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There
is something about ancient times that has always had great appeal to me. The power of myth and religion had an almost magical hold on the people, and the fortunes of empires were influenced as much by the power of religion and men’s beliefs as anything else. This story that became “Taklamakan” has an almost epic quality that harkens back to my roots as a
lover of Tolkien. But it plays itself out in a medieval setting, (757 AD) and the world is very real. The story has been infused with extensive research on the habits, dress, speech, arms, food, animals,
religion, currency, politics, and of course the land that makes up the setting of this story, so lovingly detailed by maps that I mentioned in the formal introduction; an essential part of the “read.” While all of the characters in this story are my own fictional creations, they often refer to real people and historical events of the time in which they are living. Here is just a little important background to set the stage…
This was the great era of the Tang Dynasty in China, when traffic along the “Silk Road” was at its height. Most traffic originated at Dun
Huang (my spelling) in China, and then moved either north or south around the Taklamakan to reach trading cities at Khotan, Kashgar or Samarkand beyond the Tien Shan. Asia was mastered by China in the East, the Empire of Tibet in the south, and the rising power of the Arab Caliphate in the West. These empires ground against one another like great tectonic plates, and their boundaries and frontiers were often the scene of much fighting and intrigue. The Tarim Basin and the region of the Taklamakan was a vast “no man’s land” where influence changed hands often. At this time, China still exerted its influence and control over the silk and spice trade routes through this region. Late in the year 756, however, two events occurred in the empires of China and Tibet that dramatically upset the balance of power.
The first event was the rebellion of a the Sogdian/Chinese General An Lu Shan, a man of Turkic origins who marched on the Chinese capital and threw the heartland of that empire into chaos
over the next seven to ten years. This prompted the Chinese Emperor to flee the capital, and forced the recall many troops in his outlying garrisons to help fend off the challenge of this upstart rebel general.
 Coincident with this event, the Emperor of Tibet was assassinated by a rival. The new Emperor
, Trisong Detsen, decided to invite a famous Indian Guru, Padmasambhava, (Padma) into his court as a means of challenging the Chinese version of Buddhism that had
long since infiltrated his land. By embracing this new tradition, a more esoteric and Tantric form of Buddhism, he could expel the Chinese monks and remove their
influence from the region. He could also use Padma’s influence to neutralize the dissident court ministers who were proponents of the older Bon tradition in Tibet.
During this time, the soldiers of Tibet began to move north into the Tarim Basin, filling the power vacuum created by the withdrawal of the Chinese garrisons along the Silk Road.
Go to Tibetan Page >
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