Muslim rule over Transoxania was consolidated a decade later when a Chinese-led army was defeated at the Battle of Talas in 751
Category: Fergana Valley
Khanate of Kokand
The Khanate of Kokand (sometimes spelled Khoqand) was a Central Asian state in Fergana Valley that existed from 1709–1876 within the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan, eastern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and southeastern Kazakhstan. Kokand is located in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southwestern edge of the Fergana Valley. It is the main transportation junction in the Fergana Valley and has a population of about 200,000 . The city lies… Continue reading Khanate of Kokand
Russian Conquest of Central Asia
The Russian Conquest of Central Asia took place in the second half of the nineteenth century. The land that became Russian Turkestan and later Soviet Central Asia is now divided between Kazakhstan in the north, Uzbekistan across the center, Kyrgyzstan in the east, Tajikistan in the southeast and Turkmenistan in the southwest. The area was called Turkestan because most of its inhabitants spoke Turkic languages with the exception of Tajikistan, which speaks an Iranian language.
Bronze Age in Central Asia
Evidence of wheat, copper and millet gives clues to the first connections between West and East were made in the Bronze Age and archaeologists are finding clues of the specific routes that were taken. A current best guess is for a steppe connection at the beginning of the third millennium BC (3000 BCE) and a ‘silk road’ connection at the end of the 3rd millennium (2000 BCE). However, a much earlier connection (the sixth millennium BC) is still arguable
Babur
Babur (1483-1530) was the ultimate founder and first Emperor of the Mughal dynasty in the Indian subcontinent. He was a direct descendant of Emperor Tamerlane the Great (Timur) from what is now Uzbekistan. Babur was born in Andijan, today in Uzbekistan and ruled the Fergana Valley from nearby Osh . He pondered his future on Salaiman Mountain atop which he constructed a mosque and concluded that the confines of the Fergana would cramp his aspirations as a descendant of famous conquering warrior princes.