The
Kingdom of Khotan was an ancient
Buddhist kingdom that was located on the branch of the
Silk Road that ran along the southern edge of the
Taklamakan Desert in the
Tarim Basin (modern
Xinjiang,
China). The ancient capital was originally located to the west of modern-day
Hotan at Yotkan. From the
Han dynasty until at least the
Tang dynasty it was known in Chinese as
Yutian (, 于窴, or 於闐). The kingdom existed for over a thousand years until it was conquered by the
Muslims in 1006.