A History of Inner Asia

by Svat Soucek

• ISBN13: 9780521657044
• ISBN10: 0521657040
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Svat Soucek’s book offers a short and accessible introduction to the history of Inner Asia. The narrative, which begins with the arrival of Islam, charts the rise and fall of the different dynasties right up to the Russian conquest. Dynastic tables and maps augment and elucidate the text. The contemporary focus rests on the seven countries which make up the core of present-day Eurasia, that is Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Sinkiang and Mongolia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, renewed interest in these countries has prompted considerable political, cultural, economic and religious debate. While a divergent literature has evolved in consequence, no comprehensive survey of the region has been attempted. Soucek’s history promises to fill this gap and to become an indispensable source of information for anyone studying or visiting the region.

Table of Contents

List of maps	vii
Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(45)
The beginnings	46	(5)
The Kok Turks, the Chinese expansion, and the Arab conquest	51	(19)
The Samanids	70	(7)
The Uighur kingdom of Qocho	77	(6)
The Qarakhanids	83	(10)
Seljukids and Ghaznavids	93	(10)
The conquering Mongols	103	(14)
The Chaghatayids	117	(6)
Timur and the Timurids	123	(21)
The last Timurids and the first Uzbeks	144	(5)
The Shaybanids	149	(13)
The rise of Russia, the fall of the Golden Horde, and the resilient Chaghatayids	162	(5)
The Buddhist Mongols	167	(10)
Bukhara, Khiva, and Khoqand in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries	177	(18)
The Russian conquest and rule of Central Asia	195	(14)
From Governorates-General to Union Republics	209	(16)
Soviet Central Asia	225	(29)
Central Asia becomes independent	254	(9)
Sinkiang as part of China	263	(12)
Independent Central Asian Republics	275	(22)
The Republic of Mongolia	297	(19)
Summary and conclusion	303	(13)
Appendix 1: Dynastic tables	316	(14)
Appendix 2: Country data	330	(11)
Select bibliography	341	(19)
Index	360