Everything about Turkistan totally explained
Turkestan (; also spelled
Turkistan or
Türkistan in
Turkish, which literally means "Land of the Turks" in Persian) is a region in
Central Asia, which today is largely inhabited by
Turkic peoples. It has been referenced in many Turkic and Persian sagas and is an integral part of
Turan (though Turan dwarfs Turkestan in area).
Oghuz Turks (also known as
Turkmens),
Uzbeks,
Kazakhs,
Khazars,
Kyrgyz and
Uygurs are some of the Turkic inhabitants of the region who, as history progressed, have spread further into Eurasia forming such Turkic nations as
Turkey,
Azerbaijan and
Russian Tatarstan.
Tajiks and
Russians form sizable non-Turkic minorities.
It is subdivided into
Afghan Turkestan,
Russian Turkestan and
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also known as Chinese Turkestan,
East Turkestan or Uyghuristan) in
PR China. The
Tian Shan and
Pamir ranges form a rough division between the latter two.
History
Turkestan has a rich history, dating back to the
third millennium BC. Many
artifacts were produced in that period, and much
trade was conducted. The region was a focal point for
cultural diffusion, as the
Silk Road traversed it.
Turkestan covers the area of
Central Asia that corresponded to eastern
Scythia,
Transoxania and
Greater Khorasan in Antiquity, and acquired its "Turkic" character from the 4th to 6th centuries AD with the incipient
Turkic expansion.
Turkic Sagas, such as the
Ergenekon, and written sources such as the
Orkhon Inscriptions state that Turkic peoples originated in the nearby
Altay Mountains, and, through nomadic settlement, started their long journey westwards.
Successive external powers have held the region.
Greeks, under
Alexander the Great, held the area from
327 BC to
150 BC.
Huns conquered the area after they conquered
Kashgaria in the early
2nd century BC. With the dissolution of the Huns' empire,
Chinese rulers took over Eastern Turkestan.
Arab forces captured it in the
8th century. The
Persian Samanid dynasty subsequently conquered it and the area experienced economic success
.
The entire territory was held at various times by Turkic forces, such as the
Göktürks until the conquest by
Genghis Khan and the
Mongols in
1220. Khan gave the territory to his son,
Chagatai and the area became the
Chagatai Khanate.
Tamerlane took over the area in 1369 and the area became the
Timurid Empire.
Overview
Known as
Turan to
Iranians, western Turkestan has also been known historically as
Sogdiana,
Ma wara'u'n-nahr (by its
Arab conquerors), and
Transoxiana by Western travellers. The latter two names refer to its position beyond the River
Oxus when approached from the south, emphasizing Turkestan's long-standing relationship with
Iran, the
Persian Empires and the
Umayyad and
Abbasid Caliphates.
Russian and Chinese influence
The region became part of the
Russian Empire in the
1860s, and is thus sometimes called
Russian Turkestan or the Туркестанский Край (
Turkestanskii Krai). After the
Russian Revolution, a
Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the
Soviet Union was created, which was eventually split into the
Kazakh SSR (
Kazakhstan),
Kyrgyz SSR (
Kyrgyzstan),
Tajik SSR (
Tajikistan),
Turkmen SSR (
Turkmenistan) and
Uzbek SSR (
Uzbekistan). After the
collapse of the Soviet Union, these republics gained their independence.
Eastern Turkestan, also known as Chinese Turkestan, was called the
Western Regions in Chinese historic records. Turkestan experienced Chinese influence long before Russian influence. The first Chinese military campaigns in Turkestan dates to the
Battle of Loulan in the 2nd century BC. From then on, Turkestan was alternately controlled by the Chinese and/or other nomads like the
Tujue. The
Protectorate of the Western Regions and the
Anxi Protectorate were areas of Chinese rule. Turkic peoples, such as
Uyghurs started to settle in Turkestan from the
8th century on. It was conquered by the
Qing Dynasty in the mid-
18th century and was named 新疆,
Xinjiang (
Postal spelling:
Sinkiang), meaning
new frontier. It was taken over by the
Republic of China and then the
People's Republic of China by which it's now administered as the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region .
A summary of Classical sources on the
Seres (
Greek and
Roman name of China) (essentially
Pliny and
Ptolemy) gives the following account:
The region of the Seres is a vast and populous country, touching on the east the Ocean and the limits of the habitable world, and extending west nearly to [[Pamir Mountains |
Things Turkestan has given its name to
The
Turkestan Shrike, a bird, is named after this region.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Turkistan'.
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