Loulan

Loulan was first mentioned in a letter from the Hunnic Shanyu to the Han emperor in 126 BC. er Oasis was the center of the kingdom of Krarayna ( Shanshan ), for which there was a stubborn struggle between the steppe and the Chinese. Traveler Zhang Qian mentions it as a fortified city (Hanni (扞 泥)) near Lob Nor Lake, 6,100 li from the Chinese capital Chang'an .

Loulani, tired of the diplomatic activity of China in the region, in view of the increased costs of maintaining embassies, robbed Ambassador Wang Hui (王恢). They also entered into an alliance with the Huns and helped them catch Chinese ambassadors. In 108 BC. er Han Wu Di sent hou Zhao Ponu (趙 破 奴) with an army of selected infantry and allied cavalry against Loulan. The guide was Wang Hui. With 700 light horsemen, Ponu captured Prince Loulani. Loulan was captured, Davan and the Usuns were frightened. The Huns were not slow to attack the oasis, and Prince Loulani was forced to send one son hostage to the Huns, the other to China. When the Chinese marched on Dawan in 105–104, led by Li Guangli рrshinsky, the Emperor suspected loulancy in connection with the Hunnu. Loulan prince was brought to the Emperor, but he justified himself by referring to the weakness of the principality in comparison with the great powers and asked to accept him as an allegiance. Hunnu no longer trust Shanshan. In 92 BC. er the old prince died and the elders came to the Emperor to ask for the return of his heir. But Wudi treacherously castrated him and sent him to work in the silkworm, and answered to the elders that he would not let the hostage go, and let them choose the next brother as prince. From the new prince also demanded a son hostage. The Huns did the same. The new prince soon died and the Huns began to promote their hostage Changuya (嘗) to the throne. Han Chou-di tried to call him to Chang'an, but the stepmother insisted that the prince did not give in to the entreaties of the Chinese. Zhou-di decided that Loulan surrendered to the Huns.

In 77 BC er Fu Jiezzi (傅介子) was sent to kill Prince Changuy. Under the guise of presenting the imperial gifts, Tsezzi gave the prince a drink at a feast. After that, he invited the prince to secret negotiations, where he was stabbed by two strong men from Tsezzi retinue. Jiezzi quickly announced the prince of the Chinese hostage (the brother of the slain Changui) Yuututsi (尉 屠 耆). Shan Shan becomes a tributary of the Han emperors. The head of the prince was sent to the Emperor. Yuututsi became prince, Loulan was given the Chinese name of Shanshan. In the city of Yisyun (伊 солдат) a Chinese garrison of an officer and 40 settler soldiers was deployed. A connection was established with Cherchen , where there were better conditions for the deployment of troops because of the richness of the soil and the residents settled.

According to the Han census in the principality there were: 1,570 households, 14,100 people, 2,912 soldiers. Apparatus: the governor of "fugo-hou" (輔 國 侯), tsuhu-hou (卻 胡 侯), shanshan duwei (鄯善 都尉, head of the military district of Shanshan), zicheshi-duwei (擊 車 師 都尉), left and right tsetsyuy (且 渠), zycheshi-jun (擊 車 師 君 各), as well as two translators (譯 長). Until the next oasis Cheshi 1890 li northwest. The soil is poor, sandy and saline. There are few fields, grain is purchased from neighboring lands. Extraction of jasper . Reed grows, Chinese tamarix ( Tamarix chinensis ), Euphrates poplar , peristoshtetinnik (Pennisetum centrasiati). Residents are mainly nomads. Many camels, donkeys, horses. Production of weapons, like tsianov .

In the III century, the Chinese garrison stood in the city. At the beginning of the 5th century , a Chinese monk, Fasian, and his companions arrived in Loulan. He noted that the prince patronized Buddhism, about 400 Hinayan monks of varying degrees of training lived in the principality.

In 436, the brother of the local prince, Suyan (素), came to China for service. In the middle of the 5th century, Juuyu Wuhoi ( Northern Liang ) captured Dunhuang . From there, he sent troops against the Shanshan prince Bilun (比), who initially wanted to submit, but ambassadors from Bei Wei returning from India persuaded him to resist. Ukhoi's troops retreated. Soon, Bilun fled to Cherchen , and the principality surrendered. Toba Dao sent his general Van Duguy (萬 度 歸) to knock the lans from Shanshan. Leaving a convoy in Dunhuang, he moved to Shanshan with 5,000 light cavalry. Duguy ordered mercifully to treat residents and the population stood on his side, although initially fled. Soon the prince of Shanshan Zhend (真 達) came to Duguy with his hands tied. He was pardoned and pleaded vassal Wei. Toba Dao appointed Gong Han Ba ​​as a pacifying general for the West, and Zhenda became the commanders of the Chinese garrison in Shanshan with the right to collect tribute.

However, due to progressive desertification during the Tang Dynasty , it was finally abandoned.

In 1899, the Swedish traveler Sven Ghedin stumbled upon the ruins of Loulan. In the wake of its discovery, the city was explored by the Otani Japanese expedition Kozui . The first thorough study of the territory was carried out in 1906 and 1914. archaeologist Aurel Stein . He was able to detect not only the remains of fortifications, but also fragments of silk fabrics.

The 1980 Chinese archaeological expedition established a complex irrigation system at Lowlan, which included a canal 5 meters deep, and a number of places of worship, such as a Buddhist stupa .

Written texts are written in one of the Prakrit languages ​​and written in Kharoshthi . In the vocabulary, a significant array of borrowings from the unknown Tocharian language (the so-called “Tocharian C”) is noted. J.P. Mallory suggests that the ancient inhabitants of the oasis spoke this unknown Tokhar dialect ^[1] .

From Loulan occur so-called. Loulan beauty and other Tarim mummies of the Caucasians , which are 3800 years old. This indicates the ancient antiquity of the settlement.

• The history and beginning of the excavation of Loulan are fictionalized in the eponymous story by the Japanese writer Yasushi Inoue ^[2] .