Editing Sogdia (section)

=== Saka and Kushan periods (146 BC–260 AD) ===
[[File:Saka warrior Termez Achaeological Museum.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Head of a [[Sakas|Saka]] warrior, as a defeated enemy of the [[Yuezhi]], from [[Khalchayan]], northern [[Bactria]], 1st century BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abdullaev |first1=Kazim |title=Nomad Migration in Central Asia (in After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam) |journal=Proceedings of the British Academy |date=2007 |volume=133 |pages=87–98 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6864202}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Greek Art in Central Asia, Afghan – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/greece-viii#prettyPhoto[content]/7/}}</ref><ref>[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bf/c2/42/bfc242271c38d714044837d179faab53.jpg Also a Saka according to this source]</ref>]]
Finally Sogdia was occupied by [[nomad]]s when the [[Sakas]] overran the [[Greco-Bactrian kingdom]] around 145 BC, soon followed by the [[Yuezhi]], the nomadic predecessors of the [[Kushans]]. From then until about 40 BC the Yuezhi tepidly minted coins imitating and still bearing the images of the Greco-Bactrian kings Eucratides I and [[Heliocles I]].<ref name="Michon, Daniel 2015 pp 112">Michon, Daniel (2015), ''Archaeology and Religion in Early Northwest India: History, Theory, Practice'', London, New York, New Delhi: Routledge, pp 112–123, {{ISBN|978-1-138-82249-8}}.</ref>

The Yuezhis were visited in [[Transoxiana]] by a Chinese mission, led by [[Zhang Qian]] in 126 BC,<ref name="megalithic">[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006 ''Silk Road, North China''], C. Michael Hogan, The Megalithic Portal, A. Burnham, ed.</ref> which sought an offensive alliance with the Yuezhi against the [[Xiongnu]]. Zhang Qian, who spent a year in Transoxiana and [[Bactria]], wrote a detailed account in the ''Shiji'', which gives considerable insight into the situation in [[Central Asia]] at the time.{{sfn|Watson|1993|pp=233–236}} The request for an alliance was denied by the son of the slain Yuezhi king, who preferred to maintain peace in Transoxiana rather than seek revenge.

[[File:Noin-Ula carpet, Yuezhi fighting a SogdianNoin-Ula carpet, Yuezhi fighting a Sogdian.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Yuezhi]] (left) fighting a Sogdian behind a shield (right), [[Noin-Ula|Noin-Ula carpet]], 1st century BC/AD.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yatsenko |first1=Sergey A. |title=Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia |journal=The Silk Road |date=2012 |volume=10 |url=http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol10/SilkRoad_10_2012_yatsenko.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114012702/http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol10/SilkRoad_10_2012_yatsenko.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Zhang Qian also reported:

{{blockquote|text=the Great Yuezhi live 2,000 or 3,000 ''li'' [832–1,247 kilometers] west of ''[[Dayuan]]'', north of the ''Gui'' {{bracket|[[Oxus]] }} river. They are bordered on the south by ''[[Daxia]]'' {{bracket|[[Bactria]]}}, on the west by ''Anxi'' {{bracket|[[Parthia]]}}, and on the north by ''[[Kangju]]'' [beyond the middle [[Jaxartes]]/Syr Darya]. They are a nation of [[nomad]]s, moving from place to place with their herds, and their customs are like those of the Xiongnu. They have some 100,000 or 200,000 archer warriors.|title=''Shiji''|source=123{{sfn|Watson|1993|p=234}}}}

From the 1st century AD, the Yuezhi morphed into the powerful [[Kushan Empire]], covering an area from Sogdia to eastern [[India]]. The Kushan Empire became the center of the profitable Central Asian commerce. They began minting unique coins bearing the faces of their own rulers.<ref name="Michon, Daniel 2015 pp 112"/> They are related to have collaborated militarily with the Chinese against nomadic incursion, particularly when they allied with the [[Han dynasty]] general [[Ban Chao]] against the Sogdians in 84, when the latter were trying to support a revolt by the king of [[Kashgar]].<ref name="de crespigny 2007 5-6">de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). ''A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220&nbsp;AD)''. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. page 5-6. {{ISBN|90-04-15605-4}}.</ref>

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File:Orlat plaque encounter.jpg|Battle scenes between "Kangju" Saka warriors, from the [[Orlat plaques]]. 1st century CE.<ref name="SPL42">{{cite book |last1=Ilyasov |first1=Djangar |title=Splendeurs des oasis d'Ouzbékistan |date=2022 |publisher=Louvre Editions |location=Paris |isbn=978-8412527858 |pages=42–47}}</ref>
File:Orlat plaque hunter.jpg|[[Orlat plaque]] hunter.
File:Kalchayan Prince (armour).jpg|Model of a [[Saka]] [[cataphract]] armour with neck-guard, from [[Khalchayan]]. 1st century BCE. [[Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan]], nb 40.<ref name="SPL56">{{cite book |last1=Frantz |first1=Grenet |title=Splendeurs des oasis d'Ouzbékistan |date=2022 |publisher=Louvre Editions |location=Paris |isbn=978-8412527858 |page=56}}</ref>
</gallery>