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137-602: The Society was founded in 1901 as the Central Asian Society to "promote greater knowledge and understanding of Central Asia and surrounding countries". The geographical extent of the society's interest has since expanded to include the whole of Asia . Taylor & Francis publishes the society's journal , Asian Affairs , which has been in print since 1914. The society was founded in 1901 to promote greater knowledge and understanding of Central Asia and surrounding countries. But although Central Asia dominated

274-774: A Sabao , which suggests their importance to the socioeconomic structure of China. The Sogdian influence on trade in China is also made apparent by a Chinese document which lists taxes paid on caravan trade in the Turpan region and shows that twenty-nine out of the thirty-five commercial transactions involved Sogdian merchants, and in thirteen of those cases both the buyer and the seller were Sogdian. Trade goods brought to China included grapes , alfalfa , and Sassanian silverware , as well as glass containers, Mediterranean coral, brass Buddhist images, Roman wool cloth, and Baltic amber . These were exchanged for Chinese paper, copper, and silk. In

411-727: 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

548-716: A Sogdian stronghold in western Sogdia and speculates that during the time of the Avesta, the center of Sogdia may have been closer to Bukhara instead of Samarkand . Achaemenid ruler Cyrus the Great conquered Sogdiana while campaigning in Central Asia in 546–539 BC, a fact mentioned by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in his Histories . Darius I introduced the Aramaic writing system and coin currency to Central Asia , in addition to incorporating Sogdians into his standing army as regular soldiers and cavalrymen. Sogdia

685-685: A Turko-Sogdian delegation travelled to the Roman emperor in Constantinople to obtain permission to trade and in the following years commercial activity between the states flourished. Put simply, the Sogdians dominated trade along the Silk Road from the 2nd century BC until the 10th century. Suyab and Talas in modern-day Kyrgyzstan were the main Sogdian centers in the north that dominated

822-699: A crisis. Following the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana in the 8th century, the Samanids resumed trade on the northwestern road leading to the Khazars and the Urals and the northeastern one toward the nearby Turkic tribes. During the 5th and 6th century, many Sogdians took up residence in the Hexi Corridor , where they retained autonomy in terms of governance and had a designated official administrator known as

959-638: A fortress in Sogdiana, was captured in 327 BC by the forces of Alexander the Great , the basileus of Macedonian Greece, and conqueror of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Oxyartes , a Sogdian nobleman of Bactria, had hoped to keep his daughter Roxana safe at the fortress of the Sogdian Rock, yet after its fall Roxana was soon wed to Alexander as one of his several wives. Roxana, a Sogdian whose name Roshanak means "little star",

1096-691: A gift to Byzantine ruler Justin II , but also proposed an alliance against Sassanid Persia. Justin II agreed and sent an embassy to the Turkic Khaganate, ensuring the direct silk trade desired by the Sogdians. It appears, however, that direct trade with the Sogdians remained limited in light of the small amount of Roman and Byzantine coins found in Central Asian and Chinese archaeological sites belonging to this era. Although Roman embassies apparently reached Han China from 166 AD onwards, and

1233-478: A group are also colloquially referred to as 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

1370-577: A key position along the ancient Silk Road. They played an active role in the spread of faiths such as Manicheism , Zoroastrianism , and Buddhism along the Silk Road. The Chinese Sui Shu ( Book of Sui ) describes Sogdians as "skilled merchants" who attracted many foreign traders to their land to engage in commerce. They were described by the Chinese as born merchants, learning their commercial skills at an early age. It appears from sources, such as documents found by Sir Aurel Stein and others, that by

1507-433: 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

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1644-567: 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

1781-544: 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

1918-601: A priest. Miwnay cursed her Sogdian husband for leaving her, saying she would rather have been married to a pig or dog. Another letter in the collection was written by the Sogdian Nanai-vandak addressed to Sogdians back home in Samarkand informing them about a mass rebellion by Xiongnu Hun rebels against their Han Chinese rulers of the Western Jin dynasty informing his people that every single one of

2055-537: A raid by Qapaghan Qaghan (692–716), ruler of the Second Turkic Khaganate . In the 10th century, Sogdiana was incorporated into the Uighur Empire , which until 840 encompassed northern Central Asia. This khaganate obtained enormous deliveries of silk from Tang China in exchange for horses, in turn relying on the Sogdians to sell much of this silk further west. Peter B. Golden writes that

2192-748: A range of central London locations including the Royal Astronomical Society, the Society of Antiquaries, the Medical Society of London and the Army and Navy Club. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, all RSAA activities are online and many are open to the general public. Lectures are given by authoritative speakers roughly every two weeks on current affairs, history, culture and travel connected with all parts of Asia. Members of

2329-523: 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

2466-462: 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

2603-568: A swell towards Parutian Ishkata, Haraivian Margu , Gava Sogdia ( gaom-ca suγδəm ), and Chorasmia . The second mention is found in the first chapter of the Vendidad, which consists of a list of the sixteen good regions created by Ahura Mazda for the Iranians. Gava is the second region mentioned on the list, directly behind Airyanem Vaejah , the homeland of Zarathustra and the Iranians, according to Zoroastrian tradition: The second of

2740-578: A thorough discussion to the etymologies of ancient ethnic words for the Scythians in his work Four Old Iranian Ethnic Names: Scythian – Skudra – Sogdian – Saka . In it, the names provided by the Greek historian Herodotus and the names of his title, except Saka , as well as many other words for "Scythian", such as Assyrian Aškuz and Greek Skuthēs , descend from *skeud-, an ancient Indo-European root meaning "propel, shoot" (cf. English shoot). *skud-

2877-730: 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

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3014-490: Is characterized by strong Iranian-Sogdian elements probably brought with intense Sogdian-Tocharian trade, the influence of which is especially apparent in the Central-Asian caftans with Sogdian textile designs, as well as Sogdian longswords of many of the figures. Other characteristic Sogdian designs are animals, such as ducks, within pearl medallions. Aside from the Sogdians of Central Asia who acted as middlemen in

3151-413: 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

3288-561: Is the zero-grade; that is, a variant in which the -e- is not present. The restored Scythian name is *Skuδa ( archer ), which among the Pontic or Royal Scythians became *Skula, in which the δ has been regularly replaced by an l. According to Szemerényi, Sogdiana ( Old Persian : Suguda- ; Uzbek : Sug'd, Sug'diyona ; Persian : سغد , romanized :  Soġd ; Tajik : Суғд, سغد , romanized :  Suġd ; Chinese : 粟特 ; Greek : Σογδιανή , romanized :  Sogdianē )

3425-538: Is widely attributed to the ruler's lack of control. However, unlike Egypt, which was quickly recaptured by the Persian Empire, Sogdiana remained independent until it was conquered by Alexander the Great . When the latter invaded the Persian Empire , Pharasmanes, an already independent king of Khwarezm , allied with the Macedonians and sent troops to Alexander in 329 BC for his war against the Scythians of

3562-720: The Anikova dish . The Umayyads fell in 750 to the Abbasid Caliphate , which quickly asserted itself in Central Asia after winning the Battle of Talas (along the Talas River in modern Talas Oblast , Kyrgyzstan) in 751, against the Chinese Tang dynasty. This conflict incidentally introduced Chinese papermaking to the Islamic world . The cultural consequences and political ramifications of this battle meant

3699-767: The Anxi Protectorate of the Tang dynasty , until the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana . Qutayba ibn Muslim (669–716), Governor of Greater Khorasan under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), initiated the Muslim conquest of Sogdia during the early 8th century, with the local ruler of Balkh offering him aid as an Umayyad ally. However, when his successor al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah governed Khorasan (717–719), many native Sogdians, who had converted to Islam, began to revolt when they were no longer exempt from paying

3836-534: The Black Sea region (even though this anticipated campaign never materialized). During the Achaemenid period (550–330 BC), the Sogdians lived as a nomadic people much like the neighboring Yuezhi , who spoke Bactrian , an Indo-Iranian language closely related to Sogdian, and were already engaging in overland trade. Some of them had also gradually settled the land to engage in agriculture. Similar to how

3973-700: 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

4110-520: The Gui [ Oxus ] river. They are bordered on the south by Daxia [ Bactria ], on the west by Anxi [ Parthia ], and on the north by Kangju [beyond the middle Jaxartes /Syr Darya]. They are a nation of nomads , moving from place to place with their herds, and their customs are like those of the Xiongnu. They have some 100,000 or 200,000 archer warriors. From the 1st century AD,

4247-687: 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

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4384-566: 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

4521-670: 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

4658-652: The Kushan Empire (30–375 AD) of Central and South Asia . A now-independent and warlike Sogdiana formed a border region insulating the Achaemenid Persians from the nomadic Scythians to the north and east. It was led at first by Bessus , the Achaemenid satrap of Bactria . After assassinating Darius III in his flight from the Macedonian Greek army, he became claimant to the Achaemenid throne. The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes,

4795-575: The Principality of Farghana , where their ruler at-Tar (or Alutar) promised them safety and refuge from the Umayyads. However, at-Tar secretly informed al-Harashi of the Sogdians hiding in Khujand , who were then slaughtered by al-Harashi's forces after their arrival. From 722, following the Muslim invasion, new groups of Sogdians, many of them Nestorian Christians , emigrated to the east, where

4932-831: The Sakas overran the Greco-Bactrian kingdom around 145 BC, soon followed by the Yuezhi , the nomadic predecessors of the Kushans . From then until about 40 BC the Yuezhi tepidly minted coins imitating and still bearing the images of the Greco-Bactrian kings Eucratides I and Heliocles I . The Yuezhis were visited in Transoxiana by a Chinese mission, led by Zhang Qian in 126 BC, which sought an offensive alliance with

5069-581: The Tang campaign against Karakhoja and Chinese conquest of 640, with a gradual adoption of Chinese bronze coinage over the course of the 7th century. The fact that these Eastern Roman coins were almost always found with Sasanian Persian silver coins and Eastern Roman gold coins were used more as ceremonial objects like talismans , confirms the pre-eminent importance of Greater Iran in Chinese Silk Road commerce of Central Asia compared to Eastern Rome. The Kizil Caves near Kucha , mid-way in

5206-444: The Tarim Basin , record many scenes of traders from Central Asia in the 5–6th century: these combine influence from the Eastern Iran sphere, at that time occupied by the Sasanian Empire and the Hephthalites , with strong Sogdian cultural elements. Sogdia, at the center of a new Silk Road between China to the Sasanian Empire and the Byzantine Empire became extremely prosperous around that time. The style of this period in Kizil

5343-884: 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

5480-428: The Uyghurs not only adopted the writing system and religious faiths of the Sogdians, such as Manichaeism, Buddhism, and Christianity, but also looked to the Sogdians as "mentors", while gradually replacing them in their roles as Silk Road traders and purveyors of culture . Muslim geographers of the 10th century drew upon Sogdian records dating to 750–840. After the end of the Uyghur Empire , Sogdian trade underwent

5617-466: The ancient Romans imported Han Chinese silk while the Han dynasty Chinese imported Roman glasswares as discovered in their tombs, Valerie Hansen (2012) wrote that no Roman coins from the Roman Republic (507–27 BC) or the Principate (27 BC – 330 AD) era of the Roman Empire have been found in China. However, Warwick Ball (2016) upends this notion by pointing to a hoard of sixteen Roman coins found at Xi'an , China (formerly Chang'an ), dated to

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5754-423: The retreat of the Chinese empire from Central Asia . It also allowed for the rise of the Samanid Empire (819–999), a Persian state centered at Bukhara (in what is now modern Uzbekistan ) that nominally observed the Abbasids as their overlords , yet retained a great deal of autonomy and upheld the mercantile legacy of the Sogdians. Yet the Sogdian language gradually declined in favor of the Persian language of

5891-402: The 15th century BC. In the Avesta , namely in the Mihr Yasht and the Vendidad , the toponym of Gava ( gava-, gāum ) is mentioned as the land of the Sogdians. Gava is, therefore, interpreted as referring to Sogdia during the time of the Avesta . Although there is no universal consensus on the chronology of the Avesta, most scholars today argue for an early chronology, which would place

6028-406: 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 ,

6165-497: 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

6302-417: The 1st century BC. In his Shiji published in 94 BC, Chinese historian Sima Qian remarked that "the largest of these embassies to foreign states numbered several hundred persons, while even the smaller parties included over 100 members ... In the course of one year anywhere from five to six to over ten parties would be sent out." In terms of the silk trade, the Sogdians also served as middlemen between

6439-431: 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

6576-434: The 4th century they may have monopolized trade between India and China . A letter written by Sogdian merchants dated 313 AD and found in the ruins of a watchtower in Gansu , was intended to be sent to merchants in Samarkand , warning them that after Liu Cong of Han-Zhao sacked Luoyang and the Jin emperor fled the capital, there was no worthwhile business there for Indian and Sogdian merchants. Furthermore, in 568 AD,

6713-410: The 6th-century Byzantine historian Menander Protector writes of how the Sogdians attempted to establish a direct trade of Chinese silk with the Byzantine Empire . After forming an alliance with the Sasanian ruler Khosrow I to defeat the Hephthalite Empire, Istämi , the Göktürk ruler of the First Turkic Khaganate , was approached by Sogdian merchants requesting permission to seek an audience with

6850-461: The 7th century, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang noted with approval that Sogdian boys were taught to read and write at the age of five, though their skill was turned to trade, disappointing the scholarly Xuanzang. He also recorded the Sogdians working in other capacities such as farmers, carpetweavers, glassmakers, and woodcarvers. Shortly after the smuggling of silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire from China by Nestorian Christian monks,

6987-437: 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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7124-486: The Chinese Empire and the Sasanian Empire. Because of the Hephthalite occupation of Sogdia, the original coinage of Sogdia came to be flooded by the influx of Sasanian coins received as a tribute to the Hephthalites. This coinage then spread along the Silk Road . The symbol of the Hephthalites appears on the residual coinage of Samarkand , probably as a consequence of the Hephthalite control of Sogdia, and becomes prominent in Sogdian coinage from 500 to 700 AD, including in

7261-472: The Chinese Han Empire and the Parthian Empire of the Middle East and West Asia. Sogdians played a major role in facilitating trade between China and Central Asia along the Silk Roads as late as the 10th century, their language serving as a lingua franca for Asian trade as far back as the 4th century. Subsequent to their domination by Alexander the Great, the Sogdians from the city of Marakanda ( Samarkand ) became dominant as traveling merchants, occupying

7398-497: The Great . Sogdiana was first conquered by Cyrus the Great , the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, and then was annexed by the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great in 328 BC. It would continue to change hands under the Seleucid Empire , the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom , the Kushan Empire , the Sasanian Empire , the Hephthalite Empire , the Western Turkic Khaganate and the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana . The Sogdian city-states , although never politically united, were centered on

7535-497: The JPT Family Trust. The Royal Society for Asian Affairs awards two medals, the " Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal " (named for Percy Sykes , honorary secretary 1924-1932) and the " Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal ", named for T. E. Lawrence , to individuals who have distinguished themselves in their contribution to cultural relations, exploration, research, or literature. The Society also makes occasional special awards to individuals whose activities merit recognition falling outside

7672-451: The Jaxartes ( Syr Darya ), including the fertile valley of the Zeravshan (called the Polytimetus by the ancient Greeks ). Sogdian territory corresponds to the modern regions of Samarkand and Bukhara in modern Uzbekistan, as well as the Sughd region of modern Tajikistan. In the High Middle Ages , Sogdian cities included sites stretching towards Issyk Kul , such as that at the archeological site of Suyab . Oswald Szemerényi devotes

7809-507: The Kushans, together with whom they initially controlled trade in the Ferghana Valley and Kangju during the 'birth' of the Silk Road. Later, they became the primary middlemen after the demise of the Kushan Empire . Unlike the empires of antiquity, the Sogdian region was not a territory confined within fixed borders, but rather a network of city-states , from one oasis to another, linking Sogdiana to Byzantium , India , Indochina and China . Sogdian contacts with China were initiated by

7946-421: 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

8083-402: 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

8220-467: The Samanids (the ancestor to the modern Tajik language ), the spoken language of renowned poets and intellectuals of the age such as Ferdowsi (940–1020). So too did the original religions of the Sogdians decline; Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Manichaeism , and Nestorian Christianity disappeared in the region by the end of the Samanid period. The Samanids were also responsible for converting the surrounding Turkic peoples to Islam . The Samanids occupied

8357-417: The Sasanians obtained the areas south of it. The Turks fragmented in 581, and the Western Turkic Khaganate took over in Sogdia. Archaeological remains suggest that the Turks probably became the main trading partners of the Sogdians, as appears from the tomb of the Sogdian trader An Jia . The Turks also appear in great numbers in the Afrasiab murals of Samarkand , where they are probably shown attending

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8494-469: The Sassanid king of kings for the privilege of traveling through Persian territories in order to trade with the Byzantines. Istämi refused the first request, but when he sanctioned the second one and had the Sogdian embassy sent to the Sassanid king, the latter had the members of the embassy poisoned. Maniah, a Sogdian diplomat, convinced Istämi to send an embassy directly to Byzantium's capital Constantinople , which arrived in 568 and offered not only silk as

8631-585: The School of Oriental and African Studies, London for sixth-form students. These offer interested A-level students an opportunity to hear talks on a wide range of Asian topics and to try out a variety of Asian languages. Through travel awards to young people, the RSAA supports practical projects and research that have the potential to contribute to advances in scholarly or other public knowledge including, but not limited to, post-graduate degrees, journalism and travel writing. The Society also administers grants to support medical electives in asian countries on behalf of

8768-427: The Seleucid Empire founded in 248 BC by Diodotus I , for roughly a century. Euthydemus I , a former satrap of Sogdiana, seems to have held the Sogdian territory as a rival claimant to the Greco-Bactrian throne; his coins were later copied locally and bore Aramaic inscriptions . The Greco-Bactrian king Eucratides I may have recovered sovereignty of Sogdia temporarily. Finally Sogdia was occupied by nomads when

8905-430: The Silk Road trade, other Sogdians settled down in China for generations. Many Sogdians lived in Luoyang , capital of the Jin dynasty (266–420), but fled following the collapse of the Jin dynasty's control over northern China in 311 AD and the rise of northern nomadic tribes. Aurel Stein discovered 5 letters written in Sogdian known as the "Ancient Letters" in an abandoned watchtower near Dunhuang in 1907. One of them

9042-554: The Society receive the Society's journal, Asian Affairs , and have free access to the entire back catalogue. They also have access to other events and social functions. The Society's library and archive are currently housed at Hailebury where they may be consulted by prior arrangement. The journal of the society, Asian Affairs , is published quarterly by Taylor and Francis. It has been continuously in publication since 1914. It contains original articles and book reviews . The Society has for many years run Schools' days jointly with

9179-415: The Society’s early interests, from the outset its members took the view that any Asian developments that could have a bearing on British interests in Central Asia fell within the Society’s remit. So when, in 1975, the Society changed its name to the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, it was acknowledging in its name what had been the practical reality since its earliest days. Meetings were traditionally held at

9316-426: The Sogdian region from circa 819 until 999, establishing their capital at Samarkand (819–892) and then at Bukhara (892–999). In 999 the Samanid Empire was conquered by an Islamic Turkic power, the Kara-Khanid Khanate (840–1212). From 1212, the Kara-Khanids in Samarkand were conquered by the Kwarazmians . Soon however, Khwarezmia was invaded by the early Mongol Empire and its ruler Genghis Khan destroyed

9453-418: The Sogdians and their descendants began with the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana in the 8th century. The Sogdian conversion to Islam was virtually complete by the end of the Samanid Empire in 999, coinciding with the decline of the Sogdian language, as it was largely supplanted by New Persian . Sogdiana lay north of Bactria , east of Khwarezm , and southeast of Kangju between the Oxus ( Amu Darya ) and

9590-471: The Sogdians in 84, when the latter were trying to support a revolt by the king of Kashgar . Historical knowledge about Sogdia is somewhat hazy during the period of the Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) in Persia. The subsequent Sasanian Empire of Persia conquered and incorporated Sogdia as a satrapy in 260, an inscription dating to the reign of Shapur I claiming "Sogdia, to the mountains of Tashkent " as his territory, and noting that its limits formed

9727-416: 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

9864-615: 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

10001-495: 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

10138-591: 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

10275-592: 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

10412-522: 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

10549-585: The Turks had been more welcoming and more tolerant of their religion since the time of Sassanian religious persecutions. They particularly created colonies in the area of Semirechye , where they continued to flourish into the 10th century with the rise of the Karluks and the Kara-Khanid Khanate . These Sogdians are known for producing beautiful silver plates with Eastern Christian iconography, such as

10686-776: The Yuezhi against the Xiongnu . Zhang Qian, who spent a year in Transoxiana and Bactria , wrote a detailed account in the Shiji , which gives considerable insight into the situation in Central Asia at the time. The request for an alliance was denied by the son of the slain Yuezhi king, who preferred to maintain peace in Transoxiana rather than seek revenge. Zhang Qian also reported: the Great Yuezhi live 2,000 or 3,000 li [832–1,247 kilometers] west of Dayuan , north of

10823-473: The Yuezhi morphed into the powerful Kushan Empire , covering an area from Sogdia to eastern India . The Kushan Empire became the center of the profitable Central Asian commerce. They began minting unique coins bearing the faces of their own rulers. They are related to have collaborated militarily with the Chinese against nomadic incursion, particularly when they allied with the Han dynasty general Ban Chao against

10960-404: The Yuezhi offered tributary gifts of jade to the emperors of China , the Sogdians are recorded in Persian records as submitting precious gifts of lapis lazuli and carnelian to Darius I , the Persian king of kings . Although the Sogdians were at times independent and living outside the boundaries of large empires, they never formed a great empire of their own like the Yuezhi, who established

11097-547: 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

11234-764: 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

11371-677: 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

11508-510: The caravan routes of the 6th to 8th centuries. Their commercial interests were protected by the resurgent military power of the Göktürks , whose empire was built on the political power of the Ashina clan and economic clout of the Sogdians. Sogdian trade, with some interruptions, continued into the 9th century. For instance, camels, women, girls, silver, and gold were seized from Sogdia during

11645-605: The city of Samarkand . Sogdian , an Eastern Iranian language , is no longer spoken. However, a descendant of one of its dialects, Yaghnobi , is still spoken by the Yaghnobis of Tajikistan. It was widely spoken in Central Asia as a lingua franca and served as one of the First Turkic Khaganate 's court languages for writing documents. Sogdians also lived in Imperial China and rose to prominence in

11782-632: The city-building efforts of the Kidarites . The Hephthalites probably ruled over a confederation of local rulers or governors, linked through alliance agreements. One of these vassals may have been Asbar, ruler of Vardanzi , who also minted his own coinage during the period. The wealth of the Sasanian ransoms and tributes to the Hephthalites may have been reinvested in Sogdia, possibly explaining

11919-526: The coinage of their indigenous successors the Ikhshids (642–755 AD), ending with the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana . The Turks of the First Turkic Khaganate and the Sasanians under Khosrow I allied against the Hephthalites and defeated them after an eight-day battle near Qarshi , the Battle of Bukhara , perhaps in 557. The Turks retained the area north of the Oxus, including all of Sogdia, while

12056-722: The composition of Young Avestan texts like the Mihr Yasht and the Vendiad in the first half of the first millennium BCE. The first mention of Gava is found in the Mihr Yasht, ie., the hymn dedicated to the Zoroastrian deity Mithra . In verse 10.14 it is described how Mithra reaches Mount Hara and looks at the entirety of the Airyoshayan ( airiio.shaiianem , 'lands of the Arya '), where navigable rivers rush with wide

12193-467: The criteria for the Society's two medals. 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

12330-452: The development of *Suγδa from Skuδa, "archer", as follows: Skuδa > *Sukuda by anaptyxis > *Sukuδa > *Sukδa ( syncope ) > *Suγδa ( assimilation ). Sogdiana possessed a Bronze Age urban culture: original Bronze Age towns appear in the archaeological record beginning with the settlement at Sarazm , Tajikistan, spanning as far back as the 4th millennium BC, and then at Kök Tepe, near modern-day Bulungur , Uzbekistan, from at least

12467-543: The diaspora Sogdians and Indians in the Chinese Western Jin capital Luoyang died of starvation due to the uprising by the rebellious Xiongnu, who were formerly subjects of the Han Chinese. The Han Chinese emperor abandoned Luoyang when it came under siege by the Xiongnu rebels and his palace was burned down. Nanai-vandak also said the city of Ye was no more as the Xiongnu rebellion resulted in disaster for

12604-514: 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

12741-401: 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

12878-547: 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

13015-475: The embassy of the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian during the reign of Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BC) of the former Han dynasty . Zhang wrote a report of his visit to the Western Regions in Central Asia and named the area of Sogdiana as " Kangju ". Following Zhang Qian's embassy and report, commercial Chinese relations with Central Asia and Sogdiana flourished, as many Chinese missions were sent throughout

13152-561: The entire Silk Road , but would trade goods through middlemen based in oasis towns, such as Khotan or Dunhuang . The Sogdians, however, established a trading network across the 1500 miles from Sogdiana to China. In fact, the Sogdians turned their energies to trade so thoroughly that the Saka of the Kingdom of Khotan called all merchants suli , "Sogdian", whatever their culture or ethnicity. The Sogdians had learnt to become expert traders from

13289-631: 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

13426-487: 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

13563-463: 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

13700-550: 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

13837-616: 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

13974-546: The good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the Gava of the Sogdians ( gāum yim suγδō.shaiianəm ). Thereupon came Angra Mainyu , who is all death, and he counter-created the locust, which brings death unto cattle and plants. While it is widely accepted that Gava referred to the region inhabited by the Sogdians during the Avestan period, its meaning is not clear. For example, Vogelsang connects it with Gabae,

14111-675: 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

14248-652: 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

14385-505: 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

14522-706: The military and government of the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907 AD). Sogdian merchants and diplomats travelled as far west as the Byzantine Empire . They played an essential part as middlemen in the Silk Road trade route. While initially practicing the faiths of Zoroastrianism , Manichaeism , Buddhism and, to a lesser extent, the Church of the East from West Asia , the gradual conversion to Islam among

14659-575: 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

14796-618: The northeastern Sasanian borderlands with the Kushan Empire . However, by the 5th century the region was captured by the rival Hephthalite Empire . The Hephthalites conquered the territory of Sogdiana, and incorporated it into their Empire, around 479 AD, as this is the date of the last known independent embassy of the Sogdians to China. The Hephthalites may have built major fortified Hippodamian cities (rectangular walls with an orthogonal network of streets) in Sogdiana, such as Bukhara and Panjikent , as they had also in Herat , continuing

14933-525: The once vibrant cities of Bukhara and Samarkand. However, in 1370, Samarkand saw a revival as the capital of the Timurid Empire . The Turko-Mongol ruler Timur brought about the forced immigration to Samarkand of artisans and intellectuals from across Asia, transforming it not only into a trade hub but also into one of the most important cities of the Islamic world. Most merchants did not travel

15070-405: 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

15207-571: The pro-Umayyad Sogdian ruler Tarkhun in 710, decided that resistance against al-Harashi's large Arab force was pointless, and thereafter persuaded his followers to declare allegiance to the Umayyad governor. Divashtich (r. 706–722), the Sogdian ruler of Panjakent , led his forces to the Zarafshan Range (near modern Zarafshan, Tajikistan ), whereas the Sogdians following Karzanj, the ruler of Pai (modern Kattakurgan , Uzbekistan), fled to

15344-486: The prosperity of the region from that time. Sogdia, at the center of a new Silk Road between China to the Sasanian Empire and the Byzantine Empire became extremely prosperous under its nomadic elites. The Hephthalites took on the role of major intermediary on the Silk Road , after their great predecessor the Kushans , and contracted local Sogdians to carry on the trade of silk and other luxury goods between

15481-545: The rebel Spitamenes, who wed Seleucus I Nicator and bore him a son and future heir to the Seleucid throne . According to the Roman historian Appian , Seleucus I named three new Hellenistic cities in Asia after her (see Apamea ). The military power of the Sogdians never recovered. Subsequently, Sogdiana formed part of the Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom , a breakaway state from

15618-565: The reception by the local Sogdian ruler Varkhuman in the 7th century AD. These paintings suggest that Sogdia was a very cosmopolitan environment at that time, as delegates of various nations, including Chinese and Korean delegates, are also shown. From around 650, China led the conquest of the Western Turks , and the Sogdian rulers such as Varkhuman as well as the Western Turks all became nominal vassals of China, as part of

15755-513: 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",

15892-712: 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

16029-633: 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

16166-554: The reigns of various emperors from Tiberius (14–37 AD) to Aurelian (270–275 AD). The earliest gold solidus coins from the Eastern Roman Empire found in China date to the reign of Byzantine emperor Theodosius II (r. 408–450) and altogether only forty-eight of them have been found (compared to thirteen-hundred silver coins) in Xinjiang and the rest of China. The use of silver coins in Turfan persisted long after

16303-642: The rise of prosperous trade cities. acting as 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

16440-466: The semi-nomadic Scythians and Dahae . As 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

16577-635: 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

16714-631: 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

16851-657: The tax on non-Muslims, the jizya , because of a new law stating that proof of circumcision and literacy in the Quran was necessary for new converts. With the aid of the Turkic Turgesh , the Sogdians were able to expel the Umayyad Arab garrison from Samarkand, and Umayyad attempts to restore power there were rebuffed until the arrival of Sa'id ibn Amr al-Harashi (fl. 720–735). The Sogdian ruler (i.e. ikhshid ) of Samarkand, Gurak , who had previously overthrown

16988-405: 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

17125-447: 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

17262-404: 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

17399-452: 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

17536-410: Was also listed on the Behistun Inscription of Darius. A contingent of Sogdian soldiers fought in the main army of Xerxes I during his second, ultimately-failed invasion of Greece in 480 BC. A Persian inscription from Susa claims that the palace there was adorned with lapis lazuli and carnelian originating from Sogdiana. During this period of Persian rule, the western half of Asia Minor

17673-408: 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

17810-483: Was governed from the satrapy of nearby Bactria . The satraps were often relatives of the ruling Persian kings, especially sons who were not designated as the heir apparent . Sogdiana likely remained under Persian control until roughly 400 BC, during the reign of Artaxerxes II . Rebellious states of the Persian Empire took advantage of the weak Artaxerxes II, and some, such as Egypt , were able to regain their independence. Persia's massive loss of Central Asian territory

17947-546: 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

18084-410: Was named from the Skuδa form. Starting from the names of the province given in Old Persian inscriptions, Sugda and Suguda, and the knowledge derived from Middle Sogdian that Old Persian -gd- applied to Sogdian was pronounced as voiced fricatives, -γδ-, Szemerényi arrives at *Suγδa as an Old Sogdian endonym . Applying sound changes apparent in other Sogdian words and inherent in Indo-European, he traces

18221-436: Was observed in Turkmenistan, whereas the services sector progressed most in the other four countries. Sogdians Sogdia or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya , and in present-day Uzbekistan , Turkmenistan , Tajikistan , Kazakhstan , and Kyrgyzstan . Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Empire , and listed on the Behistun Inscription of Darius

18358-464: Was part of the Greek civilization. As the Achaemenids conquered it, they met persistent resistance and revolt. One of their solutions was to ethnically cleanse rebelling regions, relocating those who survived to the far side of the empire. Thus Sogdiana came to have a significant Greek population. Given the absence of any named satraps (i.e. Achaemenid provincial governors) for Sogdiana in historical records, modern scholarship has concluded that Sogdiana

18495-414: Was put down by Alexander and his generals Amyntas , Craterus , and Coenus , with the aid of native Bactrian and Sogdian troops. With the Scythian and Sogdian rebels defeated, Spitamenes was allegedly betrayed by his own wife and beheaded. Pursuant with his own marriage to Roxana, Alexander encouraged his men to marry Sogdian women in order to discourage further revolt. This included Apama , daughter of

18632-493: Was the mother of Alexander IV of Macedon , who inherited his late father's throne in 323 BC (although the empire was soon divided in the Wars of the Diadochi ). After an extended campaign putting down Sogdian resistance and founding military outposts manned by his Macedonian veterans, Alexander united Sogdiana with Bactria into one satrapy. The Sogdian nobleman and warlord Spitamenes (370–328 BC), allied with Scythian tribes, led an uprising against Alexander's forces. This revolt

18769-653: Was written by a Sogdian woman named Miwnay who had a daughter named Shayn and she wrote to her mother Chatis in Sogdia. Miwnay and her daughter were abandoned in China by Nanai-dhat, her husband who was also Sogdian like her. Nanai-dhat refused to help Miwnay and their daughter after forcing them to come with him to Dunhuang and then abandoning them, telling them they should serve the Han Chinese. Miwnay asked one of her husband's relative Artivan and then asked another Sogdian man, Farnkhund to help them but they also abandoned them. Miwnay and her daughter Shayn were then forced to became servants of Han Chinese after living on charity from

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