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Yancai (Chinese: 奄蔡; pinyin: Yancai; Wade–Giles: Yen-ts’ai=Vast Steppe) was the Chinese name of an ancient nomadic state centered near the Aral Sea during the Han dynasty period (206 BC - 220 AD). They are generally considered to have been an Iranian people of the Sarmatian group. After becoming vassals of the Kangju in the 1st century BC, Yancai became known as Alanliao (Chinese: 阿蘭聊; pinyin: Alanliao; Wade–Giles: A-lan-ya/A-lan-liao). Yancai is often connected to the Aorsi of Roman records, while Alanliao has been connected to the later Alans.

History

Yancai is first mentioned in Chapter 123 of the Shiji (whose author, Sima Qian, died c. 90 BC), based on the travels of 2nd century BC Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian:

Yancai lies some 2,000 li northwest of Kangju. The people are nomads and their customs are generally similar to those of the people of Kangju. The country has over 100,000 archer warriors, and borders on a great shoreless lake.

The people of Yancai are usually considered an Iranian people of the Sarmatian group. They are often connected to the Aorsi of Roman records, who dominated the area between the Don and the Aral Sea and were both a wealthy mercentile people and a powerful military force. According to Chinese sources, Yancai belonged to the northern part of the Silk Route, known as the Northern Route. The Chinese sent embassies to Yancai and actively promoted trading relations..

The Later Han Dynasty Chinese chronicle, the Hou Hanshu, 88 (covering the period 25–220 and completed in the 5th century), mentioned a report that Yancai was now as vassal state of the Kangju known as Alanliao:

The kingdom of Yancai has changed its name to the kingdom of Alanliao. They occupy the country and the towns. It is a dependency of Kangju (the Chu, Talas, and middle Jaxartes basins). The climate is mild. Wax trees, pines, and ‘white grass’ are plentiful. Their way of life and dress are the same as those of Kangju.

Y. A. Zadneprovskiy writes that the subjection of Yancai by the Kangju occured in the 1st century BC.. The westward expansion of the Kangju obliged many of the Sarmatians to migrate westwards, and this contributed significantly to the Migration Period in Europe, which played a major role in world history. The name Alanliao has been connected by modern scholas with that of the Alans.

Yancai is last mentioned in the 3rd century Weilüe:

Then there is the kingdom of Liu, the kingdom of Yan , and the kingdom of Yancai , which is also called Alan. They all have the same way of life as those of Kangju. To the west, they border Da Qin , to the southeast they border Kangju . These kingdoms have large numbers of their famous sables. They raise cattle and move about in search of water and fodder. They are close to a large shoreless lake. Previously they were vassals of Kangju . Now they are no longer vassals.

In the 1st and 2nd centuries the AD, the Alans emerged as the dominant people of the Sarmatians either through conquering or absorbing other tribes. At this time they migrated westwards to Southern Russia and frequently raided the Parthian and Roman Empire.

See also

• Yuezhi
• Wusun
• Xiongnu
• Dayuan
• List of ancient Iranian peoples

References

Citations

1. The Chinese li of the Han period differs from the modern SI base unit of length; one li was equivalent to 415.8 metres.
2. Perhaps what is known in the sources as the Northern Sea". The "Great Shoreless lake" probably referred to both the Aral and Caspian seas. Source in Watson, Burton trans. 1993. Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. Han Dynasty II. (Revised Edition), p. 234. Columbia University Press. New York. ISBN 0-231-08166-9; ISBN 0-231-08167-7 (pbk.)
3. ^ Zadneprovskiy 1994, p. 465-467
4. ^ Brzezinski & Mielczarek 2002, p. 7-8
5. Hill, John E. 2003. "Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu." Revised Edition – to be published soon.
6. Zadneprovskiy 1994, p. 464-465
7. For an earlier version of this translation

Sources

• Brzezinski, Richard; Mielczarek, Mariusz (2002). The Sarmatians, 600 BC-AD 450. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 184176485X. Retrieved 7 June 2015. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Zadneprovskiy, Y. A. (1 January 1994). "The Nomads of Northern Central Asia After The Invasion of Alexander". In Harmatta, János (ed.). History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations, 700 B. C. to A. D. 250. UNESCO. p. 457-472. ISBN 9231028464. Retrieved 7 June 2015. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Alans
• Ancient Iranian peoples
• History of Central Asia
• Sarmatians