Regions, the look of the Wusun is the most unusual. The present barbarians (胡人; húrén) who have green eyes and red hair, and look like macaque monkeys, are the offspring of this people.

Initially, when only a few number of skulls from Wusun territory were known, the Wusun were recognized as a Caucasoid people with slight Mongoloid admixture. Later, in a more thorough study by Soviet archaeologists of eighty-seven skulls of Zhetysu, the six skulls of the Wusun period were determined to be purely Caucasoid or close to it.

Language

Wusun
RegionPamir Mountains (latest)
EthnicityWusun
Extinctafter 5th century
Language familyIndo-European
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
GlottologNone

The Wusun are generally believed to be an Indo-European people and speak a language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch. They are thought to be Iranian-speaking by the archaeologist Elena Kuzmina, linguist János Harmatta, Joseph Kitagawa, David Durand-Guédy, Turkologist Peter B. Golden and Central Asian scholar Denis Sinor. Yan Shigu (581–645) described the Wusun's descendants with the exonym 胡人 Húrén "foreigners, barbarians", which had been used since the 6th century to denote Iranian peoples, especially Sogdians, in Central Asia, besides other non-Chinese peoples. Archaeological evidence also supports the idea that Wusuns were Iranian speakers.

Edwin G. Pulleyblank has suggested that the Wusun, along with the Yuezhi, the Dayuan, the Kangju and the people of Yanqi, could have been Tocharian-speaking. Colin Masica and David Keightley also suggest that the Wusun were Tocharian-speaking. Sinor finds it difficult to include the Wusun within the Tocharian category of Indo-European until further research. J. P. Mallory has suggested that the Wusun contained both Tocharian and Iranian elements. Central Asian scholar Christopher I. Beckwith suggests that the Wusun were Indo-Aryan-speaking. The first syllable of the Wusun royal title Kunmi was probably the royal title while the second syllable referred to the royal family name. Beckwith specifically suggests an Indo-Aryan etymology of the title Kunmi.

In the past, some scholars suggested that the Wusun spoke a Turkic language. Chinese scholar Han Rulin, as well as Ármin Vámbéry, A. Scherbak, P. Budberg, L. Bazin and V.P. Yudin, noted that the Wusun king's name Fu-li 拊離 (OC (20 BC) *phoʔ-rai > LHC *pʰuoᴮ-liai ~ *pʰuoᴮ-lie), as reported in Chinese sources and translated as 'wolf', resembles Proto-Turkic *bȫrü 'wolf'. This suggestion however is rejected by Classical Chinese Literature expert Francis K. H. So, Professor at National Sun Yat-sen University. Other words listed by these scholars include the title bag, beg 'lord'. This theory has been criticized by modern Turkologists, including Peter B. Golden and Carter V. Findley, who explain that none of the mentioned words are actually Turkic in origin. Findley notes that the term böri is probably derived from one of the Iranian languages of Central Asia (cf. Khotanese birgga-). Meanwhile, Findley considers the title beg as certainly derived from the Sogdian baga 'lord', a cognate of Middle Persian baγ (as used by the rulers of the Sassanid Empire), as well as Sanskrit bhaga and Russian bog. According to Encyclopædia Iranica: "The origin of beg is still disputed, though it is mostly agreed that it is a loan-word. Two principal etymologies have been proposed. The first etymology is from a Middle Iranian form of Old Iranian baga; though the meaning would fit since the Middle Persian forms of the word often mean 'lord,' used of the king or others. The second etymology is from Chinese 伯 (MC pˠæk̚ > bó) 'eldest (brother), (feudal) lord'. Gerhard Doerfer on the other hand seriously considers the possibility that the word is genuinely Turkish. Whatever the truth may be, there is no connection with Turkish berk, Mongolian berke 'strong' or Turkish bögü, Mongolian böge 'wizard, shaman.'"

Economy

According to the Shiji (c. 123) and the Hanshu (c. 96), Liu Xijun, a daughter of the Han prince Liu Jian, was sent to the ruler (Kunmi or Kunmo) of the Wusun between 110 BC and 105 BC. She describes them as nomads who lived in felt tents, ate raw meat and drank fermented mare's milk. Some early Chinese descriptions of the people were pejorative, describing them as "bad, greedy and unreliable, and much given to robbery", but their state was also described as very strong. However, the Wusun were also noted for their harmony towards their neighbours, even though they were constantly raided by the Xiongnu and Kangju.

The principal activity of the Wusun was cattle-raising, but they also practiced agriculture. Since the climate of Zhetysu and Dzungaria did not allow constant wandering, they probably wandered with each change of season in the search of pasture and water. Numerous archaeological finds have found querns and agricultural implements and bones of domesticated animals, suggesting a semi-nomadic pastoral economy.

Social structure

The social structure of the Wusun resembled that of the Xiongnu. They were governed by the Great Kunmi, whose power was hereditary. The Great Kunmi and his two sons, who commanded the east and left flanks of the Wusun realm, each commanded a force of 10,000 men. The Wusun also fielded a regular army, with each freeman being considered a warrior. Their administrative apparatus was fairly sophisticated, consisting of sixteen officials. The Great Kunmi was assisted by a council of elders, which limited his power to some degree. The Wusun elite maintained itself through tribute from conquered tribes, war booty and trading profits. The booty acquired by the Wusun in their frequent conflicts enabled the administrative elite and members of the Kunmi's guard to amass enormous riches.

Wusun society seems to have been highly stratified. The main source of this stratification seems to have been property ownership. The wealthiest Wusuns are believed to have owned as many as 4,000 to 5,000 horses, and there is evidence pointing to privileged use of certain pastures. Typical of early patriarchal stratified societies, Wusun widows were obliged to remain within the family of their late husband by marrying one of his relatives, a concept known as levirate marriage. Y. A. Zadneprovskiy writes that the social inequality among the Wusun created social unrest among the lower strata. Wusun society also included many slaves, mostly prisoners of war. The Wusun are reported as having captured 10,000 slaves in a raid against the Xiongnu. Wusun slaves mainly laboured as servants and craftsmen, although the freemen formed the core of the Wusun economy.

Archaeology

Numerous sites belonging to the Wusun period in Zhetysu and the Tian Shan have been excavated. Most of the cemeteries are burial grounds with the dead interred in pit-graves, referred to as the Chil-pek group, which probably belong the local Saka population. A second group of kurgans with burials in lined "catacomb" chamber graves, of the so-called Aygîrdzhal group, are found together with the Chil-pek tombs from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD, and have been attributed to the Yuezhi. Graves of the Wusun period typically contain personal belongings, with the burials of the Aygîrdzhal group often containing weapons.

A famous find is the Kargali burial of a female Shaman discovered at an altitude of 2,300 m, near Almaty, containing jewellery, clothing, head-dress and nearly 300 gold objects. A beautiful diadem of the Kargali burial attest to the artistic skill of these ancient jewellers. Another find at Tenlik in eastern Zhetysu contained the grave of a high-ranking warrior, whose clothing had been decorated with around 100 golden bosses.

Connection to Western histography

Some scholars such as Peter B. Golden have proposed that the Wusun may have been identical with the people described by Herodotus (IV. 16–25) and in Ptolemy's Geography as Issedones (also Issedoni, Issedoi or Essedoni). Their exact location of their country in Central Asia is unknown. The Issedones are "placed by some in Western Siberia and by others in Chinese Turkestan," according to E. D. Phillips.

French historian Iaroslav Lebedynsky suggests that the Wusun may have been the Asii of Geographica.

Genetics

See also: Sintashta culture § Genetics, and Andronovo culture § Genetics Genetic proximity of Eastern Indo-Europeans: the Wusun had great genetic proximity with the Kangju, the Andronovo, the Sarmatians, the Sakas or the Tagar populations.Genetic makeup of Iron Age Central Asian Scythians. The three main ancestry components are shown in green, red and violet representing the ancestries maximized in Anatolian farmers, Iranian farmers, and Hunter Gatherers from West Siberia, respectively.

A genetic study published in Nature in May 2018 examined the remains of four Wusun buried between c. 300 BC and 100 BC. The sample of Y-DNA extracted belonged to haplogroup R1. The samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to C4a1, HV6, J1c5a and U5b2c. The authors of the study found that the Wusun and Kangju had less East Asian admixture than the Xiongnu and the Saka. Both the Wusun and Kangju were suggested to be descended from Western Steppe Herders (WSHs) of the Late Bronze Age who admixed with Siberian hunter-gatherers and peoples related to the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex.

One theory has suggested that the Uissun tribe of Kazakhstan is descended from the Wusun, based on the superficial similarity of the ethnonym 'Uissun' to Wusun. A 2020 study could not find support for this theory, as the Uissun have a very low frequency of Haplogroup R1a (6%), most of it belonging to the Z94 clade rather than the Iranian Z93 clade. Most of the Uissun lineages were typical of Mongols, supporting their historically attested Mongolian origin.

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References

Notes

  1. Chinese pronunciation: [wúswə́n]; simplified Chinese: 乌孙; traditional Chinese: 烏孫; pinyin: Wūsūn; Eastern Han Chinese *ʔɑ-suən < Old Chinese (140 BC – 436 AD): *Ɂâ-sûn)

Citations

  1. ^ Zadneprovskiy 1994, pp. 458–462
  2. Schuessler 2014, p. 264.
  3. 《汉书·西域传》：乌孙国，大昆弥治赤谷城，去长安八千九百里。户十二万，口六十三万，胜兵十八万八千八百人。……故服匈奴，后盛大，取羁属，不肯往朝会。东与匈奴、西北与康居、西与大宛、南与城郭诸国相接。本塞地也，大月氏西破走塞王，塞王南越县度，大月氏居其地。后乌孙昆莫击破大月氏，大月氏徙、西臣大夏，而乌孙昆莫居之，故乌孙民有塞种、大月氏种云。
  4. Mayor, Adrienne (September 22, 2014). The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World. Princeton University Press. p. 421. ISBN 978-1400865130. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  5. 王明哲, 王炳華 (Mingzhe Wang & Binhua Wang): 從文獻與考古資料論烏孫歷史的幾個重大問題 (Important questions about the history of Wusun arising from the contemporary documents and archaeological investigations). In: 烏孫研究 (Wusun research), 1, 新疆人民出版社 (People's publisher Xinjiang), Ürümqi 1983, S. pp. 1–42.
  6. Pulleyblank 1963a, p. 136.
  7. Lieu, Samuel N.C. (2014) Places and Peoples in Central Asia and in the Graeco-Roman Near East: A Multilingual Gazetteer Compiled for the Serica Project from Selected Pre-Islamic Sources, p. 23
  8. ^ Golden 1992, p. 51.
  9. Pulleyblank 2002, pp. 426–427.
  10. ^ Beckwith 2009, pp. 376–377
  11. de la Vaissière, Étienne (2013). "Iranian in Wusun? A tentative reinterpretation of the Kultobe Inscription". Commentationes Iranicae. Vladimiro F. Aaron Livschits Nonagenario Donum Natalicium: 320–325.
  12. Hanshu 《漢書·張騫李廣利傳》 Original text 臣居匈奴中，聞烏孫王號昆莫。昆莫父難兜靡本與大月氏俱在祁連、焞煌間，小國也。tr. " minister, while living among the Xiongnu, heard that the Wusun king was called Kunmo; Kunmo's father Nandoumi had originally been dwelling together with the Great Yuezhi in a small state between Qilian and Dunhuang."
  13. ^ Beckwith 2009, pp. 84–85
  14. ^ "Chinese History – Wusun 烏孫". Chinaknowledge. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  15. ^ Benjamin, Craig (October 2003). "The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia". Transoxiana Webfestschrift. 1 (Ēran ud Anērān). Transoxiana. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  16. Liu, Xinru, Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (2001)
  17. Beckwith 2009, pp. 29–38
  18. Beckwith 2009, pp. 380–383
  19. Enoki, Koshelenko & Haidary 1994, pp. 171–191
  20. ^ Beckwith 2009, pp. 6–7
  21. François & Hulsewé 1979, p. 215
  22. Shiji 《史記·大宛列傳》 Original text: 匈奴攻殺其父，而昆莫生棄於野。烏嗛肉蜚其上，狼往乳之。
  23. Beckwith 2009, p. 6
  24. Watson 1993, pp. 237–238
  25. Beckwith 2009, p. 2
  26. ^ Sinor & Klyashtorny 1996, pp. 328–329
  27. Hanshu 《漢書·張騫李廣利傳》 Original text 時，月氏已為匈奴所破，西擊塞王。
  28. Shiji 《史記·大宛列傳》 Original text: 匈奴西邊小國也
  29. François & Hulsewé 1979, p. 145
  30. Yap 2019, p. 164.
  31. "Zhang Qian". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  32. Hanshu, ch.61 & 96.
  33. Hanshu 《漢書·卷九十六下》 西域傳 Original text: 本塞地也，大月氏西破走塞王，塞王南越縣度。大月氏居其地。後烏孫昆莫擊破大月氏，大月氏徙西臣大夏，而烏孫昆莫居之，故烏孫民有塞種、大月氏種雲。
  34. So 2009, p. 133
  35. 《漢書·卷九十六下》 Original text: 東與匈奴、西北與康居、西與大宛、南與城郭諸國相接。
  36. Hill (2009), "Appendix I: Chigu 赤谷 (Royal Court of the Wusun Kunmo)," pp. 527–531.
  37. Findeisen, Raoul David (2009). At Home in Many Worlds: Reading, Writing and Translating from Chinese and Jewish Cultures : Essays in Honour of Irene Eber. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 133. ISBN 978-3-447-06135-3.
  38. Wood 2004, pp. 53–54
  39. Wood 2004, p. 57
  40. Wood 2004, p. 59
  41. François & Hulsewé 1979, p. 155
  42. Gumilev L.N. "12". History of Hun People. Science (in Russian). Moscow.
  43. Taishan 2004, p. 45
  44. François & Hulsewé 1979, p. 192
  45. Book of Wei, ch. 102
  46. Liaoshi, vol. 4 "庚子，吐谷渾、烏孫、靺鞨皆來貢。"
  47. 《焦氏易林 – Jiaoshi Yilin》 Original text:烏孫氏女，深目黑醜；嗜欲不同，過時無偶。
  48. Wang Mingzhe; Wang Binghua (1983). Research on Wusun (乌孙研究). Ürümqi: Xinjiang People's Press. p. 43.
  49. ^ Maenchen-Helfen 1973, pp. 369–375
  50. ^ Book of Han, with commentary by Yan Shigu Original text:　烏孫於西域諸戎其形最異。今之胡人青眼、赤須，狀類彌猴者，本其種也。
  51. So 2009, p. 134
  52. Mallory & Mair 2000, pp. 93–94
  53. Yu, Taishan (July 1998). "A Study of Saka History" (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers (80). The four tribes of the Asii and others, including the Da Yuezhi and the Wusun, were all Europoid and spoke Indo-European languages.
  54. ^ Sinor 1990, p. 153
  55. Mair 2013
  56. Baumer 2012, p. 212
  57. So 2009, p. 131
  58. Kusmina 2007, pp. 78, 83
  59. Harmatta 1994, pp. 488–489
  60. Kitagawa 2013, p. 228
  61. Durand-Guédy 2013, pp. 24–25
  62. Golden 2011, p. 29
  63. ^ Golden 2010
  64. Sinor 1997, p. 236
  65. Atwood 2015, p. 62.
  66. ^ Damgaard et al. 2018.
  67. Pulleyblank 1963b, p. 227.
  68. Pulleyblank 1966, pp. 9–39.
  69. Loewe & Shaughnessy 1999, pp. 87–88
  70. Benjamin 2007, p. 52
  71. Masica 1993, p. 48
  72. Kneightley 1983, pp. 457–460
  73. Mallory 1989, pp. 59–60
  74. Jixu, Zhou (July 2003). Mair, Victor H. (ed.). "Correspondences of Cultural Words Between Old Chinese and Proto-Indo-European" (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers. 125. Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  75. Schuessler 2014, p. 283.
  76. So 2009, pp. 133–134
  77. Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 35
  78. Golden 1992, pp. 121–122
  79. ^ Findley 2005, p. 39 "The term fu-li , used to identify the ruler's retinue as 'wolves,' probably also derived from one of the Iranian languages."
  80. ^ Findley 2005, p. 45 "Many elements of non-Turkic origin also became part of Türk statecraft. Important terms, for example, often came from non-Turkic languages, as in the cases of khatun for the ruler's wife and beg for 'aristocrat', both terms of Sogdian origin and ever since in common use in Turkish."
  81. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/beg-pers Beg at Encyclopædia Iranica
  82. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baga-an-old-iranian-term-for-god-sometimes-designating-a-specific-god Baga at Encyclopædia Iranica
  83. Hanshu 《漢書·卷九十六下》 西域傳 Original text: 昆莫年老，言語不通，公主悲愁，自為作歌曰：「吾家嫁我兮天一方，遠托異國兮烏孫王。穹廬為室兮旃為牆，以肉為食兮酪為漿。居常土思兮心內傷，願為黃鵠兮歸故鄉。」
  84. Hanshu, Original text: 民剛惡，貪狼無信，多寇盜，最為強國。
  85. Yong & Bingua 1994, p. 225.
  86. Gardiner-Garden 1986.
  87. Phillips, E. D. (1955). "The Legend of Aristeas: Fact and Fancy in Early Greek Notions of East Russia, Siberia, and Inner Asia". Artibus Asiae. 18 (2): 161–177 . doi:10.2307/3248792. JSTOR 3248792.
  88. Iaroslav Lebedinsky (2006). Les Saces. Errance. pp. 60–63. ISBN 2-87772-337-2.
  89. Zhang, Fan (November 2021). "The genomic origins of the Bronze Age Tarim Basin mummies". Nature. 599 (7884): 256–261. Bibcode:2021Natur.599..256Z. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04052-7. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 8580821. PMID 34707286.
  90. Tynyshpaev, M (1925). Materials on the history of Kyrgyz-kazakh people. Tashkent: Eastern branch of the Kyrgyz State. Tashkent: Kyrgyz State Publishing. p. 77.
  91. Zhabagin et al. 2020.
  92. Al-Din, Rashid (1952). Collection of histories. Volume 1, Book 1. Moscow-Leningrad: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. p. 151.

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