Miran (China)

Miran is an ancient oasis town located on the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert in China, along the famous trade route known as the Silk Road where the Lop Nur desert meets the mountains. Two thousand years ago a river flowed down from the mountain and Miran had a sophisticated irrigation system. Now the ruined city is a sparsely inhabited dusty spot with poor roads and minimal transportation in the of the People's Republic of China, a largely Muslim region.

Archaeology

Marc Aurel Stein was the first archaeologist to systematically study the ruins at Miran in 1907. The many artifacts found in Miran demonstrate the extensive and sophisticated connections these ancient towns had with places as far away as the Mediterranean Sea. Archaeological evidence from Miran shows the influence of Buddhism on artistic work as early as the first century BC. Early Buddhist sculptures and murals excavated from the site show stylistic similarities to the traditions of Central Asia and North India and other artistic aspects of the paintings found there suggest that Miran had a direct connection with and its .

A wealth of manuscripts have been found, mostly official Tibetan documents and military information from the fort, written in early Tibetan script on wood or paper, dating the eighth and ninth century. Since the Tibetan script was invented a century before, these are some of the earliest examples of the script.