Miran ［ミーラーン］ ( Mīrān): The capital of the ancient kingdom of Shan-shan in eastern Turkestan in Central Asia. Miran, now a historic site famous for its ruins of Buddhist monasteries, is southwest of Lop Nor (Lop Lake) in the Sinkiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwestern China. In 77 b.c.e., the Han dynasty killed the ruler of a kingdom called Lou-lan. The Han renamed the kingdom Shan-shan and made Miran its capital. Miran was on the easternmost part of the trade route running along the southern rim of the Tarim Basin. This route linked China, the lands to the west, and India. It later became known as the southern route of the Silk Road. Miran is said to have fallen into ruin around the fourth century. Murals depicting legends of Shakyamuni Buddha’s previous births and the events of the Buddha’s life remain in the Buddhist monasteries. Ancient documents have also been discovered there, including those written in the ancient Indian Kharoshthī and Brāhmī scripts and in the Old Tibetan and Old Turkish languages.