13 Facts About Kucha

1.

Kucha, or Kuche, was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the northern edge of what is the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin and south of the Muzat River.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,636
2.

The Kingdom of Kucha occupied a strategic position on the Northern Silk Road, which brought it prosperity, and made it a wealthy center of trade and culture.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,637
3.

In 124, Kucha formally submitted to the Chinese court, and by 127 China had conquered the whole of the Tarim Basin.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,638
4.

Kucha became a part of the Western protectorate of the Chinese Han Dynasty, with China's control of the Silk Road facilitating the exchange of art and the propagation of Buddhism from Central Asia.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,639
5.

Kucha became very powerful and rich in the last quarter of the 4th century CE, about to take over most of the trade along the Silk Road at the expense of the Southern Silk Road, which lay along the southern edge of the Tarim Basin.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,640
6.

Kucha was an important Buddhist center from Antiquity until the late Middle Ages.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,641
7.

Kucha is well known as the home of the great fifth-century translator monk Kumarajiva.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,642
8.

Kucha translated six Buddhist texts into Chinese in 258 at China's famous White Horse Temple, including the Infinite Life Sutra, an important sutra in Pure Land Buddhism.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,643
9.

Language of Kucha, as evidenced by surviving manuscripts and inscriptions, was Kusinne known as Tocharian B or West Tocharian, an Indo-European language.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,644
10.

Kizil Caves lie about 70 kilometres northwest of Kucha and were included within the rich fourth-century kingdom of Kucha.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,645
11.

Kucha told the young man he would not grant permission unless the mason carved 1000 caves into the local hills.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,646
12.

From around the third or fourth century Kucha began the manufacture of Wu Zhu cash coins inspired by the diminutive and devalued Wu Zhu's of the post-Han dynasty era in Chinese history.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,647
13.

The coinage of Kucha includes the "Han Qiu bilingual Wu Zhu coin" which has a yet undeciphered text belonging to a language spoken in Kucha.

FactSnippet No. 1,936,648