Kingdom of Khotan - History Timeline

History Timeline

• c.84 BC: Buddhism is reportedly introduced to Khotan.
• c.56: Xian, the powerful and prosperous king of Yarkand, attacked and annexed Khotan. He transferred Yulin, its king, to become the king of Ligui, and set up his younger brother, Weishi, as king of Khotan.
• 61: Khotan defeats Yarkand. Khotan becomes very powerful after this and 13 kingdoms submitted to Khotan, which now, with Shanshan, became the major power on the southern branch of the Silk Route.
• 78: Ban Chao, a Chinese General, subdues the kingdom.
• 105: The 'Western Regions' rebelled, and Khotan regained its independence.
• 127: The Khotanese king Vijaya Krīti is said to have helped the Kushan Emperor Kanishka in his conquest of Saketa in India.
• 127: The Chinese general Ban Yong attacked and subdued Karashahr; and then Kucha, Kashgar, Khotan, Yarkand, and other kingdoms, seventeen altogether, who all came to submit to China.
• 129: Fangqian, the king of Khotan, killed the king of Keriya, Xing. He installed his son as the king of Keriya. Then he sent an envoy to offer tribute to Han. The Emperor pardoned the crime of the king of Khotan), ordering him to hand back the kingdom of Keriya. Fangqian refused.
• 131: Fangqian, the king of Khotan, sends one of his sons to serve and offer tribute at the Chinese Imperial Palace.
• 132: The Chinese sent the king of Kashgar, Chenpan, who with 20,000 men, attacked and defeated Khotan. He beheaded several hundred people, and released his soldiers to plunder freely. He replaced the king by installing Chengguo from the family of Xing, and then he returned.
• 151: Jian, the king of Khotan, was killed by Han chief clerk Wang Jing, who was in turn killed by Khotanese. Anguo, the son of Jian, was placed on the throne.
• 175: Anguo, the king of Khotan, attacked Keriya, and defeated it soundly. He killed the king and many others.
• 399 Chinese pilgrim monk, Faxian, visits and reports on the active Buddhist community there.
• 632: Khotan pays homage to China, and becomes a vassal state.
• 644: Chinese pilgrim monk, Xuanzang, stays 7–8 months in Khotan and writes a detailed account of the kingdom.

• 670: Tibet invades and conquers Khotan (now known as one of the "four garrisons").
• c.670-673: Khotan governed by Tibetan Mgar minister.
• 674: King Fudu Xiong (Vijaya Sangrāma IV), his family and followers flee to China after fighting the Tibetans. They are unable to return.
• c.680 - c.692: 'Amacha Khemeg rules as regent of Khotan.
• 692: China under Wu Zetian reconquers the Kingdom from Tibet. Khotan is made a protectorate.
• 725: Yuchi Tiao (Vijaya Dharma III) is beheaded by the Chinese for conspiring with the Turks. Yuchi Fushizhan (Vijaya Sambhava II) is placed on the throne by the Chinese.
• 728: Yuchi Fushizhan (Vijaya Sambhava II) officially given the title "King of Khotan" by the Chinese emperor.
• 736: Fudu Da (Vijaya Vāhana the Great) succeeds Yuchi Fushizhan and the Chinese emperor bestows a title on his wife.
• c. 740: King Yuchi Gui (Btsan-bzang Btsan-la Brtan) succeeds Fudu Da (Vijaya Vāhana) and begins persecution of Buddhists. Khotanese Buddhist Monks flee to Tibet were they are given refuge by the Chinese wife of King Mes-ag-tshoms. Soon after, the Queen died in a smallpox epidemic and the monks had to flee to Gandhara.
• 740: Chinese emperor bestows a title on wife of Yuchi Gui.
• 746: The Prophecy of the Li Country is completed and later added to the Tibetan Tanjur.
• 756: Yuchi Sheng hands over the government to his younger brother, Shihu (Jabgu) Yao.
• 786 to 788: Yuchi Yao still ruling Khotan at the time of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Wukong's visit to Khotan.

• 969: King Nanzongchang sends a tribute mission to China.
• 971: A Buddhist priest (Jixiang) brings a letter from the king of Khotan to the Chinese emperor offering to send a dancing elephant which he had captured from Kashgar.
• 1006: Khotan held by the Muslim Yūsuf Qadr Khān, a brother or cousin of the Muslim ruler of Kāshgar and Balāsāghūn.
• Between 1271 and 1275: Marco Polo visits Khotan.