Abstract
Through a detailed analysis of unpublished and published material (such as robes, hats, boots, saddles, and quivers) in comparison with those represented in Buddhist wall paintings (i.e. Kizil and Bamiyan) and funerary art, this lecture discloses the cultural and artistic entanglement between the Tuyuhun, Hephthalites, and Tocharians across the Qaidan Basin in Qinghai province of China and the Trans Himalayan, between the5th and6th centuries. Although the origin of these people is still debated among scholars, the common usage of Northern Wei silk, which was often traded in exchange for horses, camels, yaks, and Persian mares, disclosed a similar artistic taste. Such interactions eventually laid the foundations for the development of the early Tibetan artistic identity in the7th century.
