eLibrary: Khotan Kingdom
Situated on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, the Kingdom of Khotan was founded around 300 BCE and flourished as a major hub along the Silk Road. Renowned for its production of jade and silk, it served as a vibrant centre of Buddhist culture and international exchange for over a millennium. Around 1000 CE, Khotan was conquered by the Muslim Kara-Khanid Khanate and gradually vanished beneath the desert sands. Its ruins were brought back to light in the early 20th century by British explorer Aurel Stein, whose excavations revealed a once-thriving oasis kingdom lost to time.
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Articles
Stein, A.M. 1904., Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan.
Stein, A.M. 1907. Ancient Khotan
Akagi, T., 2011. Six 10th century royal seals of the Khotan kingdom (PhD Thesis, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies).
Anderl, C., 2018. Linking Khotan and Dūnhuáng: Buddhist Narratives in Text and Image. Entangled Religions, 5, 50-311.
Bailey, H.W., 1971. The culture of the Iranian kingdom of ancient Khotan in Chinese Turkestan: the expansion of early Indian influence into Northern Asia. Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (The Oriental Library), 29,17-29.
Chandra, L., 2006. Suvarna-Bhasottama and the Defence of Serindic Khotan. Humanistic Base Texts and the Mahäyäna Sütras, 23.
Chandra, L., 2020. Journey of the Lotus Sutra: Khotan to Tunhuang. The Journal of Oriental Studies, 30, 23-32.
Duan, Q. and Wang, H., 2013. Were Textiles used as Money in Khotan in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries?. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 23(2), pp.307-325.
Duan, Q., 2020. Legends and ceremonies: Based on the observation of the Qu Shu collection at Xinjiang Lop Museum. Non-Han Literature Along the Silk Road, 21-45.
Elikhina, J., 2008. Some Buddhist Finds from Khotan: Materials in the Collections of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. The Silk Road, 6(1), 29-37.
Forte, E., 2020. Images of Patronage in Khotan. Dynamics in the History of Religions, p.40.
Forte, E., 2022. ‘Khotanese Themes’ in Dunhuang: Visual and Ideological Transfer in the 9th–11th Centuries, Buddhism in Central Asia II, 118-152
Haas, H., 2010. Who Stole China's China? – The Legacy of Sir Aurel Stein, Bachelor Thesis, Haverford College
Hamar, I. and Imre, H., 2021. Khotan and the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra. The Buddha's Words and Their Interpretations, 129-138.
Hamar, I., 2022. The Mañjuśrī Cult in Khotan. In What Happened After Mañjuśrī Migrated to China? 278-287.
Hansen, V., 2005. The Tribute Trade with Khotan in Light of Materials Found at the Dunhuang Library Cave. Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 19, 37-46.
Høisæter, T.L., 2024. Forms of Mobility in the Southern Tarim Basin in the 7th to 10th Centuries.
Kashgary, J., 2024. Ancient Buddhist temple in Xinjiang stirs controversy. Radio Free Asia. 2024.07.10
Kumamoto, H., 2008. A St. Petersburg bilingual document and problems of the chronology of Khotan. Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology, 3, 75-82.
Kumamoto, H., Khotan Pre-Islamic History
Laurent, Y., 2016. In the Bosom of Khotan? A Dialogue between Image and Text. Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, 93-119.
Lishuang, Z., 2010. A Preliminary Survey of Administrative Divisions in Tibetan-Ruled Khotan. In Scribes, Texts, and Rituals in Early Tibet and Dunhuang: Proceedings of the Third Old Tibetan Studies Panel Held at the Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Vancouver, 48-50.
Palmeri, G., 2021. Divine disguises on the crossroads of Khotan: The iconographies from Dandan Oilik. Journal of Asian Civilizations, 44(2), 67-107.
Rust, W. and Cushing, A., 2001. The Buried Silk Road Cities of Khotan. Athena Review, 3. 1.
Ryavec, K.E., Newly documented rows of Stupa-like platforms and nearby Vihara-like monastery ruins in the ancient kingdom of Khotan Region in the Tarim Basin. AARGnews Number 65: October 2022, p.8.
Stančo, L., 2015. An unusual khotanese terracotta Head from the Sherabad oasis.
Whitfield, S., 2020. Routes from the Swat: Buddhism in Khotan, Silk Road Digressions
Yamazaki, G.I., 1990. The legend of the foundation of Khotan. Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (The Oriental Library), 48, 55-80.
Yan, L., 2018. India’s Influence on Khotan from the Perspective of Cultural Communication, Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 289, 115-120.
Zeisler, B., 2009. East of the moon and west of the sun? Approaches to a land with many names, north of ancient India and south of Khotan. The Tibet Journal, 34(3/2), 371-463.
Zhan, Z., 2014. Secular Khotanese documents and the administrative system in Khotan. Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 28, 57-98.
Videos
The Sound of Khotanese Saka language (Utss) 1.56mins
The Unheard History Of The Khotan Kingdom! (Abhijit Chavda) 5.00mins
Khotan with Erika Forte (The Chinese Alphabet) 16.42mins
Khotan Oasis of Silk and Jade (MrGregjur) 48.49mins
The History of Eighth-century Khotan as Seen from Khotanese Documents (Magickyle) 52.00mins
Khotan: A neglected Silk Road kingdom By Susan Whitfield (SocAntiquaries) 75.40mins