Throughout history, the area has been conquered and reconquered by several different groups and countries, including the Huns, the Chinese, Arab forces, the Persian Empire, various Turkic forces, and the Mongols. The Qara Khitai also included the majority of Turkestan's land.
Overview
Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turkestan has also been known historically as Sogdia, "Ma wara'u'n-nahr" (by its Arab conquerors), and Transoxiana by western travelers. 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 AbbasidCaliphates.
Of Persian origin (see -stan), the term "Turkestan" (ترکستان) had historically never referred to a single nation state.[4] Persian geographers first used the word to describe the place where Turkic peoples lived.[5][4] According to ethnographer Dávid Somfai Kara, prior to the Russian conquest, Turkestan historically referred only to the western portion of Central Asia:[6]
The Eastern part of Central Asia (inhabited by nomads of the Tien Shan Mountains and settled peoples of the Tarim Basin) was called Moghulistan (“Mongol land”). The Western part (inhabited by nomads of Syr-darya and settled peoples of Khwarazm) was called Turkestan (Turk land), although they were both inhabited by linguistically Turkic ethnic groups. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the term Turkestan was also applied to Ferghana and Mawara-an-nahr by the Russians.
In 1969, a Turfanian document from 639 CE was found in the Astana district of Turpan, which recorded Sogdian sale contract of a female slave from the period of the Gaochang kingdom under the rule of Qu clan and mentioned the Sogdian word "twrkstn", which may have referred to the lands to the east and north of Syr Darya in the realm of the First Turkic Khaganate.[8]: 14, 15
In 2024, Turkish Ministry of Education changed the term 'Central Asia' (Turkish: Orta Asya) to 'Turkestan' (Turkish: Türkistan) in history textbooks.[9][10]
The history of the Central Asian region that was later called Turkestan dates back to at least the third millennium BC. Many artifacts were produced in that period, with much trade being conducted. The region was a focal point for cultural diffusion, as the Silk Road traversed it.
Turkic sagas, such as the "Ergenekon" legend, and written sources, such as the Orkhon Inscriptions, in the 8th century AD, state that Turkic peoples originated in the nearby Altai Mountains, and, through nomadic settlement, started their long journey westwards.
Much earlier than the Gokturks or their Orkhon Inscriptions, other groups such as the 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 Central Asia, which was centuries later also called Turkestan. Arab forces captured it in the 8th century. The PersianSamanid dynasty subsequently conquered it and the area experienced economic success.[11] 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. Genghis Khan gave the territory to his son Chagatai and the area became the Chagatai Khanate.[11]Timur took over the western portion of Turkestan in 1369, and the area became part of the Timurid Empire.[11] The eastern portion of Turkestan was also called Moghulistan and continued to be ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan.
After the fall of the Tang dynasty, various dynasties of non-Han ethnic origins gained prestige by portraying themselves as the legitimate dynasty of China. Qara Khitai monarchs used the title of "Chinese emperor",[13][14] and were also called the "Khan of Chīn".[15] The Qara Khitai used the "image of China" to legitimize their rule to the Central Asians. The Chinese emperor, together with the rulers of the Turks, Arabs, India and the Byzantine Romans, were known to Islamic writers as the world's "five great kings".[16] Qara Khitai kept the trappings of a Chinese state, such as Chinese coins, Chinese imperial titles, the Chinese writing system, tablets, seals, and used Chinese products like porcelain, mirrors, jade and other Chinese customs. The adherence to Liao Chinese traditions has been suggested as a reason why the Qara Khitai did not convert to Islam.[17] Despite the Chinese trappings, there were comparatively few Han Chinese among the population of the Qara Khitai.[18] These Han Chinese had lived in Kedun [zh] during the Liao dynasty,[19] and in 1124 migrated with the Khitans under Yelü Dashi along with other people of Kedun, such as the Bohai, Jurchen, and Mongol tribes, as well as other Khitans in addition to the Xiao consort clan.[20]
Qara Khitai's rule over the Muslim-majority Central Asia has the effect of reinforcing the view among some Muslim writers that Central Asia was linked to China even though the Tang dynasty had lost control of the region a few hundred years ago. Marwazī wrote that Transoxiana was a former part of China,[21] while Fakhr al-Dīn Mubārak Shāh defined China as part of "Turkestan", and the cities of Balāsāghūn and Kashghar were considered part of China.[22]
The association of Khitai with China meant that the most enduring trace of the Khitan's power is names that are derived from it, such as Cathay, which is the medieval Latin appellation for China. Names derived from Khitai are still current in modern usage, such as the Russian, Bulgarian, Uzbek and Mongolian names for China.[23] However, the use of the name Khitai to mean "China" or "Chinese" by Turkic speakers within China, such as the Uyghurs, is considered pejorative by the Chinese authorities, who tried to ban it.[24]
^ abClewell, Gladys D.; Thompson, Holland. Lands and Peoples: The world in color. Vol. 3. p. 163. Never a single nation, the name Turkestan means simply the place of Turkish peoples.
^ ab"Soviet Affairs Study Group". Central Asian Review. 16. London, England, St. Antony's College (University of Oxford): Central Asian Research Centre: 3. The name Turkestan is of Persian origin and was apparently first used by Persian geographers to describe "the country of the Turks". The Russian Empire revived the word as a convenient name for the governorate-general established in 1867 (Туркестанское генерал-губернаторство); the terms Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, etc., came into use only after 1924.
^Meakin, Annette M. B. (1903). In Russian Turkestan: a garden of Asia and its people. p. 44. On their way southward from Siberia in 1864, the Russians took it, and many writers affirm that mistaking its name for that of the entire region, they adopted the appellation of "Turkestan" for their new territory. Up to that time, they assure us Khanates of Bokhara, Khiva and Kokand were known by these names alone.
1These are traditional areas of settlement; the Turkic group has been living in the listed country/region for centuries and should not be confused with modern diasporas. 2State with limited international recognition.