Tarim Basin
The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about 530,000 square kilometers. It stands as one of the largest basins in Northwest China. Its northern boundary is defined by the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern boundary is marked by the Kunlun Mountains on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The Taklamakan Desert dominates much of this vast region. Geological history shows the basin formed from an amalgamation between an ancient microcontinent and the growing Eurasian continent during the Carboniferous to Permian periods. This process ended in the earliest Triassic with the closure of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean. Snow on the Karakoram mountain range flows into glaciers which move down valleys to melt. The melted water forms rivers that flow down mountains and into the Tarim Basin without ever reaching the sea. Some rivers feed oases where water is used for irrigation while others flow to salt lakes and marshes.
Autosomal genetic evidence suggests that the earliest Tarim people arose from locals of primarily Ancient North Eurasian descent with significant Northeast Asian admixture. The Tarim mummies have been found in various locations in the eastern Tarim Basin such as Loulan, the Xiaohe Tomb complex, and Qäwrighul. These mummies have previously been suggested to be of Tocharian origin but recent evidence indicates they belonged to a distinct population unrelated to later Indo-European pastoralists like Afanasievo. Zhang et al. (2025) investigated a Late Bronze Age site in the far west of the Tarim Basin dated 1600 to 1400 BC. Its inhabitants overwhelmingly descended from the Sintashta and Andronovo population with additional ancestry from BMAC and Tarim_EMBA. Nearly all subjects belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup R-M17. Earlier diggings in the southern Tarim Basin in the 1990s suggested Yuansha was the earliest fortified urban site around 400 BC. New surveys between 2018 and 2020 showed Kuiyukexiehai'er is actually the earliest fortified urban settlement covering 6 hectares developed in four phases between c. 770 BC and 80 AD.
The Northern Silk Road on one route bypassed the Tarim Basin north of the Tian Shan mountains and traversed it on three oases-dependent routes. One northern route ran from Kashgar via Aksu, Kucha, Korla through the Iron Gate Pass then Karasahr, Jiaohe, Turpan, Gaochang and Kumul to Anxi. The southern Tarim route ran from Kashgar through Yarkant, Karghalik, Pishan, Khotan, Keriya, Niya, Qarqan, Qarkilik, Miran and Dunhuang to Anxi. The middle Tarim route connected Korla on the northern Tarim route through Loulan and across the Lop Nur region and Dunhuang on the southern Tarim route. The export of jade from the Tarim Basin since at least the late 2nd millennium BC is well-documented archaeologically. Hundreds of jade pieces found in the Tomb of Fu Hao originated from the Khotan area on the southern rim of the Tarim Basin. Caravans met in Kashgar before crossing the mountains. The original caravan route seems to have followed the south side but shifted to the center around 330 AD when the Tarim changed course.
In the tenth century the Karakhanids became the first Islamic Turkic dynasty when Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam in 966 while he controlled Kashgar. Satuq Bughra Khan and his son directed endeavors to preach Islam among the Turks and engage in conquests. Satok Bughra Khan's nephew or grandson Ali Arslan was slain by the Buddhists during the war. Buddhism lost territory to the Turkic Karakhanid Satok Bughra Khan during the Karakhanid reign around Kashgar. In 1006 the Muslim Kara-Khanid ruler Yusuf Kadir Khan of Kashgar conquered Khotan ending its existence as an independent state. The Islamic conquest of Khotan led to alarm in the east and Dunhuang's Cave 17 which contained Khotanese literary works was closed shut possibly after caretakers heard that Khotan's Buddhist buildings were razed by Muslims. An Islamic cemetery exists outside the Afaq Khoja Mausoleum in Kashgar. Accounts of the Muslim Karakhanid war against the Khotanese Buddhists are given in Tażkirah of the Four Sacrificed Imams written sometime between 1700 and 1849.
Xinjiang did not exist as one unit until 1884 under Qing rule. It consisted of two separate political entities of Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin. At the time of the Qing conquest in 1759 Dzungaria was inhabited by steppe-dwelling nomadic Mongolic Buddhist Dzungars while the Tarim Basin was inhabited by sedentary oasis-dwelling Turkic-speaking Uyghur Muslim peasants. Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin were each governed separately until creation of Xinjiang province. The eastern regions of the Chagatai Khanate in early 14th century had been inhabited by a number of Mongol nomadic tribes who resented conversion of khan Tarmashirin to Islam. In 1347 the Dughlats decided to appoint a khan of their own raising the Chagatayid Tughlugh Timur to throne. By early 17th century Naqshbandi Sufi Khojas descendants of Muhammad replaced Chagatayid Khans as rulers of Tarim Basin. There was struggle between Afaqi White Mountain and Ishaqi Black Mountain factions.
In 2025 China completed a 15-year infrastructure project encircling the Tarim Basin with a 750-kilovolt extra-high voltage power loop. The 4,197-kilometre network connects multiple renewable energy sources such as wind solar thermal and hydropower across five prefectures in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This new grid significantly increases region's power transmission capacity from 300,000 kilowatts to 3 million kilowatts allowing integration with other provincial grids including Qinghai and Sichuan. Project required construction of nearly 10,000 transmission towers and nine substations with much work taking place in Taklamakan Desert covering about 60% of basin. To support logistics and prevent dune movement roadbeds and sand-blocking vegetation systems were implemented. Beijing aims to develop Xinjiang into China's new energy base for long run supplying one-fifth of country total oil supply by 2010 with annual output of 35 million tonnes.
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Common questions
What is the Tarim Basin and where is it located?
The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about 530,000 square kilometers. Its northern boundary is defined by the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern boundary is marked by the Kunlun Mountains on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau.
Who were the earliest people living in the Tarim Basin according to genetic evidence?
Autosomal genetic evidence suggests that the earliest Tarim people arose from locals of primarily Ancient North Eurasian descent with significant Northeast Asian admixture. The Tarim mummies found in locations such as Loulan and the Xiaohe Tomb complex belonged to a distinct population unrelated to later Indo-European pastoralists like Afanasievo.
When did the Islamic conquest of Khotan occur under the Karakhanids?
In 1006 the Muslim Kara-Khanid ruler Yusuf Kadir Khan of Kashgar conquered Khotan ending its existence as an independent state. Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam in 966 while he controlled Kashgar and directed endeavors to preach Islam among the Turks.
How was the administrative status of the Tarim Basin changed in 1884?
Xinjiang did not exist as one unit until 1884 under Qing rule when it consisted of two separate political entities of Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin. Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin were each governed separately until creation of Xinjiang province.
What infrastructure project did China complete around the Tarim Basin in 2025?
In 2025 China completed a 15-year infrastructure project encircling the Tarim Basin with a 750-kilovolt extra-high voltage power loop. The 4,197-kilometre network connects multiple renewable energy sources such as wind solar thermal and hydropower across five prefectures in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.