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Shanshan (; ) was a kingdom located at the north-eastern end of the Taklamakan Desert near the great, but now mostly dry, salt lake known as Lop Nur.
The kingdom was originally an independent city-state, known in local Gandhari documents as Loulan Kingdom (Krorayina, Kröran) – which is commonly rendered in Chinese as Loulan. The Western Han dynasty took direct control of the kingdom some time after 77 BCE, and it was later known in Chinese as Shanshan. The archaeologist J. P. Mallory has suggested that the name Shanshan may be derived from the name of another city in the area, Qiemo Town (later known in Chinese as Qiemo).Hulsewé (1979), p. 81. A local variety of Gandhari was used in the kingdom for administrative, literary, and epigraphic purposes. Scholars such as Thomas Burrow have suggested the local population might have spoke a hypothetical Tocharian C, as evidenced by the loanwords in those Gandhari documents.
The kingdom included the city of Charklik (near the modern town of Ruoqiang Town to the south-west of Lop Nur), Cherchen (later Qiemo County), as well as Niya, further to the south-west.
Because of its position on what became the main routes from China to the West, controlling both the Southern Route between Dunhuang and Khotan, and the main Silk Route from Dunhuang to Korla Kucha and Kashgar during the Former Han and Later Han; control of the kingdom was regularly contested between the Chinese and the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu repeatedly contested the Han Chinese for control of the region until well into the 2nd century CE.Hill (2015) Vol. I, p. 3 and nn.
In 77 BCE, the Chinese envoy Fu Jiezi was sent to kill the Loulan king, named Changgui or Angui (嘗歸 or 安歸), after several Han envoys were kidnapped and killed.Hulsewé (1979), p. 89-90 He arrived on the pretext of carrying gold and valuables to the outer states and intending to give a presentation to the king, but stabbed the Loulan king to death while he was drunk. The king's younger brother Weituqi (尉屠耆) was then installed as the king of Loulan by the Han ruler, and the kingdom was renamed Shanshan.Hulsewé (1979), pp. 90–91.
The newly installed king requested the presence of Han forces in Yixun (伊循), due to his fear of retribution from the sons of the assassinated king in Loulan. Chinese army officers were therefore sent to colonise the area, and an office of commandant was established at Yixun.Hulsewé 1979, p. 91-92
In 25 CE it was recorded that Shanshan was in league with the Xiongnu. In 73 AD, the Han army officer Ban Chao went to Shanshan with a small group of followers, which was also receiving a delegation from the Xiongnu. Ban Chao killed the Xiongnu envoys and presented their heads to the King, after which King Guang of Shanshan offered his allegiance to Han.
Loulan was later recorded as a dependent kingdom of Shanshan in the 3rd century Weilüe.[1] Draft annotated translation of the Weilüe by John Hill
More evidence of the official adoption of Mahāyāna Buddhism in Shanshan is seen in a letter inscribed in wood, which dates to several decades later. The letter describes the Great Cozbo Ṣamasena as one who is "beloved of men and gods, honoured by men and gods, blessed with a good name, who has set forth in the Mahāyāna."Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 32
The Chinese pilgrim monk, Faxian, stayed about a month in Shanshan after a 17-day journey from Dunhuang in 399 CE. He described the country as "rugged and hilly, with a thin and barren soil. The clothes of the common people are coarse, and like those worn in our land of Han dynasty, some wearing felt and others coarse serge or hair. ... The king professed (our) Law, and there might be in the country more than four thousand monks, who were all students of the Hinayana. ... (The monks) ...were all students of Indian books and the Indian language."Legge (1896), pp. 12–14.
From the 5th century onwards, however, the land was frequently invaded by nomads such as Tuyuhun Kingdom, the Rourans, and the Dingling, and the area became gradually abandoned. In the spring of 442 CE, Loulan was invaded by Juqu Anzhou and its king fled to Qiemo County,Hill (2015) Vol. I, p. 90. and Shanshan then came to be ruled from Qiemo. Weishu Original text: 真君三年，鄯善王比龍避沮渠安周之難，率國人之半奔且末，後役屬鄯善。 Translation: In the third year of Zhenjun, the Loulan king Bilong, so as to avoid troubles from Juqu Anzhou, led half his countrymen and fled to Qiemo, which later controlled Shanshan.
At around 630 (at the beginning of the Tang dynasty), the remaining Shanshan people, led by Shanfutuo (鄯伏陁), migrated to Hami in the Northern area. The Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang passed through this region in 644 on his return from India to China, visited a town called Nafubo (納縛波, thought to be Charklik) of the Loulan country, and he also wrote of Qiemo Town: "A fortress exists, but not a trace of man". Da Tang Xiyu Ji Original text: 从此东行六百余里至折摩驮那故国。即涅末地也。城郭岿然人烟断绝。复此东北行千余里至纳缚波故国。即楼兰地也。
A county is named after Shanshan (Piqan County) in modern Xinjiang, although it lies outside of the historical area of Shanshan.
In addition, the Kharosthi texts also list these kings:
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