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CHINESE TURKESTAN iv. In the Mongol Period On the eve of the Mongol conquests the eastern oases along the northern perimeter of the Takla Makan desert and the towns in the Dzungarian (< Mong. Zunghar) steppes north of the Tien Shans (see i, above) were inhabited primarily by the Uighur...

CHINESE TURKESTAN v. Under the Khojas The Khojas (Ḵᵛājas, Ḵᵛājagān), descendants of the Naqšbandī Sufi Aḥmad Ḵᵛājagī Kāsānī (d. 949/1543), known as Maḵdūm-e Aʿẓam, ruled over Chinese Turkestan between 1089/1678 and 1173/1759. As sayyeds (claiming descent from the Prophet Moḥammad), they had married into some of the leading families (begs)…

CHINESE TURKESTAN vi. Iranian Groups in Sinkiang since the 1750s Between the late 17th and 19th centuries many Iranian-speaking peoples from Šeḡnān (Shughnan) and Wāḵān (Wakhan) migrated to the region of the eastern Pamirs around Lake Zorkul (Sarīqūl, also known as Lake Victoria), now in the Tadzhik S.S.R., and mingled…

CHINESE TURKESTAN vii. Manicheism in Chinese Turkestan and China Historical survey. Manicheism was probably introduced into Inner Asia by Sogdian (Hu) merchants, though the process of its diffusion there is entirely obscure. It was certainly well established in Tokharistan and the Tarim basin before the 8th century c.e. (Henning, 1936,…

CHINESE TURKESTAN viii. Turkish-Iranian Language Contacts Contacts between the Iranian peoples and the Turks are known to have occurred at least as early as 552 C.E., when the ancient Turks spread out from their northern settlements and established an empire extending from the Greater Khingan mountains on the western border…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS i. In Pre-Islamic Times. ii. Islamic Period to the Mongols. iii. In the Mongol Period. iv. The Safavid Period, 1501-1732. v. Diplomatic and Commercial Relations with Persia, 1949-90. vi. Relations with Afghanistan in the Modern Period. vii. Persian settlements in southeastern China during the T’ang, Sung, and Yuan dynasties….

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS i. In Pre-Islamic Times Contact between China and Iran was initiated toward the end of the 2nd century B.C.E. by the envoy Chang Ch’ien (Zhang Qian), who journeyed to the west in search of the Yüeh-chih (Yue-zhi), a people that had migrated from the borders of China after…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS ii. Islamic Period to the Mongols It is difficult to distinguish between specifically Chinese relations with Persia and more general relations between the Far Eastern states and the early Muslim caliphates: Ṣīn in Arabic sources referred not only to China but also to eastern Turkestan and the Far…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS iii. In the Mongol Period The incorporation of Persia into a vast empire that extended as far as China, following the conquests of Čengīz (Chinggis) Khan (602-24/1206-27) and his grandson Hülegü (Hūlāgū; 654-63/1256-65), inaugurated an era of particularly intense contact between Persia and China. The great khan (qaḡan,…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS iv. The Safavid Period, 1501-1732 In the Safavid period relations with China were, unsurprisingly, indirect. In eastern Khorasan the Uzbeks and their successors blocked the land route to northwest­ern China through Transoxania. The sea route, which had for centuries been commercially more important, was in the hands of…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS vi. Relations with Afghanistan in the Modern Period Throughout history China and Afghanistan shared few mutual interests, with the exception of a certain amount of trade, mostly tea and fruit, via the direct caravan route from Chinese Turkestan (Xinjiang) across the high passes of the Pamirs and the…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS vii. Persian Settlements in Southeastern China during the T’ang, Sung, and Yuan Dynasties  The ports along the southeastern coast of China had a long history of trade with Persia before the coming of Islam (see i, above). In addition, there is considerable evidence for the settlement of early…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS viii. Persian Language and Literature in China Language and literature The earliest Persian inscription in China is the tombstone of the Zoroastrian Ma (Pahl. *Māhnūš), wife of General Su-liang (Pahl. Farroxzād; Humbach), inscribed in both Pahlavi and Chinese and dated 874, has been discovered at Xi-an, the capital…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS ix. Persian Language Teaching in Modern China Persian has been taught in Muslim schools in China since the 1920s (see viii, above). Although in 1954 the government of the People’s Republic of China removed Persian from the curriculum of Tajik schools in Sinkiang (Xin-jiang) Uighur Autonomous Republic (Sotūda,…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS v. Diplomatic and Commercial Relations, 1949-90 I. Diplomatic relations. There were three distinct periods in Chinese-Persian diplomatic relations: 1328-49 Š./1949-70, 1350-57 Š./ 1971-78, and 1358-69 Š./1979-90. The period 1328-49 Š./1949-70. During the earlier stages of the Cold War and the hostile rivalries that followed World War II Persia…