Muslim conquest of Transoxiana
The Muslim conquest of Transoxiana or Arab conquest of Transoxiana were the 7th and 8th century conquests, by Umayyad and Abbasid Arabs, of Transoxiana, the land between the Oxus and Jaxartes rivers, a part of Central Asia that today includes all or parts of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Arabs besieging the city of Samarkand, captured in 722 AD. Palace of Devastich (706-722 AD), Penjikent mural.
Horseman mural from Mount Mugh, circa 700 AD. Hermitage Museum
Ayaz Kala, a fortress of Khwarizm (6th to 8th century AD)
Male bust from Tokharistan, 7th/8th century AD
Transoxiana or Transoxania is the Latin name for the region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Turkmenistan and southern Kyrgyzstan. The name was first coined by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC when Alexander's troops were able to conquer the region. The region may have had a similar Greek name in the days of Alexander the Great, but the earlier Greek name is no longer known. Geographically, it is the region between the rivers Amu Darya to its south and the Syr Darya to its north.
A Chinese sancai ceramic statuette depicting a Sogdian stableman, dated to the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE)