When did the Protectorate of the Western Regions exist?

The Protectorate of the Western Regions existed 60/59 BC – AD 107 (intermittently revived to 439). On this map it is drawn AD 117–223, 306–601.

How large was the Protectorate of the Western Regions?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Protectorate of the Western Regions covered about 695,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Central Asia · The steppe in antiquity

Protectorate of the Western Regions

Han Chinese imperial protectorate · 60/59 BC – AD 107 (intermittently revived to 439)

The Protectorate of the Western Regions (Xiyu Duhu Fu, 西域都護府) was the Han dynasty's imperial administration over the oasis city-states of the Tarim Basin and adjacent Central Asian lands west of Yumen Pass — the first direct rule of the region by a Chinese government. It combined garrisons, agricultural colonies, and a network of vassal city-states under a protector-general appointed by the Han court.

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Type: Han Chinese imperial protectorate
Existed: 60/59 BC – AD 107 (intermittently revived to 439)
Shown on the map: AD 117–223, 306–601 (2 periods)
Peak area: ~695,000 km²
Region: Central Asia

Overview and identity

Background and establishment

Han westward expansion grew out of the century-long Han–Xiongnu War and the War of the Heavenly Horses (ended 101 BC), after which military-agricultural posts were planted between Dunhuang and the Salt Marsh (Lop Nur). The protectorate proper was established in 60/59 BC, when the Southern Xiongnu Rizhu King Bi submitted to the Han with over 10,000 followers; the envoy Zheng Ji, who received him, became the first protector-general of both the Northern and Southern Routes, headquartered at Wulei (near modern Luntai; the site is still debated, with Zorküt/卓爾庫特 Ancient City a leading candidate).

Territory, structure, and population

At its height the protectorate supervised the "Thirty-six States" (later some fifty) of the Tarim — among them Qiuci/Kucha (81,317 people, 21,076 soldiers), Yanqi/Karasahr, Shule/Kashgar, Yutian/Khotan, Loulan, and Jushi/Turfan — whose populations, households, and soldiers are tabulated in the Book of Han. Local peoples included Tocharian-speaking city-states (Kucha, Karasahr, Turfan, Loulan) and Saka-speaking Khotan and Kashgar. In 51 BC, at peak power, even the Wusun nation was brought under Han submission. The protector-general was the highest Han military post in the west, supported by a deputy colonel and soldier-farmer (tuntian) colonies; bilingual Chinese–Kharoshthi coins minted in the southern Tarim illustrate the dual administrative reality.

Chronology: loss and restoration

The post lapsed under Wang Mang's Xin dynasty (8–23 CE); in 45 CE eighteen Western states petitioned Emperor Guangwu to restore it — he refused. Under the Eastern Han, generals Dou Gu, Ban Chao, and Guo Xun reconquered the region: Chen Mu served as protector-general (74–75) but was killed by rebellious Yanqi and Qiuci troops; the office was then downgraded to Chief Official of the Western Regions for Ban Chao (83 CE), who was raised to protector-general in 91 after completing the reconquest, ruling from Taqian near Kucha until 102. Qiang uprisings in Hexi forced abandonment in 107; Ban Chao's son Ban Yong restored it in 123–124 (the usual end-date of Han authority). The Former Liang revived the office at Gaochang in 335, until the fall of the Northern Liang in 439.

Significance and legacy

The protectorate secured the Silk Road, shielded China from the Xiongnu, and created the template for Chinese rule in Xinjiang, directly succeeded by the Tang Protectorate General to Pacify the West (640, at Turfan, later Kucha). It is the institutional foundation on which all later Chinese claims and administrations in the Western Regions rested.

Common questions

What was the Protectorate of the Western Regions?: The Protectorate of the Western Regions (Xiyu Duhu Fu, 西域都護府) was the Han dynasty's imperial administration over the oasis city-states of the Tarim Basin and adjacent Central Asian lands west of Yumen Pass — the first direct rule of the region by a Chinese government. It combined garrisons, agricultural colonies, and a network of vassal city-states under a protector-general appointed by the Han court.
When did the Protectorate of the Western Regions exist?: The Protectorate of the Western Regions existed 60/59 BC – AD 107 (intermittently revived to 439). On this map it is drawn AD 117–223, 306–601.
How large was the Protectorate of the Western Regions?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Protectorate of the Western Regions covered about 695,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Where was the Protectorate of the Western Regions?: At its height the protectorate supervised the "Thirty-six States" (later some fifty) of the Tarim — among them Qiuci/Kucha (81,317 people, 21,076 soldiers), Yanqi/Karasahr, Shule/Kashgar, Yutian/Khotan, Loulan, and Jushi/Turfan — whose populations, households, and soldiers are tabulated in the Book of Han. Local peoples included Tocharian-speaking city-states (Kucha, Karasahr, Turfan, Loulan) and Saka-speaking Khotan and Kashgar.
Who ruled the Protectorate of the Western Regions?: The post lapsed under Wang Mang's Xin dynasty (8–23 CE); in 45 CE eighteen Western states petitioned Emperor Guangwu to restore it — he refused.
How did the Protectorate of the Western Regions end?: The protectorate secured the Silk Road, shielded China from the Xiongnu, and created the template for Chinese rule in Xinjiang, directly succeeded by the Tang Protectorate General to Pacify the West (640, at Turfan, later Kucha). It is the institutional foundation on which all later Chinese claims and administrations in the Western Regions rested.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Protectorate of the Western Regions en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protectorate_of_the_Western_Regions
Encyclopaedia Iranica: Xiongnu (Han–Xiongnu context in the Western Regions) www.iranicaonline.org/articles/xiongnu/

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 27 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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