The Tocharians: The Enigmatic History of the Ancient Ethnic Groups in East Asia

Located in the Tarim Basin of Asia during the first few centuries CE, a people and a kingdom grew to prominence in medieval central and east Asian geopolitics. The people are known today as the Tocharians, and their primary kingdom was Kucha, but despite their longevity, this incredible kingdom and its people have been overlooked and misunderstood by modern societies and historians for centuries. The lack of in-depth studies on the Tocharians largely stems from the fact that they are relatively newcomers to the modern academic scene - it was only in the late 19th century that historians identified them as a distinct ethnic group, and even today, philologists, historians, and archaeologists still have much to uncover about these enigmatic people and their kingdom. A potential early misidentification caused much of this confusion, yet scholars were also left wondering how the Tocharians came to occupy the Tarim Basin, which was perhaps based on the biases of 19th century historians. What has been uncovered so far is truly fascinating and important in the larger picture of Asian and Indo-European history.

When scholars first discovered the Tocharians in the late 19th century, they were amazed that Caucasian people who spoke an Indo-European language flourished so far away from the Indo-European homeland and other Indo-European peoples. Scholars immediately developed several theories to explain this apparent anomaly: some were quite logical and formed the basis for current models, while others were quickly and rightfully forgotten. An examination of the textual, archaeological, and art history sources reveals that the Tocharians played a major impact in the affairs of East and Central Asia, indirectly through their predecessors and their descendants, but also directly through trade, diplomacy, and most of all, religion. The Chinese textual sources indicate that the Tocharian cities along the northern Silk Road were important stops in the vast Taklamakan Desert, where merchants, travelers, and religious pilgrims from the East and West exchanged ideas, goods, and people. As scholars increased the depths of their research on the Tocharians, it became clearer that in many ways, the Tocharians were unlike their bellicose Indo-European ancestors and cousins to their west and more like the merchant-orientated Chinese to their east and the many Buddhists to their south and east. A look at the archaeology and art history from Kucha and the other Tocharian sites indicates that the Tocharians were very pious Buddhists who developed their own brand of Buddhism - although influenced by different people, the religion in the region was nonetheless very much Tocharian in outlook and practice.

Unlike most other Indo-European peoples, the Tocharians were not maritally orientated, which possibly played a role in their eventual downfall - a renewed, unified, and strong Chinese dynasty and fearsome nomadic steppe people surrounded the Tocharians. Ultimately, in the end, the Tocharians were unable to ward off the advances of their militarily stronger and numerically greater foes, but not before the Tocharians left behind a rich historical and cultural legacy that is just now becoming more appreciated.