History - Central Asia - page 408

The mixing of the western Turks' nomadic ruling class with the sed-
entary Sogdian elite over the next few centuries produced a remarkable
ethnic mix and beautiful artwork in Sogdian cities such as Penjikent,
Afrosiab (Samarkand) and Varakhsha (near Bukhara), much of which is
still visible in museums across the region.

The Arrival of Islam
When the western Turks faded in the late 7th century, an altogether new
and formidable power was waiting to fill the void - the army of Islam.
Exploding out of Arabia just a few years after the Prophet Mohammed's
death, the Muslim armies rolled through Persia in 642 to set up a military
base at Merv (modern Turkmenistan) but met stiff resistance from the
Turks of Transoxiana. The power struggle to control the lands between
the Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya ebbed and flowed but Arab armies under
the brilliant General Qutaybah ibn Muslim gradually gained ground, tak-
ing Bukhara in 709 and Samarkand three years later.
China, meanwhile, had revived under the Tang dynasty and expanded
into Central Asia, murdering the khan of the Tashkent Turks as it flexed
its imperial muscles. It was perhaps the most costly incident of skuldug-
gery in Chinese history. The enraged Turks were joined by the opportun-
istic Arabs and Tibetans; in 751 they squeezed the Chinese forces into
the Talas Valley (in present-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) and sent
them flying back across the Tian Shan, marking the outer limits of the
Chinese empire for good.
After the Battle of Talas, the Arab's Central Asian territories receded in
the wake of local rebellions. By the 9th century, Transoxiana (now known
by the Arabic name Mawarannahr, or the 'Land Beyond the River') had
given rise to the peaceful and affluent Samanid dynasty. It generously
encouraged development of Persian culture while remaining strictly al-
lied with the Sunni caliph of Baghdad. It was under the Samanids that
Bukhara grew into a vanguard of Muslim culture to rival Baghdad, Cairo
and Cordoba, garnering it the epithet 'The Pillar of Islam'. Some of the Is-
lamic world's best scholars were nurtured in the city's 113 medressas and
the famous library of Bukhara shone as one of the world's great centres
of intellectual development.
Samanid Central Asia produced some of history's most important sci-
entists, as well as great writers like court poet Rudaki. Bukharan native
and court physician Abu Ali ibn-Sina (Latinised as Avicenna) was the
greatest medic in the medieval world, while Al-Biruni, from Khorezm,
was the world's foremost astronomer of his age. Confused schoolchildren
around the world can thank mathematician Al-Khorezmi (Latinised as
Algorismi) for the introduction of algebra ( Al-Jebr was the title of one of
his mathematical works).

Before the arrival
of Islam, Central
Asia sheltered
pockets of
Zoroastrianism,
Manichaeism,
Judaism, Nesto-
rian Christianity
and Buddhism. In
the 8th century
there were even
Nestorian
bishoprics in
Herat, Samarkand
and Merv.

For more on the
Mongols see the
excellent book
Storm from the
East, by Robert
Marshall.

747
Chinese army battles
Tibetans in the Wakhan
Valley of the high
Pamirs in an attempt
to regain control of the
Silk Road.

787-850
life of Central Asian
mathematician Al-
Khorezmi (latinised as
Algorismi), who gave
his name to the math-
ematical process called
an algorithm. The title
of his mathematical
work, Al-Jebr , reaches
Europe as 'algebra'.

819-1005
The heyday of the
Samanid dynasty in
Bukhara. Its greatest
ruler, Ismail Samani,
is buried in a beautiful
tomb in Bukhara
and is celebrated as
Tajikistan's founding
father.

858-941
life of Rudaki, court
poet of the Samanids,
born near modern
Penjikent in Tajikistan
and considered to be
the founder of Tajik/
Persian literature.