Tocharians

Fragment of a painting depicting two Tocharian ladies, found in the Silk Road oasis town of Miran.

Depiction of Tocharians on a mural.

Tocharian B Love Poem B-496. Translation in Krause and Thomas 1960–64:2.72 and Pinault 2008:32 II.

Tocharian languages - A, B, C in the Tarim Basin. Tarim oasis towns are given as listed in the Book of Han (c. 2nd century BC.) Areas of the squares are proportional to population.

The Tocharians (Traditional Chinese: 吐火羅人) were an ancient people who lived in the Tarim Basin. The Tocharians spoke an Indo-European language called the Tocharian.^[1]^[2] The region they lived in is closer to the East Asia than any other Indo-European-speaking regions.^[1]

Tocharians Media

Royal family, Cave 17, Kizil (family detail, retouched)
Figure of Tocharian nobility, Cave 17, Kizil Caves, circa 500 AD
The Tocharian script is very similar to the Indian Brahmi script from the Kushan period, with only slight variations in calligraphy. Tocharian language inscription: Se pañäkte saṅketavattse ṣarsa papaiykau "This Buddha was painted by the hand of Sanketava", on a painting carbon dated to 245-340 AD.
Maya Cave 224, Tocharian Prince mourning the Buddha
Chemurchek statue, Khukh uzuuriin dugui I - 1. Bulgan, Khovd, Mongolia^[3]
Major oasis states of the ancient Tarim Basin
Tocharian kneeling devotees circa 300 AD, in the paintings of the Cave of the Hippocampi (Cave 118), Kizil Caves.
The Buddhist Cave with the Ring-Bearing Doves (Cave 123) at the Kizil Caves near Kucha, built circa 430-530 AD.
Monks from the Cave of the Painters circa 500 AD, Kizil Caves.