Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Alexander the Great
In 330 BC Alexander the Great, a former pupil of Aristotle, from Mac-
edonia, led his army to a key victory over the last Achaemenid emperor,
Darius III, in Mesopotamia. With the defeat of his Persian nemesis,
Alexander (356-323 BC) developed a taste for conquest. In 329 BC,
aged 28, he reached Bactria, crossed the Oxus (Amu-Darya) on in-
flated hides and proceeded via Cyropol/Cyropolis (Istaravshan) and
Marakanda (Samarkand) towards the Jaxartes (Syr-Darya), which he
crossed in order to crush Saka defenders. Perhaps in celebration he
founded his ninth city, Alexandria Eskhate (Farthest Alexandria), on
the banks of the Jaxartes, where today's Khojand stands.
Alexander met the most stubborn resistance of his career in the Sog-
dians, who in concert with the Massagetes, a Scythian clan, revolted
and under the leadership of Spitamenes held the mountains of Zeraf-
shan until 328 BC. After an 18-month guerrilla war, the rebels' fall was
a poignant one: attacked and defeated after Greek troops scaled the
cliffs of their last redoubt, the 'Rock of Sogdiana' (its location today
Central Asia
is strewn with
ancient petro-
glyphs, some of
the best of which
can be visited at
Saimaluu Tash
in Kyrgyzstan
and Tamgaly in
southeastern
Kazakhstan, the
latter a Unesco
World Heritage
Site.
EURASIA'S NOMADIC EMPIRES
The vat teppes of Central Asia and Mongolia were the heartland of one of this planet's
mot formidable and successful forms of tatehood, the nomadic empire. The domes-
tication of the horse in northern Eurasia 5000 years ago, and the subsequent inven-
tions of the saddle and war chariot by the Scythians a millennium later, gave Eurasian
nomads an early technological edge. Stirrups in particular allowed them to ire their
powerful composite bows in all directions from horseback. The Eurasian grasslands fed
horses by the millions, allowing mounted archers to become the untoppable acme of
open-ground warfare for more than 2500 years. It is etimated that Mongol troops had
access to half the world's horses during their invasions.
Accounts of nomads by settled communities are notoriously negative, painting them
as rampaging barbarians but in fact many nomads lived a comfortable and sophiti-
cated life. Leaders lined their fur cloaks with silk derived from the horse trade with
China and made extensive use of richly cat gold jewellery and animal-shaped totems.
Kazakhtan's famous Golden Man; see p62 for more information; a high-ranking Saka
warrior or priet (and mot likely a woman) was buried with more than 4000 gold
objects. Some hitorians even credit Eurasian nomads with the invention of bowed mu-
sical intruments through their horsehair-tringed
qobuz
.
It was only the introduction of gunpowder-based weapons in the 15th century that
turned the tide back towards the settled fortiied cities. It was a technological change
that marked the end of Eurasia's great nomadic empires.
2000 BC
During the second
millennium BC, the
Amu-Darya (Oxus) river
changes low, draining
north into the Aral
Sea, instead of west
to the Caspian Sea.
The resulting Khorezm
delta becomes a major
centre of development.
329-327 BC
Alexander the Great
campaigns in Central
Asia, founding Khojent
(in modern Tajikistan),
conquering Marakanda
(Samarkand) and
marrying the Bactrian
princess Roxana.
300 BC
Parthians rule Iran and
southern Central Asia
from 300 BC to 200
AD, building their irst
capital at Nissa in Turk-
menistan. Theirs is one
of the three greatest
empires in the world
and rivals Rome.
138-119 BC
First Chinese
diplomatic mission
to Central Asia under
Zhang Qian visits the
Pamir Alai and Fergana
Valley and brings back
reports of Central
Asia's 'heavenly horses'
and a far-of kingdom
called Daqin (Rome).
