Turkestan

{{dablink|For the town in southern Kazakhstan, see [[Turkestan (City)]]. Not to be confused with [[Turkey]] or [[Turkmenistan]].}} {{refimprove|date=July 2011}} [[Image:Kashgari map.jpg|thumb|308px|Map from [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]]'s ''Diwanu Lughat at-Turk'', showing the 11th century distribution of Turkic tribes.]] '''Turkestan''', spelled also as '''''Turkistan''''', ({{lang-fa|ترکستان}}) literally means "Land of the Turks". The term Turkestan is of [[Persian language|Persian]] origin and has never been in use to denote a single nation. It was first used by [[Persian people|Persian]] geographers to describe the place of Turkish peoples. After [[Persia]] had been considerably weakened by its defeat in 1860, Imperial Russia stepped up its campaign to wrest full control over the [[Central Asian]] region from Persian dominance and on their way southward, the Russians took the [[Turkestan (city)|city of Turkestan]] (in present day [[Kazakhstan]]) in 1864. Mistaking its name for that of the entire region, they adopted the appellation of "Turkestan" for their new territory. ==History== {{see|History of Central Asia}} The history of Turkestan dates back to the [[3rd millennium BC|third]] millennium BC. Many [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] were produced in that period, and much [[trade]] was conducted. The region was a focal point for [[cultural diffusion]], as the [[Silk Road]] traversed it. Turkestan covers the area of [[Central Asia]] and acquired its "Turkic" character from the 4th to 6th centuries AD with the incipient [[Turkic expansion]]. Turkic sagas, such as the ''[[Ergenekon]]'' legend, and written sources such as the [[Orkhon Inscriptions]] state that Turkic peoples originated in the nearby [[Altay Mountains]], and, through nomadic settlement, started their long journey westwards. [[Huns]] conquered the area after they conquered [[Kashgaria]] in the early 2nd century BC. With the dissolution of the Huns' empire, [[China|Chinese]] rulers took over Eastern Turkestan. [[Arab]] forces captured it in the 8th century. The [[Persian Empire|Persian]] [[Samanid]] dynasty subsequently conquered it and the area experienced economic success. The entire territory was held at various times by Turkic forces, such as the [[Göktürks]] until the conquest by [[Genghis Khan]] and the [[Mongols]] in 1220. Genghis Khan gave the territory to his son, [[Chagatai Khan|Chagatai]] and the area became the [[Chagatai Khanate]]. [[Timur]] took over the area in 1369 and the area became the [[Timurid Empire]]. ==Overview== Known as [[Turan]] to [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]], western Turkestan has also been known historically as [[Sogdiana]], ''Ma wara'u'n-nahr'' (by its [[Arab]] conquerors), and [[Transoxiana]] by Western travellers. The latter two names refer to its position beyond the River [[Oxus]] when approached from the south, emphasizing Turkestan's long-standing relationship with [[Iran]], the [[Persian Empire]]s and the [[Umayyad]] and [[Abbasid]] [[Caliphate]]s. The regions of [[Central Asia]] lying between [[Siberia]] on the north; [[Tibet]] (now China), [[British India]] (now Pakistan), [[Afghanistan]], and [[Iran]] on the south; the [[Gobi Desert]] on the east; and the [[Caspian Sea]] on the west. It has been referenced in many Turkic and Persian sagas and is an integral part of [[Turan]].{{CN|date=January 2011}} [[Oghuz Turks]] (also known as [[Turkmens]]), [[Uzbeks]], [[Kazakhs]], [[Khazars]], [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]], [[Hazara people|Hazara]] and [[Uyghur people|Uyghurs]] are some of the Turkic inhabitants of the region who, as history progressed, have spread further into Eurasia forming such Turkic nations as [[Turkey]] and [[Azerbaijan]], and subnational regions like [[Tatarstan]] in [[Russia]] and [[Crimea]] in [[Ukraine]]. [[Tājik people|Tajiks]] and [[Russian people|Russians]] form sizable non-Turkic minorities. It is subdivided into [[Afghan Turkestan]] and [[Russian Turkestan]] in the West, and [[Xinjiang]] (previously [[Chinese Turkestan]]) in the East. The [[Tian Shan]] and [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]] ranges form a rough division between the latter two.{{CN|date=January 2011}}' ===Russian and Chinese influence=== {{Unreferenced section|date=January 2011}} The region became part of the [[Russian Empire]] in the 1860s, and is thus sometimes called [[Russian Turkestan]] or the Туркестанский Край (''Turkestanskii Krai''). After the [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Russian Revolution]], a [[Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] of the [[Soviet Union]] was created, which was eventually split into the [[Kazakh SSR]] ([[Kazakhstan]]), [[Kyrgyz SSR]] ([[Kyrgyzstan]]), [[Tajik SSR]] ([[Tajikistan]]), [[Turkmen SSR]] ([[Turkmenistan]]) and [[Uzbek SSR]] ([[Uzbekistan]]). During the course of their [[World War II]] [[Eastern Front (WWII)|attempts]] to [[Military occupation|occupy]] much of the western USSR, the government of [[Nazi Germany]] intended to establish a German-ruled [[Reichskommissariat Turkestan|civil regime]] in Soviet-held Central Asia. [[Prisoner-of-war|Captured soldiers]] of Turkestani and/or Muslim backgrounds were drafted in large numbers into the [[Ostlegionen]] of the [[Wehrmacht]], but aside from several [[Air offensive|air attacks]] on some industrial and military targets in the western parts of the region German forces never even approached the area, having been stopped at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]]. After the [[History of the Soviet Union (1985–1991)|collapse of the Soviet Union]], the Central Asian republics gained their independence. [[Eastern Turkestan]] was called the [[Western Regions]] in Chinese historic records. Turkestan has been experiencing Chinese influence largely due to Silk Road trading way. The first Chinese military campaigns in Turkestan dates to the [[Battle of Loulan]] in the 2nd century BC, and were largely successful. Nomadic empires that have held power in the region since are chronologically, the Xiongnu tribes, [[Uighur Empire]], [[Turkic Kaganate]], [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]], [[Great Seljuk Empire]], [[Mongol Empire]], [[Golden Horde]], and the [[Kazakh Khanate]]. [[Uighur people|Uighur tribes]] started to settle in the most east of Turkestan from the 8th century on after the collapse of [[Uighur Empire]]. A summary of Classical sources on the [[Seres]] ([[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] name of China) (essentially [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and [[Ptolemy]]) gives the following account: {{quotation|The region of the Seres is a vast and populous country, touching on the east the Ocean and the limits of the habitable world, and extending west nearly to [[Pamir Mountains|Imaus]] and the confines of [[Bactria]]. The people are civilised men, of mild, just, and frugal temper, eschewing collisions with their neighbours, and even shy of close intercourse, but not averse to dispose of their own products, of which raw [[silk]] is the staple, but which include also silk stuffs, [[fur]]s, and [[iron]] of remarkable quality.|[[Henry Yule]], ''Cathay and the Way Thither''}} ==See also== *[[East Turkestan]] *[[Mustafa Shokay]] *[[Treaty of Akhal]] *[[Central Asian Union]] *[[Zeki Velidi Togan]] *[[Hasan Paksoy]] *[[Baymirza Hayit]] *[[Basmachi]] *[[Uyghurs]] *[[Turkestan legion]] ==Further reading== *[[V.V. Barthold]] "Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion" (London) 1968 (3rd Edition) *[[René Grousset]] "L'empire des steppes" (Paris) 1965 *David Christian "A History Of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia" (Oxford) 1998 Vol.I *[[Svat Soucek]] "A History of Inner Asia" (Cambridge) 2000 *[[Vasily Bartold]] "Работы по Исторической Географии" (Moscow) 2002 **[[English language|English]] translation: V.V. Barthold "Work on Historical Geography" (Moscow) 2002 * [[Baymirza Hayit]]. “Sowjetrußische Orientpolitik am Beispiel Turkestan.“ Köln-Berlin: Kiepenhauer & Witsch, 1956 * [[Hasan Bülent Paksoy]] [http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/paksoy-6/cae12.html Basmachi: Turkestan National Liberation Movement]] *The Arts and Crafts of Turkestan (Arts & Crafts) by Johannes Kalter. *The Desert Road to Turkestan (Kodansha Globe) by Owen Lattimore. *Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion. by W. BARTHOLD. *Turkestan and the Fate of the Russian Empire by Daniel Brower. *Tiger of Turkestan by Nonny Hogrogian. *Turkestan Reunion (Kodansha Globe) by Eleanor Lattimore. *Turkestan Solo: A Journey Through Central Asia, by Ella Maillart. * Baymirza Hayit. “Documents: Soviet Russia's Anti-Islam-Policy in Turkestan.“ [[Düsseldorf]]: Gerhard von Mende, 2 vols, 1958. * Baymirza Hayit. “Turkestan im XX Jahrhundert.“ [[Darmstadt]]: Leske, 1956 * Baymirza Hayit. “Turkestan Zwischen Russland Und China.“ [[Amsterdam]]: Philo Press, 1971 * Baymirza Hayit. “Some thoughts on the problem of Turkestan” Institute of Turkestan Research, 1984 * Baymirza Hayit. “Islam and Turkestan Under Russian Rule.” [[Istanbul]]:Can Matbaa, 1987. * Baymirza Hayit. “Basmatschi: Nationaler Kampf Turkestans in den Jahren 1917 bis 1934. '' [[Köln]]: Dreisam-Verlag, 1993. *Mission to Turkestan,: Being the memoirs of Count K.K. Pahlen, 1908-1909 by Konstantin Konstanovich Pahlen. *Turkestan: The Heart of Asia by Curtis. *Tribal Rugs from Afghanistan and Turkestan by Jack Frances. *The Heart of Asia: A History of Russian Turkestan and the Central Asian Khanates from the Earliest Times by Edward Den Ross. {{coord missing|Russia}}