1.
Russian Empire
–
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation
2.
Bukhara
–
Bukhara, is one of the cities of Uzbekistan. Bukhara is a city-museum, with about 140 architectural monuments, the nations fifth-largest city, it had a population as of 31 August 2016 of approximately 247,644. Humans have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, the mother tongue of the majority of people of Bukhara is yet Persian Language. Located on the Silk Road, the city has served as a center of trade, scholarship, culture. UNESCO has listed the center of Bukhara as a World Heritage Site. Bukhara was known as Bokhara in 19th- and early 20th-century English publications, according to the Encyclopædia Iranica the name Bukhara is possibly derived from the Soghdian βuxārak Muhammad ibn Jafar Narshakhi in his History of Bukhara mentions, Bukhara has many names. One of its name was Numijkat and it has also been called Bumiskat. It has 2 names in Arabic, one is Madinat al Sufriya meaning - the copper city and another is Madinat Al Tujjar meaning - The city of Merchants. But, the name Bukhara is more known than all the other names, in Khorasan, there is no other city with so many names Since the Middle Ages, the city has been known as Buḫārā / بخارا in Arabic and Persian sources. The modern Uzbek spelling is Buxoro, the history of Bukhara stretches back millennia. It is now the capital of Bukhara Region of Uzbekistan, located on the Silk Road, the city has long been a center of trade, scholarship, culture, and religion. During the golden age of the Samanids, Bukhara became an intellectual center of the Islamic world. The historic center of Bukhara, which contains numerous mosques and madrassas, has been listed by UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites, Bukhara has been one of the main centres of world civilisation from its early days in 6th century BCE. From the 6th century CE, Turkic speakers gradually moved in and its architecture and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of Central Asian history and art. The region of Bukhara was a part of the Persian Empire for a long time, the origin of many of its current inhabitants goes back to the period of Aryan immigration into the region. The Samanid Empire seized Bukhara, the capital of Greater Khorasan, Genghis Khan besieged Bukhara for fifteen days in 1220 CE. Bukhara was the last capital of the Emirate of Bukhara and was besieged by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. During the Bukhara operation of 1920, an army of well-disciplined, on 31 August 1920, the Emir Alim Khan fled to Dushanbe in Eastern Bukhara
3.
Persian language
–
Persian, also known by its endonym Farsi, is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and it is mostly written in the Persian alphabet, a modified variant of the Arabic script. Its grammar is similar to that of many contemporary European languages, Persian gets its name from its origin at the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persis, hence the name Persian. A Persian-speaking person may be referred to as Persophone, there are approximately 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, with the language holding official status in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. For centuries, Persian has also been a cultural language in other regions of Western Asia, Central Asia. It also exerted influence on Arabic, particularly Bahrani Arabic. Persian is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-European family, other Western Iranian languages are the Kurdish languages, Gilaki, Mazanderani, Talysh, and Balochi. Persian is classified as a member of the Southwestern subgroup within Western Iranian along with Lari, Kumzari, in Persian, the language is known by several names, Western Persian, Parsi or Farsi has been the name used by all native speakers until the 20th century. Since the latter decades of the 20th century, for reasons, in English. Tajiki is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by the Tajiks, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term Persian as a language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century. Native Iranian Persian speakers call it Fārsi, Farsi is the Arabicized form of Pārsi, subsequent to Muslim conquest of Persia, due to a lack of the phoneme /p/ in Standard Arabic. The origin of the name Farsi and the place of origin of the language which is Fars Province is the Arabicized form of Pārs, in English, this language has historically been known as Persian, though Farsi has also gained some currency. Farsi is encountered in some literature as a name for the language. In modern English the word Farsi refers to the language while Parsi describes Zoroastrians, some Persian language scholars such as Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, and University of Arizona professor Kamran Talattof, have also rejected the usage of Farsi in their articles. The international language-encoding standard ISO 639-1 uses the code fa, as its system is mostly based on the local names. The more detailed standard ISO 639-3 uses the name Persian for the dialect continuum spoken across Iran and Afghanistan and this consists of the individual languages Dari and Iranian Persian. Currently, Voice of America, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also includes a Tajik service and an Afghan service. This is also the case for the American Association of Teachers of Persian, The Centre for Promotion of Persian Language and Literature, Persian is an Iranian language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages
4.
Uzbek language
–
Uzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has 27 million native speakers and is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan, Uzbek belongs to the Eastern Turkic, or Karluk, branch of the Turkic language family. External influences include Persian, Arabic and Russian, one of the most noticeable distinctions of Uzbek from other Turkic languages is the rounding of the vowel /a/ to /ɒ/ or /ɔ/, a feature that was influenced by Persian. In the language itself, Uzbek is oʻzbek tili or oʻzbekcha, in Cyrillic, the same names are written ўзбек тили and ўзбекча, in Arabic script, ازبېک تیلی and ازبېجه. The first Turkic dynasty in the region was that of the Kara-Khanid Khanate in the 9th–12th centuries, the language was championed by Ali-Shir Navai in the 15th and 16th centuries. Navai was the greatest representative of Chagatai language literature and he significantly contributed to the development of the Chagatay language and its direct descendant Uzbek and is widely considered to be the founder of Uzbek literature. Ultimately based on the Karluk variant of the Turkic languages, Chagatay contained large numbers of Persian, by the 19th century it was rarely used for literary composition, but disappeared only in the early 20th century. The term Uzbek as applied to language has meant different things at different times, all three dialects continue to exist within modern spoken Uzbek. Edward A. Allworth argued that this badly distorted the history of the region and was used to give authors such as the 15th century author Ali-Shir Navai an Uzbek identity. Estimates of the number of speakers of Uzbek vary widely, the Swedish encyclopedia Nationalencyklopedin estimates the number of native speakers to be 26 million, and the CIA World Factbook estimates 25 million. The influence of Islam, and by extension, Arabic, is evident in Uzbek loanwords, there is also a residual influence of Russian, from the time when Uzbeks were under the rule of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Uzbek vocabulary has also heavily influenced by Persian through its historic roots. The Uzbek language has many dialects, varying widely from region to region, however, there is a commonly understood dialect which is used in mass media and in most printed materials. Among the most-widespread dialects are the Tashkent dialect, Afghan dialect, the Ferghana dialect, the Khorezm dialect, the Chimkent-Turkestan dialect, 1928–1940, the Latin-based Yañalif used officially. 1940–1992, the Cyrillic script used officially, since 1992, Yañalif is official in Uzbekistan, although the Cyrillic script is still widely used. Despite the official status of the Latin script in Uzbekistan, the use of Cyrillic is still widespread, especially in advertisements, in newspapers, scripts may be mixed, with headlines in Latin and articles in Cyrillic. The Arabic script is no longer used in Uzbekistan except symbolically in limited texts or for the studies of Chagatai. In the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, where there is an Uzbek minority, however, the Uyghur Arabic alphabet is sometimes used
5.
Sunni Islam
–
Sunni Islam is the largest group of Islam. Its name comes from the word Sunnah, referring to the behavior of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to Sunni tradition, Muhammad did not clearly designate a successor and this contrasts with the Shia view, which holds that Muhammad intended his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib to succeed him. Political tensions between Sunnis and Shias continued with varying intensity throughout Islamic history and they have been exacerbated in recent times by ethnic conflicts, as of 2009, Sunni Muslims constituted between 87–90% of the worlds Muslim population. Sunni Islam is the worlds largest religious denomination, followed by Catholicism and its adherents are referred to in Arabic as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah or ahl as-sunnah for short. In English, its doctrines and practices are sometimes called Sunnism, while adherents are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, Sunnites, Sunni Islam is sometimes referred to as orthodox Islam. The Quran, together with hadith and binding juristic consensus form the basis of all traditional jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, sunnī, also commonly referred to as Sunnīism, is a term derived from sunnah meaning habit, usual practice, custom, tradition. The Muslim use of this term refers to the sayings and living habits of the prophet Muhammad, in Arabic, this branch of Islam is referred to as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah, the people of the sunnah and the community, which is commonly shortened to ahl as-sunnah. One common mistake is to assume that Sunni Islam represents a normative Islam that emerged during the period after Muhammads death, and that Sufism and Shiism developed out of Sunni Islam. This perception is due to the reliance on highly ideological sources that have been accepted as reliable historical works. Both Sunnism and Shiaism are the end products of centuries of competition between ideologies. Both sects used each other to further cement their own identities and doctrines, the first four caliphs are known among Sunnis as the Rashidun or Rightly-Guided Ones. Sunni recognition includes the aforementioned Abu Bakr as the first, Umar who established the Islamic calendar as the second, Uthman as the third, Sunnis believe that the companions of Muhammad were the best of Muslims. Support for this view is found in the Quran, according to Sunnis. Sunnis also believe that the companions were true believers since it was the companions who were given the task of compiling the Quran, furthermore, narrations that were narrated by the companions are considered by Sunnis to be a second source of knowledge of the Muslim faith. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 and released January 2011 found that there are 1.62 billion Muslims around the world, Islam does not have a formal hierarchy or clergy. Leaders are informal, and gain influence through study to become a scholar of Islamic law, according to the Islamic Center of Columbia, South Carolina, anyone with the intelligence and the will can become an Islamic scholar. During Midday Mosque services on Fridays, the congregation will choose a person to lead the service
6.
Shia Islam
–
Shia is a branch of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor. Shia Islam primarily contrasts with Sunni Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor, instead they consider Abu Bakr to be the correct Caliph. Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shias of Ali, Shias or the Shia as a collective or Shii individually, Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam, in 2009, Shia Muslims constituted 10–13% of the worlds Muslim population. Twelver Shia is the largest branch of Shia Islam, in 2012 it was estimated that perhaps 85 percent of Shias were Twelvers. Shia Islam is based on the Quran and the message of Muhammad attested in hadith, Shia consider Ali to have been divinely appointed as the successor to Muhammad, and as the first Imam. The word Shia means follower and is the form of the historic phrase shīʻatu ʻAlī, meaning followers of Ali, faction of Ali. Shia and Shiism are forms used in English, while Shiite or Shiite, as well as Shia, the term for the first time was used at the time of Muhammad. At present, the word refers to the Muslims who believe that the leadership of the community after Muhammad belongs to Ali, nawbakhti states that the term Shia refers to a group of Muslims that at the time of Muhammad and after him regarded Ali as the Imam and Caliph. Al-Shahrastani expresses that the term Shia refers to those who believe that Ali is designated as the Heir, Imam and caliph by Muhammad, for the Shia, this conviction is implicit in the Quran and history of Islam. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing, Shia search for the true meaning of the revelation to get the purpose of the life blood and the human destiny. Shia Muslims believe that just as a prophet is appointed by God alone and they believe God chose Ali to be Muhammads successor, infallible, the first caliph of Islam. The Shias believe that Muhammad designated Ali as his successor by Gods command, Ali was Muhammads first cousin and closest living male relative as well as his son-in-law, having married Muhammads daughter Fatimah. Ali would eventually become the fourth Muslim caliph, after the Farewell Pilgrimage, Muhammad ordered the gathering of Muslims at the pond of Khumm and it was there that Shia Muslims believe Muhammad nominated Ali to be his successor. The hadith of the pond of Khumm was narrated on 18th of Dhu al-Hijjah of 10 AH in the Islamic calendar at a place called Ghadir Khumm, located near the city of al-Juhfah, Saudi Arabia. Muhammad there stated, Shia Muslims believe this to be Muhammads appointment of Ali as his successor, when Muhammad died in 632 CE, Ali and Muhammads closest relatives made the funeral arrangements. While they were preparing his body, Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali and his family accepted the appointment for the sake of unity in the early Muslim community. Alis rule over the early Muslim community was often contested, as a result, he had to struggle to maintain his power against the groups who betrayed him after giving allegiance to his succession, or those who wished to take his position. This dispute eventually led to the First Fitna, which was the first major civil war within the Islamic Caliphate, the Fitna began as a series of revolts fought against Ali ibn Abi Talib, caused by the assassination of his political predecessor, Uthman ibn Affan
7.
Sufism
–
Sufism or Taṣawwuf, which is often defined as Islamic mysticism, the inward dimension of Islam, or the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam, is a mystical trend in Islam characterized. These orders meet for sessions in meeting places known as zawiyas, khanqahs. They strive for ihsan as detailed in a hadith, Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him, if you cant see Him, Rumi stated, The Sufi is hanging on to Muhammad, like Abu Bakr. Sufis regard Muhammad as al-Insān al-Kāmil, the perfect man who exemplifies the morality of God. The orders largely follow one of the four madhhabs of Sunni Islam, classical Sufis were characterized by their asceticism, especially by their attachment to dhikr, the practice of repeating the names of God, often performed after prayers. According to William Chittick, In a broad sense, Sufism can be described as the interiorization, historically, Muslims have used the Arabic word taṣawwuf to identify the practice of Sufis. In this view, it is necessary to be a Muslim to be a true Sufi. However, Islamic scholars themselves are not by any means in agreement about the meaning of the word sufi, Sufis themselves claim that Tasawwuf is an aspect of Islam similar to Sharia, inseparable from Islam and an integral part of Islamic belief and practice. Classical Sufi scholars have defined Tasawwuf as a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else, two origins of the word sufi have been suggested. Commonly, the root of the word is traced to ṣafā. Another origin is ṣūf, wool in Arabic, referring to the simple cloaks the early Muslim ascetics wore, the two were combined by the Sufi al-Rudhabari, who said, The Sufi is the one who wears wool on top of purity. Scholars generally agree that ṣūf or wool is probably the word of Sufi. This term was given to them because they wore woollen garments, the term labisal-suf meant he clad himself in wool and applied to a person who renounced the world and became an ascetic. Others have suggested that the word comes from the term ahl aṣ-ṣuffah and these men and women who sat at al-Masjid an-Nabawi are considered by some to be the first Sufis. Al-Qushayri and Ibn Khaldun both rejected all other than ṣūf on linguistic grounds. Sufi orders are based on the bayah that was given to the Prophet Muhammad by his Sahaba, by pledging allegiance to the Prophet Muhammad, the Sahaba had committed themselves to the service of God. According to Islamic belief, by pledging allegiance to Prophet Muhammad and it is through the Prophet Muhammad that Sufis aim to learn about, understand and connect with God. Such a concept may be understood by the hadith, which Sufis regard to be authentic, in which Prophet Muhammad said, I am the city of knowledge, eminent Sufis such as Ali Hujwiri refer to Ali as having a very high ranking in Tasawwuf
8.
Naqshbandi
–
The Naqshbandi or Naqshbandiyah is a major Sunni spiritual order of Sufism. It was founded by Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari and traces its lineage to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, through Abu Bakr. Some Naqshbandi masters trace their lineage through Ali, His son-in-law, according to Carl W. Ernst, Within the Sufi tradition, the formation of the orders did not immediately produce lineages of master and disciple. There are few examples before the century of complete lineages going back to the Prophet Muhammad. Yet the symbolic importance of these lineages was immense, they provided a channel to divine authority through master-disciple chains and it was through such chains of masters and disciples that spiritual power and blessings were transmitted to both general and special devotees. Such spiritual transmission from a line of masters is one criterion that distinguishes a true or ‘connected’ Sufi path. These practices only “warm the heart” but none meets Sufism’s condition that a Sufi master must have a clear authorization connecting him with Muhammad, without such publicly verifiable authorizations, the Sufi path would be compromised by the whims of the people. The chain of transmission is not tied to a country, family or political appointment. It is also considered that the appointed sheikhs will be in communication with past sheikhs. All are joined by their common spiritual allegiance to the master of spiritual lineages and it was later associated with Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari in the 14th century, hence the name of the order. The name can be interpreted as engraver, pattern maker, reformer of patterns, image maker, the way is sometimes referred to as the sublime sufi path and the way of the golden chain. The paths name has changed over the years, afterwards, a branch or sub-order name was added. It is referred to as the Naqshbandi-Haqqani way, according to some estimates there are over sixty million disciples, and centres in almost every country of the world. It also had the largest internet presence and it is most active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. As well as being the most prevalent Sufi Order in the west, the Prince of Malaysia, Raja Ashman Shah was a disciples of this order. The Naqshbandiyya order became a factor in Indo-Muslim life and for two centuries it was the principal spiritual order in India. Baqi Billah Berang is credited for bringing the order to India during the end of the 16th century and he was born in Kabul and brought up and educated in Kabul and Samarqand, where he came in contact with the Naqshbandiyya order through Hazrat Khawaja Amkangi. When he came to India, he tried to spread his knowledge about the order, among his disciples were Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi and Sheikh Abdul Haq of Delhi
9.
Zoroastrianism
–
Ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster, it exalts a deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda, as its Supreme Being. Zoroastrianism was suppressed from the 7th century onwards following the Muslim conquest of Persia of 633-654, recent estimates place the current number of Zoroastrians at around 2.6 million, with most living in India and in Iran. Besides the Zoroastrian diaspora, the older Mithraic faith Yazdânism is still practised amongst Kurds, the religious philosophy of Zoroaster divided the early Iranian gods of Proto-Indo-Iranian tradition. The most important texts of the religion are those of the Avesta, in Zoroastrianism, the creator Ahura Mazda, through the Spenta Mainyu is an all-good father of Asha, in opposition to Druj and no evil originates from him. He and his works are evident to humanity through the six primary Amesha Spentas, Spenta Mainyu adjoined unto truth oppose the Spirits opposite, Angra Mainyu and its forces born of Akəm Manah. In Zoroastrianism, the purpose in life is to be among those who renew the world. to make the progress towards perfection. Its basic maxims include, Humata, Hukhta, Huvarshta, which mean, Good Thoughts, Good Words, there is only one path and that is the path of Truth. Do the right thing because it is the thing to do. The full name by which Zoroaster addressed the deity is, Ahura, The Lord Creator and he proclaimed that there is only one God, the singularly creative and sustaining force of the Universe. He also stated that human beings are given a right of choice, Zoroasters teachings focused on responsibility, and did not introduce a devil per se. The contesting force to Ahura Mazda was called Angra Mainyu, or angry spirit, post-Zoroastrian scripture introduced the concept of Ahriman, the Devil, which was effectively a personification of Angra Mainyu. The name Zoroaster is a Greek rendering of the name Zarathustra and he is known as Zartosht and Zardosht in Persian and Zaratosht in Gujarati. The Zoroastrian name of the religion is Mazdayasna, which combines Mazda- with the Avestan language word yasna, meaning worship, in English, an adherent of the faith is commonly called a Zoroastrian or a Zarathustrian. An older expression still used today is Behdin, meaning The best Religion | Beh < Middle Persian Weh + Din < Middle Persian dēn < Avestan Daēnā. In Zoroastrian liturgy the term is used as a title for an individual who has formally inducted into the religion in a Navjote ceremony. The term Mazdaism /ˈmæzdə. ɪzəm/ is a typical 19th century construct, taking Mazda- from the name Ahura Mazda, the March 2001 draft edition of the Oxford English Dictionary also records an alternate form, Mazdeism, perhaps derived from the French Mazdéisme, which first appeared in 1871. In older English sources, the terms Gheber and Gueber were used to refer to Zoroastrians, however, Zoroastrian philosophy is identified as having been known to Italian Renaissance Europe through an image of Zoroaster in Raphaels School of Athens by Giorgio Vasari in 1550. The Oxford English Dictionary records use of the term Zoroastrianism in 1874 in Archibald Sayces Principles of Comparative Philology, Zoroastrians believe that there is one universal, transcendent, supreme god, Ahura Mazda, or the Wise Lord
10.
Judaism
–
Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
11.
Absolute monarchy
–
Absolute monarchy, or despotic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which one ruler has supreme authority that is not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs. These are often, but not always, hereditary monarchies, in contrast, in constitutional monarchies, the head of states authority derives from and is legally bounded or restricted by a constitution or legislature. Some monarchies have weak or symbolic legislatures and other bodies that the monarch can alter or dissolve at will. Countries where a monarch still maintains absolute power are Brunei, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the individual emirates composing the United Arab Emirates, Swaziland, in Ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh wielded absolute power over the country and was considered a living god by his people. In ancient Mesopotamia, many rulers of Assyria, Babylonia and Sumer were absolute monarchs as well, in ancient and medieval India, rulers of the Maurya, Satahavana, Gupta and Chalukya Empires, as well as other major and minor empires, were considered absolute monarchs. In the Khmer Empire, the kings were called Devaraja and Chakravartin, in Kingdom of Siam, the kings were esestablished Somburanaya-sittiraj. Throughout Chinese history, many emperors and one empress wielded absolute power through the Mandate of Heaven, in pre-Columbian America, the Inca Empire was ruled by a Sapa Inca, who was considered the son of Inti, the sun god and absolute ruler over the people and nation. Throughout much of European history, the right of kings was the theological justification for absolute monarchy. Many European monarchs, such as those of Russia, claimed supreme autocratic power by right. James VI of Scotland and his son Charles I of Scotland and England tried to import this principle, there is a considerable variety of opinion by historians on the extent of absolutism among European monarchs. Some, such as Perry Anderson, argue that quite a few monarchs achieved levels of absolutist control over their states, a widely held story about Louis XIV of France is that he proclaimed Létat, cest moi. What Louis did say was, The interests of the state come first, when one gives these priority, one labors for ones own good. These advantages to the state redounds to ones glory, although often criticized for his extravagances, such as the Palace of Versailles, he reigned over France for a long period, and some historians consider him a successful absolute monarch. More recently, revisionist historians have questioned whether Louis reign should be considered absolute, the King of France concentrated in his person legislative, executive, and judicial powers. He was the judicial authority. He could condemn men to death without the right of appeal and it was both his duty to punish offenses and stop them from being committed. From his judicial authority followed his power both to make laws and to annul them and this law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the Council of the Realm and his actions largely originated the militaristic streak of the Hohenzollern
12.
Mohammed Alim Khan
–
Emir Said Mir Mohammed Alim Khan was the last emir representative of the Uzbek dynasty of Turkic of the Manghud, the last ruling dynasty of the Emirate of Bukhara in Central Asia. Although Bukhara was a protectorate of the Russian Empire from 1873, at the age of thirteen, Alim Khan was sent by his father Emir Abdulahad Khan to Saint Petersburg for three years to study government and modern military techniques. In 1896, having received confirmation as Crown Prince of Bukhara by the Russian government. After two years in Bukhara assisting in his fathers administration, he was appointed governor of Nasef region for the twelve years. He was then transferred to the province of Karmana, which he ruled for another two years, until receiving word in 1910 of his fathers death. Alim Khans rule began with promise, initially, he declared that he would no longer expect or accept any gifts, and prohibited his officials from demanding bribes from the public, or imposing taxes on their own authority. However, as time went by the Emirs attitude towards bribes, taxes, the conflict between the traditionalists and the reformists ended with the traditionalists in control, and the reformers in exile in Moscow or Kazan. It is thought that Alim Khan, who initially favored modernization, like his predecessors, Alim Khan was a traditional ruler. He toyed with the idea of reform as a tool to keep the clergy in line, one of the most important Tajik writers, Sadriddin Ayniy, wrote vivid accounts of life under the Emir. He was whipped for speaking Tajik and later wrote about the life under the Emirs in the Bukhara Executioners. Alim Khan was the only Manghud ruler to add the title of Caliph to his name, in March 1918 activists of the Young Bukharan Movement informed the Bolsheviks that the Bukharians were ready for the revolution and that the people were awaiting liberation. The Red Army marched to the gates of Bukhara and demanded that the surrender the city to the Young Bukharans. As Russian sources report, the emir responded by killing the Bolshevik delegation, along several hundred Russian supporters of the Bolsheviks in Bukhara. The majority of Bukharans did not support an invasion and the ill-equipped and ill-disciplined Bolshevik army fled back to the Soviet stronghold at Tashkent, however, the emir had won only a temporary respite. As the civil war in Russia wound down, Moscow sent reinforcements to Central Asia, on 2 September 1920, an army of well-disciplined and well equipped Red Army troops under the command of Bolshevik general Mikhail Frunze attacked the city. He is buried at the Shuadoi Solehin cemetery, Alim Khans daughter, Shukria Raad Alimi, worked as a broadcaster for Radio Afghanistan. Shukria Raad left Afghanistan with her three months after Soviet troops invaded the country in December 1979. With her husband, also a journalist, and two children she fled to Pakistan, and then through Germany to the United States
13.
Manghud
–
The Mangghud, Manghud were a Mongol tribe of the Urud-Manghud federation. They established the Nogai Horde in the 14th century and the Manghit Dynasty to rule the Emirate of Bukhara in 1785. They took the Islamic title of Emir instead of the title of Khan since they were not descendants of Genghis Khan, the clan name was used for Mongol vanguards as well. Their descendants live in regions of the former Mongol Empire. According to ancient sources, they were derived from the Khiyad Mongols, the Manghuds and the Uruuds were war-like people from the Mongolian plateau. Some notable Manghud warriors supported Genghis Khan while a body of them resisted his rise to power, when the Mongol Empire began to expand westward, the Manghud people were spread westward into the Middle East along with many other Mongol tribes. In the Golden Horde, the Manghuds supported Nogai and established their own semi-independent horde from the khans in Sarai, after Nogais death in 1299 AD, the majority of Manghud warriors joined the service of Tokhta Khan. Their chieftain Edigu, the warlord of the Golden Horde. Turkish historians would record their name as Manghit or Nogais. The mangudai or mungadai were military units of the Mongol Empire, one source states that references to Mongol light cavalry suicide troops date back to the 13th century. However, a United States Army author believes that Mangudai was the name of a 13th-century Mongol warlord who created an arduous process to test potential leaders. The term is used by element of the United States Army as a name for multi-day tests of Soldiers endurance, the Travels of Marco Polo uses the word Meng-Gu-Dai as the name of a person, The Emperor ordered Meng-Gu-Dai to invade Si-Fan with 6000 men. Some of the Manghuds assimilated into Turkish people and these Manghuds became Manghit tribe of the Turks, the Nogais protected the northern borders of Astrakhan and Crimean khanates, and through organized raids to the northern steppes prevented Russian and Lithuanian settlements. Many Nogais joined the service of Crimean khan, settling there, they contributed to the formation of the Crimean Tatars. However, Nogais were not only soldiers, they also had considerable agricultural skills. Their basic social unit was the semi-autonomous ulus or band, but Nogais were proud of their nomadic traditions and independence, which they considered superior to settled agricultural life. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Kalmyks or the Oirats, the Kalmyks expelled the Nogais who fled to the plains of northern Caucasus and to the Crimea under the Ottoman Empire. A few part of them joined to Kazakh Khanate as part of Little jüz, in the 18th century the basins of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya passed under the control of three Uzbek khanates claiming legitimacy in their descent from Genghis Khan
14.
Khanate of Bukhara
–
The Khanate of Bukhara was a Central Asian state from the second quarter of the 16th century to the late 18th century. Bukhara became the capital of the short-lived Shaybanid empire during the reign of Ubaydallah Khan, the khanate reached its greatest extent and influence under its penultimate Shaybanid ruler, the scholarly Abdullah Khan II. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Khanate was ruled by the Janid Dynasty and they were the last Genghisid descendants to rule Bukhara. In 1740, it was conquered by Nadir Shah, the Shah of Iran, after his death in 1747, the khanate was controlled by the non-Genghisid descendants of the Uzbek emir Khudayar Bi, through the prime ministerial position of ataliq. In 1785, his descendent, Shah Murad, formalized the familys rule. The Manghits were non-Genghisid and took the Islamic title of Emir instead of Khan since their legitimacy was not based on descent from Genghis Khan, the Shaybanid dynasty ruled the Khanate from 1500 to 1598. Under their rule, Bukhara became a center of arts and literature, new books on history and geography were written in this period, such as Haft iqlīm by Amin Ahmad Razi, a native of Iran. Among the famous poets and theologians who worked in Bukhara in that era were Mushfiki, Nizami Muamaya, molana Abd-al Hakim was the most famous of the many physicians who practised in the Bukharan khanate in the 16th century. Abd al-Aziz Khan established a library having no equal the world over, the prominent scholar Sultan Mirak Munshi worked there from 1540. The gifted calligrapher Mir Abid Khusaini produced masterpieces of Nastaliq and Reihani script and he was a brilliant miniature-painter, master of encrustation, and was the librarian of Bukharas library. The Shaybanids instituted a number of measures to improve the system of public education. Each neighborhood mahalla — unit of local self-government — of Bukhara had a hedge school, children started elementary education at the age of six. After two years they could be taken to madrasah, the course of education in madrasah consisted of three steps of seven years each. Hence, the course of education in madrasah lasted twenty-one years. The pupils studied theology, arithmetic, jurisprudence, logic, music and this educational system had a positive influence upon the development and wide circulation of the Persian and Uzbek languages, and on the development of literature, science, art, and skills. The Janid Dynasty ruled the Khanate from 1599 until 1747, yar Muhammad and his family had escaped from Astrakhan after Astrakhan fell to Russians. He had a son named Jani Muhammad who had two sons named Baqi Muhammad and Vali Muhammad from his wife, who was the daughter of the last Shaybanid ruler, Khanate of Bukhara breaks up into, See Manghits —. See Yadigarids and later Qongirats —, abul Ghazi Khan List of Turkic dynasties and countries List of Sunni Muslim dynasties The Ashtarkhanid Rulers of Bukhara
15.
Bukharan People's Soviet Republic
–
The Bukharan Peoples Soviet Republic was a short-lived Soviet state that governed the former Emirate of Bukhara during the years immediately following the Russian Revolution. In 1924, its name was changed to the Bukharan Socialist Soviet Republic, after the redrawing of regional borders, its territory was assigned mostly to the Uzbek SSR and some to the Turkmen SSR. In 1868, the Russian Empire forced the Emirate of Bukhara to accept protectorate status, over the next 40 years, the Russians slowly eroded at Bukhara’s territory, although never actually annexing the city of Bukhara itself. These various ideologies coalesced in the Young Bukharans, led by Faizullah Khojaev, the Young Bukharans faced extreme obstacles as the emirate was dominated by conservative Sunni Islamic clergy. The ensuing conflict pitted the secular Young Bukharans and their Bolshevik supporters against the conservative pro-emir rebels, in March 1918, the Young Bukharan activists informed the Bolsheviks that the Bukharan people were ready for the revolution and awaiting liberation from the emir. The Red Army marched to the gates of Bukhara and demanded that the surrender the city to the Young Bukharans. A Russian source reports that the responded by killing the Bolshevik delegation. The majority of Bukharans did not support the invasion and the Bolshevik force retreated to Soviet-controlled Samarkand outside the Emirate of Bukhara, however, the emir had won only a temporary respite. By August 1920 the Turkestan Bolsheviks advocated the liquidation of the Bukhara Emirate as a centre for counter-revolutionary forces, on 3 August 1920 the Bolsheviks and the Young Bukharans agreed to act together on the understanding that the Young Bukharans would join the Communist Party. On 16 August 1920 the 4th Congress of Bukharan Communist Party held in Bolshevik-controlled Chardjui decided to overthrow the emir, on 25 August 1920 the Politburo of the Russian Communist Party of Bolesheviks confirmed orders for the Revolutionary Military Council of Turkestan concerning the Bukhara question. On 28 August 1920, an army of well-disciplined and well equipped Red Army troops under the command of Bolshevik general Mikhail Frunze attacked the city of Bukhara, on 31 August 1920, the Emir Alim Khan fled to Dushanbe in Eastern Bukhara. On 2 September 1920, after four days of fighting, the citadel was destroyed. On 14 September 1920, the All-Bukharan Revolutionary Committee was set up, the government – the Council of Peoples Nazirs – was presided over by Faizullah Khojaev. The Bukharan Peoples Soviet Republic was proclaimed on 8 October 1920 under Faizullah Khojaev, in Soviet terminology, the republic was a revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry, a transition stage to a Soviet Socialist Republic. The overthrow of the emir was the impetus for the Basmachi Revolt, in 1922, most of the territory of the republic was controlled by Basmachi, and it took the Red Army until 1926 to fully suppress the revolt. Just two weeks after the proclamation of the Peoples Republic, Communist Party membership in Bukhara soared to 14,000 as many inhabitants were eager to prove their loyalty to the new regime. As the Soviet Union stabilized, it could afford to purge itself of so-called opportunists, a series of expulsions stripped membership down to 1000 by 1922. Conversely, the flags of the Soviet Republics among which the Bukharan territory was divided in 1925 featured the Hammer and Sickle alone, from 19 September 1924 to 17 February 1925, the republic was known as the Bukharan Socialist Soviet Republic
16.
Uzbekistan
–
Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan, is one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world. Located in Central Asia, it is a unitary, constitutional, presidential republic, comprising twelve provinces, one autonomous republic and a capital city. Uzbekistan is bordered by five landlocked countries, Kazakhstan to the north, Tajikistan to the southeast, Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Afghanistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest. Once part of the Turkic Khaganate and later Timurid Empires, the region that includes the Republic of Uzbekistan was conquered in the early 16th century by Eastern Turkic-speaking nomads. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, it declared independence as the Republic of Uzbekistan on 31 August 1991, Uzbekistan is officially a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. The countrys official language is Uzbek, a Turkic language written in the Latin alphabet and spoken natively by approximately 85% of the population, however, Uzbeks constitute 81% of the population, followed by Russians, Tajiks, Kazakhs, and others. A majority of Uzbeks are non-denominational Muslims, Uzbekistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, UN, and the SCO. While officially a republic, non-governmental human rights organizations define Uzbekistan as an authoritarian state with limited civil rights. Uzbekistans economy relies mainly on commodity production, including cotton, gold, uranium, despite the declared objective of transition to a market economy, its government continues to maintain economic controls which imports in favour of domestic import substitution. Uzbekistan has an area of 447,400 square kilometres and it is the 56th largest country in the world by area and the 42nd by population. Among the CIS countries, it is the 4th largest by area, Uzbekistan lies between latitudes 37° and 46° N, and longitudes 56° and 74° E. It stretches 1,425 kilometres from west to east and 930 kilometres from north to south, Uzbekistan also shares a short border with Afghanistan to the south. Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country and it is one of two doubly landlocked countries in the world, the other being Liechtenstein. In addition, due to its location within a series of endorheic basins, less than 10% of its territory is intensively cultivated irrigated land in river valleys and oases. The rest is vast desert and mountains, the climate in the Republic of Uzbekistan is continental, with little precipitation expected annually. The average summer high temperature tends to be 40 °C, while the winter low temperature is around −23 °C. Uzbekistan has a rich and diverse natural environment, the Aral Sea used to be the fourth-largest inland sea on Earth, acting as an influencing factor in the air moisture and arid land use. Since the 1960s, the decade when the misuse of the Aral Sea water began, it has shrunk to less than 50% of its former area, reliable, or even approximate data, have not been collected, stored or provided by any organization or official agency
17.
Tajikistan
–
Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a mountainous, landlocked country in Central Asia with an estimated 8 million people in 2013, and an area of 143,100 km2. It is bordered by Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the south, the Republic of Uzbekistan to the west, the Kyrgyz Republic to the north, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan lies to the south, separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. Traditional homelands of Tajik people included present-day Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, a civil war was fought almost immediately after independence, lasting from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability, Tajikistan is a presidential republic consisting of four provinces. Most of Tajikistans 8 million people belong to the Tajik ethnic group, many Tajiks also speak Russian as their second language. Mountains cover more than 90% of the country and it has a transition economy that is highly dependent on remittances, aluminium and cotton production. Tajikistan means the Land of the Tajiks, the suffix -stan is Persian for place of or country and Tajik is, most likely, the name of a pre-Islamic tribe. Tajikistan appeared as Tadjikistan or Tadzhikistan in English prior to 1991 and this is due to a transliteration from the Russian, Таджикистан. In Russian, there is no single letter j to represent the phoneme /ʤ/ and дж, Tadzhikistan is the most common alternate spelling and is widely used in English literature derived from Russian sources. Tadjikistan is the spelling in French and can occasionally be found in English language texts, the way of writing Tajikistan in the Perso-Arabic script is. The earliest recorded history of the dates back to about 500 BCE when much, if not all. After the regions conquest by Alexander the Great it became part of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, northern Tajikistan was part of Sogdia, a collection of city-states which was overrun by Scythians and Yuezhi nomadic tribes around 150 BCE. The Silk Road passed through the region and following the expedition of Chinese explorer Zhang Qian during the reign of Wudi commercial relations between Han China and Sogdiana flourished. Sogdians played a role in facilitating trade and also worked in other capacities, as farmers, carpetweavers, glassmakers. Later the Hephthalite Empire, a collection of tribes, moved into the region. Central Asia continued in its role as a crossroads, linking China, the steppes to the north. It was temporarily under the control of the Tibetan empire and Chinese from 650–680, the Samanid Empire,819 to 999, restored Persian control of the region and enlarged the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara which became the cultural centres of Iran and the region was known as Khorasan. The Kara-Khanid Khanate conquered Transoxania and ruled between 999–1211, during Genghis Khans invasion of Khwarezmia in the early 13th century the Mongol Empire took control over nearly all of Central Asia
18.
Turkmenistan
–
Turkmenistan has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. In medieval times, Merv was one of the cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan later figured prominently in the movement in Central Asia. In 1924, Turkmenistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, Turkmenistan possesses the worlds fourth largest reserves of natural gas resources. Most of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert, since 1993, citizens have received government-provided electricity, water and natural gas free of charge. Turkmenistan was ruled by President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov until his death in 2006, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow was elected president in 2007. According to Human Rights Watch, Turkmenistan remains one of the world’s most repressive countries, after suspending the death penalty, the use of capital punishment was formally abolished in the 2008 constitution. Historically inhabited by the Indo-Iranians, the history of Turkmenistan begins with its annexation by the Achaemenid Empire of Ancient Iran. In the 8th century AD, Turkic-speaking Oghuz tribes moved from Mongolia into present-day Central Asia, part of a powerful confederation of tribes, these Oghuz formed the ethnic basis of the modern Turkmen population. In the 10th century, the name Turkmen was first applied to Oghuz groups that accepted Islam, There they were under the dominion of the Seljuk Empire, which was composed of Oghuz groups living in present-day Iran and Turkmenistan. Turkmen soldiers in the service of the played a important role in the spreading of Turkic culture when they migrated westward into present-day Azerbaijan. In the 12th century, Turkmen and other tribes overthrew the Seljuk Empire, in the next century, the Mongols took over the more northern lands where the Turkmens had settled, scattering the Turkmens southward and contributing to the formation of new tribal groups. The sixteenth and eighteenth centuries saw a series of splits and confederations among the nomadic Turkmen tribes, by the 16th century, most of those tribes were under the nominal control of two sedentary Uzbek khanates, Khiva and Bukhoro. Turkmen soldiers were an important element of the Uzbek militaries of this period, in the 19th century, raids and rebellions by the Yomud Turkmen group resulted in that groups dispersal by the Uzbek rulers. According to Paul R. Spickard, Prior to the Russian conquest, Russian forces began occupying Turkmen territory late in the 19th century. From their Caspian Sea base at Krasnovodsk, the Russians eventually overcame the Uzbek khanates, in 1916 the Russian Empires participation in World War I resonated in Turkmenistan, as an anticonscription revolt swept most of Russian Central Asia. In 1924 the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was formed from the tsarist province of Transcaspia, by the late 1930s, Soviet reorganization of agriculture had destroyed what remained of the nomadic lifestyle in Turkmenistan, and Moscow controlled political life. The Ashgabat earthquake of 1948 killed over 110,000 people, during the next half-century, Turkmenistan played its designated economic role within the Soviet Union and remained outside the course of major world events
19.
Kazakhstan
–
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in northern Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Kazakhstan is the worlds largest landlocked country, and the ninth largest in the world, Kazakhstan is the dominant nation of Central Asia economically, generating 60% of the regions GDP, primarily through its oil/gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources, Kazakhstan is officially a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. Kazakhstan shares borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, the terrain of Kazakhstan includes flatlands, steppe, taiga, rock canyons, hills, deltas, snow-capped mountains, and deserts. Kazakhstan has an estimated 18 million people as of 2014, Given its large area, its population density is among the lowest. The capital is Astana, where it was moved in 1997 from Almaty, the territory of Kazakhstan has historically been inhabited by nomadic tribes. This changed in the 13th century, when Genghis Khan occupied the country as part of the Mongolian Empire, following internal struggles among the conquerors, power eventually reverted to the nomads. By the 16th century, the Kazakh emerged as a distinct group, the Russians began advancing into the Kazakh steppe in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, they nominally ruled all of Kazakhstan as part of the Russian Empire. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, and subsequent civil war, the territory of Kazakhstan was reorganised several times, in 1936, it was made the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan has worked to develop its economy, especially its dominant hydrocarbon industry. Kazakhstans 131 ethnicities include Kazakhs, Russians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Germans, Tatars, the Kazakh language is the state language, and Russian has equal official status for all levels of administrative and institutional purposes. The name Kazakh comes from the ancient Turkic word qaz, to wander, the name Cossack is of the same origin. The Persian suffix -stan means land or place of, so Kazakhstan can be translated as land of the wanderers. Kazakhstan has been inhabited since the Neolithic Age, the regions climate, archaeologists believe that humans first domesticated the horse in the regions vast steppes. Central Asia was originally inhabited by the Scythians, the Cuman entered the steppes of modern-day Kazakhstan around the early 11th century, where they later joined with the Kipchak and established the vast Cuman-Kipchak confederation. Under the Mongol Empire, the largest in history, administrative districts were established. These eventually came under the rule of the emergent Kazakh Khanate, throughout this period, traditional nomadic life and a livestock-based economy continued to dominate the steppe. Nevertheless, the region was the focus of ever-increasing disputes between the native Kazakh emirs and the neighbouring Persian-speaking peoples to the south, at its height the Khanate would rule parts of Central Asia and control Cumania
20.
Afghanistan
–
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north and its territory covers 652,000 km2, making it the 41st largest country in the world. The land also served as the source from which the Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khiljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, the political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a state in the Great Game between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country and it remained peaceful during Zahir Shahs forty years of monarchy. A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of wars that devastated much of Afghanistan. The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, the root name Afghan was used historically in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, and the suffix -stan means place of in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more specifically in a historical sense, however, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan. An important site of historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. The country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and it has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire. Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, in more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well, after 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan, among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, the region at the time was referred to as Ariana
21.
Central Asia
–
Central Asia stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. It is also referred to as the -stans as the five countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix -stan. Central Asias five former Soviet republics are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. It has acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, the Silk Road connected Muslim lands with the people of Europe, India, and China. This crossroads position has intensified the conflict between tribalism and traditionalism and modernization, in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Central Asia was predominantly Iranian, peopled by Eastern Iranian-speaking Bactrians, Sogdians and Chorasmians and the semi-nomadic Scythians and Parthians. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan, the idea of Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was introduced in 1843 by the geographer Alexander von Humboldt. The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions, historically built political geography and geoculture are two significant parameters widely used in the scholarly literature about the definitions of the Central Asia. The most limited definition was the one of the Soviet Union. This definition was also used outside the USSR during this period. However, the Russian culture has two terms, Средняя Азия and Центральная Азия. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia, the UNESCO general history of Central Asia, written just before the collapse of the USSR, defines the region based on climate and uses far larger borders. An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity and 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, the Tibetans and Ladakhi are also included. Insofar, most of the peoples are considered the indigenous peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is a large region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains, vast deserts. The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with the steppes of Eastern Europe as a 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 Mountains, 116°–118° E. Central Asia has the following geographic extremes, The worlds northernmost desert, at Buurug Deliin Els, Mongolia, the Northern Hemispheres southernmost permafrost, at Erdenetsogt sum, Mongolia, 46°17′ N
22.
Amu Darya
–
The Amu Darya, also called the Amu River and historically known by its Latin name, Oxus, is a major river in Central Asia. It is formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers, at Qaleh-ye Panjeh in Afghanistan, in ancient times, the river was regarded as the boundary between Greater Iran and Turan. In classical antiquity, the river was known as the Ōxus in Latin and Ὦξος Ôxos in Greek—a clear derivative of Vakhsh, in Vedic Sanskrit, the river is also referred to as Vakṣu. The Avestan texts too refer to the River as Yakhsha/Vakhsha, in Middle Persian sources of the Sassanid period the river is known as Wehrōd. The name Amu is said to have come from the city of Āmul, in modern Turkmenistan. Medieval Arabic and Muslim sources call the river Jayhoun which is derived from Gihon, however, this name is no longer used. Hara and to the river of Gozan (that is to say, the Amu. the Gozan River is the River Balkh, i. e. the Oxus or the Amu Darya. and were brought into Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan. The rivers total length is 2,400 kilometres and its drainage basin totals 534,739 square kilometres in area, the river is navigable for over 1,450 kilometres. All of the water comes from the mountains in the south where annual precipitation can be over 1,000 mm. An ice cave at the end of the Wakhjir valley, in the Wakhan Corridor, in the Pamir Mountains, a glacier turns into the Wakhan River and joins the Pamir River about 50 kilometres downstream. Therefore, the Chelab stream may be considered the true source or parent stream of the Oxus. The Panj River forms the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan and it flows west to Ishkashim where it turns north and then north-west through the Pamirs passing the Tajikistan–Afghanistan Friendship Bridge. It subsequently forms the border of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan for about 200 kilometres, passing Termez and it delineates the border of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan for another 100 kilometres before it flows into Turkmenistan at Atamurat. As the Amudarya, it flows across Turkmenistan south to north, passing Türkmenabat, use of water from the Amu Darya for irrigation has been a major contributing factor to the shrinking of the Aral Sea since the late 1950s. Historical records state that in different periods, the river flowed into the Aral Sea, into the Caspian Sea, about 1,385,045 square kilometres of land is drained by the Amu Darya into the Aral Sea endorheic basin. This includes most of Tajikistan, the southwest corner of Kyrgyzstan, the northeast corner of Afghanistan, part of the Amu Daryas drainage divide in Tajikistan forms that countrys border with China and Pakistan. About 61% of the lies within Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Of the area drained by the Amu Darya, only about 200,000 square kilometres actively contribute water to the river and this is because many of the rivers major tributaries have been diverted, and much of the rivers drainage is dominated by outlying desert and steppe
23.
Syr Darya
–
The Syr Darya /ˌsɪərˈdɑːrjə/ is a river in Central Asia. It is the northern and eastern of the two rivers in the endorrheic basin of the Aral Sea, the other being the Amu Darya. The second part of the name river in Persian. The current name only from the 18th century. The earliest recorded name comes down to us as Jaxartes /ˌdʒæɡˈzɑːrtiːz/ or Iaxartes /ˌaɪ. əɡˈzɑːrtiːz/ in Ancient Greek and this name is recorded by several sources, including those relating to Alexander the Great kage the great. The Greek preserves the Old Persian name Yakhsha Arta, perhaps a reference to the color of its glacially-fed water, more evidence for the Persian etymology comes from its Turkic name up to the time of the Arab conquest, the Yinchu, or Pearl river. Following the Muslim conquest, the river appears in the sources uniformly as the Seyhun, the current local name of the river, Syr, does not appear before the 16th century. In the 17th century, Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Khan, historian and ruler of Khiva, calls the Aral Sea the Sea of Sïr and its annual flow is a very modest 37 cubic kilometres per year—half that of its sister river, the Amu Darya. Along its course, the Syr Darya irrigates the most productive cotton-growing region in the whole of Central Asia, together with the towns of Kokand, Khujand, Kyzylorda, various local governments throughout history have built and maintained an extensive system of canals. These canals are of importance in this arid region. Many fell into disuse in the 17th and early 18th century, massive expansion of irrigation canals in Middle and Lower Syr Darya during the Soviet period to water cotton and rice fields caused ecological damage to the area. The amount of water taken from the river was such that in some periods of the year, no water at all reaches the Aral Sea, similar to the Amu Darya situation in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. During the era of Alexander the Great, the Syr Darya marked the northernmost limit of Hellenic conquests and also the site of a famous battle, the Battle of Jaxartes. It was on the shores of the Syr Darya that Alexander placed a garrison in the City of Cyrus, for most of its history since at least the Muslim Conquest of Central Asia, the name of this city has been Khujand. In return, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan received Kazakh, Turkmen, and Uzbek coal, gas, after the fall of the Soviet Union this system disintegrated and the Central Asian nations have failed to reinstate it. Inadequate infrastructure, poor management, and outdated irrigation methods all exacerbate the issue. Britannica. com Livius. org, Jaxartes BBC News, Syn Darya in pictures
24.
Transoxiana
–
Geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. The area had been known to the Romans as Transoxania, to the Arabs as Mawarannahr, and to the Iranians as Turan, the region was one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia under the name Sogdiana. Early Arab geographers named it Bilād al-Turk or Turkestan, both of which mean the lands of the Turks, during the Sassanid Empire, it was often called Sogdiana, a provincial name taken from the Achaemenid Empire, and used to distinguish it from nearby Bactria. The Chinese explorer Zhang Qian, who visited the countries of Bactria and Parthia along with Transoxiana in 126 BC. Zhang Qian clearly identifies Parthia as an advanced civilisation that farmed grain and grapes, made silver coins. It was ruled successively by Seleucids, Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Parthian Empire, in Sassanid times, the region became a major cultural and scientific centre due to the wealth derived from the Northern Silk Road. Sassanid rule was interrupted by the Hephthalite invasion at the end of the 5th century, many Persian nobles and landlords escaped to this region after the Muslim invasion. Before the Muslim invasion it was ruled by Göktürks. After that it was ruled by Tang China until the Arab conquest between 705 and 715, the became known as Mā warāʼ al-Nahr, sometimes rendered as Mavarannahr. Transoxianas major cities and cultural centres are Samarkand and Bukhara, both are in the southern portion of Transoxiana, and the majority of the region was dry but fertile plains. Part of this region was conquered by Qutayba ibn Muslim between 706 and 715 and loosely held by the Umayyads from 715 to 738. The conquest was consolidated by Nasr ibn Sayyar between 738 and 740, and continued under the control of the Umayyads until 750, when it was replaced by the Abbasids. The Tang dynasty also controlled the part of the region until about the same time. Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, invaded Transoxiana in 1219 during his conquest of Khwarezm, before his death in 1227, he assigned the lands of Western Central Asia to his second son Chagatai, and this region became known as the Chagatai Khanate. In 1369, Timur, of the Barlas tribe, became the effective ruler, Transoxiana was known to be flourishing in the mid-14th century
25.
Zeravshan
–
Zarafshan is a city of over 68,000 inhabitants in the center of Uzbekistans Navoiy Region. Located in the Kyzylkum desert, it water from the Amudarya by a 220-km pipeline. Zarafshan is called the capital of Uzbekistan. It is home of the Navoi Mining & Metallurgy Combinats Central Mining Administration, between 1995 and 2006 the Muruntau gold mining and processing operation was run by the Zarafshan-Newmont Joint Venture, a foreign direct investment by Newmont Mining Corporation of Denver, Colorado. Uzbekistan expropriated the assets in 2006 and by 2007 had taken full ownership of the mine. Astrelin Victoria epitomizes the beauty of the city, zarafshan Airport is served by Uzbekistan Airlines with direct daily flights to and from Tashkent
26.
Samarkand
–
Samarkand, alternatively Samarqand or Samarcand, is a city in modern-day Uzbekistan and is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia. Prospering from its location on the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean, at times Samarkand was one of the greatest cities of Central Asia, by the time of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, it was the capital of the Sogdian satrapy. The city was taken by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, the city was ruled by a succession of Iranian, Persian, and Turkic peoples until the Mongols under Genghis Khan conquered Samarkand in 1220. Today, Samarkand is the capital of Samarqand Region, and Uzbekistans second largest city, the city is noted for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study. In the 14th century it became the capital of the empire of Timur and is the site of his mausoleum, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque remains one of the citys most notable landmarks. The Registan was the ancient center of the city, the city has carefully preserved the traditions of ancient crafts, embroidery, gold embroidery, silk weaving, engraving on copper, ceramics, carving, and painting on wood. In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures, the name probably originates in the Sogdian words asmara, stone, rock and kand, fort, town. Along with Bukhara, Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia, archeological excavations held within the city limits as well as suburban areas unearthed evidence of human activity as early as 40,000 years old, in the late Paleolithic era. A group of Mesolithic era archeological sites were discovered at Sazagon-1, Zamichatosh, the Syob and Dargom canals, supplying the city and its suburbs with water, appeared around the 7th to 5th centuries BC. There is no evidence when Samarkand was founded. Researchers of the Institute of Archeology of Samarkand argue for the existence of the city between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Samarkand has been one of the main centres of Sogdian civilization from its early days. By the time of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia it had become the capital of the Sogdian satrapy, Alexander the Great conquered Samarkand in 329 BC. The city was known as Maracanda by the Greeks, written sources offer small clues as to the subsequent system of government. They tell of an Orepius who became ruler not from ancestors, while Samarkand suffered significant damage during Alexanders initial conquest, the city recovered rapidly and under the new Hellenic influence flourished. There were also major new construction techniques, oblong bricks were replaced with square ones and superior methods of masonry, Alexanders conquests introduced into Central Asia classical Greek culture, at least for a time the Greek models were followed closely by the local artisans. After the Kushan era the city declined, it did not really revive until the 5th century, Samarkand was conquered by the Sassanians around 260 AD. Under Sassanian rule, the became an essential site for Manichaeism. After the Hephtalites conquered Samarkand, they controlled it until the Göktürks, in an alliance with the Sassanid Persians, the Turks ruled over Samarkand until they were defeated by the Sassanids during the Göktürk–Persian Wars
27.
Khanate of Khiva
–
The Khanate of Khiva was a Central Asian Turkic state that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Afsharid occupation by Nadir Shah between 1740–1746. The Khans were the descendants of Shayban, the fifth son of Jochi. It covered present western Uzbekistan, southwestern Kazakhstan and much of Turkmenistan before Russian arrival at second half of 19th century, in 1873, the Khanate of Khiva was much reduced in size and became a Russian protectorate. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Khiva had a revolution too, in 1924, the area was formally incorporated into the Soviet Union and today is largely a part of Karakalpakstan and Xorazm Province in Uzbekistan. The region that would become the Khanate of Khiva was a part of the Chagatai Khanate with its capital at Old Urgench, however, Timur regarded the state as a rival to Samarkand, and after a course of five campaigns, he destroyed Old Urgench completely in 1388. In 1505, Uzbeks under Muhammad Shaybani captured Khwarezm from the Timurids, the Safavids defeated Shaybani in 1510 and took control of the region. But in 1511, the Uzbek group the Yadigarid Shaybanids rebelled against Safavid rule, due to a shift in the course of the Amu-Darya in 1576, Old Urgench was finally abandoned. The political center of the region shifted southward, and, in 1619, much of Khivas later history was framed against the khanates relationship with the great powers Russia and Britain. Upon receiving the men, the Khivan khan, Shir Ghazi, set up camp under the pretense of goodwill, then ambushed and slaughtered the envoys, peter the Great, indebted after wars with the Ottoman Empire and Sweden, did nothing. The khanate was a dependency of Nadir Shahs Persia between 1740-1747, Tsar Paul I also attempted to conquer the khanate, but his expedition was woefully undermanned and undersupplied, and was recalled en route due to his assassination. Tsar Alexander I had no ambitions, and it was under Tsars Nicholas I. A notable episode during The Great Game involved a Russian expedition to Khiva in 1839, the expedition, led by General V. A. Perovsky, the commander of the Orenburg garrison, consisted of 5,200 infantry, at the same time, Britain, anxious to annex Khiva, launched its own effort to free the slaves. Major Todd, the senior British political officer stationed in Herat dispatched Captain James Abbott, disguised as an Afghan, on Christmas Eve,1839, for Khiva. Abbott arrived in late January 1840 and, although the khan was suspicious of his identity and he left on 7 March 1840, for Fort Alexandrovsk, and was subsequently betrayed by his guide, robbed, then released when the bandits realized the origin and destination of his letter. His superiors in Herat, not knowing of his fate, sent another officer, Lieutenant Richmond Shakespear, after him. Shakespear had more success than Abbott, he convinced the khan to free all Russian subjects under his control, the freed slaves and Shakespear arrived in Fort Alexandrovsk on 15 August 1840, and Russia lost its primary motive for the conquest of Khiva, for the time being. A permanent Russian presence on the Aral Sea began in 1848 with the building of Fort Aralsk at the mouth of the Syr Darya
28.
Khwarezm
–
It was the center of the Iranian Khwarezmian civilization and a series of kingdoms such as the Persian Empire, whose capitals were Kath, Gurganj and – from the 16th century on – Khiva. Today Khwarezm belongs partly to Uzbekistan, partly to Kazakhstan and partly to Turkmenistan, Khwarezm has been known also as Chorasmia, Khwarezmia, Khwarizm, Khwarazm, Khorezm, Khoresm, Khorasam, Kharazm, Harezm, Horezm, and Chorezm. C. E. Bosworth, however, believes the Persian name to be made up of xor and zam, designating the land from which the sun rises, another view is that the Iranian compound stands for lowland from khar low and zam land. Khwarezm is indeed the lowest region in Central Asia, located on the delta of the Amu Darya on the shores of the Aral Sea. Some of the early scholars believed Khwarezm to be what ancient Avestic texts refer to as Airyanem Vaejah. These sources claim that Old Urgench, which was the capital of ancient Khwarezm for many years, was actually Ourva, the eighth land of Ahura Mazda mentioned in the Pahlavi text of Vendidad. Al-Biruni starts giving names only with the Afrighid line of Khwarazmshahs, having placed the ascension of Afrighids in 616 of the Seleucid era, like Soghdiana, Khwarezm was an expansion of the BMAC culture during the Bronze Age which later fused with Indo-Iranians during their migrations around 1000 BC. Early Iron Age states arose from this cultural exchange, ruled by the native Afrighid Dynasty. It was at point that Khwarezm entered the historical record with the Achamenid expansion. An East Iranian language, known as Khwarezmian language, was spoken in Khwarezm proper until soon after the Mongol invasion and it was closely related to Sogdian. In the very part of its history, the inhabitants of the area were from Iranian stock. Sometime before the Achaemenid king Cyrus the Greats death in 530 BC, while he was dying, he appointed his son Smerdis/Bardiya as the governor of the region, along with Bactriana, Carmania, and the other eastern provinces of the empire. And the Persian poet Ferdowsi mentions Persian cities like Afrasiab and Chach in abundance in his epic Shahnama, the kings emissary offered to lead Alexanders armies against his own enemies, west over the Caspian towards the Black Sea. Although largely independent during the Seleucid, Bactrian and Arsacid dynasties, it is known that Khwarezm, yaqut al-Hamawi verifies that Khwarezm was a regional capital of the Sassanid empire. It was also vassal kingdom during periods of Kushans, Hephthalites, the Afrighids were a native Chorasmian dynasty which ruled over the kingdom of Khwarezm from 305 until 995 A. D. Sometimes it was under Sassanid control, in 712 Khwarezm was conquered by the Arab Umayyads. In 995, they overthrew the Afrighids of Kath and themselves assumed the traditional title of Khwarazm-Shah. Briefly, the area was under Samanid suzerainty, before it passed to Mahmud of Ghazna in 1017, in the 12th century, the Khwarezmid Empire was founded and, in the early 13th century, ruled over all of Persia under the Shah ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Muhammad II
29.
Khanate of Kokand
–
The Khanate of Kokand was a Central Asian state that existed from 1709–1876 within the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan, eastern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and southeastern Kazakhstan. The name of the city and the khanate may also be spelled as Khoqand in modern scholarly literature and he built a citadel as his capital in the small town of Kokand, thus starting the Khanate of Kokand. His son, Abd al-Karim, and grandson, Narbuta Beg, enlarged the citadel, Narbuta Beg’s son Alim was both ruthless and efficient. He hired an army of Tajik highlanders, and conquered the western half of the Fergana Valley, including Khujand. He was assassinated by his brother Omar in 1809, omar’s son, Mohammed Ali, ascended to the throne in 1821 at the age of 12. During his reign, the Khanate of Kokand reached its greatest territorial extent, the Kokand Khanate also housed the Khojas of Kashgar like Jahangir Khoja. Following this, Madali Khan, who had received Conolly in Kokand, the Emir, encouraged by the conspiratorial efforts of several influential figures in Kokand, invaded the khanate in 1842. Shortly thereafter he executed Madali Khan, his brother, and Omar Khans widow, Madali Khan’s cousin, Shir Ali, was installed as the Khan of Kokand in June 1842. Over the next two decades, the khanate was weakened by a civil war, which was further exacerbated by Bukharan and Russian incursions. Shir Ali’s son, Khudayar Khan, ruled from 1845 to 1858, in the meantime, Russia was continuing its advance, on June 28,1865 Tashkent was taken by the Russian troops of General Chernyayev, the loss of Khujand followed in 1867. In 1868, a treaty turned Kokand into a Russian vassal state, the now powerless Khudayar Khan spent his energies improving his lavish palace. Western visitors were impressed by the city of 80,000 people, insurrections against Russian rule and Khudayar’s oppressive taxes forced him into exile in 1875. He was succeeded by his son, Nasir ad-din Abdul Karim Khan, whose anti-Russian stance provoked the annexation of Kokand by Generals Konstantin von Kaufman, in March 1876, Tsar Alexander II stated that he had been forced to. Yield to the wishes of the Kokandi people to become Russian subjects, the Khanate of Kokand was declared abolished, and incorporated into the Fergana Province of Russian Turkestan. Nasir ad-din Abdul Karim Khan fled to India through the Pamirs and he died in 1893 in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. His family is now inhabitant in Mir Tayyab Ghari, Peshawar, the Khans of Kokand had a connection with the Timurid Empire. From the time of the last Timurids to that of the first Khans of Kokand there was a period of more than two hundred years, the Khans genealogy was connected with Babur through a legendary figure, Altun Bishik. In the legend, a baby of Baburs family was left in a bishik when Babur fled prosecution, the child was named Altun Bishik, after its imperial cradle, and in the legend he lived from 918-952 AH / 1512-1545 AD
30.
Fergana Valley
–
The Fergana Valley is a valley in Central Asia spread across eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the early 21st century was the scene of ethnic conflict, the valleys history stretches back over 2300 years, when its population was conquered by Greco-Bactrian invaders from the west. Chinese chroniclers date its towns to more than 2,100 years ago and it was home to Babur, founder of the Mughal Dynasty, tying the region to modern Afghanistan and South Asia. The Russian Empire conquered the valley at the end of the 19th century and its three Soviet republics gained independence in 1991. The area largely remains Muslim, populated by ethnic Uzbek, Tajik, historically there have also been substantial numbers of Russian, Kashgarians, Kipchaks, Bukharan Jews and Romani minorities. Mass cotton cultivation, introduced by the Soviets, remains central to the economy, along with a range of grains, fruits. There is a history of stock breeding, leatherwork, and a growing mining sector, including deposits of coal, iron, sulfur, gypsum, rock-salt, naphtha. The Fergana Valley is a depression in Central Asia, between the mountain systems of the Tien-Shan in the north and the Gissar-Alai in the south. The valley is approximately 300 kilometres long and up to 70 kilometres wide and its position makes it a separate geographic zone. The valley owes its fertility to two rivers, the Naryn and the Kara Darya, which unite in the valley, near Namangan, numerous other tributaries of these rivers exist in the valley including the Sokh River. This expanse of quicksand, covering an area of 1,900 km2, under the influence of south-west winds, some of the sediments are marine carbonates and clays. The faults are upthrusts and overthrusts, anticlines associated with these faults form traps for petroleum and natural gas, which has been discovered in 52 small fields. The climate of this valley is dry and warm, in March the temperature reaches 20 °C, and then rapidly rises to 35 °C in June, July and August. During the five months following April precipitation is rare, but increases in frequency starting in October, snow and frost, down to -20 °C occurs in December and January. The independent and warlike Sogdiana formed a border region insulating the Achaemenid Persians from the nomadic Scythians to the north and it was later ruled by Seleucids before secession of Bactria. After 250 BC, the city remained in contact with the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom centered on Bactria. Several statuettes and representations of Greek soldiers have been north of the Tien Shan, on the doorstep to China. Of the Greco-Bactrians, the Greek historian Strabo too writes that, they extended their empire even as far as the Seres, after 155 BC, the Yuezhi were pushed into Fergana by neighbors from the north and east
31.
Bukhara operation (1920)
–
The Bukhara operation, was a military conflict fought between the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Young Bukharians against the Emirate of Bukhara. The war lasted between 28 August and 2 September 1920, ending in the defeat of the Bukhara Emirate, the Emirate of Bukhara was officially created in 1785, upon the assumption of throne by the Manghit emir, Shah Murad. Over the course of the 18th century, the emirs had slowly gained control of the Khanate of Bukhara. In 1868 the emirate was conquered by Imperial Russia, which had aspirations in the region. Russia annexed much of the territory, including the important city of Samarkand. The Russian Civil War erupted on 7 November 1917, pitting the Bolshevik led Red Army against the monarchist White Army. During the first two years of the conflict communist troops failed to make progress in the Central Asian theaters. In spring 1918, a group of British and American intelligence agents visited Tashkent in an effort to train, the defeat of the White Army troops led by Alexander Kolchak during the second half of 1919 radically changed the situation on the Turkestani theater of the war. The emir of Bukhara became aware of the communist maneuvers, enacting mobilization, a surge in the activities of the leftist Young Bukharians movement in August 1920 prompted Red Army commander Mikhail Frunze to act in their support. Οn the night 28 August 1920, Young Bukharians launched a revolt in Türkmenabat subjugating the city, at the same time the Red Army launched an offensive on Qorako‘l, approaching it from the south-west. On 30 August, communist troops began bombarding the Karshin gates in Bukhara, Soviet forces then attacked the bridges located on the Burdalik, Nardalik and Amu Darya rivers securing them on 31 August. On 2 September, communist forces penetrated the gates and overtook Bukhara, Alim Khans enabled the revolutionaries to establish the RSFSR controlled Bukharan PSR. Birth and Downfall of the Basmachi Movement, nationaler Kampf Turkestans in den Jahren 1917 bis 1934. Basmachi Movement From Within, Account of Zeki Velidi Togan // Nationalities Papers, Заки Валиди Тоган о басмаческом движении
32.
Kabul
–
Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan as well as its largest city, located in the eastern section of the country. According to a 2015 estimate, the population of the city was around 3,678,033 which includes all the ethnic groups. Rapid urbanization had made Kabul the worlds 64th largest city and the fifth fastest-growing city in the world, Kabul is said to be over 3,500 years old, mentioned since at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire. The city is at a location along the trade routes of South and Central Asia. It has been part of the Achaemenids, Seleucids, Mauryans, Kushans, Kabul Shahis, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Later, it was controlled by the Mughal Empire until finally becoming part of the Durrani Empire in 1747. The city is located high up in a valley between the Hindu Kush mountains. Kabul became the capital of Afghanistan during the reign of Timur Shah Durrani, in the early 19th century, the British occupied the city but were compelled to abandon it. Relations between Afghanistan and Great Britain were later established, the city was occupied by the Soviets in 1979 but they too abandoned it after the 1988 Geneva Accords were signed. A civil war in the 1990s between various rebel groups destroyed much of the city, resulting in many casualties, since the removal of the Taliban from power in late 2001, the city gradually began rebuilding itself with assistance by the international community. Despite the many terrorist attacks by elements, the city is growing and developing. The city is divided into about 18 districts, the Kabul International Airport is located in the Wazir Akbar Khan district a few miles from the foreign embassies. The Parliament of Afghanistan, built by India, is located in the Kārte Seh district, Kabul, also spelled Cabool, Caubul, Kabol, or Cabul. The word Kubhā is mentioned in the Rigveda, one of the four sacred texts of Hinduism, and the Avesta. The Rigveda praises it as a city, a vision of paradise set in the mountains. The area in which the Kabul valley sits was ruled by the Medes before falling to the Achaemenids, there is a reference to a settlement called Kabura by the rulers of the Achaemenid Empire, It became a center of Zoroastrianism followed by Buddhism and Hinduism. The region became part of the Seleucid Empire but was given to the Indian Maurya Empire. The Greco-Bactrians captured Kabul from the Mauryans in the early 2nd century BC, indo-Scythians expelled the Indo-Greeks by the mid 1st century BC, but lost the city to the Kushan Empire about 100 years later. Some historians ascribe Kabul the Sanskrit name of Kamboja and it is mentioned as Kophes or Kophene in some classical writings
33.
Baluchistan (Chief Commissioner's Province)
–
The Chief Commissioners Province of Balochistan was a province of British India, and later Pakistan, located in the northern parts of the modern Balochistan province. The province was formed over the period 1876–1891 by three treaties between Robert Sandeman and the Khan of Kalat, Khudadad of Kalat. Sandeman became the Political Agent for the British-administered areas which were located between British India and Afghanistan. A military base was established at Quetta which played a part in the Second. The province became part of Pakistan in 1947 and continued to be administered by a Chief Commissioner and it was dissolved in 1955 when most parts of the western wing of Pakistan became the new province of West Pakistan. West Pakistan was dissolved in 1970, Khan Abdul Wali Khan intended to transfer political power to the Pashtuns. The population of the province was split between Baloch tribes in the south and west and Pashtun tribes in the north. The province was administered by a Chief Commissioner appointed by the Federal Government, although there was no elected legislature the Chief Commissioner could consult the Shahi Jirga, an assembly of tribal leaders. The province comprised three groups of areas – the settled districts, the agencies and the tribal area. The settled areas were mainly the district around Quetta and Jaffarabad, the agencies were the Zhob agency to the north of Quetta and the Chagai agency to the west, which had a tenuous land link with the rest of the province. The tribal areas were the Bugti and Marri tribal agencies which would later become Provincially Administered Tribal Areas in the new Balochistan province, Balochistan province Balochistan States Union Makran Las Bela Kharan Khanate of Kalat Politics of Pakistan History of Pakistan Robert Groves Sandeman Government of Balochistan
34.
Russia
–
Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
35.
Khiva
–
Khiva is a city of approximately 50,000 people located in Xorazm Region, Uzbekistan. According to archaeological data, the city was established in the beginning of the Christian era and it is the former capital of Khwarezmia and the Khanate of Khiva. Itchan Kala in Khiva was the first site in Uzbekistan to be inscribed in the World Heritage List, the origin of the name Khiva is unknown, but many contradictory stories have been told to explain it. A traditional story attributes the name to one of the sons of Noah, It is said that Shem, after the flood, having fallen asleep, he dreamt of 300 burning torches. On waking up, he was pleased with this omen, he founded the city with outlines in the form of a ship mapped out according to the placement of the torches, then Sim dug the Kheyvak well, the water from which had a surprising taste. It is possible to see well in Ichan-Kala even today. Another story relates that travellers passing through the city, upon drinking the excellent water, would exclaim Khey vakh. and hence the city known as Kheyvakh. A third proposal is that the name comes from the word Khwarezm, altered by borrowing into Turkic as Khivarezem, then shortened to Khiva. Subsequently the Iranian ruling class was replaced by Turks in the 10th century A. D, the city of Khiva was first recorded by Muslim travellers in the 10th century, although archaeologists assert that the city has existed since the 6th century. By the early 17th century, Khiva had become the capital of the Khanate of Khiva, ruled by a branch of the Astrakhans, in 1873, Russian General Konstantin von Kaufman launched an attack on the city, which fell on 28 May 1873. Although the Russian Empire now controlled the Khanate, it nominally allowed Khiva to remain as a quasi-independent protectorate, Khiva is split into two parts. The outer town, called Dichan Kala, was protected by a wall with 11 gates. The inner town, or Itchan Kala, is encircled by brick walls, present-day crenellated walls date back to the late 17th century and attain the height of 10 meters. The large blue tower in the city square was supposed to be a minaret, but the Khan died. The old town retains more than 50 historic monuments and 250 old houses, djuma Mosque, for instance, was established in the 10th century and rebuilt in 1788-89, although its celebrated hypostyle hall still retains 112 columns taken from ancient structures. Nishapur, Iran Al-Khwarizmi Trolleybuses in Urgench Campaigning on the Oxus, a Ride to Khiva, Frederick Burnaby. A Carpet Ride to Khiva, C. A. Alexander, journey to Khiva, Philip Glazebrook, A Writers Search for Central Asia. Khiva travel guide from Wikivoyage Images and travel impressiones along the Silk Road - Khiva
36.
Kokand
–
Kokand is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southwestern edge of the Fergana Valley. The population of Kokand on April 24,2014 was approximately 187,477, the city lies 228 km southeast of Tashkent,115 km west of Andijan, and 88 km west of Fergana. It is nicknamed City of Winds, or sometimes Town of the Boar, kokands name derives from the well-known tribal family group of Kokan who belong to the Kongrat tribe of Uzbeks. Kokand is at the crossroads of the two ancient trade routes into the Fergana Valley, one leading northwest over the mountains to Tashkent. As a result, Kokand is the transportation junction in the Fergana Valley. Kokand has existed since at least the 10th century, under the name of Khavakend, the Han Dynasty of China conquered the entire city in the 1st Century B. C. Later, the Arabs reconquered the region from Tang Empire, the Mongols destroyed Kokand in the 13th century. The present city began as a fort in 1732 on the site of another older fortress called Eski-Kurgan, in 1740, it became the capital of an Uzbek kingdom, the Khanate of Kokand, which reached as far as Kyzylorda to the west and Bishkek to the northeast. Kokand was also the religious center of the Fergana Valley. Russian imperial forces under Mikhail Skobelev captured the city in 1883 which then became part of Russian Turkistan and it was the capital of the short-lived anti-Bolshevik Provisional Government of Autonomous Turkistan. They sought co-operation from Ataman Dutov and Alash Orda, however, their emissary to the Amir of Bukhara achieved little. The Palace of Khudayar Khan was built between 1863 and 1874 by Muhammad Khudayar Khan, upon completion, it was one of the largest and most opulent palaces in Central Asia. Nineteen of its one hundred and thirteen rooms survive and now host a museum. Jummi Mosque, a Friday mosque built in 1800-1812, and reopened in 1989, amin Beg Madrassah, built in 1813. Dakhma-I-Shokhon, a necropolis of the Kokand Khans from the 1830s, khamza Museum, dedicated to Kokand’s Soviet hero Hamza Hakimzade Niyazi. Islam a plays large role in the life of Kokand. A number of madrasah can be found with the city and it is also home to a number of notable hanafi scholars, such as Abdulhafiz Al-Quqoniy and Yorqinjon Qori Al-Quqoniy. There are 2 institutes,9 colleges and lyceums,40 secondary schools,5 musical schools, a theater, there are 7 historical and house museums located in Kokand
37.
Suzani (textile)
–
Suzani is a type of embroidered and decorative tribal textile made in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries. Suzani is from the Persian سوزن Suzan which means needle, the art of making such textiles in Iran is called سوزندوزی Suzandozi. Suzanis usually have a fabric base, which is embroidered in silk or cotton thread. Chain, satin, and buttonhole stitches are the primary stitches used, there is also extensive use of couching, in which decorative thread laid on the fabric as a raised line is stitched in place with a second thread. Suzanis are often made in two or more pieces, that are stitched together Popular design motifs include sun and moon disks, flowers, leaves and vines, fruits. The oldest surviving suzanis are from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in the early 15th century, Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, the Castilian ambassador to the court of Timur, left detailed descriptions of embroideries that were probably forerunners of the suzani. Suzanis were traditionally made by Central Asian brides as part of their dowry and these hand-embroidered vintage suzanis are infused with the character that only comes from everyday use. The story of each of these suzanis is as rich as their colors, bukhara Suzani Khodjent Suzani Lakai Suzani Nurata Suzani, made in the town of Nurata in Uzbekistan. Pskent Suzani Samarkand Suzani Shakhrisabz Suzani Tashkent Suzani Ura Tube Suzani Stamps featuring suzanis Kaitag, photographs of all types of suzanis. Article on suzanis Contemporary Uzbek suzanis by Marla Mallett, splendid Suzanis,2003, Saudi Aramco World All about suzani from Central Asia
38.
Kokand Khanate
–
The Khanate of Kokand was a Central Asian state that existed from 1709–1876 within the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan, eastern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and southeastern Kazakhstan. The name of the city and the khanate may also be spelled as Khoqand in modern scholarly literature and he built a citadel as his capital in the small town of Kokand, thus starting the Khanate of Kokand. His son, Abd al-Karim, and grandson, Narbuta Beg, enlarged the citadel, Narbuta Beg’s son Alim was both ruthless and efficient. He hired an army of Tajik highlanders, and conquered the western half of the Fergana Valley, including Khujand. He was assassinated by his brother Omar in 1809, omar’s son, Mohammed Ali, ascended to the throne in 1821 at the age of 12. During his reign, the Khanate of Kokand reached its greatest territorial extent, the Kokand Khanate also housed the Khojas of Kashgar like Jahangir Khoja. Following this, Madali Khan, who had received Conolly in Kokand, the Emir, encouraged by the conspiratorial efforts of several influential figures in Kokand, invaded the khanate in 1842. Shortly thereafter he executed Madali Khan, his brother, and Omar Khans widow, Madali Khan’s cousin, Shir Ali, was installed as the Khan of Kokand in June 1842. Over the next two decades, the khanate was weakened by a civil war, which was further exacerbated by Bukharan and Russian incursions. Shir Ali’s son, Khudayar Khan, ruled from 1845 to 1858, in the meantime, Russia was continuing its advance, on June 28,1865 Tashkent was taken by the Russian troops of General Chernyayev, the loss of Khujand followed in 1867. In 1868, a treaty turned Kokand into a Russian vassal state, the now powerless Khudayar Khan spent his energies improving his lavish palace. Western visitors were impressed by the city of 80,000 people, insurrections against Russian rule and Khudayar’s oppressive taxes forced him into exile in 1875. He was succeeded by his son, Nasir ad-din Abdul Karim Khan, whose anti-Russian stance provoked the annexation of Kokand by Generals Konstantin von Kaufman, in March 1876, Tsar Alexander II stated that he had been forced to. Yield to the wishes of the Kokandi people to become Russian subjects, the Khanate of Kokand was declared abolished, and incorporated into the Fergana Province of Russian Turkestan. Nasir ad-din Abdul Karim Khan fled to India through the Pamirs and he died in 1893 in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. His family is now inhabitant in Mir Tayyab Ghari, Peshawar, the Khans of Kokand had a connection with the Timurid Empire. From the time of the last Timurids to that of the first Khans of Kokand there was a period of more than two hundred years, the Khans genealogy was connected with Babur through a legendary figure, Altun Bishik. In the legend, a baby of Baburs family was left in a bishik when Babur fled prosecution, the child was named Altun Bishik, after its imperial cradle, and in the legend he lived from 918-952 AH / 1512-1545 AD
39.
Nader Shah
–
Nader Shah was one of the most powerful Iranian rulers in the history of that nation, ruling as Shah of Persia from 1736 to 1747 when he was assassinated during a rebellion. Nader Shah was an Iranian who belonged to the Turcoman Afshar tribe of Greater Khorasan in northeastern Iran, Nader reunited the Persian realm and removed the invaders. He became so powerful that he decided to depose the last members of the Safavid dynasty, which had ruled Iran for over 200 years, Nader idolized Genghis Khan and Timur, the previous conquerors from Central Asia. He imitated their military prowess and — especially later in his reign — their cruelty, Nader Shah has been described as the last great Asiatic military conqueror. His father, Emam Qoli, was a herdsman who may also have been a coatmaker, at the age of 13, his father died and Nader had to find a way to support himself and his mother. He had no source of other than the sticks he gathered for firewood. Many years later, when he was returning in triumph from his conquest of Delhi, he led the army to his birthplace and made a speech to his generals about his early life of deprivation. He said, You now see to what height it has pleased the Almighty to exalt me, from hence, Naders early experiences did not, however, make him particularly compassionate toward the poor. Throughout his career, he was interested in his own advancement. Legend has it that in 1704, when he was about 17, a band of marauding Uzbek Tartars invaded the province of Khorasan, Nader and his mother were among those who were carried off into slavery. Somehow, Nader managed to escape and returned to the province of Khorasan in 1708, living under the most desperate circumstances, he and his friends stole a flock of sheep and sold them in the market. With the money they made, they fled into the mountains, tiring of life as a fugitive, Nader presented himself to a Persian nobleman. He was employed as a courier, to deliver important messages to the court at Isfahan in 1712. A second courier accompanied Nader on these missions, however, upon his return he saw that his master was quite upset. By the look on his face, Nader assumed that the nobleman planned to kill him and he had also fallen in love with the noblemans daughter, but his master flatly refused to consider letting them marry. Because of his disappointment and in order to defend himself, Nader killed the nobleman and fled into the mountains with the daughter, other servants of the dead nobleman joined Nader and they formed a gang of robbers operating in the province of Mazanderan. Nader grew up during the years of the Safavid dynasty which had ruled Iran since 1502. When Sultan Husayn attempted to quell a rebellion by the Ghilzai Afghans in Kandahar, under their leader Mahmud Hotaki, the rebellious Afghans moved westwards against the shah himself and in 1722 they defeated a force at the Battle of Gulnabad and then besieged the capital, Isfahan
40.
Iran
–
Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
41.
Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet
–
Sir Fitzroy Hew Royle Maclean, 1st Baronet, KT, CBE was a Scottish soldier, writer and politician. It has been speculated that Ian Fleming used Maclean as one of his inspirations for James Bond. The couple wed on 12 July 1905 at St Georges Parish, Hanover Square, Middlesex and he was descended from the MacLeans of Ardgour a Sept of the Clan Maclean, whose chiefs have as their historic seat Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. He was brought up in Italy and educated at Eton and Kings College, Cambridge and he then studied in Germany before joining the Diplomatic Service in 1933. In 1934 Fitzroy Maclean was posted to the British embassy in Paris, bored with the pleasant but undemanding routine, he requested a posting to Moscow in 1937. The two and a half years he spent in the Soviet Union formed the first third of his best known book, Maclean was in Moscow until late 1939, and so was present during the great Stalinist purges, observing the fates of Bukharin and other Russian revolutionaries. When war broke out in 1939 Maclean was prevented from joining the military because of his position as a diplomat and he was 2nd Secretary in the Foreign Office. Therefore, he resigned from the Diplomatic Service to go into politics, after tendering his resignation he immediately took a taxi to the nearest recruiting office and enlisted as a Private in the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders. He was soon promoted to Lance Corporal and was commissioned in 1941, in that year he became the Conservative MP for Lancaster. Maclean was a brilliant practitioner in the T. E. Lawrence brand of fighting, a letter of introduction from David Stirling said of him at the end of this period, He has done well on our raids. Dont be taken in by his rather pompous manner or his slow way of speaking - he is OK, later that year he transferred to the Middle East as part of the Persia and Iraq Command. He was allotted a platoon of Seaforth Highlanders and instructed to kidnap General Fazlollah Zahedi, Maclean captured him and smuggled him out by plane to internment in Palestine. This incident soon led Hitlers government to support from its network in Persia. Churchill chose him to lead a mission to central Yugoslavia in 1943. Josip Broz Tito and his Partisans were emerging as an obstacle to German control of the Balkans. Little was known at the time about Tito, some suspected this was an acronym for a committee or that he might in fact be a young woman, Maclean got to know Tito well, and later produced two biographies of him. Macleans relationship with Titos Partisans was not always easy, partly because they were Communist, while he came from an upper class Scottish background and his biography of Tito reveals the admiration he held for the Yugoslav leader and the Yugoslav Communist-led anti-fascist struggle. He developed an affection for Yugoslavia and its people and was later given permission to buy a house on the Dalmatian island of Korčula
42.
Eastern Approaches
–
Eastern Approaches is an autobiographical account of the early career of Fitzroy Maclean. Maclean was considered to be one of the inspirations for James Bond, and this contains many of the elements, remote travel. The American edition was titled Escape To Adventure, and was published a year later, all place names in this article use the spelling in the book. Fresh out of Cambridge, Maclean joined the Foreign Office and spent a couple of years at the Paris embassy and he loved the pleasures of life in the French capital, but eventually longed for adventure. Against the advice of his friends, he requested a posting to Moscow, travelling within the Soviet Union was frowned upon by the authorities, but Maclean managed to take several trips anyway. In the spring of 1937, he took a trial trip, the Intourist official tried to dissuade him, but he found a ship to take him to Lenkoran, where he witnessed the deportation of several hundred Turko-Tartar peasants to Central Asia. Stuck there for a few days, he bargained for horses with which to explore the countryside and he explained that he held diplomatic immunity, but his captors could not read his Soviet diplomatic pass. Eventually, as the only person literate in Russian, Maclean read out, with expression, and such improvements as occurred to me the contents of his pass. He took an 1856 paddle steamer back to Baku, and then a train on to Tiflis and he caught a truck through the Caucasus mountains, via Mtzkhet, the former capital of Georgia but by then merely a village, to Vladikavkaz, and then a train to Moscow. His second trip, in the autumn of the same year, although he disembarked without warning at Novosibirsk, he acquired an NKVD escort. He travelled on the Turksib Railway south to Biisk, at the foot of the Altai Mountains, on the trains he heard the complaints of the Siberian kolkhozniks and witnessed another mass movement, this time of Koreans to Central Asia. His first main destination was Alma Ata, the capital of the Kazakh republic and he characterised it as one of the pleasantest provincial towns in the Soviet Union and particularly appreciated the apples for which it is famous. From there he took a truck to a village called Talgar and went walking with one of his NKVD escorts, Maclean availed himself of peasant hospitality. He managed to hire a car and made it to Issyk-kul, the lake never freezes. From Tashkent, which then had a reputation for wickedness, he made the final leg to the city of Samarkand. He returned to Moscow with plans for a further trip, Maclean spent the winter working in Moscow and amusing himself at the dacha of American friends, including Chip Bohlen. In March 1938 a show trial was announced, the first such event in over a year. The book goes into detail, spending 40 pages on description and analysis of the trial, its prominent figures and its twists
43.
Arthur Conolly
–
Arthur Conolly was a British intelligence officer, explorer and writer. He was a captain of the 6th Bengal Light Cavalry in the service of the British East India Company, Conolly was a descendant of an Ó Conghalaigh clan of Ireland. He was a cousin of Sir William Macnaghten, Secretary of the Companys Political, as a sixteen-year-old impressionable Cadet he sailed to India on the Grenville and listened to the newly appointed Bishop of Calcutta evangelize. Thereafter Conolly sought to win over Muslims to a view of Christians. In July 1840, in a correspondence with Major Henry Rawlinson who had recently appointed as the political agent in Kandahar, Conolly stated, Youve a great game. The expediency, nay the necessity of them will be seen, often travelling in disguise, he used the name Khan Ali in a word-play on his true name. In late 1829 he left Moscow for the Caucasus and Central Asia, arriving in Herat in September 1830, in 1834 he published an account of his trip, which established his reputation as a traveller and writer. In 1841, in an attempt to counter the growing penetration of Russia into Central Asia, in November 1841 he was captured on a rescue mission to free fellow British officer Lieutenant Colonel Charles Stoddart held in Bukhara. The two were executed by the Emir of Bukhara, Nasrullah Khan on 24 June 1842 on charges of spying for the British Empire and they were both beheaded in the square in front of the Ark Fortress in Bukhara. His brother Lieutenant Henry Valentine Conolly, administrator of Malabar was murdered shortly in present-day Kerala, conollys portrait by James Atkinson is in the British National Portrait Gallery. His 1840-1842 diaries as well as his letters and reports to Sir J. C, hobhouse and William Cabell are in the British Library, his 1839 letters to Viscount Ponsonby are in the Durham University Library. Journey to the North of India through Russia, Persia and Afghanistan-, new Delhi, Laurier Books Ltd, Asian Educational Services,2001, ISBN 81-206-1589-1 Hopkirk, Peter. The Great Game, The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia, tournament of Shadows, The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Asia. Narrative of a mission to Bokhara, in the years 1843-1845, to ascertain the fate of Colonel Stoddart, first and second edition both came out in 1845. Edited and abridged with an introduction by Guy Wint, london, Routledge & K. Paul,1969
44.
Nasrullah Khan (Bukhara)
–
Nasrullah Khan or Nasr-Allah bin Haydar Tora was the Emir of Bukhara. His father was emir Haydar Tora, after Haydars death Hussain bin Haydar Tora came to power. He died two months later and was succeeded by Umar bin Haydar Tora, who in 1827 was succeeded by Nasrullah. Nasr-Allah bin Haydar Tora was ruler in a time when the Central Asian states were under pressure from the advance of Russian Empire to the north, Nasr-Allah bin Haydar Tora organized several unsuccessful military campaigns against the Kokand Khanate. In 1839 he declared war against Kokand due to their building of the Pishagar fort near the Bukhara front and he conquered Khojand twice in 1839 and 1841, forcing the Khan of Kokand into a peace in his favour and took Ura Tepe and Khojend as compensation. The Khan of Kokand was also forced to pay an amount and recognize him as lord, putting his name on the coins. After a revolt in Khujent the Emirs forces occupied Khojent and Kokand, madali Khan, the Khan of Kokand escaped to Marghilan, but was captured and executed in Bukhara at the end of April 1842. Bukharan forces were in Khanate of Kokand were expelled after a revolt in Kokand two months later, Nasr-Allah bin Haydar Tora died in 1860 and his son Muzaffar al-Din bin Nasr-Allah came to power. Fitzroy Maclean, A Person from England and Other Travellers,1958 Fitzroy Maclean, Eastern Approaches, joseph Wolff, Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara, in the years 1843-1845, to ascertain the fate of Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Kazakhstan
Afghanistan
