finally down the Indus River Valley. In the later stages of this great volk-
erwanderung, the Yuezhi metamorphosed into a new people and founded
their own great empire, the Kushan. Barbaricum became their port on the
Indian Ocean and the Roman Empire their new trading partner. On their
way across Central Asia, the Yuezhi dislodged another large nomadic group
known to Indian sources as the Shakas, actually the local branch of the
Scythians, who began their own migration, during which they founded
several states, including one in India whose major port was Barygaza.
Dislodging the Yuezhi put the Xiongnu on the doorstep of China. To deal
with them, the Chinese developed three different strategies that would prove
to be the source of endless debate within their ruling echelons for the next
two millennia. Thefirst was exclusion through the building of border for-
tifications or walls to keep the horsemen out. The earliest wall made of
pounded earth had appeared in the seventh century BCE, and during the
period of the Warring States others followed. The second strategy was to
take the offensive or at least to be proactive in defense. Inc. 300BCEthe
king of Zhao transformed his army from a traditional infantry into a cavalry
complete with nomadic dress, weaponry, and tactics, and other states soon
did the same. The third strategy was to attempt peaceful coexistence by
promoting trade, employing diplomacy, and, when necessary, acceding to
protection payments.
Qin Shihuangdi, the unifier of China, was not a man to prefer peaceful
coexistence, and in 215BCEhe sent an army north to clear the Xiongnu out
of the border regions. For good measure, Sima Qian reports that he built the
first Great Wall by connecting and consolidating the existing walls into a
single line and extending it into Gansu. However, when he died and his
dynasty collapsed, the Xiongnu reoccupied their old lands and attacked
China. The Han dynasty, having come to power under Gaozong, counter-
attacked in 201BCE, but was so badly defeated the emperor himself was
almost captured. As for the walls, they proved to be less than effective
militarily and, by interrupting normal frontier trade, a source of friction.
Some trade did continue, funneled to gates where markets occasionally
formed, but the existence of the walls exacerbated frustration among those
nomads who were interested in peaceful trade, thus provoking further
hostilities.
Gaozong’s disastrous defeat was followed by a treaty in 198BCEunder
which the Chinese agreed to make annual payments in silk, grain, and
alcoholic beverages to the Xiongnu. An era of friendly relations was officially
proclaimed during which a series of border markets was opened where
nomads, farmers, and merchants exchanged goods. The Chinese government
did prohibit the sale of iron weapons to the nomads, which some merchants
chose to ignore to their profit and risk, and in one instancefive hundred of
them who violated this ban were publicly executed. But other goodsflowed
into the steppe over the following decades as never before. Silk came in the
128 From the Jade Road to the Silk Road