Download central asia: an historical perspective

KIJAHS/OCT-DEC2016/VOL-3/ISS-4/A33
ISSN:2348-4349
IMPACT FACTOR(2016) – 6.8712 KAAV INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTS,HUMANITIES
& SOCIAL SCIENCES
CENTRAL ASIA: AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE TARIQUE ANWAR
Research Scholar
JamiaMillia Islamia
New Delhi, India
ABSTRACT
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, five republics of Central Asia-Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan appeared on the map as independent states. Located on the east of the Caspian Sea
between Russia, China, Afghanistan and Iran, these states cover a territory about twice the size of Western
Europe,seven times that of France and bigger than India Pakistan and Bangladesh combined together with total
population of more than 55 million people. The newly independent republics of Central Asia are redefining their
identities and their relations with the world as a whole since the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republic USSR.Central Asia, which lies at an intersection of several cultures, the emerging trends are complex and
ambiguous.
Key Words: Central Asia, USSR, Islam,
Introduction Central Asia comprises five independent States i.e., Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan. Central Asia has various definitions but none of them is accepted universally. In defining borders, Central
Asia has some important overall features. Central Asia has historically been closely connected to the Silk Road and its
nomadic people. Consequently it has worked as an intersection for the movement of people, goods and ideas between
Europe, West Asia, South Asia and East Asia.
The history of Central Asia is a tale of conquests of Mongol “hordes” and Arabs who swept across its steppes
and crossed its mountains and for a time, enfolded it within the largest empires in the world. Alexander, Tamerlane,
and Genghis Khan, at one time each of these conquerors added the territories of Central Asia to his vast empire,
founding dynasties that survived for centuries, until the next invader arrived.
Early Central Asian history is dominated by the rivalry between the Persians to the south and the Turkic
tribes to the north, who vied the control of the rich oasis cities. The Persian Empire under Darius 1 added Transoxiana
to its territory around 500 B.C. but the Persians were ousted for a time by Turkic nomadic invasions from Siberia and
Mongolia .These tribes had originally (beginning in about 1000 B.C.) inhabited the Ala-Tau Mountains in eastern
Central Asia. (The Chinese began using the word Tur or Turkic to identify all the nomadic tribes who posed a threat to
their empire-the ancient origins of the word Turkistan (home of the Turks), used even today to identify Central
Asia).the resurgent Persians next fell victim to Alexander the Great, who conquered Bactria and Sogdiana (ancient
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan) between 329 and 327 B.C. founding the modern-day city of Khujand.
Alexander consolidated his control by urging his men to marry local women; he himself married a Sogdian princess,
Roxana.
Aexander’s Greco-Songdian heirs created the Bactrian Empire, which governed a large part of Central Asia
and Afghanistan between 300 and 140 B.C. The western region of Central Asia (present-day Turkmenistan) was ruled
by the Parthians, a tribal dynasty based on the Saka tribes, whose empire lasted until A.D. 226, when they were
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IMPACT FACTOR(2016) – 6.8712 defeated by the Persian Sassanids. Meanwhile, the north of Central Asia was invaded in the last century B.C. by
successive waves of Sakas, who in time driven out by another tribal group of nomads from the Gobi Desert: the
Hsiung-nu, the forefathers of the mongols. The hsiung-nu had spread west after defeating the Uighurs, another tribal
confederation who at the time ruled present day Xinjiang province and western china. Continuing their westward
march across Central Asia, the Huns, as they were now called, reached the Volga River by A.D. 400. Their empire, the
first nomadic Mongol empire, now stretched from Korea to the Volga.
Huns In the fifth century the Huns invaded Europe under their chief Attila and marched on Rome. As the Huns
moved westwards the vacuum in eastern Central Asia was once again filled by invading Turkic tribes, who continued
their incursions for several centuries. These nomadic invasions from Mongolia and western China have left behind few
traces of their empires or culture, and little is known about the political system they erected to rule their vast landmass,
Invariably, they would arrive to conquer and then move on eastwards whilst other tribes arrived to take their place.1
Kushans One nomadic empire did leave some impressive traces: the Kushan Empire, which dates from the first and
second centuries A.D., and also included northern India, Iran, and present day Xinjiang province in china. In the
second century the great Kushan king a nishka became a patron of the Mahayana school of Buddhism. For the first
several centuries A.D., various groups contended over Central Asia. Huns, Sassanians, Turks, and Chinese, all invaded
the farghana Valley. But the next important series of incursions began around 650, when the first Arabs came bringing
with them the new faith of Islam.
Turkic nomads lived in Central Asia in earliest history in and around 2000 B.C. Cities such
as Samarkand, Bukhara, Tashkent, Khwarezm, Balkh and Khurasan were the centres for international trade market.
Since the ancient times Central Asia was melting pot of cultures. Many races travelled from this region and moved
towards Indian sub-continent. Central Asia has been exposed to numerous invasions throughout the history. Central
Asia is one of the oldest centres of civilization. During the Neolithic period, Central Asian people were performing
mixed farming in which tribes hunted, herded and grew some crops. The first urban settlements in Central Asia
appeared around 1500B.C. probably founded by peoples of Iranian origin.
The Kushan era was one of the important phases for the cultural and economic expansion of Central
Asia. In the Kushan cities, architecture, sculpture and painting, textile art and manufacture of harness and arms and
hydraulic engineering become highly developed. The Kushan Empire also played a significant role in the spread of
Buddhism in Tarim basin.
The Central Asians of former Russia are people with glorious past. In its history the only period of
comparative oblivion was the seventy four years rule by the Soviet Union. Central Asian people inherit a long splendid
and illustrious history. Most part of the history of the ancient world originated in Central Asia, because great warrior
tribes, great Physicians, great Mathematicians, great Poets, famous Sufis, great Muhadiseen, great Mufassireen were
born here, who left an indelible mark on history of Central Asia.
Recorded history reveals the prominent role Central Asian region has played in one way or the other during
past five thousand years history of mankind. Even 100,000 year archaeological finds have been excavated from this
region. The Central Asian region has one more time become the centre of attention of the world.
Since ancient times, the migration process was common in Central Asia. These have been mostly from east
to west and have been significant flow in the opposite direction, and also some movement southwards. These shifts
often resulted in the emergence of state formation that was highly fluid. Some of these lasted no more than a few
decades. Some others in one form or another lasted for several centuries. Most were destroyed by new waves of
invaders. They encompassed huge areas many times the size of most modern European countries. The degree of
geographic mobility both of individuals and of large armies was extraordinary even by present day standards. This
long distance travels facilitated the development of cultural, economic and technological exchanges over a wide area.
It also brought about political and military contacts, sometimes amicable and sometimes hostile between powers that
from today’s perspective seem very far apart indeed.
The main pole of attraction in the south west was Iran; in the south centre was India, in the east China and
much later in the north, Russia. Even when their empires did not physically control territory in Central Asia they
exhorted grand cultural and economic influence over contiguous areas. It was not a one way process.
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IMPACT FACTOR(2016) – 6.8712 Central Asia has been a place of encounter between peoples of different races and cultures. Archaeological
remains dating back to 3000B.C., show that Europoids2 had settlements on the steppe extending from the Urals to the
Tarim basin (eastern Turkistan) while mongoloids inhabited the forests and the more easterly uplands the first
historically identifiable peoples are the mounted Iranian nomads who dominated the western steppe in the 1st
millennium BC. They included the Scythians whose original habitat(c 6000 BC) was the Pontiac steppe north of the
Black sea, the Sarmatians, further to the east, and the Sakas located to the north east of Iran up to the foot hills of the
Pamirs. Some of the Sakas later migrated eastwards to the Tarim basin where they adopted a settled way of life and
established the beginnings of an urbanised culture, while other groups moved south through the pamirs into India.3
Archamenid Empire The first great sedentary power to incorporate a significant portion of Central Asia within its boundaries was
the Archamenid Empire of Iran. The state already included Babylonia, Syria, Palestine, Phoenicia and Asia Minor
when in the mid-6th century B.C. it extended its rule northwards into Central Asia. Several new provinces were
established on what is today the territory of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. These included Bactria (south
of the Aral sea),Margiana (centred on the Merv oasis) and Sogdiana (zerafshan valley).
Sometimes in the 1st millennium BC, Central Asia for the first time was occupied by Iranian nomads who
came from the northern grasslands of today’s Uzbekistan.4 Cities like Bukhara and Samarqand started out to appear as
centres of culture at that time. By the 5th century BC the Bactrian, Sogdian and Tocharian states, prevailed the region.
As China started to expand its silk trade with the west, Iranian cities took advantage of this commerce by becoming
centres of trade.5 The Sogdian intermediaries became the wealthiest of these Iranian merchants using a wide range of
network of cities and settlements. Because of this trade Bukhara and Samarqand became extremely wealthy cities.
Since times immemorial Central Asia has been inhabited by various civilizations. One of the important
features of Central Asia for centuries was the presence of nomads. That is why Central Asia has been called the land of
nomads. Since antiquity various tribes have roamed here, in search of food and foraging facilities. Prior to the Muslim
invasion, Central Asian region had been conquered and colonized by Archemenids, the Greeks, the Kushans, the
Sassanids, the Turks, the Scythians, the Aryans, the Sarmatians, the Avars, the Parthians and the Huns. Some of these
prominent tribes especially the Aryans left lasting impressions on the culture of Asia and Europe.6The Aryans
surmounted the barriers of the Caucasus and made their way down the Eastern shores of the Caspian.
Sakas The Saka tribes were the first mounted nomads who settled around the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea to found
a dynasty in the Central Asian region. Around 800B.C. this dynasty ruled an area including that of modern day
Western Turkey, Iran and Central Asia Squeezed by growing Persian power. The Sakas later retreated into the Pamirs
and the Tian Shan mountains. Today that region is known as Kyrgyzstan. They stayed there until 200 BC when the
Persian finally conquered them. From 700 to 800 B.C., the Scythians who were settled north of Syr Darya swept
southward conquering Central Asia, India and Syria.7The Scythians became the main protagonists of the Persian kings.
Central Asia was first demarcated by the early Persian kings , now inhabited by the off shoots of the Saka tribes. The
Persian Empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC was to rule Central Asia for next 200 Years, until the arrival of
Greeks. It was in Bactria (Bactria included much of present day Uzbekistan) Zoroaster who was born in modern day
Azerbaijan, introduced a new religion Zoroastrianism which spread rapidly through Bactria and Sogdiana and was
later adopted by the Persians. One of Alexander's successors General Selucus, founded the Seleucid dynasty which
rule Bactria and large part of Sagdiana.
Parthians In 239 BC another Greeko-Bacterian kingdom was established which ruled from the Afghanistan city of
Balkh. The Bactria was to be finally brought down by the nomadic invaders from the East in around 140 BC.8In the
meantime, the Western region of Central Asia which is in present day Turkmenistan continued to be ruled by the
Parthian dynasty, which was based on the Saka tribes. In 224 BC they were defeated by the Persian Sassanids with the
Southern belt. Central Asia firmly under control of the Persians, the North Central Asia was invaded in the last century
BC by successive waves of more Sakas, which continued south to Afghanistan and India. After these invasions,
Buddhism also arrived and much closer contact was established between Central Asia and China to the East and India
to the South.
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IMPACT FACTOR(2016) – 6.8712 In 159-139BC, Scythians conquered the important towns and strongholds of the Greco Bactria kingdom. For
the next hundred years Scythians and Parthians controlled most of the area of Central Asia. The pattern changed in the
first century A.D. when a union of nomadic tribes was formed under the rule of the Kushan tribes. At its peak Kushan
rulers ruled Bactria, Eastern Turkestan, Sagdians, Afghanistan and some part of India. At the end of the 2nd Century
A.D. Kushan rule began to weaken and in the middle of the 5th century another nomad tribe, the Haphthalites whose
origin lay in white Huns, subdued Bacteria and sealed the fate of Kushan rule in Central Asia.
Sarmatians In the Eastern region of Central Asia is what is known Kyrgyzstan, the Sarmatian nomads with their Siberian
animal culture moved south from Siberia and controlled the region from around 500 BC onwards.9Sarmatians
contributed to the Central Asia by developing new trade and travel routes through which Central Asia got an access to
Taxila, Sinkiang, Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan, Greece, and Egypt etc. It can be concluded that there was a busy
trade net connecting the Eastern Mediterranean Northern Iran, Central Asia and the Huang Ho basin. In 100BC
Chinese princes started their first raid into Central Asia, and captured the Farghana valley. In this time both the
Sarmatians and the Chinese were pressed from the East by the Huns, the forefathers of the Mongols, who came out of
the Gobi desert to occupy the Kashghar in Xinxiang around 200 BC, crossed Central Asia and reached the Volga river
in Russia by AD 400. Their empire the first nomadic Mongol Empire stretched from Korea to the Ural Mountain in
Russia. The Hepthalities or white Huns went on to conquer Eastern Europe and part of India. As the Huns moved
westward the vacuum in the east was filled by the Turkic tribes who began what was to be series of invasions
inhabited by the Altai Mountain in the eastern Central Asia, from around 100 BC onwards. The word Turic or Turkic
was given by the Chinese to mark all those nomadic tribes who lived-in the region from Mongolia to Black Sea and
who posed a threat to the Chinese Empire. The Chinese were forced to build the Great Wall of China to avoid raids by
the early Turk tribes. These tribes turned around from attacking the Chinese in the East to attacking the oasis town in
Central Asia to the West. Some Turk tribes settled in the Farghana valley.10
During Pre Islamic and early Islamic period, Central Asia was predominantly a Persian region that included
sedentary Sogdians, Chorasmians and semi nomadic Scythians. The ancient sedentary population played an important
role in the history of Central Asia.11
According to S. Frederick Starr :
“Tajiks Pushtuns, Pamiris and other Iranian groups are still present in the region. After
expansion by Turkic people, Central Asia also became the homeland for many Turkic people
including the Uzbeks, Kazakhs Kyrgyz and Uyghurs. That is why Central Asia is sometimes referred
to as Turkistan”.12
By the late 3rd century B.C. the Hsuing-nu were the dominant regional powers. Their sudden and rapid
expansion had a number of far reaching consequences. One was that on their eastern side they began to encroach on
Chinese territory. A long power struggle started which eventually in 60 BC resulted in the decisive defeat of the
Hsing-nu. In continuation of this war the Chinese made incursions into the Tarim basin. By this, eastern part of Central
Asia came under Chinese rule. Another major consequence of the rise of the Hsing nu or Hsiungnu was that it caused
the displacement of neighbouring peoples. One of the displaced groups was the Tung-hu, most of who subsequently
moved eastwards to the territory of Manchuria.
Yuh‐chihs or Tocharians Another group (or confederation of groups) was a people who are known in Chinese sources as Yuh-chih and
in Greek and Latin sources as Tocharian. Little is known about their origin other than that they spoke an IndoEuropean language which was closer to Hittite than to the languages of the geographically closer Iranian steppe
peoples. The YuchChih or Tocharians expelled from their original habitat in the eastern steppe, moved westwards
through Jungaria to the upper reaches of the chui and Naryan rivers. Subsequently some of them, generally known as
Great Yiieh-chih migrated to the Amu Darya (c.175BC). They later crossed the river into Bactria, where they
encountered Greek colonies.
Sassanids By the 3rd century AD, a new power had emerged in the west along the southern border.13 The Sassanids of
Iran conquered the lands of the parthians and much of that of the kushans. Thus, the south-west and south central
regions of Central Asia (modern Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) were incorporated into and Iranian empire. The
Sassanids came from a sedentary culture.14 During this period there was a revival of expansion of cultural, economic
and political influences emanating from Iran in the region. Meanwhile, in the east, china’s hold on Tarim basin had
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IMPACT FACTOR(2016) – 6.8712 weakened to the point where it was nominal. Local rulers established virtually autonomous fiefdoms in environs of the
main oases.
The 5th century led in yet another period of upheaval. It saw the start of a sequence of invasions,
accompanied by wars shifts of population. It continued for the next three centuries, up to the mid-8th century. These
movements started a process of change that eventually resulted in a radical transformation of the ethnic and cultural
map of almost all of Central Asia. The first fierce attack was the incursion of the Haphthalites or white Huns. They
swept across Central Asia in the 2nd half of 15th century. Their ethnic origin and early history is not clear. It has been
suggested that they possibly be the descendants of a section of the Uch-Chih. By the early 6th century they controlled
most of the Tarim Basin, the Ferghana valley and territory further to the west to the borders of Sassanian Iran.
Turks The second great movement was that of the Turks. Their original homeland appears to have been in
Mongolia, but it is possible that some Turkic groups were also located in the northern steppe and forest zone especially
in the vicinity of Lake Balkhash and the Volga. Turkic tribes began to spread out from the central steppe zone. They
dispelled the Hephthalites and other regional nomadic confederation. In a short span of time they established control
over a vast area that, at times, stretched from Manchuria to the Aral Sea. Now their lands not only included the steppe
but also parts of the cultivated oasis belt in the south where the predominant population was Iranian. The empire is
generally known as Turkic khanate. This was powerful and important enough to enter into diplomatic negotiation with
Byzantium Empire in AD 568. It also maintained relation with Iran and China. They have little internal cohesion.
Before the end of the century the khanate had split into and eastern and a western wing. Both came under Chinese
domination for a while but subsequently regained their independence and survived till the mid-18th century.15
Arabs Meanwhile, in the west, Arab troops were making rapid inroads into Central Asia. After establishing control
over Khurasan (north eastern Iran) in the 2nd half of the 7th century, they advanced northwards across the Amu Darya,
into the Farghana valley, in modern day, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the next century. Here they met
with substantial resistance from the local rules, who turned to china for help. This invitation to intervene in the affairs
of south western Central Asia was welcomed by the Chinese who were still trying to weaken the Turkic Khanate.
Consequently, they gathered a large army and joined battle with the Arabs on the Talas river (modern day Kyrgyzstan)
in A.D. 751.16 The result was a resounding triumph for the Arabs and a humiliating defeat for the Chinese. The Arabs,
instead of undertaking new advances, consolidated their position in south western Central Asia (Transoxiana). The
Arab conquest of Transoxiana fixed southwest Central Asia firmly within the area of influence of the caliphate. This
region now became fully integrated into the world of Islam. As the local population converted to the new religion they
acquired not simply a faith but became part of the same intellectual space. They participated in the same economic
system and more importantly came to share the same system of values of Muslim in the Arab World. The Islamisation
of the population occurred within a relatively short period of time, at most a century or two. It took far larger Islam
encompassed the entire western steppe. Some claim that it took at least a millennium. The conversion of the eastern
steppe become smaller and then end at the borders of Mongolia in the north it probably not penetrated the forest zone.
The physical presence of the Arabs in Central Asia was numerically rather small and of somewhat short
duration within a generation or so they had begun to intermarry with the local population. They gradually lost a
separate ethnic identity.
The Tahirids (820‐873 C.E.) Mus’ab bin Ruzaiq sided Abbasids Caliphs in the conquest
of Khurasan. On this he was made governor of
eastern khorasan and was awardad with the little of Abnaa-ud-Dollah. In 810 C.E last Umayyad governor Nasr bin
Sayyar tried to get this territory again, Musab sided with Abbasids. Next year, his grandson, Tahir was made the chief
of Mamoon’s army in Rayy, who sided with Mammon in the war of succession, and Amin was killed by Tahir’s army.
Mamoon made Tahir governor of Syria, Marv and Western Jabal. Tahir further strengthened his rule during Mamoon’s
stay in Marv and in 821 C.E pressurized Mamoon and deleted his name from sermon and coisn, and established his
rule in eastern Iraq in the place of Ghassan bin Abbas. Next year Tahir died and his son Talha came to power.
Mamoon created bad blood between Khurasanian Mu, tazilites and Tahirids. Talha had to face the Kharjites at the
same time in 828 C.E, after his death, his brother Abdullah became the governor of Khurasan.
Tahir bin Abdullah aided Samanids against Arghoze tribes, Now, Tahirid rule had extended to Merv,
Khawarzam, and Amol in addition to khurasan, Due to internal strife of Tahirid and dispute over ownership of
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IMPACT FACTOR(2016) – 6.8712 pastures safaris were benefited, Yaqub bin Las occupied Tabaristan, Jurjan, Rayy and areas of Persia, but this
occupation proved to be temporary and Samanid established their rule in 904.
The Samanids Like Tahirids, Samanids also sided with the Abbasids in establishing their rules upto Eastern Iran and Amu
River. The Abbasids gave the governorship of Samarqand, Farghana Sheesh and heart to the Samanids. Till900 C.E
Ismail bin Ahmad Samani Made Bukhara his capital after occupying a major part of Central Asia as Seestan. Karman,
Rayy, Jurjan, Khurasan, Transokisan and Sagdar.It is Ismail bin Ahmad who is regarded as first regular rular/Ameer
out of all the Samanidsrulers.He was the most competent and able ruler of his family.
After the death of Ahmad bin Ismail Samanid the Court fell a prey to conspiracies and Nasr bin Ahmad
became ruler who ruled for 30 years.17
The reign of the partron of Rudki was the climax of this family. Not due to his impressive personality but due
to the fact that after his demise the fall of the government became prominent when their reign lost impressive rulers
like Ismail and Ahmad, their family a prey to collapse and this area was taken over by the Ghaznavids and
Qarakhanids quite skillfully with a well-recognized bureaucracy and army the Samanids regulated and expanded the
silk Route, spreading the Persian language and making Bukhara a trade, transport and cultural center of the Islamic
world. Physicians such as IbnSina, mathematicians like Al Biruni, and poets such as Firdousi ensured that the Samanid
court would leave an indelible mark on the development of the Persian language and culture, an importance would not
be eroded in Central Asia for centuries.
Samanid reign is regarded as the precursor of Persian literature, because the renaissance of Iranian literature
is attributed to this very family, Roudki is poet of this reign. Competent intellectuals like Balami is the minister of this
family, Samanids had a love for knowledge and were patrons of scholars. Bukhara, the capital of the Samanids,
remained a center of excellence, an honour for the state and a refulge for intellectuals Bukhara was a rising horizon for
the stars of art and well known scholars another center of knowledge and skill was Samarkand. Samaid rulers
patronized Arabic and Persian literature. The outset of modern Arabic and Persian literature was in this period.
Fardosi too started his poetry in this reign. Noh (976-97) invited renowned scientist IbnSina to his court andf devoted
royal library to his use.
The Ghazanavids In the last prriod of the Samanids, a Turkish officer, Aiptigin, became very influential.In 960 C.E, he was
made governor of Khurasan whereas, he wanted to become Governor of Ghazna and Zalolistan. In 962 C.E, Samanid
king (Mansoor bin Noh) deposed Alptigin. But Alptigin defeated royal army and occupied Ghazna.
ConsequenllyMansoor bin Noh appointed him governor of Ghazna. Subuktigin became governor sometime after his
death. During the fall of the Samanids, Subuktigin with the help of the son, Mehmood, established his rule over
TakharistanGhoristan, Baymiyan and Bulkh. At first, Mehmood remained chief of army in Khurasan, after words
armies were transferred to neeshapur. In 997 C.E, at the time of death of Subuktigin, Ghaznavid rule had established
well. In the beginning Sultan MahmoodGhaznvi had to face some difficulties from Qarakhanids, but soon he estabilish
rule over Khawarzam, Ghorgistan and Khatal. At that time Kabul was under Hindustani rule. But after the military
expenditions between 977 -987, Ghaznavids advanced towards India and Sultan Mehboob occupied Kabul,
GhaznahPeshawer and Punjab by degree.18
Sultan Mahmood is one of the most famous conquerors of the world. His achievements astonish the
commentatiors of the modern world. Since when he took overpower, he remained continuously at war with Turks,
Persian, Datimites, Makranis. Afghans and Rajputs of India, but he conquered where ever he went. Many great
warrious had the blue funks on listening his name. He never lost his morale in facing difficulties. He was a competent
commander as well as a brave soldier and he always used to be in that part of the battlefield where war was at its
climax.32 but it is necessary to remember here that where war was at its climax, Sultan never tried to make anybody
Muslim with the force of sword.
The Qarakhanids
It was a family in Central Asia from 9th to 12th C.E. This is the family that governed in the North and South
West of ‘ThienShian’’ and primitive Turkshconquerer of Mawara-un-Nahr came for this family in Muslim reign .They
habitated in xinjiang after migrating from Mongolia and Embraced Islam. They established in Kashghar after being
inhabiting at the former place for almost two centuries. After ‘Samani’ reign ended, Ghaznavids governed in East and
South while ‘Qarakhanids’ governed in the west by 980 C.E. Qarakhanids reached the silwer mines of
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IMPACT FACTOR(2016) – 6.8712 ‘ZarafshanVally’ and Afjab in the west. During the downfall of Samanids.Qarakhanid leader Bughra Khan and
captured Bukhara and Saghod. But Samanid Sought help from Ghaznavid. Subuktigin and Mahmood
defeatedQarakhanids in Heraat and neeshapur. Samanid sized further attracks due to the fear of increasing strength of
Ghaznavids. Baghra Khan’s son Nasar Khan married with daughter with sultan MamoodGhaznavi and captured Bulkh
and Neeshapur because of Sultan Ghaznavis involvement in his attempts on Hindustan.But Sultan rushed back and
defeated them. He made several agreements in the governors of Khotan, Kashghar, Bukhara and Samarkand. But after
Sultan’s death Seljuks, Khawarzam Shah and Ghauriz increasing strength changed the whole scenario of Central Asia.
Buwayhids
Turkik government had almost established in Central Asia 1040 to 1050 C.E. But territories adjescent to
Caspian Sea were under Persian rulers and used to pay minimal revenue. They were strong and established governors.
When Abbasids tried to weeken them, they captured Baghdad and appointed a governor of their own in place of
Mustakfi (Abbasid governor). Their government remained for around a hundred years.19Later the Seljuks arrived to
defeat them and conquered Central Asia and Turkey. By 1055 C.E. the Seljuk chief Tughril was standing outside the
gates of Baghdad. For the next two hundred years the Seljuks ruled the area from the Pamir Mountains and the borders
of China to Iraq, unuting Central Asian with the Persian and Arab worlds for the first time under Turkic hegemony.
Then Khwarzami Princes held their reign and remained in government for 89 years (1133 A.D. to 1218 A.D.).
In this time period of five centuries, Turkistan played a pivotal role in the religious and political history of Islamic
nation.20
By the early 9th century local governors were already beginning to assent their autonomy. In AD 875 the
Samanids, a Persian dynasty from khorasan, made Bukhara their seat and established an independent state that
extended from Farghana valley south across Amu Darya to the foot hills of Hindu Kush.21 This was the first
indigenous independent Muslim state in Central Asia.
In the east, during this period new influences of Turkic people continued to stream of the Mongolian plateau.
The first Turkish Muslim dynasty in Central Asia was that of karakhanids. It was formed on the bases of a tribal
confederation which in the early 10th century extended its rule in a wide step across central Turkistan, spawning the
Tian Shan to east and west the main cities of karkhanids included Blasaghun near Lake Issykkul, modern day
Kyrgyzstan and kashghar, modern day Xinxiang. In AD 999 the karkhanids captured Bukhara, ousting the Samanids
and formally established Turkic dominance of the region. Further to the west there were already a number of other
Turkic states.22 These included the Oghuz, an ancestor of the Seljuks and Turkmen in the Arab basin, the khazars to
the west of Volga and the Pechanegs, Cumans and other nomadic peoples of the southern Russian steppe.23
The unification of the Mongols and neighbouring tribes occurred under the leadership of Genghis khan in the
first decade of the 13th century. Thereafter, having consolidated the social and military reorganisation of society, he
led his troops on a series of campaigns. In 1215 AD, they captured Peking. A few years later they were masters of
Turkistan and its ancient cities such as Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent and khojand. Their further conquests brought
most of the known world under Mongol rule including huge part of the West Asia, Transcaucasia, the Far East,
northern India and Afghanistan, Southeast Asia and eastern and central Europe. For the first and only time in its long
history, Central Asia was united under a single ruler. However, before his death (A.D. 1227) Genghis khan had already
divided his empire among his sons.24 The lands to the west were assigned to Genghis khan’s eldest son Juchi. This
state which later included much of Russia came to be known as the Golden Horde.25 Most of the Turkistan from the
Arabian Sea to the Altai Mountains came under the youngest son Tuli. One of the Tuli’s sons Halaku, founded the
dynasty of Ilkhans of Persia. Another son Kublai founded the Yuan dynasty of china.26 The Mongol element in each
wing of the empire became increasingly influenced by the local culture. In the lands of Juchi and Chagatai i.e. from
Turkistan to Volga they became Turkicised and Islamicised. In the lands of Ilkhanate they became persianized and
Islamicised. In Mongolia itself Tibetan culture and religious practices became predominant.
Another mighty Central Asian empire was founded by Timur at the end of the 14th century. He is more
usually known in the Central asian region as Amir-e-Taimur. He excelled in the skills and tactics of normal warfare.
He deeply admired and cultivated the legacy of Persian culture and statecraft that still flourished in the cities of
Transoxiana. He established his capital at Samarkand and made it a leading centre for the development of science art
and architecture. His conquest encompassed a huge swathe of khurasan, Transcaneasia, northern India, parts of West
Asia and Asia Minor and much of Russia. He died in 1405 on a campaign to china.27
Timur was not the last of the great Central Asian conquerors. One of his descendants won an empire that was
almost as large as of Timur and founded a dynasty that remained in power longer than the Timur. However this was
not in Central Asia. Babur of Ferghana Valley was ousted from his patrimonial lands by powerful Uzbek tribes in the
early 16th century. He sought refuge across Amu Darya, captured Kabul and made it his capital in 1504. In 1526 he
defeated Ibrahim lodhi, the Sultan of Delhi at the battle of Panipat and laid the foundation of the Mughal Empire in
Copyright © 2016 Published by kaav publications. All rights reserved www.kaavpublications.org 259 KIJAHS/OCT-DEC2016/VOL-3/ISS-4/A33
ISSN:2348-4349
IMPACT FACTOR(2016) – 6.8712 India. Mughal is the Arabic Persian form of Mongol. He had hoped to re-conquer Transoxiana and to establish his seat
at Samarkand. In this he failed Central Asia remained outside the limits of Mongol sphere.28
Sine early times, the Russians have relations with the people of Central Asia. Throughout the history, the
Russians have kept themselves in close contact with cultures whose roots are partially or wholly in Central Asia. They
expanded into areas which now constitute southern Russia during the eighth and ninth centuries. China and Russia
were parts of Mongol empire for nearly a hundred years. The Mongol domination over Russia ended after the battle of
kulikovo in 1380.29
The Russians first began to advance toward Asia in the sixteenth century. They established their rule up to
the frontiers of china. Tsar Mikhail Romanov (1613-45) sent two Cossacks to china across Mongolia in 1618 with the
expectation of establishing contacts with the Ming court.
China and Russia came to grips with each other first in Siberia. Russia’s expansion eastwards was
accomplished in several stages. The first was the conquest of Siberia (c 1580-1644) from the Urals to the Pacific. A
series of military bases were established at strategic points across the region. Later administration units were also put
in place. The final thrust of this advance brought the Russians to the Amu River and hence to direct confrontation with
the Chinese. The treaty of peace signed by the Russians and the Chinese at Nerchinsk on 27th august 1689 was the
first attempt ever to manage the conflicting interests between them. This was the first treaty ever to be concluded
between china and western power. The two countries did not clash in Central Asia until the 19th century.
On 14th November 1860, a treaty was signed by China and Russia at Beijing. It was the first attempt even to
be made by them to define their common boundary in Central Asia.30 The 1860 treaty covered only two thirds of the
present boundary between China and Soviet Union in Central Asia. It covered the boundary as far as the UchBel Pass
which is about fifty miles south east of Lake Issykkul. The remaining 720 kilometre long strip of the Sino Russian
border has been shown as “undetermined” on China maps whereas it has been shown as “definitive” on Soviet maps.
A protocol relating to the Sino-Russian frontier in the Kashgar area signed by China and Russia at the military post of
Chuguchak in 1884 confirmed the stipulations of the treaty of 1860.
Soviet control of the southern region of western Turkistan was established in 1918. It was this time that the
Turkistan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) was created within and subordinate to the Russian Soviet
Federation Socialist Republic (RSFSR).31 In the steppe zone Soviet power was not established until 1920 when the
Kazakh ASSR was created which like the Turkistan ASSR was within and subordinate to the RSFSR. Likewise in
1920, People’s Republic was proclaimed in the still nominally independent state of Bukhara and khiva. In 1924 the
Turkistan and Kazakh ASSRs along with the newly annexed People’s Soviet Republic off Bukhara and khiva were
repartitioned along ethno-linguistic lines. As a result of this division known as the national delimitation of Central
Asia five new administration territorial units were formed.32 These were the Uzbek and Turkmen Soviet Socialist
Republics (SSRs). The Tajik ASSR was transformed into full SSR in 1924 and Kazakh and Kyrgyz ASSRs were
transformed into SSRs in 1936.33 Over the following years some relatively small changes were made to the internal
borders between these republics but in other respects they have remained unchanged. After the collapse of Soviet
Union at the end of 1991, they became the international boundaries between the independent Central Asian States.
Russia keeps on influencing political decision making throughout the former SSRs. Russia’s influence has
slowly waned after the movement of other countries into the area. The United States is also significantly involved in
the region’s politics with its military involvement and oil diplomacy.34Through the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
China forecasts outstanding power in the region especially in energy oil politics. India has geographic proximity to
Central Asian region. India has extensive military relations with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and maintains military
base at Farkhor, Tajikistan. Turkey, on account of its ethnic and linguistic ties with the Turkic peoples of central Asia
and its involvement in Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline also exercises considerable influence in the region. Political
and economic relations are growing fast between Turkey and Central Asia. Recently Turkey has eliminated visa
requirement for citizens of the Central Asian republics. Iran has historical and inner links to the region. To construct an
oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf Iran is competing with others. Pakistan which is a nuclear armed
Islamic state is capable of exercising influence in Central Asia. The shortest route to the ocean lies through Pakistan
for some Central Asian nations. Pakistan backs the development of pipelines from its region and looks for natural gas
from Central Asia.
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Copyright © 2016 Published by kaav publications. All rights reserved www.kaavpublications.org 260 KIJAHS/OCT-DEC2016/VOL-3/ISS-4/A33
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Copyright © 2016 Published by kaav publications. All rights reserved www.kaavpublications.org 261