Loulan

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Loulan, also known by its indigenous name Kroraina or Kroran, was an ancient Tocharian kingdom in the Tarim Basin, today consumed by the Lop Desert. Based around what was at the time an important oasis city along the Silk Road, Loulan was already known as far back as the 2nd century BCE. At the time, it was said to be on the northeastern edge of the Lop Desert. The capital of the kingdom sat alongside aside the lake Lop Nur, which today has dried entirely into desert. The kingdom was renamed Shanshan (鄯善) after its king was assassinated by an envoy of the Han dynasty in 77 BCE; however, the town at the northwestern corner of Lop Nur retained the name of Loulan. The kingdom included at various times settlements such as Niya, Charklik, Miran and Qiemo. It was intermittently under Chinese control from the early Han dynasty onward until its abandonment centuries later. The ruins of Loulan are near the now-desiccated Lop Nur in the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang and they are now completely surrounded by desert.