New Investigation of Aluohan(阿罗憾)on the Silk Road,the Persian chief Who Entered China during the Tang Dynasty
At the end of the Qing Dynasty,the epitaph of the Persian chief,Aluohan,was un-earthed from Luoyang,Henan Province.This epitaph was then collected by the epigraphist Duan Fang.Aluohan should be a great Persian chief with high prestige in the Central Asian region.Alternatively,he might be a great chief from a certain area of the Central Asia,and was called the great chief of Persia because of his close connection with Persia,or the fact that Persia once occupied his territory.So far,no evidence suggests that he was a Nestorian,a member of the Persian royal family,or the archetype of Bahram,the saviour in the Zoroastrian scripture.Even though some of his experiences might be incorporated into the story of Bahram.The current scholarship is susceptible to the over-interpre-tation of Aluohan and his achievements.After the demise of Persia in 651 C.E.,Aluohan was dedicated to the restoration of the Persian Empire.He was summoned to the Tang court,where he was well treated because of his accomplishments and eventually died in Luoyang.The epitaph of Aluohan provides valuable information on the history of the exile of Persia,and is beneficial for our interpretations of China's poli-cies towards and relation with the Persia,Central Asia,and Arabs at the time.
The epitaph of AluohanPersiaNestorianismBahram ⅦLuoyang
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