Turkestan
Turkestan is a region in
Central Asia, which today is largely inhabited by
Turkic people. It has been referenced in many Turkic and Persian sagas and is an integral part of Turan . Oghuz Turks ,
Uzbeks,
Kazakhs,
Khazars,
Kyrgyz and
Uygurs are some of the Turkic inhabitants of the region who, as history progressed, have spread further into Eurasia forming such Turkic nations as
Turkey,
Azerbaijan and
Tatarstan.
It is subdivided into
West and East Turkestan , with the
Tian Shan and
Pamir ranges forming a rough division between the two.
Encyclopedia
Turkestan is a region in
Central Asia, which today is largely inhabited by
Turkic people. It has been referenced in many Turkic and Persian sagas and is an integral part of Turan . Oghuz Turks ,
Uzbeks,
Kazakhs,
Khazars,
Kyrgyz and
Uygurs are some of the Turkic inhabitants of the region who, as history progressed, have spread further into Eurasia forming such Turkic nations as
Turkey,
Azerbaijan and
Tatarstan.
It is subdivided into
West and East Turkestan , with the
Tian Shan and
Pamir ranges forming a rough division between the two.
History
It has a rich history, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC and the 2nd millennium BC. Many artifacts were produced in that period, much
trade was conducted; the region was a focal point for cultural diffusion, as the
Silk Road traversed the region. Turkic Sagas, such as the
Ergenekon, and written sources such as the
Orkhon Inscriptions state that Turkic peoples originated from the nearby
Altay Mountains and through nomadic settlement started their long journey westwards.
Turkic Empires flourished in the region, and more than once held the entire territories in their hands.
Huns,
Gokturks and the
Timurid Empire not to mention the Mongols under the Chaghatai Khanate all one time or another united the region into a cohesive whole.
Overview
Known as Turan to
Iranians, western Turkestan has also been known historically as
Sogdiana,
Ma wara'u'n-nahr , 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 Empires and the Umayyad and
Abbasid Caliphates.
Russian and Chinese influence
The region became part of the
Russian Empire in the 1860s, and is thus sometimes called
Russian Turkestan or the ????????????? ???? . After the
Russian Revolution, a
Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the
Soviet Union was created, which was eventually split into the Kazakh SSR , Kyrgyz SSR , Tajik SSR , Turkmen SSR and Uzbek SSR . After the
collapse of the Soviet Union, these republics gained their independence.
Eastern Turkestan, often called Chinese Turkestan, is home to the oldest settled Turkic people in the region, the
Uyghurs. It was conquered by the
Qing Dynasty in the mid-18th century and was named
Ice Jecen or
Xinjiang , meaning
new frontier. It was taken over by the
Republic of China and then the
People's Republic of China by which it is now administered as the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Further reading
- V.V. Barthold "Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion" 1968
- René Grousset "L'empire des steppes" 1965
- David Christian "A History Of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia" 1998 Vol.I
- Svat Soucek "A History of Inner Asia" 2000
- Vasily Bartold "?????? ?? ???????????? ?????????" 2002
- English translation: V.V. Barthold "Work on Historical Geography" 2002
- Rall, Ted. "Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?" New York: NBM Publishing, 2006.
See also
External links
