Yingsuo

Yingsuo, 應娑, was a district north of Kucha. It was the seat of one of the lesser khans of the western Göktürks.^[1] The Sui Shu names it in its account of Heshana, the western khan that it calls Chuluo Khan.^[1]

The lesser khan

According to the Sui Shu, Heshana had no fixed residence and stayed mostly in the old land of the Wusun.^[1] He set up two lesser khans to share the command of his people.^[1] One lived north of Chach, to control the Hu states. The other lived north of Kucha, in a district called Yingsuo.^[1] The Bei Shi and the Tongdian give the passage in nearly the same words.^[2] None of the three names the lesser khan at Yingsuo.^[3]

The Yingsuo valley

The Xin Tang Shu names a Yingsuo valley, 鷹娑川, in its account of the wars against Ashina Helu. It writes the first character differently.^[4] In the year after 653, by its reckoning, Su Dingfang led the vanguard against a detached camp of Helu’s Shunishi in the Yingsuo valley.^[4] He took many heads and horses. The enemy left armour and weapons strewn across the fields.^[4] After Helu’s fall, the Tang divided his lands into prefectures. The Shunishi Chuban tribe became the Yingsuo Area Command.^[4]

Location

The two names may refer to one place. The place is identified with the valley of the Yulduz.^[5] The Yulduz is the upper course of the river that flows into Lake Bagrash near Karashahr.^[5] On this identification the lesser khan of the Sui Shu lay in the part of that valley which lies north of Kucha.^[6]