Loulan Kingdom
The Kingdom of Kroraïna, commonly known by its name in ancient Chinese sources, the Kingdom of Lóulán, was an ancient Tocharian kingdom in the Tarim Basin, today consumed by the Lop Desert. Based around what was at the time an important oasis city along the Silk Road, the Kingdom of Kroraïna was already known as far back as the 2nd century BCE. At the time, it was said to be on the northeastern edge of the Lop Desert. The capital of the kingdom sat alongside aside the lake Lop Nur, which today has dried entirely into desert.
The kingdom was renamed Shanshan after its king was assassinated by an envoy of the Han dynasty in 77 BCE; however, the town at the northwestern corner of Lop Nur retained the name of Loulan. The kingdom included at various times settlements such as Niya, Charklik, Miran and Qiemo. It was intermittently under Chinese control from the early Han dynasty onward until its abandonment centuries later. The ruins of Loulan are near the now-desiccated Lop Nur in the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang and they are now completely surrounded by desert.
History
Pre-Han Kingdom
By the 2nd century BC, Loulan had grown to dominate the region around the Tarim Basin. Archeological evidence suggests a sophisticated culture with major importance in the trade between central Asia and India. Southern merchants passed through mountain ranges such as the Karakoram, Himalayas and Hindu Kush as far north as the Taklamakan desert, to important trading cities like Loulan and its commercial rival Niya. This is evidenced by graffiti carved on stones along the route in Indic scripts such as Kharosti and Brahmi, while there are depictions of Siddhartha Gautama. From here,Loulan was on the main route from Dunhuang to Korla, where it joined the so-called "northern route," and was also connected by a route southwest to the kingdom's seat of government in the town of Wuni in the Charkhlik/Ruoqiang oasis, and from thence to Khotan and Yarkand.
A number of mummies, now known as the Tarim mummies, have been found in Loulan and in its surrounding areas. One female mummy has been dated to c. 1800 BCE, indicating very early settlement of the region. The disinterred corpses were not Chinese or Indian but had fair hair and light skin, some over six feet in length; this has led to suggestions that those from the Shanshan kingdoms were descendants of migrants from the Eurasian Steppe. Genetic analysis of the mummies, however, suggests that the Early–Middle Bronze Age population may have arisen from an ancient genetically isolated local population but were possibly influenced by the pastoralist and agriculturalist practices of their neighbours. The mummies were wrapped in cotton and silk, the former from the west and latter from the east, further providing evidence as to Loulan's commercial importance.
Early Han dynasty
The interactions between Loulan and the Han court were described in some detail in the Book of Han.The first contemporaneous mention of Loulan, in Chinese records, is from 126 BCE. A letter from the Chanyu of the Xiongnu to the Chinese emperor, in which the Chanyu boasted of conquering Loulan, as well as the Yuezhi, Wusun, Hujie and another "26 states nearby". In the same year, the Chinese envoy Zhang Qian described Loulan as a fortified city near the great salt lake or marsh known as Lop Nur.
During the late 2nd century BCE, Emperor Wu of Han was interested in extending contact with Dayuan, following the reports of it by the Chinese envoy, Zhang Qian. However, according to Chinese sources, Han envoys to Fergana were harassed by Loulan and the kingdom of Gushi. Consequently, in 108 BCE, Loulan was attacked by a Han force led by Zhao Ponu and its king captured, after which Loulan agreed to pay a tribute to Han China. The Xiongnu, on hearing of these events, also attacked Loulan. The king of Loulan therefore elected to send one of his sons as a hostage to the Xiongnu and another to the Han court. Due to Loulan's association with the Xiongnu, the Book of Han records:
The Han emperor was satisfied with the statement and released the king, but retained his son as hostage. When this particular king of Loulan died, in 92 BCE, his court requested that the Han court release the king's son and heir be returned to Loulan. In the meantime, however, this prince from Loulan had been castrated for infringing Han law, without the knowledge of Loulan. The Han court replied that its Emperor had grown too fond of the prince to release him, and that another son should be enthroned in Loulan. The son of the new king was also sent to the Han court as a hostage, yet another was sent to the Xiongnu. After the death of this king of Loulan, the Xiongnu returned the hostage sent previously by Loulan – a prince named Chang Gui or An Gui, who became king of Loulan. When the Han court heard of this, it demanded that the new king present himself to the Han court. Chang Gui refused, on his wife's advice – because the Han court had previously failed to return hostages.
In 77 BCE, after several Han envoys had been intercepted and killed in or near Loulan, a Chinese delegation was sent with orders to assassinate the king of Loulan. One of the envoys, Fu Jiezi, gained entry to Loulan by claiming to carry silk and valuables as gifts for the king. Having received Fu Jiezi’s gifts, the king got drunk, after which Fu Jiezi's guard stabbed him to death, severed his head and had it hung from a tower above the northern gate. Upon completing the assassination, the guard supposedly proclaimed: "The Son of Heaven has sent me to punish the king, by reason of his crime in turning against the Han...Han troops are about the arrive here; do not dare to make any move which would result in yourselves bringing about the destruction of your state." While the king's younger brother Weituqi succeeded him as king, the Han court apparently tightened its grip on Loulan from this point – a step symbolized by the Han court obliging Loulan to adopt a new official name, the non-native exonym Shanshan.
Because of its strategic position on what became the main route from China to the West, during the Han dynasty, control of it was regularly contested between the Chinese and the Xiongnu until well into the 2nd century CE.
Shanshan
After the Han dynasty had gained control of Loulan, the renamed kingdom of Shanshan became a Chinese puppet state. The newly installed king, fearing retribution from the sons of the assassinated king, requested that a contingent of Han forces be established in Yixun. Chinese army officers were sent to colonize the area, and an office of commandant was established at Yixun. A number of settlements in the Tarim Basin such as Qiemo and Niya were described in the Book of Han as independent states, but these later became part of Shanshan. While the name of the kingdom was changed to Shanshan by the Chinese, the Loulan region continued to be known as Kroran by the locals.The region remained under Chinese control intermittently, and when China was weak in the Western Regions, Loulan was essentially independent. In 25 CE it was recorded that Loulan was in league with the Xiongnu. In 73 CE, the Han army officer Ban Chao went with a small group of followers to Shanshan, which was also receiving a delegation from the Xiongnu at the same time. Ban Chao killed the Xiongnu envoys and presented their heads to the King, after which King Guang of Shanshan submitted to Han authority. This would ensure the first step of the 'Silk Road' from central China to Shanshan would be under stable Chinese control. Around 119, Ban Yong recommended that a Chinese colony of 500 men be established in Loulan. A later military colony was established at Loulan by General Suo Man. It was recorded that in 222 CE, Shanshan sent tribute to China, and that in 283, the son of the king was sent as a hostage to the Chinese court during the reign of Emperor Wu of Jin. Loulan was also recorded as a dependent kingdom of Shanshan in the 3rd century Book of Wei.
The town of Loulan was abandoned in 330 CE, probably owing to lack of water when the Tarim River, which supported the settlement, changed course; the military garrison was moved south to Haitou. The fort of Yingpan to the northwest remained under Chinese control until the Tang dynasty. According to the Book of Wei, King Bilong of Shanshan fled to Qiemo together with half of his countrymen after an attack by Juqu Anzhou in 442 CE; so, Shanshan came to be ruled by Qiemo. In 445 Shanshan submitted to the Northern Wei. At the end of the 6th century, the Sui dynasty reestablished the city state of Shanshan.
After the 5th century, however, the land was frequently invaded by nomadic states such as Tuyuhun, the Rouran Khaganate, and the Dingling and the area gradually was abandoned. Around 630, at the beginning of the Tang period, Shanfutuo led the remaining Shanshan people to Hami.
The Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang passed through this region in 644 on his return from India to China, visited a town called Nafubo of Loulan, and wrote of Qiemo, "A fortress exists, but not a trace of man".
Descriptions in historical accounts
According to the Book of Han, Han envoys described the troops of Loulan as weak and easy to attack. Shanshan was said to have 1,570 households and 14,000 individuals, with 2,912 persons able to bear arms. It further described the region thus:According to the Commentary on the Water Classic, General Suo Mai of Dunhuang introduced irrigation techniques to the region by damming the Zhubin to irrigate the fields and produced bumper harvests for the next three years.
The Buddhist pilgrim Faxian who stayed in Shanshan in 399 on the way to India, described the country:The famous historical short story by acclaimed Japanese author Yasushi Inoue entitled "Lou-lan" recounts the continual flux of control in the area and how the inhabitants dealt with Chinese & nomadic invaders throughout its relatively short history.