Ancient people of Yuezhi

Chinese sources of the second century BC mention another group of early Xinjiang people, the Yuezhi, who inhabited the region around Dunhuang and the Gansu Corridor for millennia. The Yuezhi people were considered to be part of the nomadic tribes of Indo— European decent who provided jade stones to the Chinese Sang dynasty.

They defeated the Wusun in the west and killed their King Nandoumi. It is thought that the Yuezhi extended their rule to the northwest part of Gansu and the southwest part of Mongolia.

In 176 BC Yuezhi was driven out from western Gansu by Xiongnu under Chanyu Modu. Chanyu Jizhu attacked them again in 162 BC.

The attacks by the Xiongnu prompted the majority of the Yuezhi to migrate westward to the vicinity of Ili River and a smaller group to move south to settle among the highland Qiang peoples in Nan-Shan.

The Yuezhi reached Bactria (present-day northwest Afghanistan and Tajikistan) about 135 B.C. There their disparate tribes were united by Kujula Kadphises in the first century BC. Gradually wresting control of the area from Scytho-Parthian, the Yuezhi move south into the northwest Indian region traditionally known as Gandhara and established a capital near Kabul.
Ancient people of Yuezhi