[Yiieh-chih]. An East Iranian tribe of mounted nomads referred to in Chinese sources perhaps as early as the 4th century bc. At that time the Yuezhi evidently inhabited the northern Gansu steppes and the area between the Tianshan and Altai mountains; a few stag-shaped bronze finials unearthed in this region may be connected with them. The Yuezhi were defeated in 165 BC by the Xiongnu and driven west to Bactria. One branch of the tribe, the Da Yuezhi, later founded the Kushan empire.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied