1) Is there a compilation of Steppe rulers or important people who converted to Hinduism as you mentioned in your post? (Usually one hears only of Buddhism when Indic influence in East Asia and Inner Asia is discussed)
2) Were there more 'Stranger Kings' of Indian blood in these regions? (Again one hears only of SEA in this context)
We hear more of Nastika influence partly because scholars arbitrarily assign it wherever Indian influence is seen. Indeed they were far more significant in regions like China but central asia still had significant H population. The steppe people whose conversions I was referring to were Scythians, Hunas and Kushanas, a lot of whom were Hs.
Great Work. Two questions -
1) Is there a compilation of Steppe rulers or important people who converted to Hinduism as you mentioned in your post? (Usually one hears only of Buddhism when Indic influence in East Asia and Inner Asia is discussed)
2) Were there more 'Stranger Kings' of Indian blood in these regions? (Again one hears only of SEA in this context)
Thanks.
We hear more of Nastika influence partly because scholars arbitrarily assign it wherever Indian influence is seen. Indeed they were far more significant in regions like China but central asia still had significant H population. The steppe people whose conversions I was referring to were Scythians, Hunas and Kushanas, a lot of whom were Hs.
Speaking particularly of people residing in CA/Tarim Basin, you can begin with the Wusun who were quite possibly an Indo-Aryan people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wusun There were also many indianized statelets like Khotan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotan Kroran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loulan_Kingdom and Kucha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kucha which you would like to check out.