Protectorate General to Pacify the West
In 659, Sogdia, Ferghana, Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Balkh, Herat, Kashmir, the Pamirs, Tokharistan, and Kabul all submitted to the protectorate under Emperor Gaozong of Tang.
[3][4][5][6][7] After the An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) was suppressed, the office of Protector General was given to Guo Xin, who defended the area and the four garrisons even after communication had been cut off from Chang'an by the Tibetan Empire.
[13] In 648, the Tang conquered Kucha, known to the Chinese as Qiuci, and made it the new seat of Anxi under the governance of Chai Zhewei from 649 to 651.
[14] When the Tang general boasted of the size of his army, Gar Tongtsen Yulsung's son responded in the following manner: There is no disputing the matter of numbers.
[14] The conflict between the Tang and Tibetans was the primary context under which the story of a Khotanese princess striving to rescue Khotan from destruction was formulated.
May those who flee here from other countries find a place to stay here and help to rebuild the great stupas and monastic gardens that have been burned by the red-faced ones.
[17]In 670 the Tibetan Empire routed a Tang army at the Battle of Dafei River and attacked Gumo as well as captured Qiuci.
[19] In 679 the Tang general, Pei Xingjian, defeated Ashina Duzhi as well as the Tibetans and established control over the Western Regions.
Its strategic significance is summarized by Cui Rong, an Imperial Diarist of the court, If we cannot defend these garrisons, barbarians will surely come to destabilize the Western Regions.
The Turgesh Khagan Suluk used his marital relation with Princess Jiaohe to issue a decree ordering the Protector-General to engage in trade.
[41] In 750 the Tang intervened in a dispute between their vassal Fergana and the neighboring kingdom of Chach, located in modern Tashkent.
Some Karluks converted to Islam, but the vast majority did not until the mid 10th century under Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan of the Kara-Khanid Khanate.
[45][46] My relative Huan followed Go Seonji [Tang general of Goguryeo (Korean) descent; Gao Xianzhi in Chinese, died 755], the military commissioner of Zhenxi (modern Xinjiang), to go on a western expedition.
At the beginning of the Baoying reign (761) he boarded a merchant ship and returned [to China] through Guangzhou, and wrote his Travel Record .
[49] In 764 the Tibetan Empire invaded the Hexi Corridor and conquered Liang Prefecture,[50] cutting off the Anxi and Beiting protectorates from the Tang dynasty.
[51] In 780 Guo Xin and Li Yuanzhong were officially made protectorate generals after sending secret messages to Emperor Dezong of Tang.
[48] In 789 the monk Wukong passed through Shule, Yutian, Gumo, Qiuci, Yanqi, and Ting Prefecture and found that they all had Chinese commanders and were free from Tibetan or Uyghur control.
This contradicts the previous conquests of Yanqi and Qiuci by the Tibetan Empire in 763 and 787, assertions made by Yuri Bregel in his An Historical Atlas of Central Asia.
Turning to the part of China lying in the direction of the setting sun, namely the place known as Bamdhu, this is located on the borders of Tibet, and fighting never ceases there between the Chinese and the Tibetans.
[55] Of the four garrisons that made up the defunct Anxi Protectorate, all eventually ended up freeing themselves or coming under the dominion of other powers by the mid-9th century.
[65] Chinese arts and crafts such as the sancai "three color" glaze left a long lasting impression in Central Asia and Western Eurasia.
[66][67][68] Aladdin, an Arabic Islamic story which is set in China, may have been referring to Central Asia under Tang influence.
[72] In 1124 the westward migration of the Khitans under Yelü Dashi also consisted of a large population of Han Chinese, Balhae, Jurchen, Mongols, Khitan, in addition to the Xiao consort clan and the Yelü royal family[73] In the 12th century, the Qara Khitai defeated the Kara-Khanid Khanate and conquered their territory in Central Asia.
The effect of their administration was seen with respect and esteem due in part to China's status in Central Asia at the time.
[78] The "image of China" played a key role in legitimizing the Khitan rule to the Central Asian Muslims.
Prior to the Mongol invasions, the perception of China among Central Asian Muslims was an extremely civilized society, known for its unique script, its expert artisans, justice and religious tolerance.
China was known as chīn (چين) in Persian and as ṣīn (صين) in Arabic while the Tang dynasty capital Changan was known as Ḥumdān (خُمدان).
Ṣīn [i.e., China] is originally threefold; Upper, in the east which is called Tawjāch; middle which is Khitāy, lower which is Barkhān in the vicinity of Kashgar.
When Islam appeared and God delivered the said district to the Muslims, the Chinese migrated to their [original] centers, but there remained in Samarqand, as a vestige of them, the art of making paper of high quality.
[88] The Anxi Protectorate is featured in the Jade Dragon expansion for the grand strategy game Crusader Kings II.
