Loulan

Democratic Republic of Loulan جمهوری دموکراتی تخارستان (jomhuri-e demokrâti-ye toxârestân) 樓蘭民主共和國 (lóulán mínzhǔ gònghéguó)
Flag Emblem
Physical geography of Loulan
Capital and largest city	Urabo
Official languages	Tokhari, Mandarin
Ethnic groups (2017)	63.44% Tokhari 28.99% Han 4.54% Hui 3.03% other
Religion (2005)	71% Traditional religions (including Buddhism and irreligion) 28% Islam 1% Christianity
Demonym(s)	Loulani, Loulanese
Government	Unitary Constitutional Parliamentary Republic
• Prime Minister	Bhadra Kolite
• President	Punichandra Khashâyâri
Legislature	Sansad-e Tokhârestân
Independence from China
• Declared	20 December 1992
Area
• Total	1,664,897 km2 (642,820 sq mi)
• Water (%)	negligible
Population
• 2019 estimate	23,600,000
• 2010 census	21,815,815
• Density	13/km2 (33.7/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	2017 estimate
• Total	$161.74 billion
• Per capita	$6,680
Gini (2015)	46.2 high
HDI (2014)	0.718 high
Currency	Rupee (₹) (XJR)
Time zone	UTC+6:00
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+86
ISO 3166 code	XJ
Internet TLD	.xj

Loulan, officially the Democratic Republic of Loulan (Tokhari: جمهوری دموکراتی تخارستان jomhuri-e demokrâti-ye toxârestân; Chinese: 樓蘭民主共和國 lóulán mínzhǔ gònghéguó), is a sovereign state in Central Asia. Loulan is a landlocked country, dominated by the Dzungharian basin in the north, the Tarim basin in the south, and the Turpan depression in the east. It is split roughly between north and south by the Tian Shan mountains. It is bordered by China to the south and east, Mongolia to the northeast, Russia to the north, Kazakhstan to the northwest, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan to the west, and Pakistan and India to the south. Its capital and largest city is Urabo.

The earliest known inhabitants of the area of modern Loulan were a caucasoid people, often with red or blonde hair, dating to at least the 2nd millennium BCE. Various nomadic peoples, such as the Yuezhi and Wusun of Chinese sources, were part of the migration of Indo-European speakers who settled in Central Asia (possibly as far east as Gansu) during that period. Although geographically isolated by its mountainous boundaries and highly variegated and often inhospitable terrain, which has helped to preserve its unique culture, Loulan has been at the crossroads of several great civilisations as part of the Silk Road and other commercial and cultural routes. It has long been dominated by foreign powers, in particular the Chinese, and attained sovereignty as a nation-state only after its independence from the People's Republic of China in 1992.

Since independence, Loulan has officially been a unitary parliamentary republic, although it has endured some internal conflicts and political strife. Loulan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the World Assembly and the United Nations.

Ethnic Tokharis make up a small majority of the country's nearly 23 million people, followed by significant minorities of Han and Hui Chinese. The Tokhari language, also known as Tokhari Persian or Loulanese Persian, is a variety of the Persian language and the primary official language of Loulan, although Chinese remains widely spoken and is an official language — a legacy of government-sponsored Sinicisation during the administration of the People's Republic of China. The majority of the population follow either Mahayana Buddhism or traditional Chinese religion, although there is a significant Sunni Muslim minority and a small but historically significant Christian community. The culture of Loulan bears similarity to elements of Tibetan, Chinese, Mongolian, Persian, and Russian influence, in addition to its autochthonic heritage.

Etymology & nomenclature

The Tokhari name for the country, Toxârestân (Agnean pronunciation: [ to̞.ɒːɾes.ˈtɒn ]), is derived from the name of the Tokhari people.

The official Chinese name, Loulan (樓蘭 lóulán) is derived from the name of the historical Loulan Kingdom, which persisted from 630—1132 CE. The original pronunciation of the characters 樓蘭 in Old Chinese was likely very similar to /*ɡ·roː ɡ·raːn/ (Zhengzhang, 1995). Over the course of numerous sound changes, this became Middle Chinese /ləu lɑn/ and later modern /lou˧˥ lan˧˥/.

During the Han dynasty (202 BCE—220 CE), the area of Loulan was known collectively as the Western Regions (西域 xīyù), while under the Tang dynasty (618—907) it was known as Qixi (磧西 qìxī). The northern part of Loulan, Dzhungaria, was known as Zhunbu (準部 zhǔnbù) until the northern and southern regions were combined to form the Western Region New Frontier (西域新疆 xīyù xīnjiāng) or simply Xinjiang. This name was official until 1955 when the name was officially changed to the Xinjiang Loulanese Autonomous Region (新疆樓蘭人自治區 xīnjiāng lóulánrén zìzhìqū). While the name Xinjiang no longer has any official status, it is still widely in use as a colloquial Chinese name for Loulan.

History

Early history

According to J. P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair, the Chinese describe the existence of "white people with long hair" or the Bai people in the Shan Hai Jing, who lived beyond their northwestern border.

The well-preserved Tarim mummies with Caucasoid features, often with reddish or blond hair, today displayed at the Urabo Museum and dated to the 2nd millennium BC, have been found in the same area of the Tarim Basin. Various nomadic tribes, such as the Yuezhi, Saka, and Wusun were probably part of the migration of Indo-European speakers who were settled in eastern Central Asia (possibly as far as Gansu) at that time. The Ordos culture in northern China east of the Yuezhi, is another example, yet skeletal remains from the Ordos culture found have been predominantly Mongoloid. By the time the Han dynasty under Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BC) wrestled the Western Regions of the Tarim Basin away from its previous overlords, the Xiongnu, it was inhabited by various peoples, such as Indo-European Tocharians in Turpan and Kucha and Indo-Iranian Saka peoples centered around Kashgar and Khotan.

Nomadic cultures such as the Yuezhi (Rouzhi) are documented in the area of Xinjiang where the first known reference to the Yuezhi was made in 645 BC by the Chinese Guan Zhong in his work Guanzi (管子, Guanzi Essays: 73: 78: 80: 81). He described the Yúshì 禺氏 (or Niúshì 牛氏), as a people from the north-west who supplied jade to the Chinese from the nearby mountains (also known as Yushi) in Gansu. The supply of jade from the Tarim Basin from ancient times is well documented archaeologically: "It is well known that ancient Chinese rulers had a strong attachment to jade. All of the jade items excavated from the tomb of Fuhao of the Shang dynasty, more than 750 pieces, were from Khotan in modern Loulan. As early as the mid-first millennium BC, the Yuezhi engaged in the jade trade, of which the major consumers were the rulers of agricultural China."

At the beginning of the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220), the region was subservient to the Xiongnu, a powerful nomadic people based in modern Mongolia. In the 2nd century BC, the Han dynasty made preparations for war against Xiongnu when Emperor Wu of Han dispatched the explorer Zhang Qian to explore the mysterious kingdoms to the west and to form an alliance with the Yuezhi people in order to combat the Xiongnu. As a result of these battles, the Chinese controlled the strategic region from the Ordos and Gansu corridor to Lop Nor. They succeeded in separating the Xiongnu from the Qiang peoples to the south, and also gained direct access to the Western Regions. Han China sent Zhang Qian as an envoy to the states in the region, beginning several decades of struggle between the Xiongnu and Han China over dominance of the region, eventually ending in Chinese success. In 60 BC Han China established the Protectorate of the Western Regions (西域都護府) at Wulei (烏壘, near modern Luntai) to oversee the entire region as far west as the Pamir Mountains, which would remain under the influence and suzerainty of the Han dynasty with some interruptions. For instance, it fell out of their control during the civil war against Wang Mang (r. AD 9–23). It was brought back under Han control in AD 91 due to the efforts of the general Ban Chao.

The Western Jin dynasty succumbed to successive waves of invasions by nomads from the north at the beginning of the 4th century. The short-lived kingdoms that ruled northwestern China one after the other, including Former Liang, Former Qin, Later Liang, and Western Liáng, all attempted to maintain the protectorate, with varying degrees of success. After the final reunification of northern China under the Northern Wei empire, its protectorate controlled what is now the southeastern region of Loulan. Local states such as Shule (also known as Su-Lig), Khotan, and Qiemo controlled the western region, while the central region around Turpan was controlled by Gaochang, remnants of a state (Northern Liang) that once ruled part of what is now Gansu province in northwestern China.

During the Tang dynasty, a series of expeditions were conducted against the Western Turkic Khaganate, and their vassals, the oasis states of southern Loulan. Campaigns against the oasis states began under Emperor Taizong with the annexation of Gaochang in 640. The nearby kingdom of Ārśi was captured by the Tang in 644 and the kingdom of Kuca was conquered in 649. The Tang Dynasty then established the Protectorate General to Pacify the West (安西都護府) or Anxi Protectorate in 640 to control the region.

During the devastating Anshi Rebellion, which nearly led to the destruction of the Tang dynasty, Tibet invaded the Tang on a wide front, from Xinjiang to Yunnan. It occupied the Tang capital of Chang'an in 763 for 16 days, and took control of southern Loulan by the end of the century. At the same time, the Uyghur Khaganate took control of northern Loulan, as well as much of the rest of Central Asia, including Mongolia.

As both Tibet and the Uyghur Khaganate declined in the mid-9th century, the Kara-Khanid Khanate, which was a confederation of Turkic tribes such as the Karluks, Chigils and Yaghmas, took control of western Loulan in the 10th century and the 11th century. The Kara-Khanids converted to Buddhism and adopted the culture of the Indo-Iranian peoples of the Tarim basin. During this period of time, the Tocharian Loulan Kingdom was flourishing in the eastern and northern parts of the Tarim Basin, led by a dynasty of native rulers until its takeover by a Persified Uyghur clan, the Idiqut, in 1006 CE.

In 1132, remnants of the Liao dynasty from Manchuria entered Xinjiang, fleeing the rebellion of their neighbors, the Jurchens. They established a new empire, the Qara Khitai, which ruled over both the Kara-Khanid-held and Uyghur-Loulani-held parts of the Tarim Basin for the next century. Although Khitan and Chinese were the primary languages of administration, the empire also administered in Persian.