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Kangju
Ethnic group mentioned in Chinese history; probably the Sogdians / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kangju (Chinese: 康居; pinyin: kāngjū; Wade–Giles: K'ang-chü; Eastern Han Chinese: kʰɑŋ-kɨɑ < *khâŋ-ka (c. 140 BCE)[1]) was the Chinese name of a kingdom in Central Asia during the first half of the first millennium CE. The name Kangju is now generally regarded as a variant or mutated form of the name Sogdiana. According to contemporaneous Chinese sources, Kangju was the second most powerful state in Transoxiana, after the Yuezhi.[2] Its people, known in Chinese as the Kāng (康), were evidently of Indo-European origins, spoke an Eastern Iranian language, and had a semi-nomadic way of life. The Sogdians may have been the same people as those of Kangju and closely related the Sakas,[3] or other Iranian groups such as the Asii.[4]
Quick Facts Status, Capital ...
Kangju | |
---|---|
1st century BCE (?)–5th century CE | |
![]() The approximate territory of the Kangju c. 200 CE. | |
Status | Independent state |
Capital | Kangu |
Common languages | Sogdian language |
Historical era | Late Antiquity |
• Established | 1st century BCE (?) |
• Disestablished | 5th century CE |
Today part of | Uzbekistan Tajikistan |
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