[gothic-l] Tarim Mummies

[sunnytjatsingh]

Hi Valulfr, my two cents, 

"Just for the sake of debate, lets suppose that an "offshoot" of the 
Goths (Getae - Massa or Tyssa) migrated to the "east". What 
relationship do you see between them and the Tocharian culture of the 
Altai region, a culture the Chinese wrote about."

First, I am not sure if the Tocharian, aka Tarim Mummies, have 
anything to do with the Goths, and though I do not put much stress in 
language, Tocharian does appear to be a Centum language, I believe 
some have claimed it to be very close to Italic (?).  It seems that 
many are claiming a European origin of these Mummies, as the earliest 
ones appear to be "Europoid" or "Nordics" if I may use these words.  
Later graves show that they came in contact with nomadic peoples, as 
testified by the peaked-caps found in the later graves; Massagetae or 
Da Yuezhi (?)

Other have argued a steppe hypothesis based on the clothing (they 
wore trousers, which some have surmised means that they were horse-
mounted warriors) and peaked caps (textile specialist like Barber 
have shown that the earliest clothing was quite different from the 
later graves, so the steppe hypothesis is losing ground), and still 
others a BMAC (Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex) origin based 
on the Mummy people's use of tin, I guess the largest tin mines are 
near the BMAC. I guess time will tell. 

What I can tell you is that the Tochari or Tocharioi of Strabo, was 
absorbed in the modern Jats.  We know the Tocharioi were a branch of 
the Da Yuezhi, and they were called in Indian text Tukhara or 
Turushka.   My view is that they must have picked up the Tocharian 
language due to their interaction with the Mummy people (this could 
also explain the peaked caps and trousers found in the later graves), 
and hence called Tocharioi.  

J. Legge who, in his translation of the memoirs of Faxian (a Chinese 
Buddhist pilgrim to India AD 519) renders, "Formerly, a King of Yue-
she [Yuezhi] raised a large force and invaded this country 
[Tokharestan], wishing to carry the [Buddha Alms] bowl away
Dr. Eitel 
suggests that a relic of the old name of the country may still exist 
in that of the Jats or Juts of the present day.  A more common name 
for it is Tukhar and he observes that the people were the Indo-
Scythians of the Greeks
.who were driven on by the Huns
(Legge 1886: 
34)."

Legge, J. (Translator). A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an 
Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his Travels in India and 
Ceylon in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline. New York. 
Reprinted by Paragon Book Reprint Corp.: 1965, First Published in 
1886.

Tukhar or Takhar is still an important Jat and Rajput clan name, 
moreover, it is a title used by these tribes in the hill regions of 
Panjab.

Best Wishes,



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