kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Jushi

108 BCE – 450 CE (approx.) · capital Jiaohe

The oasis kingdom of the Turpan basin, fought over by the Han and the Xiongnu, whose dramatic cliff-top capital at Jiaohe still stands.

Origins

Jushi controlled the Turpan basin and the passes through the eastern Tianshan, the gateway between Mongolia and the Tarim. It was first a dependency of the Xiongnu. After repeated Han campaigns, often called the five battles for Jushi, it was divided around 60 BCE into Former Jushi, centred on Jiaohe, and Later Jushi north of the mountains.

Rule and society

Jiaohe was built on a narrow island plateau between two rivers, its buildings carved down into the loess. The people farmed irrigated fields and herded, and their kings shifted allegiance with every change in the balance of power. The Han stationed military colonists nearby under a Wuji colonel at Gaochang, which gradually became the region's main Chinese centre.

Decline and legacy

Jushi survived as a vassal of successive Chinese and steppe powers until around 450, when Juqu Anzhou, leader of the Northern Liang remnants who had seized Gaochang, destroyed it. The Gaochang Kingdom inherited the Turpan basin, and the ruins of Jiaohe are now a World Heritage Site.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Jushi. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/jushi
MLA
“Jushi.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/jushi. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Jushi.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/jushi.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Jushi’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/jushi (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻