Yuezhi

The Yuezhi were an ancient people of Central Asia who migrated west from Gansu and established power in Bactria, where their descendants founded the Kushan Empire.

Gansu: A region of northwestern China that includes the Hexi Corridor and formed part of the Yuezhi homeland. Chinese accounts place the Yuezhi homeland in this region before their westward migration.
Mao-tun: A ruler who founded the Xiongnu imperial confederation in the late third century BCE. Chinese histories associate his campaigns with the Yuezhi's defeat and displacement.
Han dynasty: A Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 206 BCE to 220 CE, with an interruption by the Xin dynasty. Han court records preserve much of the surviving written account of the Yuezhi.
Silk Road: A network of overland routes that connected East Asia, Central Asia, and regions farther west. Kushan territories later controlled important routes within this transcontinental network.
Tocharian languages: An extinct branch of Indo-European languages documented in manuscripts from the Tarim Basin. Their name has sometimes been linked to the Yuezhi, although the linguistic and historical connection is disputed.
Hexi Corridor: A narrow route through Gansu connecting northern China with the Tarim Basin and Central Asia. This corridor lay along the eastern approaches from the Yuezhi homeland.
Zhang Qian: A Han dynasty envoy whose missions to Central Asia began in 138 BCE. His reports gave the Han court detailed information about the Yuezhi west of China.
Shiji: A history of China completed by Sima Qian in the first century BCE. Its account of Zhang Qian records early Han knowledge of the Yuezhi in Central Asia.
Kanishka: A Kushan emperor whose reign, usually placed in the second century CE, marked a period of imperial expansion. His empire represents the later political legacy of the Yuezhi migration into Bactria.
Kushan script: A writing system used for some inscriptions and coins of the Kushan period, based on Greek script. Its evidence helps trace the changing names and languages associated with Yuezhi-derived rulers.

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