Tokharistan and Gandhara under Western Turk Rule (650–750)

Rivalry over the control of the Silk Roads had a profound effect on the political and military history of Central Asia in the Middle Ages.  From the seventh century, the Turkish nomads became an increasingly powerful force and so started to try and dominate the Silk Roads, leading to a series of wars both with China and with Sasanian Iran.  Tokharistan and Gandhara were two territories that the Turks aimed to conquer in order to establish this supremacy, with varying degrees of success.