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Tarim basin
*** Shopping-Tip: Tarim basin
Image:KunlunMountains.jpg thumb|right|400px|Taklamakan Desert in the '''Tarim Basin'''.
The '''Tarim Basin''' is the largest
drainage basin basin in the world, lying between several
mountain ranges in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in
China's far west. Much of the basin is dominated by the
Taklamakan Taklamakan Desert. The area is sparsely settled by
Uyghurs and other
central Asian peoples, as well as by
Chinese race Chinese, many of them recent immigrants to the area from other parts of China.
The
Silk road in the Tarim Basin between
Kashgar ({{coor dm|39|28|N|76|03|E|}}) and
Yumen ({{coor dm|39|50|N|97|34|E|region:CN_type:city(100,000)}}) split in two routes, along the northern and the southern edges of the Taklamakan. Cities along each branch (from West to East) include:
*Northern route:
Aksu ({{coor dm.html">Kucha ({{coor dm
41|39|N|82|54|E|}}),_Korla ({{coor dm.html" title="Meaning of Korla.html" title="Meaning of Korla">Korla ({{coor dm">Loulan ({{coor dm
Turfan ({{coor dm.html" title="Meaning of 41|39|N|86|08|E|region:CN_type:city(200,000)}}),
Turfan ({{coor dm">59|N|89|11|E|}}),_
40|55|N|89|9|E|}}),_"middle route", deserted from the 6th century)
*Southern route:
Yarkand ({{coor dm.html">Pishan ({{coor dm
37|37|N|78|18|E|}}),_Khotan ({{coor dm|37|6|N|80|1|E|}})
Formerly the
Tocharian languages were spoken in the Tarim Basin. They were the easternmost of the
Indo-European languages. The Chinese name "
Yuezhi" (Chinese ζζ°?; Wade-Giles: YΓΌeh-Chih) denoted an ancient Central Asian people settled in modern
Gansu, who, vanquished by the
Xiongnu- Hun-nu , later migrated toward
Tarim Basin and southward to form the
Kushan Empire in northern India.
Image:SilkRoadRobbers.jpg Silk Road.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|250px|Robbers on the [[Silk Road,
Mogao caves in the eastern Tarim Basin, 535-556 CE..html" title="Meaning of 250px|Robbers on the [[Silk Road">thumb|250px|Robbers on the [[Silk Road,
Mogao caves in the eastern Tarim Basin, 535-556 CE.">250px|Robbers on the [[Silk Road">thumb|250px|Robbers on the [[Silk Road,
Mogao caves in the eastern Tarim Basin, 535-556 CE.
The Chinese managed to take control of the Tarim Basin from the Xiongnu at the end of the 1st century CE under the leadership of general
Ban Chao (32-102 CE).
The powerful Kushans expanded back into the Tarim Basin in the 1st-2nd centuries CE, where they established a kingdom in
Kashgar and competed for control of the area with nomads and Chinese forces. They introduced the
Brahmi script, the Indian
Prakrit language for administration, and
Buddhism, playing a central role in the
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to Eastern Asia.
Lop Nur, a saline marshy depression at the east end of the Tarim Basin, is a
nuclear testing nuclear test site for the
People's Republic of China. The
Tarim River empties into the Lop Nur.
The Tarim Basin is thought to contain large reserves of
petroleum and
natural gas.
Interesingly enough, the snow on K2, the second highest mountain in the world flows off into glaciers, which move down the valleys to melt, forming river water which winds its way down out of the mountains to finally end up in the Tarim Basin. These waters never find the sea. In the midst of the deserts all around they feed the oases, are pumped off for agriculture, and some finally make it to a set of salt lakes and marshes where they evaporate.
See also
*
Geography of China
*
Kara-Khanid Khanate
*
Kunlun Mountains
*
Tarim mummies
References
*Baumer, Christoph. 2000. ''Southern Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Sir Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin''. White Orchid Books. Bangkok.
*Mallory, J.P. and Mair, Victor H. 2000. ''The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West''. Thames & Hudson. London. ISBN 0500051011
*Stein, Aurel M. 1907. ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan'', 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford. [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/]
*Stein, Aurel M. 1921. ''Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China'', 5 vols. London & Oxford. Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980. [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/]
* Stein Aurel M. 1928. ''Innermost Asia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia, Kan-su and Eastern Iran'', 5 vols. Clarendon Press. Reprint: New Delhi. Cosmo Publications. 1981.
External links
-
Silk Road Seattle (The Silk Road Seattle website contains many useful resources including a number of full-text historical works)
-
http://idp.bl.uk/chapters/topics/buddhism/khotanese/khotanese.html (A site devoted to the Buddhism of Khotan with a copy of Sir Aurel Stein's map of the Tarim Basin and Khotan region)
de:Tarimbecken
fr:bassin du Tarim
no:Tarimbekkenet
ja:γΏγͺγ ηε°
zh:ε‘ιζ¨ηε°
Category:Geography of China
Category:Xinjiang
Category:Ecoregions
see
Tarim Basin
*** Shopping-Tip: Tarim basin
