170-602: The history of the Jews in Afghanistan goes back at least 2,500 years. Ancient Iranian tradition suggests that Jews settled in Balkh , a Zoroastrian and Buddhist stronghold at the time. The Kingdom of Judah collapsed in 587 BCE leading to this migration. In more recent times, the community has been reduced to complete extinction . At the time of the large-scale 2021 Taliban offensive , only two Jews were still residing in
340-576: A Jewish cemetery . The 12th-century Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi wrote that the city of Kabul had a Jewish quarter . In the 18th century, Jews who had served in the army of Nader Shah settled in Kabul as his treasury guards. In 2011, the Afghan Geniza , an 11th-century collection of Jewish manuscript fragments that was compiled in Hebrew , Aramaic , Judaeo-Arabic , and Judaeo-Persian ,
510-727: A stringed instrument —in Kyrgyzstan, a three-stringed komuz , and in Kazakhstan, a similar two-stringed instrument, the dombra . Photography in Central Asia began to develop after 1882, when a Russian Mennonite photographer named Wilhelm Penner moved to the Khanate of Khiva during the Mennonite migration to Central Asia led by Claas Epp, Jr. Upon his arrival to Khanate of Khiva , Penner shared his photography skills with
680-498: A "cruel and barbarous manner." Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia bounded by the Caspian Sea to the southwest, European Russia to the northwest, Western China and Mongolia to the east, Afghanistan and Iran to the south, and Siberia to the north. It includes Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan . The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as
850-640: A 'crusade against the barbarians' but there was not enough strength left in any of the Greek city-states to answer his call. Although there were no rebellions in the Persian Empire itself, the growing power and territory of Philip II of Macedon in Macedon (against which Demosthenes was in vain warning the Athenians) attracted the attention of Artaxerxes. In response, he ordered that Persian influence
1020-663: A century before the Iranian elites of the central plateau reclaimed power under the Parthian Empire . The Achaemenid Empire borrows its name from the ancestor of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the empire, Achaemenes . The term Achaemenid means "of the family of the Achaemenis/Achaemenes" ( Old Persian : 𐏃𐎧𐎠𐎶𐎴𐎡𐏁 , romanized: Haxāmaniš ; a bahuvrihi compound translating to "having
1190-653: A crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe and the Far East . Most countries in Central Asia are still integral to parts of the world economy. From the mid-19th century until near the end of the 20th century, Central Asia was colonised by the Russians , and incorporated into the Russian Empire , and later the Soviet Union , which led to Russians and other Slavs migrating into
1360-651: A delegate to the World Zionist Congress claimed that an estimated 40,000 Bukharan Jews had been killed or starved to death. In mid-1935, riots erupted in Herat, the Afghan city with the largest Jewish population, over a dispute between two boys— one Jewish and one Muslim . The two boys got into a fight for unknown reasons, during which the Muslim boy fell down a flight of stairs. The Jewish boy, Aba ben Simon,
1530-557: A few hundred living in the United States and the United Kingdom . In Afghanistan, the Jews had formed a community of leather and karakul merchants, landowners, and moneylenders . Jewish families mostly lived in the cities of Herat and Kabul , while their patriarchs traveled back and forth on trading trips across Afghanistan; they carved their prayers in Hebrew and Aramaic on mountain rocks as they moved between
1700-406: A force of 14,000 Greeks furnished by the Greek cities of Asia Minor: 4,000 under Mentor , consisting of the troops that he had brought to the aid of Tennes from Egypt; 3,000 sent by Argos; and 1,000 from Thebes. He divided these troops into three bodies, and placed at the head of each a Persian and a Greek. The Greek commanders were Lacrates of Thebes, Mentor of Rhodes and Nicostratus of Argos while
1870-517: A friend's mind"). Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh-century ruler of the Anshan in southwestern Iran, and a vassal of Assyria . Around 850 BC the original nomadic people who began the empire called themselves the Parsa and their constantly shifting territory Parsua , for the most part localized around Persis. The name "Persia" is a Greek and Latin pronunciation of the native word referring to
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#17327982781762040-522: A large army, including a contingent of Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries , and made his way deeper into Persia. The army of Cyrus was stopped by the royal Persian army of Artaxerxes II at Cunaxa in 401 BC, where Cyrus was killed. The Ten Thousand Greek Mercenaries including Xenophon were now deep in Persian territory and were at risk of attack. So they searched for others to offer their services to but eventually had to return to Greece. Artaxerxes II
2210-433: A large body of water, temperature fluctuations are often severe, excluding the hot, sunny summer months. In most areas, the climate is dry and continental, with hot summers and cool to cold winters, with occasional snowfall. Outside high-elevation areas, the climate is mostly semi-arid to arid. In lower elevations, summers are hot with blazing sunshine. Winters feature occasional rain or snow from low-pressure systems that cross
2380-507: A local student Khudaybergen Divanov, who later became the founder of Uzbek photography . Some also learn to sing the Manas , Kyrgyzstan's epic poem (those who learn the Manas exclusively but do not improvise are called manaschis ). During Soviet rule, akyn performance was co-opted by the authorities and subsequently declined in popularity. With the fall of the Soviet Union , it has enjoyed
2550-579: A major role in overthrowing the Assyrians. The Achaemenids were initially rulers of the Elamite city of Anshan near the modern city of Marvdasht ; the title "King of Anshan" was an adaptation of the earlier Elamite title "King of Susa and Anshan". There are conflicting accounts of the identities of the earliest Kings of Anshan. According to the Cyrus Cylinder (the oldest extant genealogy of
2720-544: A more heterogeneous region with increasing East Asian ancestry through Turkic and Mongolian groups in the past thousands years, including extensive Turkic and later Mongol migrations out of Mongolia and slow assimilation of local populations. In the 8th century AD, the Islamic expansion reached the region but had no significant demographic impact. In the 13th century AD, the Mongolian invasion of Central Asia brought most of
2890-602: A one-tenth tithe which all inhabitants paid to the temple nearest to their land or another source of income. Artaxerxes II became involved in a war with Persia's erstwhile allies, the Spartans , who, under Agesilaus II , invaded Asia Minor . To redirect the Spartans' attention to Greek affairs, Artaxerxes II subsidized their enemies: in particular the Athenians , Thebans and Corinthians . These subsidies helped to engage
3060-469: A peace which required the city's forces to leave Asia Minor and to acknowledge the independence of its rebellious allies. Artaxerxes started a campaign against the rebellious Cadusians , but he managed to appease both of the Cadusian kings. One individual who successfully emerged from this campaign was Darius Codomannus, who later occupied the Persian throne as Darius III . Artaxerxes III then ordered
3230-655: A previously unrevealed distant cousin of Simintov, Tova Moradi, had fled Afghanistan sometime in October, making her the last Jew known to be in Afghanistan for the intervening month. Contrary to official reports which stated that "no Jewish" person was living in the country, it is believed that Moradi was the last Jew who lived in Afghanistan . Due to decades of warfare , antisemitism , and extreme religious persecution , there are officially no Jews remaining in Afghanistan today. The Kabul synagogue that Zablon Simintov
3400-509: A prolonged, if not even a successful resistance. However, he lacked good generals, and, over-confident in his own powers of command, he was out-maneuvered by the Greek mercenary generals, and his forces were eventually defeated by the combined Persian armies. After his defeat, Nectanebo hastily fled to Memphis , leaving the fortified towns to be defended by their garrisons. These garrisons consisted of partly Greek and partly Egyptian troops; between whom jealousies and suspicions were easily sown by
3570-808: A rebellion against Cyrus. Cyrus sent the Median general Mazares to deal with the rebellion, and Pactyes was captured. Mazares, and after his death Harpagus , set about reducing all the cities which had taken part in the rebellion. The subjugation of Lydia took about four years in total. When the power in Ecbatana changed hands from the Medes to the Persians, many tributaries to the Median Empire believed their situation had changed and revolted against Cyrus. This forced Cyrus to fight wars against Bactria and
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#17327982781763740-602: A result, the Persian forces were driven out of Phoenicia . After this, Artaxerxes personally led an army of 330,000 men against Sidon . Artaxerxes' army comprised 300,000-foot soldiers, 30,000 cavalry , 300 triremes, and 500 transports or provision ships. After gathering this army, he sought assistance from the Greeks. Though refused aid by Athens and Sparta , he succeeded in obtaining a thousand Theban heavy-armed hoplites under Lacrates, three thousand Argives under Nicostratus, and six thousand Æolians, Ionians , and Dorians from
3910-523: A resurgence, although akyns still do use their art to campaign for political candidates. A 2005 The Washington Post article proposed a similarity between the improvisational art of akyns and modern freestyle rap performed in the West. As a consequence of Russian colonisation, European fine arts – painting, sculpture and graphics – have developed in Central Asia. The first years of the Soviet regime saw
4080-462: A scarcity of research on climate impacts in Central Asia, even though it experiences faster warming than the global average and is generally considered to be one of the more climate-vulnerable regions in the world. Along with West Asia , it has already had greater increases in hot temperature extremes than the other parts of Asia, Rainfall in Central Asia had decreased, unlike elsewhere in Asia, and
4250-526: A wife and two daughters, all of whom emigrated to Israel in 1998, and he said he was considering joining them. However, when he was asked if he would go to Israel during an interview, Simintov retorted, "Go to Israel? What business do I have there? Why should I leave?" In April 2021, Simintov announced that he would emigrate to Israel after the High Holy Days of 2021, due to the fear that the planned withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would result in
4420-730: Is between the Oxus and Jaxartes, and the Karakum Desert is between the Oxus and Kopet Dagh in Turkmenistan. Khorasan meant approximately northeast Persia and northern Afghanistan. Margiana was the region around Merv. The Ustyurt Plateau is between the Aral and Caspian Seas. To the southwest, across the Kopet Dagh, lies Persia. From here Persian and Islamic civilisation penetrated Central Asia and dominated its high culture until
4590-467: Is further said to have killed not only all Arses' children, but many of the other princes of the land. Bagoas then placed Darius III , a nephew of Artaxerxes IV, on the throne. Darius III, previously the Satrap of Armenia , personally forced Bagoas to swallow poison. In 334 BC, when Darius was just succeeding in subduing Egypt again, Alexander and his battle-hardened troops invaded Asia Minor . Alexander
4760-476: Is played throughout the Central Asian region, the countries sometimes organise Buzkashi competition amongst each other. The First regional competition among the Central Asian countries, Russia , Chinese Xinjiang and Turkey was held in 2013. The first world title competition was played in 2017 and won by Kazakhstan . Association football is popular across Central Asia. Most countries are members of
4930-461: Is reported to have had a number of wives. His main wife was Stateira , until she was poisoned by Artaxerxes II's mother Parysatis in about 400 BC. Another chief wife was a Greek woman of Phocaea named Aspasia (not the same as the concubine of Pericles ). Artaxerxes II is said to have had more than 115 sons from 350 wives. In 358 BC Artaxerxes II died and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes III . In 355 BC, Artaxerxes III forced Athens to conclude
5100-408: Is the earliest, and although the later historians all agree on the key details of the story, that a magus impersonated Bardiya and took the throne, this may have been a story created by Darius to justify his own usurpation. Iranologist Pierre Briant hypothesises that Bardiya was not killed by Cambyses, but waited until his death in the summer of 522 BC to claim his legitimate right to the throne as he
5270-534: Is today Iran c. 1000 BC and settled a region including north-western Iran, the Zagros Mountains and Persis alongside the native Elamites . The Persians were originally nomadic pastoralists in the western Iranian Plateau. The Achaemenid Empire may not have been the first Iranian empire, as the Medes , another group of Iranian people, possibly established a short-lived empire when they played
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5440-588: The Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC . Based in modern-day Iran , it was the largest empire by that point in history , spanning a total of 5.5 million square kilometres (2.1 million square miles). The empire spanned from the Balkans and Egypt in the west, West Asia as the base, the majority of Central Asia to the northeast, and the Indus Valley to the southeast. Around the 7th century BC,
5610-700: The Central Asian Football Association , a region of the Asian Football Confederation . However, Kazakhstan is a member of the UEFA . Wrestling is popular across Central Asia, with Kazakhstan having claimed 14 Olympic medals, Uzbekistan seven, and Kyrgyzstan three. As former Soviet states, Central Asian countries have been successful in gymnastics . Mixed Martial Arts is one of more common sports in Central Asia, Kyrgyz athlete Valentina Shevchenko holding
5780-687: The Iron Age . Certain Turkic ethnic groups, specifically the Kazakhs , display even higher East Asian ancestry. This is explained by substantial Mongolian influence on the Kazakh genome, through significant admixture between blue eyes, blonde hair, the medieval Kipchaks of Central Asia and the invading medieval Mongolians. The data suggests that the Mongol invasion of Central Asia had lasting impacts onto
5950-518: The Islamist group which has terrorized religious minorities in the past. Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire , also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire ( / ə ˈ k iː m ə n ɪ d / ; Old Persian : 𐎧𐏁𐏂 , Xšāça , lit. 'The Empire' or 'The Kingdom' ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of
6120-566: The Kashmir Valley of India may also be included. The Tibetans and Ladakhis are also included. Most of the mentioned peoples are considered the "indigenous" peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan . Central Asia is a region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains ( Tian Shan ), vast deserts ( Kyzyl Kum , Taklamakan ), and especially treeless, grassy steppes . The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with
6290-555: The Kopet Dagh near the Persian border. East of the Kopet Dagh is the important oasis of Merv and then a few places in Afghanistan like Herat and Balkh . Two projections of the Tian Shan create three "bays" along the eastern mountains. The largest, in the north, is eastern Kazakhstan, traditionally called Jetysu or Semirechye which contains Lake Balkhash . In the center is the small but densely-populated Ferghana valley . In
6460-604: The Spartans in what would become known as the Corinthian War . In 387 BC, Artaxerxes II betrayed his allies and came to an arrangement with Sparta, and in the Treaty of Antalcidas he forced his erstwhile allies to come to terms. This treaty restored control of the Greek cities of Ionia and Aeolis on the Anatolian coast to the Persians while giving Sparta dominance on the Greek mainland. In 385 BC he campaigned against
6630-559: The UAE . The Ionian Revolt in 499 BC, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus, and Caria, were military rebellions by several regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 to 493 BC. At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfaction of the Greek cities of Asia Minor with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with the individual actions of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras . In 499 BC,
6800-958: The UFC Flyweight Champion title. Cricket is the most popular sport in Afghanistan . The Afghanistan national cricket team , first formed in 2001, has claimed wins over Bangladesh, West Indies and Zimbabwe. Notable Kazakh competitors include cyclists Alexander Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin , boxer Vassiliy Jirov and Gennady Golovkin , runner Olga Shishigina , decathlete Dmitriy Karpov , gymnast Aliya Yussupova , judoka Askhat Zhitkeyev and Maxim Rakov , skier Vladimir Smirnov , weightlifter Ilya Ilyin , and figure skaters Denis Ten and Elizabet Tursynbaeva . Notable Uzbekistani competitors include cyclist Djamolidine Abdoujaparov , boxer Ruslan Chagaev , canoer Michael Kolganov , gymnast Oksana Chusovitina , tennis player Denis Istomin , chess player Rustam Kasimdzhanov , and figure skater Misha Ge . Since gaining independence in
6970-478: The "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian suffix " -stan " (meaning 'land') in both respective native languages and most other languages. In the pre-Islamic and early Islamic eras ( c. 1000 and earlier) Central Asia was inhabited predominantly by Iranian peoples , populated by Eastern Iranian -speaking Bactrians , Sogdians , Chorasmians , and the semi-nomadic Scythians and Dahae . As
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7140-682: The 'Gulkiya Synagogue ( Persian : کنیسه گلکیا ) was converted into a mosque and today, it continues to be used as the Balal Mosque . Despite the takeover of the Synagogue, its structure and design have not changed, and the building has undergone renovation in recent years. The synagogue's mikveh has fallen into disrepair and as a result, it is no longer accessible to the public. The third synagogue, Shemayel Synagogue ( Persian : کنیسه شمائیل ) has been converted to an elementary school, and has also been renovated in recent years. The fourth synagogue,
7310-525: The 10 years that Persia controlled Egypt, believers in the native religion were persecuted and sacred books were stolen. Before Artaxerxes returned to Persia, he appointed Pherendares as satrap of Egypt . With the wealth gained from his reconquering Egypt, Artaxerxes was able to amply reward his mercenaries. He then returned to his capital having successfully completed his invasion of Egypt. After his success in Egypt, Artaxerxes returned to Persia and spent
7480-592: The 18th century as a result of a long struggle with the Dzungars . The Russian Empire conquered the lands of the nomadic Kazakhs, Turkmens, Kyrgyz and Central Asian khanates in the 19th century. A major revolt known as the Dungan Revolt occurred in the 1860s and 1870s in the eastern part of Central Asia, and Qing rule almost collapsed in all of East Turkestan. After the Russian Revolution ,
7650-555: The 18th century was Tibetan Buddhist and would sometimes travel from Beijing to other cities for personal religious worship. Central Asia also has an indigenous form of improvisational oral poetry that is over 1000 years old. It is principally practiced in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan by akyns , lyrical improvisationalists. They engage in lyrical battles , the aytysh or the alym sabak . The tradition arose out of early bardic oral historians . They are usually accompanied by
7820-480: The 2020 and 2019 IWB World Competitiveness rankings. In particular, they have been modernizing the industrial sector and fostering the development of service industries through business-friendly fiscal policies and other measures, to reduce the share of agriculture in GDP. Between 2005 and 2013, the share of agriculture dropped in all but Tajikistan, where it increased while industry decreased. The fastest growth in industry
7990-486: The Achaemenids) the kings of Anshan were Teispes , Cyrus I , Cambyses I and Cyrus II , also known as Cyrus the Great, who founded the empire. The later Behistun Inscription , written by Darius the Great , claims that Teispes was the son of Achaemenes and that Darius is also descended from Teispes through a different line, but no earlier texts mention Achaemenes. In Herodotus ' Histories , he writes that Cyrus
8160-725: The Athenians to move the treasury of the Delian League from the island of Delos to the Athenian acropolis. This funding practice inevitably prompted renewed fighting in 450 BC, where the Greeks attacked at the Battle of Cyprus . After Cimon 's failure to attain much in this expedition, the Peace of Callias was agreed between Athens , Argos and Persia in 449 BC. Artaxerxes offered asylum to Themistocles , who
8330-428: The Babylonians at Opis , then took Sippar without a fight before finally capturing the city of Babylon on 12 October, where the Babylonian king Nabonidus was taken prisoner. Upon taking control of the city, Cyrus depicted himself in propaganda as restoring the divine order which had been disrupted by Nabonidus , who had promoted the cult of Sin rather than Marduk , and he also portrayed himself as restoring
8500-421: The Cadusians . Although successful against the Greeks, Artaxerxes II had more trouble with the Egyptians , who had successfully revolted against him at the beginning of his reign. An attempt to reconquer Egypt in 373 BC was completely unsuccessful, but in his waning years the Persians did manage to defeat a joint Egyptian–Spartan effort to conquer Phoenicia . He quashed the Revolt of the Satraps in 372–362 BC. He
8670-437: The Caspian Sea in the west, the Altai mountains in the north and the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains in the South. He did not give an eastern border for the region. His legacy is still seen: Humboldt University of Berlin , named after him, offers a course in Central Asian studies . The Russian geographer Nikolaĭ Khanykov questioned the latitudinal definition of Central Asia and preferred a physical one of all countries located in
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#17327982781768840-490: The European part of the Black Sea , such as parts of modern Bulgaria , Romania , Ukraine , and Russia , before it returned to Asia Minor . Darius left in Europe one of his commanders named Megabazus whose task was to accomplish conquests in the Balkans. The Persian troops subjugated gold-rich Thrace , the coastal Greek cities, and defeated and conquered the powerful Paeonians . Finally, Megabazus sent envoys to Amyntas, demanding acceptance of Persian domination, which
9010-469: The Great (Alexander III of Macedon) defeated the Persian armies at Granicus (334 BC), followed by Issus (333 BC), and lastly at Gaugamela (331 BC). Afterwards, he marched on Susa and Persepolis which surrendered in early 330 BC. From Persepolis, Alexander headed north to Pasargadae , where he visited the tomb of Cyrus , the man whom he had heard of from the Cyropaedia . In the ensuing chaos created by Alexander's invasion of Persia, Cyrus's tomb
9180-454: The Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb's condition and restore its interior, showing respect for Cyrus. From there he headed to Ecbatana , where Darius III had sought refuge. Darius III was taken prisoner by Bessus , his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men murder Darius III and then declared himself Darius' successor, as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia leaving Darius' body in
9350-465: The Great was the son of Cambyses I and Mandane of Media , the daughter of Astyages , the king of the Median Empire. Cyrus revolted against the Median Empire in 553 BC, and in 550 BC succeeded in defeating the Medes, capturing Astyages and taking the Median capital city of Ecbatana . Once in control of Ecbatana, Cyrus styled himself as the successor to Astyages and assumed control of the entire empire. By inheriting Astyages' empire, he also inherited
9520-433: The Great. The Persians continued to reduce the cities along the west coast that still held out against them, before finally imposing a peace settlement in 493 BC on Ionia that was generally considered to be both just and fair. The Ionian Revolt constituted the first major conflict between Greece and the Achaemenid Empire, and as such represents the first phase of the Greco-Persian Wars. Asia Minor had been brought back into
9690-623: The Great. The Persian invasion led indirectly to Macedonia's rise in power and Persia had some common interests in the Balkans; with Persian aid, the Macedonians stood to gain much at the expense of some Balkan tribes such as the Paeonians and Greeks. All in all, the Macedonians were "willing and useful Persian allies. Macedonian soldiers fought against Athens and Sparta in Xerxes I's army. The Persians referred to both Greeks and Macedonians as Yauna (" Ionians ", their term for "Greeks"), and to Macedonians specifically as Yaunã Takabara or "Greeks with hats that look like shields", possibly referring to
9860-497: The Greek cities of Asia Minor. This Greek support was numerically small, amounting to no more than 10,000 men, but it formed, together with the Greek mercenaries from Egypt who went over to him afterward, the force on which he placed his chief reliance, and to which the ultimate success of his expedition was mainly due. The approach of Artaxerxes sufficiently weakened the resolution of Tennes that he endeavoured to purchase his own pardon by delivering up 100 principal citizens of Sidon into
10030-473: The Greeks won a decisive victory over the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis and forced Xerxes to retire to Sardis . The land army which he left in Greece under Mardonius retook Athens but was eventually destroyed in 479 BC at the Battle of Plataea . The final defeat of the Persians at Mycale encouraged the Greek cities of Asia to revolt, and the Persians lost all of their territories in Europe with Macedonia once again becoming independent. Artabanus ,
10200-530: The Ionian Revolt. In 492 BC, the Persian general Mardonius re-subjugated Thrace and made Macedonia a fully subordinate part of the empire; it had been a vassal as early as the late 6th century BC but retained a great deal of autonomy. However, in 490 BC the Persian forces were defeated by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon and Darius I would die before having the chance to launch an invasion of Greece. Xerxes I (485–465 BC, Old Persian Xšayārša "Hero Among Kings"), son of Darius I , vowed to complete
10370-513: The Macedonian kausia hat. By the 5th century BC, the Kings of Persia were either ruling over or had subordinated territories encompassing not just all of the Persian Plateau and all of the territories formerly held by the Assyrian Empire ( Mesopotamia , the Levant , Cyprus and Egypt ), but beyond this, all of Anatolia and Armenia , as well as the Southern Caucasus and parts of the North Caucasus , Azerbaijan , Uzbekistan , Tajikistan , Bulgaria , Paeonia , Thrace and Macedonia to
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#173279827817610540-411: The Macedonians did. The Balkans provided many soldiers for the multi-ethnic Achaemenid army. Many of the Macedonian and Persian elite intermarried, such as the Persian official Bubares who married Amyntas' daughter, Gygaea. Family ties that the Macedonian rulers Amyntas and Alexander enjoyed with Bubares ensured them good relations with the Persian kings Darius and Xerxes I , who was also known as Xerxes
10710-429: The Mulla Ashur Synagogue ( Persian : کنیسه ملا عاشور ), located within Herat's historic Bazar, has been left abandoned, and as a result, it is in a state of disrepair. The Jewish public bath also remains abandoned, and the building is also in need of urgent renovation in order to prevent its complete destruction. The bath was operational in Herat's Bazaar until 2018. There is also a small Jewish cemetery in Herat. Some of
10880-442: The November 1933 assassination of Mohammad Nadir Shah made the situation worse, this is likely to have had only a limited influence. In 1935, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that "ghetto rules" had been imposed on Afghan Jews, requiring them to wear particular clothes, requiring Jewish women to stay outside markets, requiring all Jews to live within certain distances from mosques and banning Jews from riding horses. In 1935,
11050-535: The Persian capital with Artaxerxes, where he took a leading role in the internal administration of the Empire and maintained tranquillity throughout the rest of the Empire. During the last six years of the reign of Artaxerxes III, the Persian Empire was governed by a vigorous and successful government. The Persian forces in Ionia and Lycia regained control of the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea and took over much of Athens ' former island empire. In response, Isocrates of Athens started giving speeches calling for
11220-447: The Persian fold, but Darius had vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their support of the revolt. Moreover, seeing that the political situation in Greece posed a continued threat to the stability of his Empire, he decided to embark on the conquest of all of Greece. The first campaign of the invasion was to bring the territories in the Balkan peninsula back within the empire. The Persian grip over these territories had loosened following
11390-443: The Persian leaders. As a result, the Persians were able to rapidly reduce numerous towns across Lower Egypt and were advancing upon Memphis when Nectanebo decided to quit the country and flee southwards to Ethiopia . The Persian army completely routed the Egyptians and occupied the Lower Delta of the Nile. Following Nectanebo fleeing to Ethiopia, all of Egypt submitted to Artaxerxes. The Jews in Egypt were sent either to Babylon or to
11560-465: The Persians in about 512–511, Macedonians and Persians were strangers no more as well. The subjugation of Macedonia was part of Persian military operations initiated by Darius the Great (521–486) in 513—after immense preparations—a huge Achaemenid army invaded the Balkans and tried to defeat the European Scythians roaming to the north of the Danube river. Darius' army subjugated several Thracian people , and virtually all other regions that touch
11730-425: The Persians were led by Rhossaces, Aristazanes, and Bagoas , the chief of the eunuchs. Nectanebo II resisted with an army of 100,000 of whom 20,000 were Greek mercenaries. Nectanebo II occupied the Nile and its various branches with his large navy. The character of the country, intersected by numerous canals and full of strongly fortified towns, was in his favour and Nectanebo II might have been expected to offer
11900-449: The Persians. Psamtik positioned his army at Pelusium in the Nile Delta . He was soundly defeated by the Persians in the Battle of Pelusium before fleeing to Memphis , where the Persians defeated him and took him prisoner. After attempting a failed revolt, Psamtik III promptly committed suicide. Herodotus depicts Cambyses as openly antagonistic to the Egyptian people and their gods, cults, temples, and priests, in particular stressing
12070-421: The Russian conquest. In the southeast is the route to India. In early times Buddhism spread north and throughout much of history warrior kings and tribes would move southeast to establish their rule in northern India. Most nomadic conquerors entered from the northeast. After 1800 western civilisation in its Russian and Soviet form penetrated from the northwest. Because Central Asia is landlocked and not buffered by
12240-520: The Russian-Ukrainian steppe and eastward into the steppes and deserts of Dzungaria and Mongolia. Southward the land becomes increasingly dry and the nomadic population increasingly thin. The south supports areas of dense population and cities wherever irrigation is possible. The main irrigated areas are along the eastern mountains, along the Oxus and Jaxartes Rivers and along the north flank of
12410-501: The Soviet Central Asian Republics". An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity, and in particular, areas populated by Eastern Turkic , Eastern Iranian , or Mongolian peoples. These areas include Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Turkic regions of southern Siberia , the five republics, and Afghan Turkestan . Afghanistan as a whole, the northern and western areas of Pakistan and
12580-615: The Soviet Union in 1991, the leaders of the four former Soviet Central Asian Republics met in Tashkent and declared that the definition of Central Asia should include Kazakhstan as well as the original four included by the Soviets. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia. In 1978, UNESCO defined the region as "Afghanistan, north-eastern Iran , Pakistan , northern India , western China, Mongolia and
12750-495: The Soviet Union to Central Asia and Siberia . According to Touraj Atabaki and Sanjyot Mehendale, "From 1959 to 1970, about two million people from various parts of the Soviet Union migrated to Central Asia, of which about one million moved to Kazakhstan." With the collapse of the Soviet Union , five countries gained independence, that is, Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan . The historian and Turkologist Peter B. Golden explains that without
12920-591: The Soviet Union. Afghanistan remained relatively independent of major influence by the Soviet Union until the Saur Revolution of 1978. The Soviet areas of Central Asia saw much industrialisation and construction of infrastructure , but also the suppression of local cultures, hundreds of thousands of deaths from failed collectivisation programmes, and a lasting legacy of ethnic tensions and environmental problems. Soviet authorities deported millions of people, including entire nationalities, from western areas of
13090-638: The Taliban's return to power. Throughout August 2021, Simintov remained in Kabul, despite having had a chance to escape. After receiving death threats from the Taliban and the ISIS-KP , Simantov emigrated to a presently undisclosed country before the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah on 6 September 2021. He brought 30 other refugees with him, including 28 women and children. Two months later, it turned out that
13260-659: The Turkification of Central Asia, while extending its cultural influence. The Tang Chinese were defeated by the Abbasid Caliphate at the Battle of Talas in 751, marking the end of the Tang dynasty's western expansion and the 150 years of Chinese influence. The Tibetan Empire would take the chance to rule portions of Central Asia and South Asia. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongols conquered and ruled
13430-522: The Turkmens have a large percentage from populations to the east, their main components are Central Asian. The study further suggests that both migration and linguistic assimilation helped to spread the Turkic languages in Eurasia. The Tang dynasty of China expanded westwards and controlled large parts of Central Asia, directly and indirectly through their Turkic vassals. Tang China actively supported
13600-597: The United States for support. In total, some 60,000 refugees had fled from the Soviet Union and reached Afghanistan. In 1932, Mohammed Nadir Shah signed a border treaty with the Soviets in order to prevent asylum seekers from crossing into Afghanistan from Soviet Central Asia . Later that year, Afghanistan began deporting Soviet-origin refugees either back to the Soviet Union or to specified territories in China . Soviet Jews who were already present in Afghanistan with
13770-753: The United States. Afghan Jews left the country en masse in the 1960s. Their resettlement in New York and Tel Aviv was motivated by their search for a better life. By 1969, approximately 300 Jews remained in Afghanistan, but most of them left Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979, leaving only 10 Jews in Afghanistan in 1996, most of whom lived in Kabul. Currently, more than 10,000 Jews of Afghan descent live in Israel. Over 200 Afghan Jewish families live in New York . Over 100 Jews of Afghan descent live in London . By
13940-649: The Zoroastrian shrines can also be dated to his reign, and it was probably during this period that Zoroastrianism spread from Armenia throughout Asia Minor and the Levant . The construction of temples, though serving a religious purpose, was not a purely selfless act, as they also served as an important source of income. From the Babylonian kings, the Achaemenids adopted the concept of a mandatory temple tax,
14110-547: The appearance of modernism, which took inspiration from the Russian avant-garde movement. Until the 1980s, Central Asian arts had developed along with general tendencies of Soviet arts. In the 90s, arts of the region underwent some significant changes. Institutionally speaking, some fields of arts were regulated by the birth of the art market, some stayed as representatives of official views, while many were sponsored by international organisations. The years of 1990–2000 were times for
14280-764: The area from the Mediterranean Sea . Average monthly precipitation is very low from July to September, rises in autumn (October and November) and is highest in March or April, followed by swift drying in May and June. Winds can be strong, producing dust storms sometimes, especially toward the end of the summer in September and October. Specific cities that exemplify Central Asian climate patterns include Tashkent and Samarkand , Uzbekistan, Ashgabat , Turkmenistan, and Dushanbe , Tajikistan. The last of these represents one of
14450-677: The area. Modern-day Central Asia is home to a large population of European settlers , who mostly live in Kazakhstan: 7 million Russians, 500,000 Ukrainians , and about 170,000 Germans . During the Stalinist period, the forced deportation of Koreans in the Soviet Union resulted in a population of over 300,000 Koreans in the region. Central Asia has a population of about 72 million, in five countries: Kazakhstan (19 million), Kyrgyzstan (7 million), Tajikistan (10 million), Turkmenistan (6 million), and Uzbekistan (35 million). One of
14620-406: The attempt. By the last year of Artaxerxes' rule, Philip II already had plans in place for an invasion of the Persian Empire, which would crown his career, but the Greeks would not unite with him. In 338 BC Artaxerxes was poisoned by Bagoas with the assistance of a physician. Artaxerxes III was succeeded by Artaxerxes IV Arses , who before he could act was also poisoned by Bagoas. Bagoas
14790-475: The authority of Ctesias ) that the displaced Tissaphernes came to the new king on his coronation day to warn him that his younger brother Cyrus (the Younger) was preparing to assassinate him during the ceremony. Artaxerxes had Cyrus arrested and would have had him executed if their mother Parysatis had not intervened. Cyrus was then sent back as Satrap of Lydia, where he prepared an armed rebellion. Cyrus assembled
14960-416: The border, the colonial authorities categorised them according to their passports; those with Soviet passports were accused of having "Bolshevist ties" and denied entry. Many Afghan Jews were deported back to Soviet-controlled territories under the guise of allegedly violating the "behavioural conduct" codes of British India, although historians have made note of the fact that the colonial government's fear that
15130-423: The combined forces managed to defeat the forces sent by Artaxerxes III in 354 BC. However, in 353 BC, they were defeated by Artaxerxes III's army and were disbanded. Orontes was pardoned by the king, while Artabazos fled to the safety of the court of Philip II of Macedon . In c. 351 BC , Artaxerxes embarked on a campaign to recover Egypt, which had revolted under his father, Artaxerxes II. At
15300-446: The commander of the royal bodyguard and the most powerful official in the Persian court, assassinated Xerxes with the help of a eunuch , Aspamitres. The exact year and date of Xerxes' assassination is disputed among historians. After Xerxes I was assassinated, he was succeeded by his eldest surviving son Artaxerxes I . It was during his reign that Elamite ceased to be the language of government, and Aramaic gained in importance. It
15470-511: The country of the people originating from Persis ( Old Persian : 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 , romanized: Pārsa ). The Persian term 𐎧𐏁𐏂 Xšāça , literally meaning "The Kingdom", was used to refer to the Empire formed by their multinational state. The Persian nation contains a number of tribes as listed here. ... : the Pasargadae , Maraphii , and Maspii , upon which all
15640-647: The country: Zablon Simintov and his distant cousin Tova Moradi. When the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was re-established by the Taliban in August 2021, both Simintov and Moradi made aliyah on 7 September 2021 and 29 October 2021, respectively, leaving Afghanistan completely empty of Jews. Today, the overwhelming majority of the Afghan Jewish community resides in Israel, with a small group of
15810-423: The disbanding of all the satrapal armies of Asia Minor, as he felt that they could no longer guarantee peace in the west and was concerned that these armies equipped the western satraps with the means to revolt. The order was however ignored by Artabazos II of Phrygia , who asked for the help of Athens in a rebellion against the king. Athens sent assistance to Sardis . Orontes of Mysia also supported Artabazos and
15980-514: The diversion of water from rivers that feed them for irrigation and industrial purposes. Water is an extremely valuable resource in arid Central Asia and can lead to rather significant international disputes. Central Asia is bounded on the north by the forests of Siberia. The northern half of Central Asia (Kazakhstan) is the middle part of the Eurasian steppe . Westward the Kazakh steppe merges into
16150-401: The early 1990s, the Central Asian republics have gradually been moving from a state-controlled economy to a market economy. However, reform has been deliberately gradual and selective, as governments strive to limit the social cost and ameliorate living standards. All five countries are implementing structural reforms to improve competitiveness. Kazakhstan is the only CIS country to be included in
16320-602: The early 2000s, the Chinese government engaged in a series of human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang . At the crossroads of Asia, shamanistic practices live alongside Buddhism . Thus, Yama , Lord of Death, was revered in Tibet as a spiritual guardian and judge. Mongolian Buddhism , in particular, was influenced by Tibetan Buddhism . The Qianlong Emperor of Qing China in
16490-640: The elder Evagoras , the Cypriot monarch. Idrieus succeeded in reducing Cyprus. Artaxerxes initiated a counter-offensive against Sidon by commanding Belesys , satrap of Syria, and Mazaeus , satrap of Cilicia , to invade the city and to keep the Phoenicians in check. Both satraps suffered crushing defeats at the hands of Tennes, the Sidonese king, who was aided by 40,000 Greek mercenaries sent to him by Nectanebo II and commanded by Mentor of Rhodes . As
16660-551: The emigrants would spread socialist ideas among the Indian public and offer encouragement to the independence movement played a much larger part in its decision to deport them. The living conditions of Jews continued to worsen in both Kabul and Herat. Many Afghan Jews illegally emigrated to British India during the 1940s during the Second World War . Thousands of Afghan Jews also emigrated to Mandatory Palestine during
16830-545: The end of 2004, only three known Jews were left in Afghanistan: Zablon Simintov , Isaac Levy (born c. 1920), and, it later emerged, Simintov's cousin Tova Moradi. Levy relied on charity to survive, while Simintov ran a store selling carpets and jewelry until 2001. They lived on opposite sides of the dilapidated Kabul synagogue. They kept denouncing each other to the authorities, and both of them spent time in Taliban jails. The Taliban also confiscated
17000-472: The epitaph of Apis from 524 BC shows that Cambyses participated in the funeral rites of Apis styling himself as pharaoh. Following the conquest of Egypt, the Libyans and the Greeks of Cyrene and Barca in present-day eastern Libya ( Cyrenaica ) surrendered to Cambyses and sent tribute without a fight. Cambyses then planned invasions of Carthage , the oasis of Ammon and Ethiopia . Herodotus claims that
17170-631: The establishment of contemporary arts. In the region, many important international exhibitions are taking place, Central Asian art is represented in European and American museums, and the Central Asian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale has been organised since 2005. Equestrian sports are traditional in Central Asia, with disciplines like endurance riding , buzkashi , dzhigit and kyz kuu . The traditional game of Buzkashi
17340-697: The expedition was not a failure, and a fortress at the Second Cataract of the Nile , on the border between Egypt and Kush, remained in use throughout the Achaemenid period. The events surrounding Cambyses's death and Bardiya's succession are greatly debated as there are many conflicting accounts. According to Herodotus, as Bardiya's assassination had been committed in secret, the majority of Persians still believed him to be alive. This allowed two Magi to rise up against Cambyses, with one of them sitting on
17510-487: The first geographers to mention Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was Alexander von Humboldt . The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions. Historically, political geography and culture have been two significant parameters widely used in scholarly definitions of Central Asia. Humboldt's definition comprised every country between 5° North and 5° South of the latitude 44.5°N. Humboldt mentions some geographic features of this region, which include
17680-463: The frequency and intensity of dust storms had grown (partly due to poor land use practices). Droughts have already become more likely, and their likelihood is expected to continue increasing with greater climate change. By 2050, people in the Amu Darya basin may be faced with severe water scarcity due to both climate and socioeconomic reasons. Although, during the golden age of Orientalism
17850-550: The full genome of Uzbeks and other Central Asian populations found that about ~27-60% of the Uzbek ancestry is derived from East Asian sources, with the remainder ancestry (~40–73%) being made up by European and Middle Eastern components. According to a recent study, the Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Turkmens share more of their gene pool with various East Asian and Siberian populations than with West Asian or European populations, though
18020-616: The genetic makeup of Kazakhs. According to recent genetic genealogy testing, the genetic admixture of the Uzbeks clusters somewhere between the Iranian peoples and the Mongols . Another study shows that the Uzbeks are closely related to other Turkic peoples of Central Asia and rather distant from Iranian people. The study also analysed the maternal and paternal DNA haplogroups and shows that Turkic speaking groups are more homogenous than Iranian speaking groups. Genetic studies analyzing
18190-511: The good", also known as Darayarahush ). The Magi, though persecuted, continued to exist, and a year following the death of the first pseudo-Smerdis ( Gaumata ), saw a second pseudo-Smerdis ( Vahyazdāta ) attempt a coup. The coup, though initially successful, failed. Herodotus writes that the native leadership debated the best form of government for the empire. Ever since the Macedonian king Amyntas I surrendered his country to
18360-730: The great trading cities of Bokhara and Samarkand . The other great commercial city was Tashkent northwest of the mouth of the Ferghana valley. The land immediately north of the Oxus was called Transoxiana and also Sogdia , especially when referring to the Sogdian merchants who dominated the silk road trade. To the east, Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin were united into the Manchu-Chinese province of Xinjiang (Sinkiang; Hsin-kiang) about 1759. Caravans from China usually went along
18530-463: The hands of the Persian king and then admitting Artaxerxes within the defences of the town. Artaxerxes had the 100 citizens transfixed with javelins, and when 500 more came out as supplicants to seek his mercy, Artaxerxes consigned them to the same fate. Sidon was then burnt to the ground, either by Artaxerxes or by the Sidonian citizens. Forty thousand people died in the conflagration. Artaxerxes sold
18700-622: The heritage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire by comparing himself to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal . The Hebrew Bible also unreservedly praises Cyrus for his actions in the conquest of Babylon, referring to him as Yahweh 's anointed . He is credited with freeing the people of Judah from their exile and with authorizing the reconstruction of much of Jerusalem , including the Second Temple . In 530 BC, Cyrus died and
18870-652: The imperial manipulations of the Russian Empire but above all the Soviet Union, the creation of said republics would have been impossible. In nearly all the new states, former Communist Party officials retained power as local strongmen. None of the new republics could be considered functional democracies in the early days of independence, although in recent years Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia have made further progress towards more open societies, unlike Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, which have maintained many Soviet-style repressive tactics. Beginning in
19040-772: The insistence of Tissaphernes , gave support first to Athens, then to Sparta, but in 407 BC, Darius' son Cyrus the Younger was appointed to replace Tissaphernes and aid was given entirely to Sparta which finally defeated Athens in 404 BC. In the same year, Darius fell ill and died in Babylon. His death gave an Egyptian rebel named Amyrtaeus the opportunity to throw off Persian control over Egypt . At his death bed, Darius' Babylonian wife Parysatis pleaded with him to have her second eldest son Cyrus (the Younger) crowned, but Darius refused. Queen Parysatis favoured Cyrus more than her eldest son Artaxerxes II . Plutarch relates (probably on
19210-586: The intent to flee further south were detained in Kabul, and all Soviet Jews who were apprehended at the border were immediately deported. All Soviet citizens, including these Bukharan Jews, were suspected by both the Afghan and British government officials of conducting espionage with the intention to disseminate Bolshevik propaganda. From September 1933, many of these ex-Soviet Jewish refugees in northern Afghanistan were forcibly relocated to major cities such as Kabul and Herat, but continued to live in under restrictions on work and trade. Whilst it has been claimed that
19380-400: The job. He organized a massive invasion aiming to conquer Greece . His army entered Greece from the north in the spring of 480 BC, meeting little or no resistance through Macedonia and Thessaly , but was delayed by a small Greek force for three days at Thermopylae . A simultaneous naval battle at Artemisium was tactically indecisive as large storms destroyed ships from both sides. The battle
19550-505: The largest contiguous empire in recorded history. Most of Central Asia fell under the control of the Chagatai Khanate . The dominance of the nomads ended in the 16th century, as firearms allowed settled peoples to gain control of the region. Russia , China , and other powers expanded into the region and had captured the bulk of Central Asia by the end of the 19th century. The Qing dynasty gained control of East Turkestan in
19720-558: The largest of the Synagogues, still exists in Herat , in western Afghanistan. It is a disused synagogue, which still has most of its original characteristics. This synagogue is composed of 3 floors, a main congregation room, several side rooms and corridors, as well as 7 domes of different sizes. The Yu Aw synagogue underwent renovation in recent years and it was also added to Herat's list of protected cultural sites. The second synagogue,
19890-408: The murder of the sacred bull Apis . He says that these actions led to a madness that caused him to kill his brother Bardiya (who Herodotus says was killed in secret), his own sister-wife and Croesus of Lydia. He then concludes that Cambyses completely lost his mind, and all later classical authors repeat the themes of Cambyses' impiety and madness. However, this is based on spurious information, as
20060-616: The naval invasion of Carthage was canceled because the Phoenicians, who made up a large part of Cambyses' fleet, refused to take up arms against their own people, but modern historians doubt whether an invasion of Carthage was ever planned at all. However, Cambyses dedicated his efforts to the other two campaigns, aiming to improve the Empire's strategic position in Africa by conquering the Kingdom of Meroë and taking strategic positions in
20230-399: The next few years effectively quelling insurrections in various parts of the Empire so that a few years after his conquest of Egypt, the Persian Empire was firmly under his control. Egypt remained a part of the Persian Empire from then until Alexander the Great 's conquest of Egypt. After the conquest of Egypt, there were no more revolts or rebellions against Artaxerxes. Mentor and Bagoas ,
20400-517: The nomadic Saka in Central Asia. During these wars, Cyrus established several garrison towns in Central Asia, including the Cyropolis . Nothing is known of Persia–Babylon relations between 547 and 539 BC, but it is likely that there were hostilities between the two empires for several years leading up to the war of 540–539 BC and the Fall of Babylon . In October 539 BC, Cyrus won a battle against
20570-586: The north and west, most of the Black Sea coastal regions, parts of Central Asia as far as the Aral Sea , the Oxus and Jaxartes to the north and north-east, the Hindu Kush and the western Indus basin (corresponding to modern Afghanistan and Pakistan ) to the far east, parts of northern Arabia to the south, and parts of eastern Libya ( Cyrenaica ) to the south-west, and parts of Oman , China, and
20740-575: The north or south side of the Tarim basin and joined at Kashgar before crossing the mountains northwest to Ferghana or southwest to Bactria. A minor branch of the silk road went north of the Tian Shan through Dzungaria and Zhetysu before turning southwest near Tashkent. Nomadic migrations usually moved from Mongolia through Dzungaria before turning southwest to conquer the settled lands or continuing west toward Europe. The Kyzyl Kum Desert or semi-desert
20910-666: The other tribes are dependent. Of these, the Pasargadae are the most distinguished; they contain the clan of the Achaemenids from which spring the Perseid kings. Other tribes are the Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii , all of which are attached to the soil, the remainder—the Dai , Mardi , Dropici , Sagarti , being nomadic . The Achaemenid Empire was created by nomadic Persians . The Persians were Iranian people who arrived in what
21080-405: The place of Central Asia in the world history was marginalised, contemporary historiography has rediscovered the "centrality" of the Central Asia. The history of Central Asia is defined by the area's climate and geography. The aridness of the region made agriculture difficult, and its distance from the sea cut it off from much trade. Thus, few major cities developed in the region; instead, the area
21250-513: The region landlocked from water, including Afghanistan , Khorasan (Northeast Iran), Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , Uyghuristan (Xinjiang), Mongolia , and Uzbekistan . Russian culture has two distinct terms: Средняя Азия ( Srednyaya Aziya or "Middle Asia", the narrower definition, which includes only those traditionally non-Slavic, Central Asian lands that were incorporated within those borders of historical Russia) and Центральная Азия ( Tsentralnaya Aziya or "Central Asia",
21420-819: The region of Persis in the southwestern portion of the Iranian plateau was settled by the Persians . From Persis, Cyrus rose and defeated the Median Empire as well as Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire , marking the establishment of a new imperial polity under the Achaemenid dynasty . In the modern era, the Achaemenid Empire has been recognized for its imposition of a successful model of centralized bureaucratic administration, its multicultural policy, building complex infrastructure such as road systems and an organized postal system ,
21590-712: The region under Mongolian influence, which had "enormous demographic success", but did not impact the cultural or linguistic landscape. Once populated by Iranian tribes and other Indo-European speaking people , Central Asia experienced numerous invasions emanating out of Southern Siberia and Mongolia that would drastically affect the region. Genetic data shows that the different Central Asian Turkic-speaking peoples have between ~22% and ~70% East Asian ancestry (represented by "Baikal hunter-gatherer ancestry" shared with other Northeast Asians and Eastern Siberians), in contrast to Iranian-speaking Central Asians, specifically Tajiks , which display genetic continuity to Indo-Iranians of
21760-578: The region's cities. Major rivers of the region include the Amu Darya , the Syr Darya , Irtysh , the Hari River and the Murghab River . Major bodies of water include the Aral Sea and Lake Balkhash , both of which are part of the huge west-central Asian endorheic basin that also includes the Caspian Sea . Both of these bodies of water have shrunk significantly in recent decades due to
21930-415: The result of Turkic migration , Central Asia also became the homeland for the Kazakhs , Kyrgyzs , Tatars , Turkmens , Uyghurs , and Uzbeks ; Turkic languages largely replaced the Iranian languages spoken in the area, with the exception of Tajikistan and areas where Tajik is spoken. The Silk Road trade routes crossed through Central Asia, leading to the rise of prosperous trade cities. acting as
22100-425: The road to delay Alexander, who brought it to Persepolis for an honourable funeral. Bessus would then create a coalition of his forces, to create an army to defend against Alexander. Before Bessus could fully unite with his confederates at the eastern part of the empire, Alexander, fearing the danger of Bessus gaining control, found him, put him on trial in a Persian court under his control, and ordered his execution in
22270-398: The routes of the Silk Road . Existing records of a Jewish presence in Afghanistan date back to the 7th century CE, although ancient Iranian tradition holds that there was a Jewish presence in Afghanistan as early as the time of Israel and Judah . There are also origin theories among some Pashtuns that claim their descent from the Ten Lost Tribes of the Israelites . The town of Balkh
22440-454: The ruins at a high price to speculators, who calculated on reimbursing themselves by the treasures which they hoped to dig out from among the ashes. Tennes was later put to death by Artaxerxes. Artaxerxes later sent Jews who supported the revolt to Hyrcania on the south coast of the Caspian Sea . The reduction of Sidon was followed closely by the invasion of Egypt. In 343 BC, Artaxerxes III, in addition to his 330,000 Persians, had now
22610-411: The same time, a rebellion had broken out in Asia Minor, which, being supported by Thebes , threatened to become serious. Levying a vast army, Artaxerxes invaded Egypt and engaged in fighting with Nectanebo II . After a year of fighting the Egyptian Pharaoh , Nectanebo inflicted a crushing defeat on the Persians with the support of mercenaries led by the Greek generals Diophantus and Lamius. Artaxerxes
22780-442: The south coast of the Caspian Sea , the same location that the Jews of Phoenicia had earlier been sent. After this victory over the Egyptians, Artaxerxes had the city walls destroyed, started a reign of terror, and set about looting all the temples. Persia gained a significant amount of wealth from this looting. Artaxerxes also raised high taxes and attempted to weaken Egypt enough that it could never revolt against Persia. For
22950-466: The south is Bactria , later called Tocharistan, which is bounded on the south by the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. The Syr Darya (Jaxartes) rises in the Ferghana valley and the Amu Darya (Oxus) rises in Bactria. Both flow northwest into the Aral Sea . Where the Oxus meets the Aral Sea it forms a large delta called Khwarazm and later the Khanate of Khiva . North of the Oxus is the less-famous but equally important Zarafshan River which waters
23120-453: The steppes of Eastern Europe as a homogeneous geographical zone known as the Eurasian Steppe . Much of the land of Central Asia is too dry or too rugged for farming. The Gobi Desert extends from the foot of the Pamirs , 77° E, to the Great Khingan (Da Hinggan) Mountains, 116°–118° E. Central Asia has the following geographic extremes: A majority of the people earn a living by herding livestock. Industrial activity centers in
23290-450: The support of his regions. Sogdianus reigned for six months and fifteen days before being captured by his half-brother, Ochus , who had rebelled against him. Sogdianus was executed by being suffocated in ash because Ochus had promised he would not die by the sword, by poison or by hunger. Ochus then took the royal name Darius II. Darius' ability to defend his position on the throne ended the short power vacuum. From 412 BC Darius II , at
23460-414: The synagogue's Torah scroll . The contentious relationship between Simintov and Levy was dramatized in a play which was inspired by news reports about the lives of the two men, which were released by the international news media following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and the overthrow of the Taliban regime. The play, titled The Last Two Jews of Kabul , was written by playwright Josh Greenfeld and
23630-529: The territorial conflicts the Medes had with both Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire . King Croesus of Lydia sought to take advantage of the new international situation by advancing into what had previously been Median territory in Asia Minor. Cyrus led a counterattack which not only fought off Croesus' armies, but also led to the capture of Sardis and the fall of the Lydian Kingdom in 546 BC. Cyrus placed Pactyes in charge of collecting tribute in Lydia and left, but once Cyrus had left Pactyes instigated
23800-416: The then-ongoing campaign of his Macedonian Empire . Alexander's death marks the beginning of the Hellenistic period , when most of the fallen Achaemenid Empire's territory came under the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Seleucid Empire , both of which had emerged as successors to the Macedonian Empire following the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC. Hellenistic rule remained in place for almost
23970-423: The then-tyrant of Miletus , Aristagoras, launched a joint expedition with the Persian satrap Artaphernes to conquer Naxos , in an attempt to bolster his position in Miletus, both financially and in terms of prestige. The mission was a debacle, and sensing his imminent removal as a tyrant, Aristagoras chose to incite the whole of Ionia into rebellion against the Persian king, Darius I, who was commonly known as Darius
24140-399: The throne able to impersonate Bardiya because of their remarkable physical resemblance and shared name (Smerdis in Herodotus's accounts ). Ctesias writes that when Cambyses had Bardiya killed he immediately put the magus Sphendadates in his place as satrap of Bactria due to a remarkable physical resemblance. Two of Cambyses' confidants then conspired to usurp Cambyses and put Sphendadates on
24310-466: The throne under the guise of Bardiya. According to the Behistun Inscription , written by the following king Darius the Great , a magus named Gaumata impersonated Bardiya and incited a revolution in Persia. Whatever the exact circumstances of the revolt, Cambyses heard news of it in the summer of 522 BC and began to return from Egypt, but he was wounded in the thigh in Syria and died of gangrene, so Bardiya's impersonator became king. The account of Darius
24480-399: The time of the forced departure of the Herati Jews, on a stone inscription, the community stated that it had transferred the responsibility of caring for the Synagogues, the public bath, and the cemetery to the government which ruled Afghanistan when the inscription was written. The state of these historic buildings and the Taliban's plans for them have remained unknown since Afghanistan fell to
24650-441: The tomb already built for him in the Naqsh-e Rustam Necropolis. It was Persian tradition that kings begin constructing their own tombs while they were still alive. Artaxerxes I was immediately succeeded by his eldest and only legitimate son, Xerxes II . However, after a few days on the throne, he was assassinated while drunk by Pharnacyas and Menostanes on the orders of his illegitimate brother Sogdianus , who apparently had gained
24820-425: The tombstones have information about the deceased persons which is written on them in Hebrew . In recent years, some of the tombstones and the wall which surrounds the cemetery have been repaired thanks to donations which were sent by the Afghan Jewish Community which lives in the State of Israel . Before the fall of the government of the Afghan Islamic Republic to the Taliban, Herat's cultural officials stated that at
24990-484: The two generals who had most distinguished themselves in the Egyptian campaign, were advanced to posts of the highest importance. Mentor, who was governor of the entire Asiatic seaboard, was successful in reducing to subjection many of the chiefs who during the recent troubles had rebelled against Persian rule. In the course of a few years, Mentor and his forces were able to bring the whole Asian Mediterranean coast into complete submission and dependence. Bagoas went back to
25160-403: The use of official languages across its territories, and the development of civil services, including its possession of a large, professional army . Its advancements inspired the implementation of similar styles of governance by a variety of later empires. By 330 BC, the Achaemenid Empire was conquered by Alexander the Great , an ardent admirer of Cyrus; the conquest marked a key achievement in
25330-399: The war, but most of them emigrated to the State of Israel after it was founded in 1948. Some Afghan Jews also emigrated to the United States , most of whom settled in the New York City borough of Queens . In 1948, there were over 5,000 Jews in Afghanistan. Afghanistan was the only Muslim country which allowed Jewish emigrants to keep their citizenship. Most Afghan Jews moved to Israel or
25500-405: The western Central Asian regions were incorporated into the Soviet Union . The eastern part of Central Asia, known as Xinjiang , was incorporated into the People's Republic of China , having been previously ruled by the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China . Mongolia gained its independence from China and has remained independent but became a Soviet satellite state until the dissolution of
25670-414: The western oases. To this end, he established a garrison at Elephantine consisting mainly of Jewish soldiers, who remained stationed at Elephantine throughout Cambyses' reign. The invasions of Ammon and Ethiopia themselves were failures. Herodotus claims that the invasion of Ethiopia was a failure due to the madness of Cambyses and the lack of supplies for his men, but archaeological evidence suggests that
25840-447: The wettest climates in Central Asia, with an average annual precipitation of over 560 mm (22 inches). Biogeographically, Central Asia is part of the Palearctic realm . The largest biome in Central Asia is the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome. Central Asia also contains the montane grasslands and shrublands , deserts and xeric shrublands and temperate coniferous forests biomes. As of 2022, there has been
26010-404: The wider definition, which includes Central Asian lands that have never been part of historical Russia). The latter definition includes Afghanistan and ' East Turkestan '. The most limited definition was the official one of the Soviet Union , which defined Middle Asia as consisting solely of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, omitting Kazakhstan . Soon after the dissolution of
26180-476: Was a caretaker of until his last day in Afghanistan is located in District 4 of Kabul, in "kuche-ye Gol Forushiha" ( Persian : کوچه گل فروشیها , The Florists' Alleyway). Simintov's neighbors promised him that they would maintain the synagogue of Kabul in his absence. In the city of Herat, the historic centre of Afghan Jews, there are 4 synagogues, 1 public bath, as well as a Jewish cemetery and several abandoned houses. The Yu Aw Synagogue ( Persian : کنیسه یوآو ),
26350-399: Was a major center of Jewish life in ancient Afghanistan ; some Islamic traditions hold that Balkh was the burial place of Ezekiel and the home of Jeremiah , both Jewish and Muslim prophets . Jews also settled in Herat , which was an important location on the Silk Road as well as on other trading routes. In modern times, ruins from Jewish settlements still exist in the city, including
26520-452: Was achieved was most probably due to the influence of the Silk Road , which traveled along Central Asia. Periodically, great leaders or changing conditions would organise several tribes into one force and create an almost unstoppable power. These included the Hun invasion of Europe, the Five Barbarians rebellions in China and most notably the Mongol conquest of much of Eurasia . During pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Central Asia
26690-477: Was blamed, and others began spreading rumors that he was trying to convert the Muslim boy to Judaism . From 1935 to 1941, under Prime Minister Mohammad Hashim Khan (the uncle of the king), Nazi Germany was the most influential country in Afghanistan. The Nazis regarded most of the Afghans as Aryans . In 1938, it was reported that Jews were allowed to work only as shoe-polishers. Some Afghan Jews attempted to emigrate to British India , but when they arrived on
26860-400: Was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted. When Alexander reached the tomb, he was horrified by the manner in which it had been treated, and questioned the Magi, putting them on trial. By some accounts, Alexander's decision to put the Magi on trial was more an attempt to undermine their influence and display his own power than a show of concern for Cyrus's tomb. Regardless, Alexander
27030-403: Was compelled to retreat and postpone his plans to reconquer Egypt. Soon after this defeat, there were rebellions in Phoenicia , Asia Minor and Cyprus . In 343 BC, Artaxerxes committed responsibility for the suppression of the Cyprian rebels to Idrieus , prince of Caria , who employed 8,000 Greek mercenaries and forty triremes , commanded by Phocion the Athenian, and Evagoras, son of
27200-408: Was for millennia dominated by the nomadic horse peoples of the steppe . Relations between the steppe nomads and the settled people in and around Central Asia were long marked by conflict. The nomadic lifestyle was well suited to warfare , and the steppe horse riders became some of the most militarily potent people in the world, limited only by their lack of internal unity. Any internal unity that
27370-417: Was found in a cave network in Afghanistan. Some 29 pages from the collection were purchased by the Jerusalem -based National Library of Israel in 2013. Following the Kazakh famine of 1930–1933 , a significant number of Bukharan Jews crossed the border into the Kingdom of Afghanistan as part of the wider famine-related refugee crisis; leaders of the communities petitioned Jewish communities in Europe and
27540-546: Was inhabited predominantly by speakers of Iranian languages . Among the ancient sedentary Iranian peoples , the Sogdians and Chorasmians played an important role, while Iranian peoples such as Scythians and the later on Alans lived a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle. The main migration of Turkic peoples occurred between the 6th and 11th centuries, when they spread across most of Central Asia. The Eurasian Steppe slowly transitioned from Indo European and Iranian -speaking groups with dominant West-Eurasian ancestry to
27710-471: Was probably during this reign that the solar calendar was introduced as the national calendar. Under Artaxerxes I, Zoroastrianism became the de facto religion of the empire. After Persia had been defeated at the Battle of Eurymedon (469 or 466 BC ), military action between Greece and Persia was halted. When Artaxerxes I took power, he introduced a new Persian strategy of weakening the Athenians by funding their enemies in Greece. This indirectly caused
27880-413: Was staged in New York in 2002. In January 2005, Levy died of natural causes, leaving the world believing Simintov was the sole known Jew in Afghanistan. He cared for the only synagogue in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul . He was still trying to recover the confiscated Torah. Simintov, who does not speak Hebrew , claimed that the man who stole the Torah is now in US custody in Guantanamo Bay . Simintov has
28050-421: Was stopped prematurely when the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. The battle was a tactical victory for the Persians, giving them uncontested control of Artemisium and the Aegean Sea. Following his victory at the Battle of Thermopylae , Xerxes sacked the evacuated city of Athens and prepared to meet the Greeks at the strategic Isthmus of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf . In 480 BC
28220-412: Was succeeded by his eldest son Cambyses II , while his younger son Bardiya received a large territory in Central Asia. By 525 BC, Cambyses had successfully subjugated Phoenicia and Cyprus and was making preparations to invade Egypt with the newly created Persian navy. Pharaoh Amasis II had died in 526, and had been succeeded by Psamtik III , resulting in the defection of key Egyptian allies to
28390-403: Was the longest reigning of the Achaemenid kings and it was during this 45-year period of relative peace and stability that many of the monuments of the era were constructed. Artaxerxes moved the capital back to Persepolis , which he greatly extended. Also, the summer capital at Ecbatana was lavishly extended with gilded columns and roof tiles of silver and copper. The extraordinary innovation of
28560-402: Was the winner of the Battle of Salamis , after Themistocles was ostracized from Athens . Also, Artaxerxes gave him Magnesia , Myus , and Lampsacus to maintain him in bread, meat, and wine. In addition, Artaxerxes I gave him Palaescepsis to provide him with clothes, and he also gave him Percote with bedding for his house. When Artaxerxes died in 424 BC at Susa , his body was taken to
28730-421: Was then the only male descendant of the royal family. Briant says that although the hypothesis of a deception by Darius is generally accepted today, "nothing has been established with certainty at the present time, given the available evidence". According to the Behistun inscription , Gaumata ruled for seven months before being overthrown in 522 BC by Darius the Great (Old Persian Dāryavuš , "who holds firm
28900-404: Was to be used to check and constrain the rising power and influence of the Macedonian kingdom. In 340 BC, a Persian force was dispatched to assist the Thracian prince , Cersobleptes , to maintain his independence. Sufficient effective aid was given to the city of Perinthus that the numerous and well-appointed army with which Philip had commenced his siege of the city was compelled to give up
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