Oasis of Khotan in Terms of its Geography

Stein describes the oasis of Khotan in terms of its geography. He says it has from early times been the largest and most important cultivated territory in the south of the Tarim Basin. On the one hand the territory presents the natural features typical of the oases found on the fringe of the great desert of Chinese Turkestan. However, its position, size, and historical past are unique. The geographical position of the Khotan oasis gives it its wealth and importance. It occupies a mighty terrace of fertile loess which has an unbroken length of 40 miles from the foot of the outer hills of the Kun-lun range. It is given ample irrigation from the Yurung-kash and Kara-kash rivers which emerge into the plain immediately above Khotan. Stein has undertaken an expedition from Khotan southward into the mountain range of Karanghu-tagh and toward the headwaters of the Yurung-kash leading to a snowy range of mountains. The two rivers of Khotan bring down a vast volume of water during the months when the sun is powerful enough to melt the snow and ice of the high ranges. Khotan owes its very existence to these two rivers.

A dust-laden atmosphere envelops Khotan for most of the year, with frequent sand-storms. The development of a process of irrigation has been responsible for the accumulation of silt from the rivers. This has contributed to the fertile soil of the area. Cultivation begins at the place where the rivers debouch into Kho

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rit derivation for the old local name. It is not likely that a territory so far from the ethnic frontiers of India would have been named originally in Sanskrit, and part of the term would not have been known to the genuine old language but only to later Sanskrit. Other forms noted are Khotamna, Khotana, and Khodana, showing that whatever its origin, the name of Khotan had in the first centuries of our era already assumed a phonetic form closely approaching the present one, which enables us to account with little difficulty for all the varying reproductions of the local name recorded by Hsuan-Tang. The form "Ch'u-tan" was ascribed to the Hindus. Other pronunciations and forms are also discussed here showing how the different forms relate to the central idea of "breast of the earth" and how the different forms are related to one another. The last name mentioned by Hsuan-tang is Yu-t'ien, and this is the name by which Khotan is always designated in all the Chinese dynastic histories from the period of the Former Hans down to that of the Mings. It seems to have continued in official use even after the reconquest of Eastern Turkestan by the Manchu dynasty in the eighteenth century. Stein says it is probable that Yu-t'ien is a p
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Khotan Stein, King Asoka's, KHOTAN Stein, King Asoka, Khotana Khodana, Chinese Turkestan, T'ang Annals, Turkestan Manchu, Tarim Basin, Western City, historical record, breast earth, khotan stein, name khotan, chinese notices, local name, tibetan texts, recorded hsuan-tang, stein believes, popular etymology,
Approximate Word count = 2514
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)