Aksu

Aksu (also known as Ak-su, Akshu, Bharuka and Po-lu-chia. Uyghur: ئاقسۇ/Ak̢su; simplified Chinese 阿克苏, traditional Chinese: ???, pinyin: Āk?s?) was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk road that ran along the northern edge of the Taklamakan desert in the Tarim basin. (The area lies in present day Xinjiang, China). A town of the same name survives today (, population 220,415 in 1999).

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The pilgrim Xuanzang recorded that there were tens of Buddhist monasteries in the kingdom and over 1000 monks. He said the kingdom was 600 li from east to west, and 300 li from north to south. Its capital was said to be 6 li in circuit. He also stated that cloth made in the area was traded in neighbouring countries.

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Aksu was strongly connected with Kucha, though its spoken language differed a little from standard Kuchean. It was positioned on a junction of trade routes; the northern-Tarim silk road, and a route north to the fertile Ili River valley.

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Uyghur: The Uyghur (also called Uighur, Uygur, or Uigur) () are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group living in northwestern China (mainly in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where they are the largest ethnic group together with Han people), Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Russia. Another gr...

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