By the early centuries CE, the oasis kingdom of Khotan (Hotan/Yutian) on the southern Silk Road began to adopt Buddhism and sponsor monastic life. Located on a key trade corridor around the Taklamakan Desert, Khotan’s rulers used monasteries and temples to support pilgrimage, learning, and cultural exchange. This set the stage for large, royally supported temple complexes to develop in and around the Khotan region.
A major monastery-and-stupa complex later known as Rawak (Rawak Vihara/Rawak Stupa) was constructed north of Khotan. Scholars commonly date the site to roughly the 4th–5th centuries CE based on coins and art-historical style, though earlier/later dates have been debated. Its large stupa and surrounding courts show the scale that Khotan’s Buddhist institutions could reach, likely with elite or royal backing.
In 401 CE, the Chinese monk Faxian arrived in Khotan and reported a strong Buddhist presence. He described large monasteries and a major public procession involving images (Buddhist statues) brought from different monasteries. His account is an early, detailed snapshot of royal and civic support for monastic institutions in Khotan.
At Rawak and related sites, Buddhist architecture was paired with extensive sculpture in clay and stucco (a fine plaster), including large Buddhas and bodhisattvas placed along enclosing walls. This reflects both religious practice (visual devotion, circumambulation) and political prestige, since large-scale religious art required resources, organization, and patronage. The artistic style also shows Khotan’s connections to wider Buddhist art traditions across Central Asia.
Dandan Oilik, northeast of Khotan, developed into a significant Buddhist site along the southern Silk Road from about the 6th century. Its shrines and residential structures illustrate how monasteries could anchor settlement life in desert-edge oases. The site’s later abandonment highlights how political and military shifts could disrupt monastic networks.
From 670 to 678, Tibetan campaigns against Tang China and its allies brought much of the Tarim Basin under Tibetan dominance. Control of oasis kingdoms and routes affected the security and funding environment for major monasteries. In Khotan’s region, these shifts helped determine which temples thrived, which were exposed to conflict, and how religious institutions navigated changing rulers.
In 692, the Tang dynasty re-stabilized parts of the Western Regions and stationed large forces, helping re-open long-distance travel and exchange. During the following decades, Khotanese monks visited China in greater numbers and translated Buddhist scriptures. This period strengthened the intellectual role of Khotan’s monastic centers and linked them more tightly to the wider Buddhist world.
In 695, the Khotanese monk Śikṣānanda arrived in Luoyang with a Sanskrit recension (version) of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Huayan/Flower Garland Sūtra) associated with Khotan. Working with a translation team under imperial patronage, he completed an 80-scroll Chinese translation in 699. This shows Khotan’s monasteries were not only local religious centers, but also sources of important texts used across East Asia.
Khotan produced original Buddhist works in the Khotanese language, not just translations from India. One major example is the Book of Zambasta, a poetic text whose composition began earlier but was likely completed by the 7th century, with later copies remaining popular into the 10th century. Such texts help explain how Khotan’s royal monasteries supported both learning and a distinct local Buddhist identity.
As Tibetan power expanded again in the late 8th century, some Buddhist settlements on Khotan’s northern desert fringe were abandoned. Dandan Oilik, for example, is commonly described as being left before or around the Tibetan advance at the end of the eighth century. This illustrates a recurring pattern: oasis monasteries depended on stable trade and protection, and could decline quickly when routes became unsafe.
Khotanese monastic expertise also supported translation efforts beyond Khotan. A Khotanese monk named Śīladharma assisted the traveler-monk Wukong in translating Sanskrit texts while in Tang-controlled areas; sources describe a translation effort lasting about 785–789. This kind of work depended on strong monastic education and multilingual training fostered by Khotan’s major temple complexes and royal patronage traditions.
In the 10th century, Khotan maintained frequent contact with Dunhuang through Buddhist networks and diplomacy, including large delegations and marriage alliances among ruling families. These connections helped sustain religious institutions and cultural exchange even as regional politics shifted after the Tang period. Manuscripts and reports from Dunhuang preserve evidence of these ties and the presence of Khotanese people in the area.
In 1006, the Karakhanid ruler Yusuf Qadir Khan of Kashgar conquered Khotan, ending it as an independent Buddhist kingdom. Later sources describe the destruction or repurposing of Buddhist temples during the transition to Islamic rule. This conquest is a clear closing turning point: Khotan’s royally supported monasteries and temple complexes could no longer rely on Buddhist kingship and state patronage, reshaping religious life along this section of the Silk Road.
In April 1901, the archaeologist Aurel Stein visited Rawak and excavated parts of the stupa court and surrounding structures over about eight days, documenting numerous large stucco figures. He returned in 1906 and found that many sculptures had been removed by treasure seekers. Stein’s work preserved crucial visual and descriptive records of Khotan’s monumental monastery art, even as the sites deteriorated or were looted.
Khotan's royal monasteries and temple complexes (3rd–10th century CE)