page_title: Protectorate General to Pacify the West
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Protectorate General to Pacify the West / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Historical Xinjiang
context_page_description: The Protectorate General to Pacify the West, initially the Protectorate to Pacify the West, was a protectorate established by the Tang dynasty in 640 to control the Tarim Basin. The head office was first established at the prefecture of Xi, now known as Turpan, but was later shifted to Qiuci and situated there for most of the period. The Four Garrisons of Anxi in Kucha, Khotan, Kashgar, and Karashahr were installed between 648 and 658 as garrisons under the western protectorate. In 659 Soghd, Ferghana, Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Balkh, Herat, Kashmir, the Pamirs, Tokharistan, and Kabul all submitted to the protectorate under Emperor Gaozong of Tang. After the An Lushan Rebellion the office of Protector General was given to Guo Xin who defended the area and the four garrisons even after communication had been cut off from Chang'an by the Tibetan Empire. The last five years of the protectorate are regarded as an uncertain period in its history, but most sources agree that the last vestiges of the protectorate and its garrisons were defeated by Tibetan forces by the year 790, ending nearly 150 years of Tang influence in central Asia.
caption: Historical cities of the Tarim Basin
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