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The Wūsūn or Usun^[1] (Chinese: 烏孫; lit. 'Grandchildren/Descendents of the Crow/Raven') were nomadic or semi-nomadic steppe people who between the 2nd century bc and the 9th century ad according to Chinese historians lived in the Tarim Basin, the Ili Valley and the Pamir Mountains respectively.

The Wusun are believed to have been either an Altaic-speaking^[2] (proto-Turkic,^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] or according to some opinions proto-Mongolian.^[8]^[9]) or Indo-European-speaking^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14] (containing possibly Tocharian,^[10]^[15]^[16]^[17] Iranian^[18] or Indo-Aryan^[19] elements) people.

The Wusun are first mentioned by Chinese sources as vassals in the Tarim Basin of the Yuezhi,^[20] an Indo-European Europoid people of possibly Tocharian origin.^[10] Around 170 BC, the Yuezhi were utterly defeated by the Xiongnu, also former vassals of the Yuezhi.^[21]^[22] The Yuezhi subsequently attacked the Wusun and killed their king (Kunmo Chinese: 昆彌 or Kunmi Chinese: 昆莫) Nandoumi (Chinese: 難兜靡), capturing the Ili Valley in the Zhetysu area from the Saka (Scythians) shortly afterwards.^[22] In return the Wusun settled in the former territories of the Yuezhi as vassals of the Xiongnu.^[22]^[23] The son of Nandoumi was adopted by the Xiongnu king and made leader of the Wusun.^[23] Around 130 BC he attacked and utterly defeated the Yuezhi, settling the Wusun in the Ili Valley.^[23] Soon afterwards they became independent of the Xiongnu, becoming trusted vassals of the Han Dynasty and powerful force in the region for centuries.^[23]^[24]^[25] With the emerging steppe federations of the Rouran, the Wusun migrated into the Pamir Mountains in the 5th century ad.^[22] They are mentioned in Chinese historical sources in 436 CE, when a Chinese envoy was sent to their country and the Wusun reciprocated.^[26] They are last mentioned in 938 ad when a Wusun chieftain paid tribute to the Liao dynasty.^[22]

Etymology

There are several theories about the origin of the name.^[27] The most prominent theory among modern Chinese historians is that 'Wusun' is perhaps a Chinese transcription from a Turkic language, the original Turkic word possibly meaning "unity" or "loyalty".^[27] W. Krause also tried to connect their name to Old Turkic usun, meaning 'water, crowd, people'^[28] (cf. modern Mongolian ус us ~ усан usan "water").

Sinologist Victor H. Mair compared "Wusun" with Sanskrit "aśvin" and Lithuanian "ašva", both meaning 'mare'. The name would thus mean "the horse people." Hence he put forward the hypothesis that the Wusun used a Kentum-like language within the Indo-European languages. However, the latter hypothesis is not supported by Edwin G. Pulleyblank.^[29] Christopher I. Beckwith makes a similliar analysis to Mair, reconstructing Chinese term Wusun to the Old Chinese *âswin, which he compares to the Old Indic aśvin "the horsemen," the name of the Rigvedic twin equestrian gods.^[19]

Wusun is a modern pronunciation of the Chinese Characters '烏孫'. Originally, Wusun probably sounded more like Asman (*ah-sman < *asman,^[30] or *o-sən, *uo-sen or ?ah-swē depending on the authors) suggesting that they may have been the Asii of Geographica.^[31]

Around 107 BCE a Han princess married to the Usun Hunmo (sovereign) composed a song that called the Wusun country a Sky (Tian) country, and in China the Wusun horses (Usun ma) were called heavenly horses (Tian ma). Ptolemy (VI, 14, 177 CE) knew an Asman tribe, located east of the Volga River.^[32]

The Chinese name '烏孫' ('Wusun') literally means Wu = 'crow' or 'raven' + Sun = 'grandson' or 'descendant'. Through the legend of an infant son, left in the wild, miraculously saved from hunger by suckling from a she-wolf, and being fed meat by ravens,^[33]^[34] they shared a similar ancestor myth with the ruling Ashina clan of the Göktürks (Asena legend), and may have influenced the Eurasian people to the west. See, for example, the legend of Romulus and Remus and the founding of Rome.^{[citation needed]}

History

The Wusun are first mentioned by Chinese sources as vassals in the Tarim Basin of the Yuezhi.^[20] Beckwith suggests that the Wusun were an eastern remnant of the Indo-Aryans, who had been suddenly pushed to the extremeties of the Eurasian Steppe by the Iranian peoples in the 2nd millenium BC.^[35] Early Chinese histories such as Shiji and Hanshu recorded that the Wusun had initially lived near the Yuezhi in the Qilian and Dunhuang areas in Gansu^[36] (different locations however have been suggested for these toponyms.)^[37] According to Shiji, Wusun was a state located west of the Xiongnu.^[38]

Around 175 BC, prince Modu Chanyu of the Xiongnu, also former vassals of the Yuezhi, soundly defeated the latter.^[21] According to Zhang Qian, the Yuezhi were defeated by the rising Xiongnu empire and fled westward, driving away the Sai (Scythians) from the Ili Valley in the Zhetysu area.^[39] Before this, they overran the Wusun, whose ruler Nandoumi was killed. His infant son Liejiaomi was left in the wild. He was miraculously saved from hunger being suckled by a she-wolf, and fed meat by ravens.^[40]^[41] The Wusun subsequently settled the modern province of Gansu, in the valley of the Ushui-he (Chinese Raven Water river), as vassals of the Xiongnu. It is not clear whether the river was named after the tribe or vice versa.

The Xiongnu ruler was impressed and adopted the child. When the child grew up the Chanyu gave him command in the west. As an act of revenge, the Wusun attacked the Yuezhi, who had settled in the Ili Valley. The Yuezhi were crushed completely and fled further west to Sogdia, Bactria, and then South Asia, where one branch of the Yuezhi founded the Kushan Empire.^[20] The Wusun took over the Ili Valley, expanding over a large area and trying to keep away from the Xiongnu. They were said to number 630,000, with 120,000 families and 188,000 men capable of bearing arms, and became a powerful force in Central Asia.^[42] Hanshu described them as occupying land that previously belonged to the Saka (Sai).^[43]^[44] To their north-west the Wusun bordered Kangju, located in modern Kazakhstan. To the west was Dayuan (Ferghana), and to the south were various city states.^[45] The Royal Court of the Wusun, Chigu (Chinese: 赤谷; pinyin: chìgǔ; lit. 'Red Valley'), was located in a side valley leading to Issyk Kul.^[46]

When the Han empire under Emperor Wu of Han (156-87 bc) began their counter-offensive against the Xiongnu, the Wusun had become a bitter enemy of the Xiongnu, after repeatedly being threatened by them. The Wusun were won over to the Chinese in a martial alliance, sealed by a political marriage.^[22]

In 71 BCE, a Chinese envoy cooperated with the Wusun and supplied an army of 50,000 to attack the Xiongnu for them, which ended in a great victory. However, a dispute took place soon after the death of their ruler, Nimi, in 53 BCE. The Wusun were divided into two kingdoms, under a little kunmi and greater kunmi, both of whom recognised Chinese supremacy and remained faithful vassals.

In 5 BCE, during the reign of Uchjulü-Chanyu (8 BCE – CE 13), the Wusun attempted to raid Chuban pastures, but Uchjulü-Chanyu repulsed them, and the Wusun commander had to send his son to the Chuban court as a hostage. The forceful intervention of the Chinese usurper Wang Mang and internal strife brought disorder, and in 2 BC one of the Wusun chietains brought 80,000 Wusun to Kangju, asking for Kankalis help against the Chinese. In a vain attempt to reconcile with China, he was duped and killed in CE 3.^[47]

In 2 CE, Wang Mang issued a list of four regulations to the allied Xiongnu that the taking of any hostages from Chinese vassals, i.e. Wusun, Wuhuan and the statelets of the Western Regions, would not be tolerated. The Xiongnu obeyed.

Chinese records first mention the "Ushi" in Andin and Pinlian (modern Pinlian and Guüan in the Peoples Republic of China), between the Lu-hun and Kuyan tribes. The transcription of Ushi means "raven generation", and is semantically identical with U-sun – "raven descendants". In Wusun legend their ancestors were a raven and a wolf.^{[citation needed]}

In the 5th century they were pressured by the Rouran and may have migrated to the Pamir Mountains.^[48] From the 6th century onward the former habitat of the Wusun formed part of the western empire of the Göktürks. After this event the Wusun seem to disappear from Chinese records, though their name was last mentioned on an offering to the court of Liao Dynasty on September 22, 938.^[49] The Chinese were involved in a plot with the Wusun involving a "fat King", and "Mad King". The Chinese were involved in a plot to kill the mad king, and a Chinese deputy envoy called Chi Tu who brought a doctor to attend to him was punished by castration when he returned to China.^[50]^[51]

The Wusun left multiple diaspora islands along their centuries-old trek. As a rule, part of a tribe remained in the old habitats and later on participated in new ethnic unions. Wusun principalities are known in the Ordos Desert. Separate Wusun princedoms existed for a long time in the Khangai Mountains and along the Bogdoshan ridge (eastern Tian Shan).^[52]

The modern Uysyn who number approximately 250,000 people, are regarded by some as the modern descendants of the Wusun. The Uysyn have two branches, Dulat and Sary Uysyn ("Yellow Uysyn").^[53]

People and culture

Ethnicity

According to Chinese archaeologists, the excavated skeletal remains of a people presumed to be the Wusun are of the short-headed Europoid Central Asian interfluvial type.^[54] On the basis of six skulls from the first century BC/AD found at Semirech'e (Zhetysu), J.P. Mallory and Victor Mair presumes those to be of the Wusun, where Soviet archaeologists have described them ranging from primarily Europoid with some Mongoloid admixture to pure Europeans.^[55]

The evidence from ancient Chinese texts is contradictory. The Hanshu and Shiji, which mentioned the Wusun, did not note any unusual ethnic appearance of the Wusun. The actual first description of Wusun may be found in a Western Han dynasty book of divination, the Jiaoshi Yilin, where the Wusun women were described as "ugly and dark colored people with deep eye sockets,"^[56]^[57] and the reported dark skin complexion may suggest South Asian origin.^[58]^[59] However, a very brief pejorative quote from an ancient book of divination may not be a reliable source for determining ethnic characteristics.

A later 7th century commentary to the Hanshu by Yan Shigu says: "Among the various Rong in the Western Regions, the Wusun's shape was the strangest; and the present barbarians who have green eyes and red hair, and are like macaques, belonged to the same race as the Wusun."^[60]

Language

For some time, it was theorized that the Wusun spoke a Proto-Turkic language,^[61] which was formerly the consensus of opinion.^[62] Some scholars, including Chinese scholar Han Rulin, as well as G. Vambery, A. Scherbak, P. Budberg, L. Bazin and V.P. Yudin, noted that the Wusun king's name Fu-li, as reported in Chinese sources and translated as "wolf", resembles Proto-Turkic "böri" = "wolf". Other words listed by these scholars include the title "bag/beg" = "lord".^[63] The Turkic-linguality of the dynastic tribe of the Wusun union was stated by F. Hirt,^[64] K. Shiratori,^[65] N.A. Aristov^[66] and other researchers after analysis of the Chinese transcriptions of the Usun words. According to Turkologist Amanzholov the presence of Turkic words (like kān beg = "Khan Lord" or kün beg = "Sun Lord" in Turkic, which resembles the title of the Wusun sovereign, uluγ, or tarqan) in the language of the ancient Wusuns, noted by Y.A. Zuev, also makes questionable the standard in the Soviet historical literature point of view about the so-called "Turkification" of the local population in Kazakhstan and Central Asia by the Huns (Chinese: Sünnu), beginning in the 1st century BC.^[67]

However, this theory is disputed by some Turkologists, including Peter B. Golden^[68] and Carter V. Findley, who explain that none of the mentioned words are actually Turkic in origin. Carter V. Findley notes that the term böri is probably derived from one of the Indo-European Iranian languages of Central Asia,^[69] while the title beg is certainly derived from the Sogdian baga^[70] ("lord"), a cognate of Middle Persian baγ (as used by the rulers of the Sassanid Empire), as well as Sanskrit bhaga and Russian bog,^[71] whereas Russian linguist Sergei Starostin assumes a derivation from Proto-Turkic *bāj ("rich, noble; many, numerous"), itself ultimately from a possible Proto-Altaic root *bēǯu ("numerous, great", cf. Old Japanese p(j)iida-/pui-).^[72] Within Turkic *bāj ("rich") in turn is probably hard to distinguish from *baj (~ -ń) ("holy; god; true, reliable, honest").^[73] In the same way Starostin gives an indigenous Proto-Turkic etymology for "böri".^[74] He further excludes the hypothesis of an East Iranian source, basically because of the lack of early attested forms with -k, and vice versa affirms Vasily I. Abaevs elaboration that the East Iranian form itself is most likely borrowed from a Turkic source.^[75]

Christopher I. Beckwith suggests that the Wusun were Indo-Aryan-speaking.^[19] From the Chinese term Wusun, Beckwith reconstructs the Old Chinese *âswin, which he compares to the Old Indic aśvin "the horsemen," the name of the Rigvedic twin equestrian gods.^[19] Beckwith suggests that the Wusun were an eastern remnant of the Indo-Aryans, who had been suddenly pushed to the extremeties of the Eurasian Steppe by the Iranian peoples in the 2nd millenium BC.^[35]

Chinese sources name the Scythian Sai (Saka), and the Yuezhi who are often identified as Tocharians, among the people of the Wusun state in the Zhetysu area,^[76] but it is very difficult to place the Wusun with the Tocharian category of Indo-European.^[77]

Culture

According to the Shiji (c.123) and the Hanshu (c.96), a daughter from the Han prince, Liu Jian, was sent to the ruler (kunmo or kunmi) of the Wusun between 110 BCE and 105 BCE. She describes them as nomads who lived in felt tents, ate raw meat and drank fermented mare's milk.^[78] Some early Chinese descriptions of the people were pejorative, describing them as "bad, greedy and unreliable, and much given to robbery", but their state was also described as very strong.^[79] On the other hand, the Wusun were notable for their harmony towards their neighbours, even though they were constantly raided by the Xiongnu and Kangju.

Wusun and Issedones connection

Some scholars have proposed that the Wusun may have been identical with the people described by Herodotus (IV.16–25) and in Ptolemy's Geography as Issedones.^[80] ^[81] Their exact location of their country in Central Asia is unknown. The Issedones are "placed by some in Western Siberia and by others in Chinese Turkestan," according to E. D. Phillips.^[82]

References

Citations

^ Russian Translation Series of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 1964. page 98:"Usun is merely a Russian transliteration of an ancient Chinese name for which just the English form Wusun should suffice."
^ Mirja Juntunen, Birgit N. Schlyter - Return to the Silk Routes: Current Scandinavian Research on Central Asia. 2013. page 120.
^ Jila, N., "Myths and traditional beliefs about the wolf and the crow in Central Asia: examples from the Turkic Wu-Sun and the Mongols", Asian Folklore Studies, V65, i2, p161, 2006.
^ Denis Sinor, The legendary Origin of the Türks, in Egle Victoria Zygas, Peter Voorheis Folklorica: Festschrift for Felix J. Oinas, Indiana 1982, p. 240 verweist auf den Nachweis von O. Franke Beiträge aus chinesischen Quellen zur Kenntnis der Türkvölker und Skythen Zentralasiens, Berlin 1904, p. 17-19.
^ Zuev, Yu. A. (2002), Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, sayfa 35.
^ Wolfram Eberhard, Çin Tarihi, Ankara 1947, sayfa 33.
^ Tohru Haneda: 西域文化史 (Cultural history of the Xiyu), 1, 新疆人民出版社 (People's publisher Xinjiang), Ürümqi 1981.
^ Asian Mythologies. University of Chicago Press, 1993. page 315.
^ Martha Brill Olcott - The Kazakhs. 2nd edition. Hoover Press. page 5.
^ ^a ^b ^c Loewe & Shaughnessy 1999, pp. 87–88
^ Sinor 1990, p. 153
^ Mair 2013
^ Jean-Paul Roux: Die alttürkische Mythologie, Der Wolf. In: Käthe Uray-Kőhalmi, Jean-Paul Roux, Pertev N. Boratav, Edith Vertes: Götter und Mythen in Zentralasien und Nordeurasien. ISBN 3-12-909870-4, p. 204
^ Explorers of Antiquity: From Alexander the Great to Marco Polo. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 46.
^ Masica, Colin P. The Indo-Aryan Languages. p. 48.
^ Turko-Mongol Rulers, Cities and City Life. p. 24.
^ Golden, Peter B. Turks and Khazars: Origins, Institutions, and Interactions in Pre-Mongol Eurasia.
^ Kuzʹmina, Elena Efimovna. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. p. 83.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Beckwith 2009, pp. 376–377
^ ^a ^b ^c Beckwith 2009, pp. 84–85
^ ^a ^b Beckwith 2009, pp. 380–383
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Chinese History - Wusun 烏孫". Chinaknowledge. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Beckwith 2009, pp. 6–7
^ Watson, Burton. Trans. 1993. Records of the Grand Historian of China. Han Dynasty II. (Revised Edition). New York, Columbia University Press. Chapter 123. The Account of Ta-yüan. Columbia University Press.
^ Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BCE – CE 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
^ Zadneprovskiy, Y. A. 1994. "The Nomads of northern Central Asia after the invasion of Alexander." Y. A. Zadneprovskiy. In: History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, p. 461
^ ^a ^b 王明哲, 王炳華 (Mingzhe Wang & Binhua Wang): 從文獻與考古資料論烏孫歷史的幾個重大問題 (Important questions about the history of Wusun arising from the contemporary documents and archaeological investigations). In: 烏孫研究 (Wusun research), 1, 新疆人民出版社 (People's publisher Xinjiang), Ürümqi 1983, S. pp. 1–42.
^ Wolfgang Krause - Iranistik: Abschnitt. Tocharisch. 1955. page 8. In: John V. Day - Indo-European origins: the anthropological evidence. Chapter 5: Textual Evidence. 2001. page 59.
^ Edwin G. Pulleyblank: XII.Why Tocharians?. In: Central Asia and non-Chinese peoples of ancient China (English), 1, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, Hampshire; Burlington, VT 2002, ISBN 0-86078-859-8, S. 426-427.
^ Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 23 (translated from Russian) ISBN 9985-4-4152-9
^ "Les Saces", Iaroslav Lebedinsky, p. 60-63, ISBN 2-87772-337-2
^ Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 23
^ Watson, Burton. Trans. 1993. Records of the Grand Historian of China. Han Dynasty II. (Revised Edition). New York, Columbia University Press. Chapter 123. The Account of Ta-yüan. Columbia University Press, pp. 237–238
^ Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. Leiden: E. J. Brill, pp. 214–215
^ ^a ^b Beckwith 2009, pp. 29–38
^ Hanshu 《漢書·張騫李廣利傳》 Original text 臣居匈奴中，聞烏孫王號昆莫。昆莫父難兜靡本與大月氏俱在祁連、焞煌間，小國也。
^ Liu, Xinru, Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies (2001)
^ Shiji 《史記·大宛列傳》 Original text: 匈奴西邊小國也
^ Hanshu 《漢書·張騫李廣利傳》 Original text 時，月氏已為匈奴所破，西擊塞王。
^ Hulsewé and Loewe. China in Central Asia. Annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the Hanshu, p. 215, n. 805. (1979) Leiden, E. J. Brill. ISBN 90-04-05884-2.
^ Shiji 《史記·大宛列傳》 Original text: 匈奴攻殺其父，而昆莫生棄於野。烏嗛肉蜚其上，狼往乳之。
^ (Hanshu, ch.61 & 96)
^ Hanshu 《漢書·卷九十六下》西域傳 Original text: 本塞地也，大月氏西破走塞王，塞王南越縣度。大月氏居其地。後烏孫昆莫擊破大月氏，大月氏徙西臣大夏，而烏孫昆莫居之，故烏孫民有塞種、大月氏種雲。
^ Zuev Yu.A. "Ethnic History Of Usuns", pp.7–19
^ 《漢書·卷九十六下》 Original text: 東與匈奴、西北與康居、西與大宛、南與城郭諸國相接。
^ Hill (2009), "Appendix I: Chigu 赤谷 (Royal Court of the Wusun Kunmo)," pp. 527–531.
^ Gumilev L.N., "History of Hun People", Moscow, 'Science', Ch.12, http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/HPH/hph12.htm (In Russian)
^ Book of Wei, ch.102
^ (Liaoshi, ch.4)
^ Frances Wood (2004). The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia. University of California Press. p. 59. ISBN 0-520-24340-4. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
^ Anthony François Paulus Hulsewé, Michael Loewe, Gu Ban (1979). China in central Asia: the early stage, 125 B.C.-A.D. 23 : an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of The history of the former Han dynasty. Brill Archive. p. 155. ISBN 90-04-05884-2. Retrieved 2010-07-30.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Zuev Yu.A. "Ethnic History Of Usuns", p. 18
^ A. Zuev, Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, 2002, S.35
^ Cite error: The named reference ChineseArchaeology was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference MalloryMair93 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ 《焦氏易林 – Jiaoshi Yilin》 Original text:烏孫氏女，深目黑醜；嗜欲不同，過時無偶。
^ Jiaoshi Yilin, vol. 6 [1]
^ Wang Mingzhe et al. (1983). Research on Wusun. Ürümqi: Xinjiang People's Press. p. 43.
^ Chen Liankai (1999). Outlines on China's Ethnicities. China Financial and Economic Publishing House. p. 380-381
^ Cite error: The named reference yanshigu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Alexander von Frantzius, Georg Thilenius - Korrespondenz-blatt, Volumes 41-42. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte. 1910. page 190: "Zu den Turkvölkern gehörten ohne Zweifel die Wusun und die Kirgisen, die von den alten chinesischen Autoren ausdrücklich als blauäugig bezeichnet werden. Eine Quelle hebt sogar hervor, daß bei den Kirgisen nur die Blonden und Helläugigen als stammesecht betrachtet wurden."
^ William Montgomery McGovern - The early empires of Central Asia: a study of the Scythians and the Huns and the part they played in world history, with special reference to the Chinese sources. The University of North Carolina Press, 1939. page 472.
^ Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 35
^ Hirth F. Nachworte zur Inschrift des Tonjukuk. In: Radloff W. Die alttürkischen Inschriften der Mongolei. Zweite Folge. SPb., 1899, p. 49.
^ Shiratori К. Über die Wu-sun Stamm in Zentralasien. " Keleti Szemle " (Budapest), 1902, 2-3, pp. 103-140.
^ Aristov N.A. Notes about ethnic structure of Türkic tribes and nations and their number, p. 17.
^ A.S. Amanjolov, History of Ancient Türkic Script: Chapter 10: Genesis of Türkic Runic Alpabet, Mektep Publishing, Almaty, 2003, p.293
^ Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples, O. Harrassowitz, 1992, p. 121-122
^ Carter Vaughn Findley, The Turks in World History, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 39
^ Carter Vaughn Findley, Turks in World History, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 45: "... Many elements of Non-Turkic origin also became part of Türk statecraft [...] for example, as in the case of khatun [...] and beg [...] both terms being of Sogdian origin and ever since in common use in Turkish. ..."
^ Peter Jackson, "Beg", in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Columbia University, Online ed.
^ “*bēǯu.” in Sergei Starostin, Vladimir Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003), Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers
^ “*baj (~ -ń).” in Sergei Starostin, Vladimir Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003), Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers
^ “*bȫrü.” in Sergei Starostin, Vladimir Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003), Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers
^ V. I. Abaev: Историкоэтимологический словарь осетинского языка, т. 1 // A Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Ossetian Language, vv. 1. Moscow-Leningrad. 1958-1995. p.263. In: “*bȫrü.” in Sergei Starostin, Vladimir Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003), Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.
^ Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. Leiden: E. J. Brill, p. 145
^ Pulleyblank, 1966, p14ff; quoted in D. Sinor, The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Vol. I, Cambridge University Press, 1990, p. 153
^ Hanshu 《漢書·卷九十六下》西域傳 Original text: 昆莫年老，言語不通，公主悲愁，自為作歌曰：「吾家嫁我兮天一方，遠托異國兮烏孫王。穹廬為室兮旃為牆，以肉為食兮酪為漿。居常土思兮心內傷，願為黃鵠兮歸故鄉。」
^ Hanshu, Original text: 民剛惡，貪狼無信，多寇盜，最為強國。
^ A.H. Dani/V.M. Masson/J. Harmatta/B. Abramovich, History of Civilizations of Central Asia – Vol. 3, UNESCO collection, South Asia Books, 2001, p. 225
^ Gardiner-Garden, Chang-Ch'ien and Central Asian Ethnography, pp. 23–79 gives a survey of theories of ethnic affiliations and identification of the Wusun and the Yuezhi.
^ Phillips, "The Legend of Aristeas: Fact and Fancy in Early Greek Notions of East Russia, Siberia, and Inner Asia" Artibus Asiae 18.2 (1955, pp. 161–177) p 166.

Sources

Bartold W.W., "Four studies in history of Central Asia", Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1962
Beckwith, Christopher I. (16 March 2009). Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton University Press. ISBN 1400829941. Retrieved 30 December 2014. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Gardiner-Garden, J.R., Chang-Ch'ien and Central Asian Ethnography in: Papers of Far Eastern History 33 (March 1986) p. 23–79. (Australian National University Institute of Advanced Studies Department of Far Eastern History (Canberra) ISSN 0048-2870, a survey of theories of ethnic affiliations and identification of the Wusun and the Yuezhi.
Hill, John E. (2009) Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. John E. Hill. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE (sic.). Draft annotated English translation. [2]
Template:Zh icon 陈连开 (Liankai, Chen) (1999). 中国民族史纲要 (Outlines on China's Ethnicities). Beijing: China Financial and Economic Publishing House. ISBN 7-5005-4301-8.
Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward L. (1999). The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC. Cambridge University Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 0-5214-7030-7. Retrieved November 1, 2013. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Mair, Victor H. (20 August 2013). The Shorter Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231505620. Retrieved 1 January 2015. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Mallory, J.P. and Mair, Victor H. The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West. Thames & Hudson. London 2000. ISBN 0-500-05101-1.
Sinor, Denis (1 March 1990). The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Volume 1. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521243041. Retrieved 1 January 2015. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Stein, Aurel M. 1921. Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China, 5 vols. London & Oxford. Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980. [3]
Template:Zh icon 王明哲. 王明哲,王炳华著. 王炳华 (Wang Mingzhe et al.) (1983). 乌孙硏究 (Research on Wusun). Ürümqi: Xinjiang People's Press.

[1] Russian Translation Series of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 1964. page 98:"Usun is merely a Russian transliteration of an ancient Chinese name for which just the English form Wusun should suffice."

[2] Mirja Juntunen, Birgit N. Schlyter - Return to the Silk Routes: Current Scandinavian Research on Central Asia. 2013. page 120.

[3] Jila, N., "Myths and traditional beliefs about the wolf and the crow in Central Asia: examples from the Turkic Wu-Sun and the Mongols", Asian Folklore Studies, V65, i2, p161, 2006.

[4] Denis Sinor, The legendary Origin of the Türks, in Egle Victoria Zygas, Peter Voorheis Folklorica: Festschrift for Felix J. Oinas, Indiana 1982, p. 240 verweist auf den Nachweis von O. Franke Beiträge aus chinesischen Quellen zur Kenntnis der Türkvölker und Skythen Zentralasiens, Berlin 1904, p. 17-19.

[5] Zuev, Yu. A. (2002), Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, sayfa 35.

[6] Wolfram Eberhard, Çin Tarihi, Ankara 1947, sayfa 33.

[7] Tohru Haneda: 西域文化史 (Cultural history of the Xiyu), 1, 新疆人民出版社 (People's publisher Xinjiang), Ürümqi 1981.

[8] Asian Mythologies. University of Chicago Press, 1993. page 315.

[Olcott-9] Martha Brill Olcott - The Kazakhs. 2nd edition. Hoover Press. page 5.

[Cambridge-10] Loewe & Shaughnessy 1999, pp. 87–88

[Sinor-11] Sinor 1990, p. 153

[Mair-12] Mair 2013

[Jean-Paul_Roux-13] Jean-Paul Roux: Die alttürkische Mythologie, Der Wolf. In: Käthe Uray-Kőhalmi, Jean-Paul Roux, Pertev N. Boratav, Edith Vertes: Götter und Mythen in Zentralasien und Nordeurasien. ISBN 3-12-909870-4, p. 204

[14] Explorers of Antiquity: From Alexander the Great to Marco Polo. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 46.

[15] Masica, Colin P. The Indo-Aryan Languages. p. 48.

[16] Turko-Mongol Rulers, Cities and City Life. p. 24.

[17] Golden, Peter B. Turks and Khazars: Origins, Institutions, and Interactions in Pre-Mongol Eurasia.

[18] Kuzʹmina, Elena Efimovna. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. p. 83.

[Beckwith376-19] Beckwith 2009, pp. 376–377

[Beckwith84-20] Beckwith 2009, pp. 84–85

[Beckwith380-21] Beckwith 2009, pp. 380–383

[ChineseHistory-22] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Chinese History - Wusun 烏孫". Chinaknowledge. Retrieved 1 January 2015.

[Beckwith6-23] Beckwith 2009, pp. 6–7

[24] Watson, Burton. Trans. 1993. Records of the Grand Historian of China. Han Dynasty II. (Revised Edition). New York, Columbia University Press. Chapter 123. The Account of Ta-yüan. Columbia University Press.

[25] Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BCE – CE 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

[26] Zadneprovskiy, Y. A. 1994. "The Nomads of northern Central Asia after the invasion of Alexander." Y. A. Zadneprovskiy. In: History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, p. 461

[Mingzhe-27] 王明哲, 王炳華 (Mingzhe Wang & Binhua Wang): 從文獻與考古資料論烏孫歷史的幾個重大問題 (Important questions about the history of Wusun arising from the contemporary documents and archaeological investigations). In: 烏孫研究 (Wusun research), 1, 新疆人民出版社 (People's publisher Xinjiang), Ürümqi 1983, S. pp. 1–42.

[28] Wolfgang Krause - Iranistik: Abschnitt. Tocharisch. 1955. page 8. In: John V. Day - Indo-European origins: the anthropological evidence. Chapter 5: Textual Evidence. 2001. page 59.

[29] Edwin G. Pulleyblank: XII.Why Tocharians?. In: Central Asia and non-Chinese peoples of ancient China (English), 1, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, Hampshire; Burlington, VT 2002, ISBN 0-86078-859-8, S. 426-427.

[30] Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 23 (translated from Russian) ISBN 9985-4-4152-9

[31] "Les Saces", Iaroslav Lebedinsky, p. 60-63, ISBN 2-87772-337-2

[32] Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 23

[33] Watson, Burton. Trans. 1993. Records of the Grand Historian of China. Han Dynasty II. (Revised Edition). New York, Columbia University Press. Chapter 123. The Account of Ta-yüan. Columbia University Press, pp. 237–238

[34] Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. Leiden: E. J. Brill, pp. 214–215

[Beckwith29-35] Beckwith 2009, pp. 29–38

[36] Hanshu 《漢書·張騫李廣利傳》 Original text 臣居匈奴中，聞烏孫王號昆莫。昆莫父難兜靡本與大月氏俱在祁連、焞煌間，小國也。

[37] Liu, Xinru, Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies (2001)

[38] Shiji 《史記·大宛列傳》 Original text: 匈奴西邊小國也

[39] Hanshu 《漢書·張騫李廣利傳》 Original text 時，月氏已為匈奴所破，西擊塞王。

[40] Hulsewé and Loewe. China in Central Asia. Annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the Hanshu, p. 215, n. 805. (1979) Leiden, E. J. Brill. ISBN 90-04-05884-2.

[41] Shiji 《史記·大宛列傳》 Original text: 匈奴攻殺其父，而昆莫生棄於野。烏嗛肉蜚其上，狼往乳之。

[42] (Hanshu, ch.61 & 96)

[43] Hanshu 《漢書·卷九十六下》西域傳 Original text: 本塞地也，大月氏西破走塞王，塞王南越縣度。大月氏居其地。後烏孫昆莫擊破大月氏，大月氏徙西臣大夏，而烏孫昆莫居之，故烏孫民有塞種、大月氏種雲。

[44] Zuev Yu.A. "Ethnic History Of Usuns", pp.7–19

[45] 《漢書·卷九十六下》 Original text: 東與匈奴、西北與康居、西與大宛、南與城郭諸國相接。

[46] Hill (2009), "Appendix I: Chigu 赤谷 (Royal Court of the Wusun Kunmo)," pp. 527–531.

[kulichki1-47] Gumilev L.N., "History of Hun People", Moscow, 'Science', Ch.12, http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/HPH/hph12.htm (In Russian)

[48] Book of Wei, ch.102

[49] (Liaoshi, ch.4)

[50] Frances Wood (2004). The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia. University of California Press. p. 59. ISBN 0-520-24340-4. Retrieved 2010-07-30.

[51] Anthony François Paulus Hulsewé, Michael Loewe, Gu Ban (1979). China in central Asia: the early stage, 125 B.C.-A.D. 23 : an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of The history of the former Han dynasty. Brill Archive. p. 155. ISBN 90-04-05884-2. Retrieved 2010-07-30.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[autogenerated18-52] Zuev Yu.A. "Ethnic History Of Usuns", p. 18

[53] A. Zuev, Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, 2002, S.35

[ChineseArchaeology-54] Cite error: The named reference ChineseArchaeology was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[MalloryMair93-55] Cite error: The named reference MalloryMair93 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[56] 《焦氏易林 – Jiaoshi Yilin》 Original text:烏孫氏女，深目黑醜；嗜欲不同，過時無偶。

[57] Jiaoshi Yilin, vol. 6 [1]

[Wang-58] Wang Mingzhe et al. (1983). Research on Wusun. Ürümqi: Xinjiang People's Press. p. 43.

[Chen-59] Chen Liankai (1999). Outlines on China's Ethnicities. China Financial and Economic Publishing House. p. 380-381

[yanshigu-60] Cite error: The named reference yanshigu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[61] Alexander von Frantzius, Georg Thilenius - Korrespondenz-blatt, Volumes 41-42. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte. 1910. page 190: "Zu den Turkvölkern gehörten ohne Zweifel die Wusun und die Kirgisen, die von den alten chinesischen Autoren ausdrücklich als blauäugig bezeichnet werden. Eine Quelle hebt sogar hervor, daß bei den Kirgisen nur die Blonden und Helläugigen als stammesecht betrachtet wurden."

[62] William Montgomery McGovern - The early empires of Central Asia: a study of the Scythians and the Huns and the part they played in world history, with special reference to the Chinese sources. The University of North Carolina Press, 1939. page 472.

[63] Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 35

[64] Hirth F. Nachworte zur Inschrift des Tonjukuk. In: Radloff W. Die alttürkischen Inschriften der Mongolei. Zweite Folge. SPb., 1899, p. 49.

[65] Shiratori К. Über die Wu-sun Stamm in Zentralasien. " Keleti Szemle " (Budapest), 1902, 2-3, pp. 103-140.

[66] Aristov N.A. Notes about ethnic structure of Türkic tribes and nations and their number, p. 17.

[67] A.S. Amanjolov, History of Ancient Türkic Script: Chapter 10: Genesis of Türkic Runic Alpabet, Mektep Publishing, Almaty, 2003, p.293

[68] Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples, O. Harrassowitz, 1992, p. 121-122

[69] Carter Vaughn Findley, The Turks in World History, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 39

[70] Carter Vaughn Findley, Turks in World History, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 45: "... Many elements of Non-Turkic origin also became part of Türk statecraft [...] for example, as in the case of khatun [...] and beg [...] both terms being of Sogdian origin and ever since in common use in Turkish. ..."

[71] Peter Jackson, "Beg", in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Columbia University, Online ed.

[72] “*bēǯu.” in Sergei Starostin, Vladimir Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003), Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers

[73] “*baj (~ -ń).” in Sergei Starostin, Vladimir Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003), Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers

[74] “*bȫrü.” in Sergei Starostin, Vladimir Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003), Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers

[75] V. I. Abaev: Историкоэтимологический словарь осетинского языка, т. 1 // A Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Ossetian Language, vv. 1. Moscow-Leningrad. 1958-1995. p.263. In: “*bȫrü.” in Sergei Starostin, Vladimir Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003), Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.

[76] Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. Leiden: E. J. Brill, p. 145

[77] Pulleyblank, 1966, p14ff; quoted in D. Sinor, The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Vol. I, Cambridge University Press, 1990, p. 153

[78] Hanshu 《漢書·卷九十六下》西域傳 Original text: 昆莫年老，言語不通，公主悲愁，自為作歌曰：「吾家嫁我兮天一方，遠托異國兮烏孫王。穹廬為室兮旃為牆，以肉為食兮酪為漿。居常土思兮心內傷，願為黃鵠兮歸故鄉。」

[79] Hanshu, Original text: 民剛惡，貪狼無信，多寇盜，最為強國。

[80] A.H. Dani/V.M. Masson/J. Harmatta/B. Abramovich, History of Civilizations of Central Asia – Vol. 3, UNESCO collection, South Asia Books, 2001, p. 225

[81] Gardiner-Garden, Chang-Ch'ien and Central Asian Ethnography, pp. 23–79 gives a survey of theories of ethnic affiliations and identification of the Wusun and the Yuezhi.

[82] Phillips, "The Legend of Aristeas: Fact and Fancy in Early Greek Notions of East Russia, Siberia, and Inner Asia" Artibus Asiae 18.2 (1955, pp. 161–177) p 166.

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@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 The '''Wūsūn''' or '''Usun'''<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=f5ZAAQAAIAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Usun+Wusun Russian Translation Series of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.] Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 1964. page 98:"''Usun is merely a Russian transliteration of an ancient Chinese name for which just the English form Wusun should suffice.''"</ref> ({{zh|c=烏孫|l=Grandchildren/Descendents of the [[Corvus (genus)|Crow/Raven]]}}) were  nomadic or semi-nomadic steppe people who between the 2nd century bc and the 9th century ad according to [[China|Chinese]] historians lived in the [[Tarim Basin]], the [[Ili River|Ili Valley]] and the [[Pamir Mountains]] respectively.
-The Wusun are believed to have been either an [[Indo-European]]-speaking<ref name="Cambridge">{{harvnb|Loewe|Shaughnessy|1999|pp=87–88}}</ref><ref name="Sinor">{{harvnb|Sinor|1990|p=153}}</ref><ref name="Mair">{{harvnb|Mair|2013|p=}}</ref><ref name="Jean-Paul Roux">Jean-Paul Roux: Die alttürkische Mythologie, Der Wolf. In: Käthe Uray-Kőhalmi, Jean-Paul Roux, Pertev N. Boratav, Edith Vertes: Götter und Mythen in Zentralasien und Nordeurasien. ISBN 3-12-909870-4, p. 204</ref><ref>{{cite book|publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing|title=Explorers of Antiquity: From Alexander the Great to Marco Polo|page=46|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=7WadAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Explorers+of+Antiquity:+From+Alexander+the+Great+to+Marco+Polo&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=GtGcU_OIBY6Y0QWK64H4Ag&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Explorers%20of%20Antiquity%3A%20From%20Alexander%20the%20Great%20to%20Marco%20Polo&f=false}}</ref> (containing possibly [[Tocharians|Tocharian]],<ref name="Cambridge"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Masica|first1=Colin P.|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages|page=48|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=Itp2twGR6tsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Indo-Aryan+Languages&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=ItOcU4nYEarb7AayrIG4BQ&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Indo-Aryan%20Languages&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Turko-Mongol Rulers, Cities and City Life|page=24|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=Ua9AAQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Turko-Mongol+Rulers,+Cities+and+City+Life&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=kNOcU6mDOPHQ7Aau_4CgBg&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Turko-Mongol%20Rulers%2C%20Cities%20and%20City%20Life&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Golden|first1=Peter B.|title=Turks and Khazars: Origins, Institutions, and Interactions in Pre-Mongol Eurasia|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=AOhIAQAAIAAJ&q=wusun+tokharian&dq=wusun+tokharian&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=bpOcU8_iEOTb7AaphYHgDw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAzgK}}</ref> [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kuzʹmina|first1=Elena Efimovna|title=The Origin of the Indo-Iranians|page=83|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=x5J9rn8p2-IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Origin+of+the+Indo-Iranians&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=QNKcU5GdOcn07AaYsYGQAw&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Origin%20of%20the%20Indo-Iranians&f=false}}</ref> or [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]]<ref name="Beckwith376">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=376–377}}</ref> elements) or an [[Altaic languages|Altaic]]-speaking<ref>Mirja Juntunen, Birgit N. Schlyter - [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=iT7YAQAAQBAJ&q=Wusun+Altaic+Turkic#v=snippet&q=Wusun%20Altaic%20Turkic&f=false Return to the Silk Routes: Current Scandinavian Research on Central Asia.] 2013. page 120.</ref> (proto-[[Turkic peoples|Turkic]],<ref>Jila, N., "Myths and traditional beliefs about the wolf and the crow in Central Asia: examples from the Turkic Wu-Sun and the Mongols", Asian Folklore Studies, V65, i2, p161, 2006.</ref><ref>Denis Sinor, ''The legendary Origin of the Türks'', in Egle Victoria Zygas, Peter Voorheis Folklorica: Festschrift for Felix J. Oinas, Indiana 1982, p. 240 verweist auf den Nachweis von O. Franke ''Beiträge aus chinesischen Quellen zur Kenntnis der Türkvölker und Skythen Zentralasiens'', Berlin 1904, p. 17-19.</ref><ref>Zuev, Yu. A. (2002), ''Early Türks'': Essays on history and ideology, sayfa 35.</ref><ref>Wolfram Eberhard, ''Çin Tarihi'', Ankara 1947, sayfa 33.</ref><ref>Tohru Haneda: 西域文化史 (Cultural history of the Xiyu), 1, 新疆人民出版社 (People's publisher Xinjiang), Ürümqi 1981.</ref> or according to some opinions proto-[[Mongolian language|Mongolian]].<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=r4I-FsZCzJEC&q=Wusun+Mongolian#v=snippet&q=Wusun%20Mongolian&f=false Asian Mythologies]. University of Chicago Press, 1993. page 315.</ref><ref name ="Olcott">Martha Brill Olcott - [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=0QAraz9qVY4C&q=Usun+Turkic+Mongol#v=snippet&q=Usun%20Turkic%20Mongol&f=false The Kazakhs. 2nd edition.] Hoover Press. page 5.</ref>) people. Chinese historians note that the Wusun had [[Europoid]] features,<ref name="Beckwith376"/><ref name="yanshigu">''[[Book of Han]]'', [http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0101/01hsyz/111.htm with commentary by Yan Shigu] '''Original text''':　烏孫於西域諸戎其形最異。今之胡人青眼、赤須，狀類彌猴者，本其種也。</ref> which has been confirmed by modern archaeology.<ref name="ChineseArchaeology">[http://s155239215.onlinehome.us/turkic/60_Genetics/Ismagulov/IsmagulovAnthropologyCh3UsunEn.htm SKULLS OF USUN TIME (3rd c. BC – 4th c. AD)]. Quote: ''".Thus, the Usun skulls as a whole have averagely developed crania, medium longitudinal and above medium crosswise diameters, somewhat high crania, moderately expressed brachicrania, straight forehead, medium high but wide facial skeleton, medium profiled in a horizontal plane face with moderately indented fang sockets, strongly protruding nose and medium high eye-sockets. ... From individual analysis of these series, V.V.Ginzburg established that a prevailing part of the male skulls belong to the Caucasoid race. Among them are skulls with clearly expressed Andronov type features. As a whole, in the opinion of the researcher, the male skulls contain some Mongoloid features. The female skulls of that series mainly belong to the Middle Asian interfluvial (Ginzburg, 1952, 1956). ... Thus, the summarized and individual race-typological characteristic of the skulls shows that Jeti-Su Usuns belonged to the big Caucasoid race with a Mongoloid admixture."''</ref><ref name="MalloryMair93">Mallory and Mair (2000), pp. 93–94.</ref>
+The Wusun are believed to have been either an [[Altaic languages|Altaic]]-speaking<ref>Mirja Juntunen, Birgit N. Schlyter - [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=iT7YAQAAQBAJ&q=Wusun+Altaic+Turkic#v=snippet&q=Wusun%20Altaic%20Turkic&f=false Return to the Silk Routes: Current Scandinavian Research on Central Asia.] 2013. page 120.</ref> (proto-[[Turkic peoples|Turkic]],<ref>Jila, N., "Myths and traditional beliefs about the wolf and the crow in Central Asia: examples from the Turkic Wu-Sun and the Mongols", Asian Folklore Studies, V65, i2, p161, 2006.</ref><ref>Denis Sinor, ''The legendary Origin of the Türks'', in Egle Victoria Zygas, Peter Voorheis Folklorica: Festschrift for Felix J. Oinas, Indiana 1982, p. 240 verweist auf den Nachweis von O. Franke ''Beiträge aus chinesischen Quellen zur Kenntnis der Türkvölker und Skythen Zentralasiens'', Berlin 1904, p. 17-19.</ref><ref>Zuev, Yu. A. (2002), ''Early Türks'': Essays on history and ideology, sayfa 35.</ref><ref>Wolfram Eberhard, ''Çin Tarihi'', Ankara 1947, sayfa 33.</ref><ref>Tohru Haneda: 西域文化史 (Cultural history of the Xiyu), 1, 新疆人民出版社 (People's publisher Xinjiang), Ürümqi 1981.</ref> or according to some opinions proto-[[Mongolian language|Mongolian]].<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=r4I-FsZCzJEC&q=Wusun+Mongolian#v=snippet&q=Wusun%20Mongolian&f=false Asian Mythologies]. University of Chicago Press, 1993. page 315.</ref><ref name ="Olcott">Martha Brill Olcott - [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=0QAraz9qVY4C&q=Usun+Turkic+Mongol#v=snippet&q=Usun%20Turkic%20Mongol&f=false The Kazakhs. 2nd edition.] Hoover Press. page 5.</ref>) or [[Indo-European]]-speaking<ref name="Cambridge">{{harvnb|Loewe|Shaughnessy|1999|pp=87–88}}</ref><ref name="Sinor">{{harvnb|Sinor|1990|p=153}}</ref><ref name="Mair">{{harvnb|Mair|2013|p=}}</ref><ref name="Jean-Paul Roux">Jean-Paul Roux: Die alttürkische Mythologie, Der Wolf. In: Käthe Uray-Kőhalmi, Jean-Paul Roux, Pertev N. Boratav, Edith Vertes: Götter und Mythen in Zentralasien und Nordeurasien. ISBN 3-12-909870-4, p. 204</ref><ref>{{cite book|publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing|title=Explorers of Antiquity: From Alexander the Great to Marco Polo|page=46|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=7WadAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Explorers+of+Antiquity:+From+Alexander+the+Great+to+Marco+Polo&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=GtGcU_OIBY6Y0QWK64H4Ag&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Explorers%20of%20Antiquity%3A%20From%20Alexander%20the%20Great%20to%20Marco%20Polo&f=false}}</ref> (containing possibly [[Tocharians|Tocharian]],<ref name="Cambridge"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Masica|first1=Colin P.|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages|page=48|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=Itp2twGR6tsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Indo-Aryan+Languages&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=ItOcU4nYEarb7AayrIG4BQ&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Indo-Aryan%20Languages&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Turko-Mongol Rulers, Cities and City Life|page=24|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=Ua9AAQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Turko-Mongol+Rulers,+Cities+and+City+Life&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=kNOcU6mDOPHQ7Aau_4CgBg&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Turko-Mongol%20Rulers%2C%20Cities%20and%20City%20Life&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Golden|first1=Peter B.|title=Turks and Khazars: Origins, Institutions, and Interactions in Pre-Mongol Eurasia|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=AOhIAQAAIAAJ&q=wusun+tokharian&dq=wusun+tokharian&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=bpOcU8_iEOTb7AaphYHgDw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAzgK}}</ref> [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kuzʹmina|first1=Elena Efimovna|title=The Origin of the Indo-Iranians|page=83|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=x5J9rn8p2-IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Origin+of+the+Indo-Iranians&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=QNKcU5GdOcn07AaYsYGQAw&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Origin%20of%20the%20Indo-Iranians&f=false}}</ref> or [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]]<ref name="Beckwith376">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=376–377}}</ref> elements) people.
 The Wusun are first mentioned by [[China|Chinese]] sources as vassals in the [[Tarim Basin]] of the [[Yuezhi]],<ref name="Beckwith84">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=84–85}}</ref> an Indo-European Europoid people of possibly [[Tocharians|Tocharian]] origin.<ref name="Cambridge"/> Around 170 BC, the Yuezhi were utterly defeated by the [[Xiongnu]], also former vassals of the Yuezhi.<ref name="Beckwith380">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=380–383}}</ref><ref name="ChineseHistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/wusun.html |title=Chinese History - Wusun 烏孫 |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |website=Chinaknowledge |publisher= |accessdate=1 January 2015}}</ref> The Yuezhi subsequently attacked the Wusun and killed their king (Kunmo {{lang-zh|昆彌}} or Kunmi {{lang-zh|昆莫}})  Nandoumi ({{lang-zh|難兜靡}}), capturing the [[Ili River|Ili Valley]] in the [[Zhetysu]] area from the [[Saka]] ([[Scythians]]) shortly afterwards.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> In return the Wusun settled in the former territories of the Yuezhi as vassals of the Xiongnu.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/><ref name="Beckwith6">{{harvnb|Beckwith|2009|pp=6–7}}</ref> The son of Nandoumi was adopted by the Xiongnu king and made leader of the Wusun.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> Around 130 BC he attacked and utterly defeated the Yuezhi, settling the Wusun in the Ili Valley.<ref name="Beckwith6"/> Soon afterwards they became independent of the Xiongnu, becoming trusted vassals of the [[Han Dynasty]] and powerful force in the region for centuries.<ref name="Beckwith6"/><ref>Watson, Burton. Trans. 1993. ''Records of the Grand Historian of China. Han Dynasty II''. (Revised Edition). New York, Columbia University Press. Chapter 123. The Account of Ta-yüan. Columbia University Press.</ref><ref>Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. ''China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BCE – CE 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty''. Leiden: E. J. Brill.</ref> With the emerging steppe federations of the [[Rouran Khaganate|Rouran]], the Wusun migrated into the [[Pamir Mountains]] in the 5th century ad.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> They are mentioned in Chinese historical sources in 436 CE, when a Chinese envoy was sent to their country and the Wusun reciprocated.<ref>Zadneprovskiy, Y. A. 1994. "The Nomads of northern Central Asia after the invasion of Alexander." Y. A. Zadneprovskiy. In: ''History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250''. Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, p. 461</ref> They are last mentioned in 938 ad when a Wusun chieftain paid tribute to the [[Liao dynasty]].<ref name="ChineseHistory"/>