Yancai, Aorsi, Alans

In the 2nd century BC, the vast steppe area of Eurasia and adjacent territories underwent the significant ethnopolitical changes, which also had their extension in the beginning of a new era. In the territory of Central Asia and in the south of Eastern Europe, Chinese and ancient sources recorded the names of peoples that had not been mentioned before. This paper is devoted to the debatable problem of identification of the Yancai estate, mentioned in the works of ancient Chinese historians, with the territory, inhabitated by the Aorsi and known from the written sources of ancient authors. We prove the possibility of their identification. The Aorsi were in the hostile relations with their eastern neighbors and prevented the realization of economic and cultural relations between the peoples of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In the 1st century AD, Yancai was under control of the Alans, who were acting according to the policy of Kangyu, a territorial unit of Central Asia. This gave rise to building the relations between the Central Asian and the Eastern European regions, which created the conditions for the beginning of functioning of the northern branch of the Silk Road.