Protectorate General to Pacify the West
The Protectorate General to Pacify the West (Anxi Grand Protectorate), initially the Protectorate to Pacify the West (Anxi Protectorate), was a protectorate (640 – c. 790) established by the Chinese Tang dynasty in 640 to control the Tarim Basin. The head office was first established at the prefecture of Xi, now known as Turpan, but was later shifted to Qiuci (Kucha) and situated there for most of the period.
| Protectorate General to Pacify the West | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 安西大都護府 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 安西大都护府 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Pacify-West Grand Metropolitan-Protection Prefecture/Office | ||||||||
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| Protectorate to Pacify the West | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 安西都護府 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 安西都护府 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Pacify-West Metropolitan-Protection Prefecture/Office | ||||||||
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| History of Xinjiang |
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The Four Garrisons of Anxi in Kucha, Khotan, Kashgar, and Karashahr were installed between 648 and 658 as garrisons under the western protectorate. In 659, Sogdia, Ferghana, Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Balkh, Herat, Kashmir, the Pamirs, Tokharistan, and Kabul all submitted to the protectorate under Emperor Gaozong of Tang.
After the An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) was suppressed, the office of Protector General was given to Guo Xin, who defended the area and the four garrisons even after communication had been cut off from Chang'an by the Tibetan Empire. The last five years of the protectorate are regarded as an uncertain period in its history, but most sources agree that the last vestiges of the protectorate and its garrisons were defeated by Tibetan forces by 790, ending nearly 150 years of Tang influence in Central Asia.