348 kashmir and afghanistan
gifts (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5026).
In the intercalary 12th month (Jan./Feb., 717) of the Chinese year
716, chiefs from Gilgit offered gifts (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5027).
In 720, Emperor Hsüan-tsung recognized the king of Gilgit (Chiu
T’ang shu 198:13b; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 335:34b) and aided him against
the Tibetans in 722.
In the 2nd month (March) of 724, a chief from Gilgit was received
at the T’ang court and was presented with 50 bolts of silk (Ts’e-fu
yüan-kuei p.5027).
In the intercalary month (March) of 733, a chief from Gilgit was
received at the T’ang court (Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 335:34b).
In 734,^28 a number of small principalities including Gilgit became
dependencies of Tibet. A Tibetan princess was married to the king
of Lesser Gilgit. Thereafter, connections between Gilgit and China
were disrupted (Chiu T’ang shu 104:1a; 196A:10a-10b; 198:13b; Tzu-
chih t’ung-chien p.6827 Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 335:34b).^29
Tibet, in control of Gilgit, blocked the important trade route from
Kashgar to Kashmir and India. Hsüan-tsung, who previously had
protested against the conquest, therefore ordered in 747 the Military
Commissioner of the An-hsi Protectorate, Kao Hsien-chih, to attack the
Tibetans. Kao Hsien-chih marched his troops that year from Kucha
through the Pamirs and Hindu Kush to Gilgit, a famous campaign in
military history, defeated the Tibetans, and captured the king of Lesser
Gilgit and his Tibetan Princess. They were presumably brought to
Ch’ang-an. Hsüan-tsung treated the king well, appointed him General
of the Martial Guards of the Right, and presented him with a purple
robe and a belt of real gold (Chiu T’ang-shu 104:2a; Wen-hsien t’ung-
k’ao 335:34b). But Kao Hsien-chih’s victory in Gilghit of 747 and his
subsequent one over Chieh-shih in 750 soon lost their significance
with his defeat by the Arabs at the Talas River in 751.
(^28) The date is according to Chiu T’ang shu 198:13b. The same text 196A:10a-10b
has 736, and Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.6827 has 737. The Tibetan conquest may have
taken several years.
(^29) In the 7th month (August) of 745, a Buddhist priest from Lesser Gilgit offered
gifts to the T’ang court (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5030), but that was probably a private
venture.