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The Tocharians first entered the Tarim Basin around 3000 BCE^[1]. They are assumed to be agricultural or semi agricultural. We can tell when they came by the 5 Tocharian mummies buried in 3000 BCE-2800 BCE. They were buried with things like, cow hide, cheese, and clothes. This shows that they had a life much like other steppe groups in the area. This would later change when around 1500 BCE when they would start to cultivate barely^[2]. In 1200 BCE their farms and irrigation became more and more advanced. This information on farming most likely came from Central Asia.

In the Qunbake Cemetery (Used from 1000 BCE-700 BCE) several Bronze and Iron Weapons as well as pottery^[3]. This would display the years before the Silk Road as a way of life similar to those of other arid cultures in the world. With advancing Political and Agriculture help from Central Asia the way of life in the Tarim Basin was becoming more complex. With the advances from Central Asia they moved from tribes to City States. They also began to be influenced by Proto-Zoroastrian. At this time it would see the rise of the Saka people in the southern Tarim Basin. These people would speak the Saka language. This time they were mostly farmers or early merchants. They believed in the Shamanistic Ideas of their ancestors still but the effects of the silk road were already being shown

The Chinese took control of the Tocharians in 104 BCE after The War of The Heavenly Horses. This time is when the Silk Road formed and Buddhism came to the Tarim Basin. Some of the first writing came at this time from the Han Dynasty. Chinese Occupation ended in the time period around 150 CE when major City States gained Autonomy. This may have made life more orderly and made their government more refined.

The Golden Age of the Tarim Basin happened in the period of the Silk Road. By this time all of the Tarim Basin had become Buddhist (Some were Manichean or Zoroastrian). This was also the creation of the Kizil Caves, which showed us much about the life of the Tocharians at this time. They lived as merchants or business owners or farmers. Most of the caves show prayer or people riding horses^[4]. Some also show lutes and Pipas. This shows they lived a life of Buddhist discipline and simple entertainment.

In the 700s the Uyghers migrated from the North into the Tarim Basin and mixed with the Tocharians and Sakans. Life in the Tarim Basin remained the same. At around the 1100-1200s the last Tocharian Speaker Died.