The Wusuns: Culture, History , Neighbouring Tribes and Other Details

Read this article to learn about the culture, history, neighbouring tribes and Kings of the Wusuns.

Culture of the Wusuns:

Even when the Wusuns had entered the Iron age they lived a primitive life. The archaeological excavations made in Khirgisistan in 1929 reveal that the Wusuns excelled in the manufacture of pottery, and metal, wood and leather work.

Three kinds of wooden and clay vessels appear to have been in use-those for the storage of grain, those for eating and those weapons, they had heavy bows, three edged arrows Chang-kyan, who stayed among the Wusuns twice during his travels, helped to make these nomads friendly nobles married Chinese princess.

An ancient folk singer has composed this song, expressing the sorrowful life of a Chinese princess among the nomadic Wusuns:

My kin have banished me to a far off land

As spouse of a Wusun king they sent me to a foreign kingdom,

Where they dwell in round, felt covered huts,

And live on meat and milk.

History of the Wusuns:

Ruins of Wusun settlements have been found in three areas where they evidently lived in those days:

(1) Karabalti in the Chu Valley

(2) Korokal Tyup and Kochkor in Tyan Shan and

(3) a number of places in the Alma-ata district in the Ili valley. In 209 and 201 B. C., the Huns dealt them severe blows.

In 174 B. C., when Maudun and Chi-Uchu had forced the Yuchis out of their homelands, the lesser Yuchis settled in the Terim valley as neighbours of the Wusuns, while the greater Yuchis, in flying to the Oxus Valley, ravaged the Wusuns of the Ili and Chu vallyes. It was- then that the Wusuns accepted the Hunnish overlordship which ended only with their going over to China after the visit of Chang Kyan.

The Wusuns were not afraid of their western neighbours, the rulers of Fargana and Kung, or of those on their south the lesser Yuchis. It was from the East and Far East that danger threatened them. The Chinese were vitally interested in keeping the international trade route from the East under their control and this involved control of the Wusuns, but the Huns were not willing tolerate that their vassals should accept Chinese over-lordship. The Wusuns on their part realised that their interests lay with the Chinese, for the Huns, Being nomads as they were themselves, would, if they occupied their territory, take away their grazing grounds.

It was part of Chinese diplomacy to marry off their princesses to foreign rulers. Thus it was that Hunnish and Tibetan rulers were regularly being given Chinese princesses in marriage till as late as the 8th and 9th centuries A. D. Of course in the case of the Chinese a ‘Princess’ did not necessarily mean the daughter or sister of the king.

Just as the Royal storehouse contained many articles kept for presentation, so did the royal harem contained many beautiful maidens who had been collected from far and wide. The story of Chau Chun is well known. For many years there were fierce battles between the Huns and the Wusuns over Chinese princesses.

On one occasion, when a Chinese princess was sent in marriage to a Wusun chieftain, the Huns, feeling that the alliance of the Wusuns with the Chinese threatened their very existence, demanded that the Han princess be handed over to them and threatened war for non-compliance with their demand. The Wusuns turned for help to the Chinese Emperor Sven Ti (76 to 48 B. C), and the combined forces of the Chinese and Wusuns inflicted a severe defeat over the Huns. Of the forty thousand Huns who were slaughtered, some of their most famous generals and princes fell and 300,000 horses, cows, sheep, mules and camels were captured as booty.

As this happened before the division of the Hun tribe had taken place the Shanyu was the ruler of the entire Hun tribe. The Chinese had marched a hundred thousand troops six hundred miles westwards in order to come to the aid of the Wusuns, while the Wusun ruler of Kulja had attacked from the West with an army fifty thousand strong. The Chinese pursued them as far as Jami and Barkul, but the Huns had scented their arrival and dispatched their families and animals to the North. With the defeat of the Huns all the relatives of the Shanyu were taken prisoner.

The Huns would have wished to avenge their defeat that same winter, but it snowed so heavily that nine-tenths of the tribe was destroyed. The Northern neighbours, Ting Ling (the Khirgiz or pre Uigurs), also took advantage of their difficulty and launched an attack on them, while the Vu-Kvans of Manchuria did not stand by idly either and did their best to destroy them.

Thus the Huns who had set out to capture the Chinese Princess, were themselves seriously weakened. Chinese historians have estimated that in this battle, prompted by primitive human emotions, the Huns lost a third of their forces, including the large numbers who died of starvation as well as half their cattle.

In 1929 a very valuable archaeological find was made in Wusun territory. In the excavations at Altai too, the grave of a Wusun king has been found which has been dated as belonging to the 3rd Century B. C. This grave is as astonishing as the graves of the Huns found in the Northern Caucasus.

It appears however that soon after the grave had been dug it was broken into by thieves, who took away many of the valuables. But this area, being situated in that part of the Altai where ground is covered with perpetual snow, the hole dug by the thieves was soon filled with snow and thus for twenty-two centuries the snow hid and preserved all that lay buried below.

The grave was four metres deep and contained ancient leather, wood and other articles, as well as ten large and beautiful horses, all in an excellent state of preservation. It is considered likely that these horses were those used by the dead chieftain himself. The grave also contained a number of ornaments and although the thieve had made away with most of the valuables, there is much of archaeological interest in this find.

Again on the banks of the Ursula, two tumuli have be n found which contain, besides human remains, fourteen horses together with their trappings, five hundred ornaments made of gold and other metals, as well as garments of various kinds. The very word Altai means ‘golden mountain and at the time when this grave was made, the whole of Asia was supplied with gold from Altai.

Neighbouring Tribes of the Wusuns:

The Wusuns had been masters of the entire territory from Altai to Tyan- Shan. Gradually, however, the Huns infiltrated into this region and by the first century A. D. only the mountainous regions of Tyan-Shan were left to the Wusuns. But even after the Huns had occupied the 111 and Chu Valleys a number of Scythian tribes were permitted to continue in the region under the protection of the Huns.

We find evidence of the continuous existence of the Wusun tribe right up to 436 A D„ when a Wusun king is known to have sent presents to the Chinese court During the period of the Hun domination over this territory the Hu Hwans, Ting Ling and Tungus tribes merged into the Hun tribe-a process that was rendered easier by the fact that all these were Mongoloid tribes similar in appearance to the Huns. Their languages had been different, but these gradually died out and the Hunnish dialects were adopted.

It was by a similar process that the Southern Huns were absorbed by the Chinese. True, the absorption of the Wusuns represented a more difficult problem, as they differed not only in language but in appearance. Nevertheless it did take place and ultimately they lost their separate entity. Till this day, however, there is a tribe among the Kazakas known as the Sari Ui Sun tribe, which appears to be descended from the old Wusun tribe.

North-west of the Wusuns (north of the Aral Sea and the Jaxartes River) dwelt the Kung tribe-a name familiar to the readers of the Mahabharat and other Sanskrit texts. They belonged to the old Scythian stock but some historians consider them to have been related to the Sogdhians.

The Scythian Kungs and the Mongoloid Kung Li flourished at about the same time and later the Kung territory was taken over by the Kung Li and their Hunnish descendents. We find traces of the Kungs till as late as the fifth or sixth century A. D., when they were ultimately absorbed by the Turks and the Sogdhians.

The Sarmatians, a Scythian tribe, occupied the territory west of the Kungs as far as the Don. Their descendents came to be known later as Alans. Dr. Vernadsky is of the opinion that the Alans were the same as the Unts. Quoting ancient historians he states: “The Sklavs and the Unts had originally the same name and these two barbaric tribes had the same customs and manners, they spoke the same primitive tongue, were similar in appearance having the same tall figures and sturdy built, the same dark hair and complexion. They lived a hard life and like the Messagetae did not care for physical comforts.”

Vernadsky goes on to say that the Sarmatians, including the Unts, crossed westwards from Kazakstan to the south of Russia. Of all the Sarmatian tribes the Alans were the most powerful. By the end of the first century after Christ they had occupied the lower Don valley and the Northen Caucasus.

The word Unt when written in Chinese characters is pronounced Un Che and philologists are of opinion that the word Uss or Ussi is derived from it. The Papal Emissary Piano Karpini, writing in 1246-48 A. D., has described the races ruled by the Mongols as “Alans or Ussi” and he evidently holds the view that they are one and the same. The French Ambassador Ruk Ruk, on his return from Mongolia in 1253-54 A.D., expressed the same opinion. The researches of Dr. Vernadsky have also led him to the conclusion that the Unts, Assu or Yassu are the ancestors of the modern Osseti and that they have had much to do with the making of the Eastern Slavs (the modern Russians).

It would not be surprising if we found remains of this nomadic tribe from the Aral Sea to the lower Danube. The Azaf Sea north east of the Black Sea has actually been named after them, because Azaff or Asaf means Sea of the Uss. As a result of the repeated attacks of the Huns, the Uss tribe seem either to have fled towards the Caucasus or to have been absorbed by the Huns.

Wusuns Kings:

Saptanada was the main dwelling place of the Wusuns. Mention of this fact is found in Chinese writings following the time of those journeys of Chang Kyan which were undertaken to stir up the Scythians against the Huns in the middle of the second century.

One of the Wusun kings was killed by the Huns and his son was taken captive and later placed on the throne. The Wusun tribe continued to live in the plains of the Saptanada until their defeat at the hands of the Huns, which forced them to retreat to Tyanshan. In the second century before Christ the Wusun tribe consisted of 12,000 families or 630,000 souls. They could put an army of 188,000 on the field.

Their capital, Chi Gu, stood on the south­-eastern banks of the Issikul River and was situated 610 li, north west of Sinkiang, 2000 li north-east of Khojend, the capital of Fargana, 5000 li east of Kung border and 2000 li north-west of Tawang their capital. According to the Russian historian Orestof, Chi Gu stood not on the borders of Issikul, but on the banks of the river Kijit Su. Chinese writers have given an account of some of the Wusun kings. Their names, as given below, are written as pronounced by the Chinese. The actual names are not known.

Gun-Mo (105 B. C) was the king, who married the Chinese princess whose sad life was commemorated in the song already quoted. When the Chinese Emperor attacked Fargana in order to seize their famous horses, Gun Mo contributed a contingent of 2000 soldiers. During the reign of his grandson

Gun-Chui-Mi, who had a Chinese wife, the influence of Chinese officers grew considerably. Another Sen Chu (Wusun king) Ung-Gui-Mi, married the Chinese wife of his stepbrother. Ung-Gui-Mi died in 60 B. C. He was an extremely powerful and capable ruler who revealed his prowess at home as well as abroad.

At the instigation of the Chinese, he launched an attack on the Huns in 71 B. C. and inflicted a severe defeat on them, killing 40,000 soldiers and capturing 70,000 animals. In addition, he not only attacked his south-eastern neighbours, the inhabitants of the Terim valley, and made his son the ruler of Yarkand, but concluded an alliance with the king of Kucha by giving his daughter in marriage.

After his death, his step-brother Ni Mi succeeded him, assuming the title of Kvan Van. Although he himself was the son of a Hun princess he took the widow of his brother, a Chinese princess, as his wife. But he did not get on well with his Chinese wife and her countrymen.

The Chinese ambassador intrigued against him and attempted his assassination. He managed however to survive and punished his enemy by complaining to the Chinese Emperor. Sometime later the Wusuns had to face an attack from the Huns. The Chinese could not send them any help and Kvan Van was killed in battle. Chui Li, later Vu Chyu Tu, succeeded him, assuming the title of Gun-Mo, Junior.

Meanwhile the son of Ung-Gui-Mi had assumed the title of Gun-Mo, Senior and proclaimed himself king. The Junior Gun-Mo controlled 70,000 families, while the Senior Gun- Mo controlled 40,000. The latter also fought against the Huns with Chinese aid. The reign of the Senior Gun-Mo was comparatively peaceful, but he did not die a natural death.

I-Chi-Mi (11 B. C. to 8 A. D.) was the son of a Chinese princess and grandson of the last king. In the clash between the Senior and Junior Gun- Mos, the Chinese had supported the Senior Gun-Mo. The Junior was authored and after his death at the hands of the Huns, I-Chi-Mi was placed on the throne by Chinese.

In 11 B: C., I-Chi-Mi and his uncle Bi-Kwan-Chi attacked Gun-Mo from the North with 50,000 soldiers. He established a close alliance with the Chinese and when he went to the Chinese court, was well received. Bi-Kwan-Chi was later slain by the Chinese.

By 8 B. C. the Terim valley had fallen into the hands of the Huns and the Wusuns lost contact with China. It was only in 73 A. D. that this contact was again established. At this time the Kushan King, Kanishk was ruling over India and Central Asia. The Terim valley was also in the hands of Kanishk, but he accepted Chinese Suzerainty.

In 97 A. D. a large army under the command of Wang-Chao, marched westwards to the Caspian Sea to establish full control over the western trade route. At that time the Wusuns, the Kungs and the inhabitants of Fargana, were all under Chinese domination. Till the end of the second century after Christ the Syan Pi dynasty, descended from the Tungus, was in full control of North China.

In 181 A. D. the Syan Pi king Ta Shi extended the frontiers of his kingdom to the borders of Wusun territory and in the fourth century A. D. another Syan Pi dynasty succeeded in annexing a part ‘of Wusun territory. From the fourth to the middle of the sixth century after Christ the Tu-Tan dynasty dominated Central Asia. It was under pressure from them that the Wusuns were forced to leave the plains of Saptanada and seek refuge in the Tyan-Shan mountains.

In 425 A. D. many of the western monarchs sent their ambassadors to the court of Syan-Pi, Emperor of North China. At this time North China was split into two kingdoms, the Northern Wei and the Western Wei. Among those who sent their emissaries were the Wusuns.

In 436 A. D. a Chinese representative visited the Wusuns. Up to this time the Wusuns had been sending their annual tribute regularly to the Chinese but after this we do not find any mention of the Wusuns in Chinese writings. In modern times it is only among the Khirgiz Kazak people that we find a tribe name Ui-Sun.