Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/258

 220 THE KUSHAN OR INDO - SCYTHIAN DYNASTY In the course of their westward migration in search of grazing-grounds adequate for the sustenance of their vast numbers of horses, cattle, and sheep, the Yueh-chi, moving along the route past Kucha (N. lat. 41 38', E. long. 83 250, to the north of the desert of Gobi, came into conflict with a smaller horde, named Wu-sun, which occupied the basin of the Hi River and its south- ern tributaries, the Tekes and Konges. The Wu-sun, although numbering a force of only ten thousand bow- men, could not submit patiently to the devastation of their lands, and sought to defend them. But the supe- rior numbers of the Yueh-chi assured the success of the invaders, who slew the Wu-sun chieftain, and then passed on westwards, beyond Lake Issyk-kul, the Lake Tsing of Hiuen Tsang, in search of more spacious pas- tures. A small section of the immigrants, diverging to the south, settled on the Tibetan border, and became known as the Little Yueh-chi, while the main body, which continued the westward march, was designated the Great Yueh-chi. The next foes encountered by the Yueh-chi were the Sakas, or Se, who probably included more than one horde, for, as Herodotus observes, the Persians were accustomed to use the term Sakai to denote all Scythian nomads. The Sakas, who dwelt to the west of the Wu-sun, probably in the territory between the Jaxartes (Syr Darya) and Chu Rivers, also attempted to defend their lands, but met with even worse success than the Wu-sun, being compelled to vacate their pasture- grounds in favour of the victorious Yueh-chi, who occu-