Encompassing three formerSoviet republics, the valley is ethnically diverse and relations among the countries are tense. Ethnic enclaves, restricted right of movement, lack of agreement about border demarcation and disputes over access to family members and economic activity contribute to tensions.[1]
According to the dates given by Chinese chroniclers the towns are more than 2,100 years old and were at the crossroads ofGreek,Chinese,Bactrian andParthian civilisations. It was home toBabur, founder of theMughal dynasty, tying the region to modernAfghanistan and theIndian subcontinent. TheRussian Empire conquered the valley at the end of the 19th century, and it became part of theSoviet Union in the 1920s. Those three Soviet republics gained independence in 1991. The area largely remainsMuslim, populated by ethnicUzbek,Tajik andKyrgyz people, often intermixed and not matching modern borders. Historically there have also been substantial numbers ofRussian,Kashgarian,Kipchak,Bukharan Jewish andRomani minorities.
Cotton cultivation, initiated by the Soviets, is complemented by a diverse array of grains, fruits, and vegetables. Additionally, the region has a rich heritage in stock breeding, leatherwork, and an expanding mining industry, including deposits ofcoal,iron,sulfur,gypsum,rock-salt,naphtha and some small known oil reserves.
Map of part of southern Central Asia in the 8th century C.E., showing Fergana Valley (here spelled ‘Farghana’, top right)
The Fergana Valley is an intermountain depression in Central Asia, between the mountain systems of theTien Shan in the north and theAlay in the south. The valley is approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) long and up to 70 kilometres (43 mi) wide, forming an area covering 22,000 square kilometres (8,500 sq mi). Its position makes it a separate geographic zone.[2] The valley owes its fertility to two rivers, theNaryn and theKara Darya, which unite in the valley, nearNamangan, to form theSyr Darya. Numerous other tributaries of these rivers exist in the valley including theSokh River. The streams, and their numerous mountain effluents, not only supply water for irrigation, but also bring down vast quantities of sand, which is deposited alongside their courses, more especially alongside the Syr Darya where it cuts its way through theKhujand-Ajar ridge and forms the valley. This expanse ofquicksand, covering an area of 1,900 km2 (750 sq mi), under the influence of south-west winds, encroaches upon the agricultural districts.[3]
The central part of thegeological depression that forms the valley is characterized by blocksubsidence, originally to depths estimated at 6 to 7 kilometres (3.7 to 4.3 mi), largely filled withsediments that range in age as far back as thePermian-Triassic boundary. Some of the sediments are marine carbonates andclays. Thefaults are upthrusts and overthrusts.Anticlines associated with these faults form traps forpetroleum andnatural gas, which has been discovered in 52 smallfields.[4]
The climate of this valley is dry and continental, being mostly acool arid climate (KöppenBWk) or acool semi-arid climate (BSk) in less shielded areas. In March the temperature reaches 20 °C (68 °F), and then rapidly rises to 35 °C (95 °F) in June, July and August. During the five months following April precipitation is rare, but increases in frequency starting in October. Snow and frost, down to −20 °C (−4 °F), occurs in December and January.[3]
As early as 500 BC, the western sections of the Fergana Valley formed part of theSogdiana region, which was ruled from further west and owed fealty to theAchaemenid Empire at the time ofDarius the Great. The independent and warlike Sogdiana[7] formed a border region insulating theAchaemenid Persians from the nomadicScythians to the north and east.[8] It was forcibly settled by exiled Greeks from the Anatolian coast, who had rebelled or otherwise given Persia trouble. Eventually, it had a significant Greek community. The capital of the region was known to the Greeks asCyropolis, named after Cyrus the Great.
TheSogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes, a fortress in Sogdiana, was captured in 327 BC by the forces ofAlexander the Great; after an extended campaign putting down Sogdian resistance and founding military outposts manned by his Greek veterans, Alexander united Sogdiana withBactria into onesatrapy.
The ceremonial gilt bronze finial, Ferghana horse, dates back to the 4th-1st century BCE: a V-shaped symbol of speed and victory.Probable Greek soldier in theSampul tapestry, woollen wall hanging, 3rd-2nd century BC, Sampul,UrumqiXinjiang Museum.
In 329 BC,Alexander the Great founded the city ofAlexandria Eschate "The Furthest", probably renaming Cyropolis. This was in the southwestern part of the Fergana Valley, on the southern bank of the riverSyr Darya (ancient Jaxartes), at the location of the modern city ofKhujand, in the state ofTajikistan. Supplemented by Alexander's veterans, it was later ruled bySeleucids before the secession of Bactria.[citation needed]
The Hellenistic settlements, such as Alexandria Eschate, serve as vibrant examples of cultural and artistic exchanges that occurred following Alexander the Great's conquests. Among the artifacts that highlight this fusion is the Ferghana horse sculpture from the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, dating back to around 4 to 1 BCE.[citation needed]
The Ferghana horse sculpture, a ceremonial gilt bronze finial from the 4th-1st century BCE, exemplifies the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom's artistic synthesis of Greek and Scythian influences. Capturing a horse in the suspension phase of a gallop, the sculpture symbolizes peak speed and power, with its V-shaped leg arrangement echoing Greek symbols of speed and victory. Detailed anatomical features, such as visible ribs and dynamic muscle contractions, showcase a profound understanding of equine biomechanics. The lifelike depiction extends to aerodynamic adaptations like flat ears, a streamlined mane, and a fanned tail, enhancing balance and stability at high speeds. Decorative swirls symbolize the horse's power and celestial nature, reflecting the cultural reverence for horses and the era's craftsmanship. Integrating elements of movement and triumph, this sculpture connects deeply to ancient narratives of success and achievement, offering insights into the historical and artistic context of its time.[citation needed]
After 250 BC, the city probably remained in contact with theGreco-Bactrian Kingdom centered onBactria, especially when the Greco-Bactrian kingEuthydemus extended his control to Sogdiana. There are indications that fromAlexandria Eschate the Greco-Bactrians may have led expeditions as far asKashgar andÜrümqi inChinese Turkestan, leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 220 BC. Several statuettes and representations of Greek soldiers have been found north of theTian Shan, on the doorstep to China, and are today on display in theXinjiang museum atUrumqi (Boardman). Of the Greco-Bactrians, the Greek historianStrabo too writes that:
they extended their empire even as far as theSeres (Chinese) and thePhryni.[9]
The Fergana area, calledDayuan by the Chinese, remained an integral part of theGreco-Bactrian Kingdom until after the time ofDemetrius I of Bactria (c. 120 BC), when confronted with invasions by theYuezhi from the east and theSakasScythians from the south. After 155 BC, the Yuezhi were pushed into Fergana by the alliance of the powerfulXiongnu and the neighboringWusun from the north and east, invaded the [urban civilization]] of theDayuan, eventually settling on the northern bank of theOxus in the region ofTransoxiana in modern-dayTajikistan andUzbekistan, just north of theHellenisticGreco-Bactrian Kingdom. The Greek city ofAlexandria on the Oxus was apparently burnt to the ground by the Yuezhi around 145 BC.[10] Pushed by these twin forces, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom reoriented itself around lands in what is now Afghanistan, while the new invaders were partially assimilated into the Hellenistic culture left in Fergana Valley.
According to theHan dynastyRecords of the Grand Historian orShiji, based on the travels ofZhang Qian and published around 126 BC, the region of Fergana is presented as the country of theDayuan (Ta-Yuan), possibly descendants of Greeks colonists (Dayuan may be a transliteration of "Great Ionians"). The area was renowned for itsHeavenly Horses, which the Chinese tried to obtain from the Dayuan with little success until they wagedwar against them in 104 BC.
The Dayuan were identified by the Chinese as unusual in features, with a sophisticated urban civilization, similar to that of theBactrians andParthians: "The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Fergana (Dayuan) and the possessions of Bactria and Parthia are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China" (Book of the Later Han).
Agricultural activities of the Dayuan reported by Zhang Qian included cultivation of grain and grapes for wine-making.[11] The area of Fergana was thus the theater of the first major interaction between an urbanized culture speakingIndo-European languages and the Chinese civilization, which led to the opening up theSilk Road from the 1st century BC onwards.
Ancient cities ofBactria. Fergana, to the top right, formed a periphery to these less powerful cities and states.
TheKushan Empire formed from the same Yuezhi who had conquered the Hellenistic Fergana. The Kushan spread out in the 1st century AD from the Yuezhi confederation in the territories of ancientBactria on either side of the middle course of theOxus River orAmu Darya in what is now northern Afghanistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.[12] The Kushan conquered most of what is now northern India and Pakistan, driving east through Fergana. Kushan power also consolidated long-distance trade, linking Central Asia to bothHan dynasty China and the Roman Empire in Europe.
The Kushans ruled the area as part of their larger empire until the 3rd century AD, when theZoroastrianPersianSassanid Empire invaded Kushan territory from the southwest. Fergana remained under shifting local and Transoxian rulers thereafter. For periods in the 4th and 5th centuries, the Sassanid Empire directly controlled Transoxiana and Fergana, led by the conquests ofShapur II andKhosrau I against the Kushans and theHephthalite Empire.
Hepthalite rule was ended by theGokturks in mid of 6th century. TheTurkic Khaganates ruled it until the first quarter of 8th century when it was subjugated by the Tang dynasty
The Kingdom of Ferghana was ruled by theIkhshids, who submitted as vassal to the ChineseTang between 659 and 790. It was attacked by the Tibetan Empire in 715.
TheUmayyad Caliphate in 715 deposed the ruler, and installed a new king Alutar on the throne. The Chinese sent 10,000 troops under Zhang Xiaosong to Ferghana. He defeated Alutar and the Arab occupation force at Namangan and reinstalled Ikhshid on the throne.
During the 8th century, Fergana was the location of fierce rivalry betweenTang dynasty China and the expansion of Muslim power. The Umayyads waged several wars against the Sogdian and Turkic population. They were defeated by theTurgesh who came dominated the Ferghana Valley until their defeat by Tang in 750. At the same time, the Abbasids defeated the Umayyads and sent their forces to Central Asia. This was leading to theBattle of Talas in 751, which resulted in a victory for the Abbasids and the disengagement of China from Central Asia. Two antecedent battles in 715 and 717 had seen the Chinese prevail over Arab forces.[13] A series of Arab, Persian, and later Turkic Muslim rulers reigned over the Fergana.
By the time of Ahmad's death in 864 or 865, he was the ruler of most ofTransoxiana,Bukhara andKhwarazm. Samarkand and Fergana went to his son,Nasr I, leading to a series ofSamanid dynasty Muslim rulers of the valley.[14] During demise of Samanids in 10th century, Fergana Valley was conquered byKarakhanids. Eastern part of Fergana later was under suzerenaity ofKarakhitays. Karakhanid rule lasted till 1212, whenKhwarezmshahs conquered the western part of the valley.
Genghis Khan invaded Transoxiana and Fergana in 1219 during his conquest ofKhwarazm. Before his death in 1227, he assigned the lands of Western Central Asia to his second sonChagatai, and this region became known as theChagatai Khanate. But it was not long before Transoxian Turkic leaders ruled the area, along with most of central Asia as fiefs from theGolden Horde of the Mongol Empire. The Fergana became part of a largerTurco-Mongol empire. ThisMongolian nomadic confederation known asBarlas, were remnants of the original Mongol army ofGenghis Khan.[15][16]
After the Mongol conquest of Central Asia, the Barlas settled inTurkistan (which then became also known asMoghulistan - "Land of Mongols") and intermingled to a considerable degree with the localTurkic andTurkic-speaking population, so that at the time of Timur's reign the Barlas had become thoroughly Turkicized in terms of language and habits. Additionally, by adopting Islam, the Central Asian Turks and Mongols also adopted thePersian literary and high culture[17] which had dominated Central Asia since the early days of Islamic influence. Persian literature was instrumental in the assimilation of the Timurid elite to the Perso-Islamic courtly culture.[18]
Heir to one of these confederations,Timur, founder of theTimurid dynasty, added the valley to a newly consolidated empire in the late 14th century, ruling the area fromSamarkand.
Located on theNorthern Silk Road, the Fergana played a significant part in the flowering ofmedieval Central Asian Islam. Its most famous son isBabur, heir to Timur and famous conqueror and founder of theMughal dynasty inMedieval India. Islamic proselytizers from the Fergana Valley such as al-Firghani (الفرغاني), al-Andijani (الأندجاني), al-Namangani (النمنگاني), and al-Khojandi (الخوجندي) spread Islam into parts of present-day Russia, China, and India.[19]
The Fergana valley was ruled by a series of Muslim states in the medieval period. For much of this period local and southwestern rulers divided the valley into a series of small states. From the 16th century, theShaybanid dynasty of theKhanate of Bukhara ruled Fergana, replaced by the Janid dynasty of Bukhara in 1599. In 1709 Shaybanid emir Shahrukh of the MinglarUzbeks declared independence from theKhanate of Bukhara, establishing a state in the eastern part of the Fergana Valley. He built a citadel to be his capital in the small town ofKokand. As theKhanate of Kokand, Kokand was capital of a territory stretching over modern eastern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, southern Kazakhstan and all ofKyrgyzstan.
Fergana was a province ofRussian Turkestan, formed in 1876 out of the formerkhanate ofKokand. It was bounded by the provinces ofSyr-darya in the North and Northwest,Samarkand in the West, andZhetysu in the Northeast, byChinese Turkestan (Kashgaria) in the East, and byBukhara and Afghanistan in the South. Its southern limits, in thePamirs, were fixed by an Anglo-Russian commission in 1885, fromZorkul (Victoria Lake) to the Chinese frontier; andKhignan,Roshan andWakhan were assigned toAfghanistan in exchange for part ofDarvaz (on the left bank of thePanj), which was given toBukhara. The area amounted to some 53,000 km2 (20,463 sq mi), of which 17,600 km2 (6,795 sq mi) are in the Pamirs.[3]
Not all the inhabitants of the area were happy with this state of affairs. In 1898Muhammed Ali Khalfa proclaimed ajihad against the Russians. However, after about 20 Russians had been killed, Khalfa was captured and executed. When the1905 Revolution spread across the Russian Empire, someJadids were active in the Fergana Valley. When the Tsarist regime extended themilitary draft to includeMuslims, this led to a revolt which was far more widespread than that of 1898, and which was not entirely suppressed by the time of theRussian Revolution.[citation needed]
In 1924, the new boundaries separating theUzbek SSR andKyrgyz SSR cut off the eastern end of the Fergana Valley, as well as the slopes surrounding it. This was compounded in 1928 when theTajik ASSR became a fully-fledged republic, and the area aroundKhujand was made a part of it. This blocked the valley's natural outlet and the routes to Samarkand and Bukhara, but none of these borders was of any great significance so long as Soviet rule lasted. The whole region was part of a single economy geared tocotton production on a massive scale, and the overarching political structures meant that crossing borders was not a problem.
With the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the establishment of independent republics, borders have been strongly enforced, though the impact of the new international borders was minor until 1998–2000.[20] Uzbekistan regularly closes its borders with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, strangling trade and causing immense difficulties for those who live in the region.
Communications between the Kyrgyzstan cities ofBishkek andOsh pass through difficult mountainous country. Ethnic tensions also flared intoriots in 1990, most notably in the town ofUzgen, near Osh. There has been no further ethnic violence, and things appeared to have quieted down for several years.[21]
However, the valley is a religiously conservative region which was particularly hard-hit by PresidentKarimov's secularization legislation in Uzbekistan, together with his decision to close the borders with Kyrgyzstan in 2003. This devastated the local economy by preventing the importation of cheap Chinese consumer goods. The deposition ofAskar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan in April 2005, coupled with the arrest of a group of prominent local businessmen brought underlying tensions to a head in the region aroundAndijan andQorasuv during theMay 2005 unrest in Uzbekistan in which hundreds of protestors were killed by troops. There was violence again in 2010 in the Kyrgyz part of the valley, heated by ethnic tensions, worsening economic conditions due to the global economic crisis, and political conflict over the ouster of Kyrgyz PresidentKurmanbek Bakiyev in April 2010. In June 2010, about 200 people have been reported to be killed during clashes inOsh andJalal-Abad, and 2000 more were injured.[22] Between 100,000 and 300,000 refugees, predominantly of Uzbek ethnic origin, attempted to flee to Uzbekistan, causing a major humanitarian crisis.[citation needed]
Confluence of Naryn and Kara Darya seen from space (false color). Many irrigated agricultural fields can be seen.
InTsarist times, out of some 1,200,000 ha (3,000,000 acres) of cultivated land, about two thirds were under constant irrigation and the remaining third under partial irrigation. The soil was considered by the authors of the article in theEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition to be admirably cultivated, the principal crops having been cotton,wheat,rice,barley,maize,millet,lucerne,tobacco, vegetables and fruit. Gardening was conducted with a high degree of skill and success. Large numbers of horses, cattle and sheep were kept, and a good many camels are bred. Over 6,900 ha (17,000 acres) were planted withvines, and some 140,000 ha (350,000 acres) were undercotton.[3]
Nearly 400,000 ha (1,000,000 acres) were covered with forests. The government maintained a forestry farm atMarghelan, from which 120,000 to 200,000 young trees were distributed free every year amongst the inhabitants of the province.Silkworm breeding, formerly a prosperous industry, had decayed, despite the encouragement of a state farm at New Marghelan.[3]
Coal,iron,sulfur,gypsum,rock-salt, andnaphtha are all known to exist, but only the last two have ever been extracted in significant quantities. In the late 19th century there were a few smalloil wells in Fergana, but these no longer function. In the Tsarist period the only industrial enterprises were some seventy or eighty factories engaged in cotton cleaning. Leather, saddlery, paper and cutlery were the principal products of the domestic or cottage industries.[24] This was not greatly added to in Soviet times, when industrialisation was concentrated in the cities ofSamarkand andBukhara.[citation needed]
Historically the Fergana Valley was an important staging-post on theSilk Road for goods and people traveling from China to the Middle East and Europe. After crossing the passes fromKashgar in Xinjiang, traders would have found welcome relief in the fertile abundance of Fergana, as well as the possibility of purchasing further high-quality silk manufactured inMargilan.
The most famous export from the region were the 'blood-sweating'Heavenly Horses which captured the imagination of the Chinese during the Han dynasty, but in fact these were almost certainly bred on the Steppe, either west ofBukhara or north ofTashkent, and merely brought to Fergana for sale. In the 19th century, a considerable trade carried on with Russia: raw cotton, rawsilk, tobacco, hides, sheepskins, fruit and cotton and leather goods were exported, and manufactured wares, textiles,tea andsugar were imported and in part re-exported to Kashgaria and Bukhara. The total trade of Fergana reached an annual value of nearly £3.5 million in 1911.[25] Nowadays it suffers from the same depression that affects all trade that either originates in or has to pass through Uzbekistan. The only significant international export is cotton, although theDaewoo plant in Andijan sends cars all over Uzbekistan.[citation needed]
Until the late 19th century, Fergana, like everywhere else in Central Asia, was dependent on the camel, horse and donkey for transport, while roads were few and bad. The Russians built atrakt or post-road linking Andijan, Kokand, Margilan andKhujand with Samarkand and Tashkent in the early 1870s. A new impulse was given to trade by the extension (1898) of theTranscaspian railway into Fergana as far as Andijan, and by the opening of theOrenburg-Tashkent orTrans-Aral Railway in (1906).[3]
Until Soviet times and the construction of thePamir Highway fromOsh toKhorog in the 1920s the routes to Kashgaria and the Pamirs were mere bridle-paths over the mountains, crossing them by loftypasses. For instance, the passes ofKara-kazyk, 4,389 m (14,400 ft) andTenghiz-bai 3,413 m (11,200 ft), both passable all the year round, lead from Marghelan toKarateghin and the Pamirs, whileKashgar is reached viaOsh andGulcha, and then over the passes ofTerek-davan, 3,720 m (12,205 ft); (open all the year round),Taldyk, 3,505 m (11,500 ft),Archat, 3,536 m (11,600 ft), andShart-davan, 4,267 m (14,000 ft). Other passes leading out of the valley are theJiptyk, 3,798 m (12,460 ft), S. ofKokand; theIsfairam, 3,657 m (12,000 ft), leading to the glen of theSurkhab, and theKavuk, 3,962 m (13,000 ft), across the Alai Mountains.[25]
TheAngren-Pap railway line was completed in 2016 (together with theKamchiq Tunnel), giving the region a direct railroad connection to the rest of Uzbekistan.
The information contained in theEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911) gives the full information from the 1897 census, the only one held in the Russian Empire before 1917, and helps illuminate a situation rendered obscure by the vagaries of Soviet Nationalities policy in the 1920s and 1930s. The population numbered 1,571,243 in 1897, and of that number 707,132 were women and 286,369 were urban.[25]
The population was estimated at 1,796,500 in 1906; two-thirds wereSarts andUzbek. They lived mostly in the valley, while the mountain slopes above it were occupied byKyrgyz, partlynomadic and pastoral, partly agricultural and settled. The other nations wereKashgarians,Kipchaks,Bukharan Jews andRomani. The governing class was primarily Russian, who also constituted much of the merchants and industrial working class. However, another merchant class inWest Turkestan were commonly known as theAndijanis, from the town ofAndijan in Fergana. The majority of the population were Muslims (1,039,115 in 1897).[25]
The divisions revealed by the1897 census, between a largely Tajik-speaking area around Khuhand, hill-regions populated byKyrgyz and a settled, population in the main body of the valley, roughly reflect the borders as drawn after 1924. One exception is the town ofOsh, which had a majority Uzbek population but ended up inKyrgyzstan.
The one significant element that is missing when looking at modern accounts of the region are the Sarts. This term Sart was abolished by the Soviets as derogatory, but in fact there was a clear distinction between long-settled,Persianised Turkic peoples, speaking a form ofQarluq Turkic that is very close toUyghur, and those who called themselvesUzbeks, who were aKipchak tribe speaking a Turkic dialect much closer toKazakh, who arrived in the region withShaibani Khan in the mid-16th century.[citation needed] That this difference existed and was felt in Fergana is attested to inTimur Beisembiev's recent translation of theLife of Alimqul (London, 2003).[citation needed] There were few Kipchak-Uzbeks in Fergana, although they had at various times held political power in the region. In 1924, however, Soviet policy decreed that all settled Turks in Central Asia would thenceforth be known as "Uzbeks," (although the language chosen for the new Republic was not Kipchak but Qarluq) and the Fergana Valley is now seen as an Uzbek heartland.[citation needed]
In 1911, the province was divided into five districts, the chief towns of which wereFergana, capital of the province (8,977 inhabitants in 1897);Andijan (49,682 in 1900);Kokand (86,704 in 1900);Namangan (61,906 in 1897); andOsh (37,397 in 1900); butOld Marghelan (42,855 in 1900) andChust (13,686 in 1897) were also towns of importance.[25]
The Valley is now divided between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In Tajikistan it is part ofSoghd Region orvilayat, with the capital atKhujand. In Uzbekistan it is divided between theNamangan,Andijan andFerganaviloyati, while in Kyrgyzstan it contains parts ofBatken,Jalal-abad andOsh oblasts, with Osh being the main town for the southern part of the country.[citation needed]
Notes: 1). The bulk of the population of every region lies in the valley, despite the land area. 2). Population references for 2014 by respective national agencies. (Kyrghyz)[27] (Uzbek),[28] (Tajik 2013)[29]
The most complicated border negotiations in the Central Asia region involve the Fergana Valley where multiple enclaves struggle to exist. Three countries share in the tangled border region; Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan all have historic and economic claims to the region's transport routes and natural resources. Negotiations between the three countries are often tense and are prone to conflict.[30]
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, border negotiations left substantial Uzbek populations stranded outside of Uzbekistan. In south-western Kyrgyzstan, aconflict over land between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks exploded in 1990 into large-scaleethnic violence; the violencereoccurring in 2010. By establishing political units on a mono-ethnic basis in a region where various peoples have historically lived side by side, the Soviet process of national delimitation sowed the seeds of today's inter-ethnic tensions.[31]
Conflicts over water have contributed to border disputes. For instance, the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan inJalal-Abad Region is kept open in a limited way to help irrigation, however inter-ethnic disputes in border regions often turn into national border disputes. Even during the summer there are border conflicts over water, as there is not enough to share.[32]
^Independent Sogdiana: Lane Fox (1973, 1986:533) notesQuintus Curtius, vi.3.9: with no satrap to rule them, they were under the command ofBessus atGaugamela, according toArrian, iii.8.3.
^"The province of Sogdia was to Asia what Macedonia was to Greece: a buffer between a brittle civilization and the restless barbarians beyond, whether the Scyths of Alexander's day and later or theWhite Huns, Turks and Mongols who eventually poured south to wreck the thin veneer of Iranian society" (Robin Lane Fox,Alexander the Great (1973) 1986:301).
^Bernard, P. (1994a): "Alexander and his successors in Central Asia." In:History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250, pp. 88–97. Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.
^Hill, John E. (2009).Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, First to Second Centuries CE. BookSurge.ISBN978-1-4392-2134-1. pp. 29, 318–350
^Shouyi Bai et al. (2003).A History of Chinese Muslim (Vol.2). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.ISBN7-101-02890-X.
^B. Spuler, "Central Asia in the Mongol and Timurid periods", published inEncyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition, 2006/7, (LINK):"... Like his father, Olōğ Beg was entirely integrated into the Persian Islamic cultural circles, and during his reign Persian predominated as the language of high culture, a status that it retained in the region of Samarqand until the Russian revolution 1917 [...] Ḥoseyn Bāyqarā encouraged the development of Persian literature and literary talent in every way possible ..."
^David J. Roxburgh. The Persian Album, 1400-1600: From Dispersal to Collection. Yale University Press, 2005. pg 130: "Persian literature, especially poetry, occupied a central in the process of assimilation of Timurid elite to the Perso-Islamicate courtly culture, and so it is not surprising to find Baysanghur commissioned a new edition of Firdawsi's Shanama
^Rashid, Ahmed. (2002).Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia. New York: Yale University Press
^"For ethnography in political geography: Experiencing and re-imagining Ferghana Valley boundary closures".Political Geography:6222–640. 2006.
^Weisbrode, K. (2001)Central Eurasia -- Prize or Quicksand? Oxford University Press, pp 46-48.
"Sart".Encyclopaedia of Islam Vol. IV S-Z (Leiden & London), 1934
«Фергана».Работы по Исторической Географии (Moscow), 2002. pp. 527–539. (Also available in English in Vol. II of the original edition of theEncyclopaedia of Islam.)
Other authors:
Rahmon Nabiyev,Из История Кокандского Ханства (Феодальное Хозяйство Худояр-Хана),Tashkent, 1973
Beisembiev T.K. "Ta'rikh-i SHakhrukhi" kak istoricheskii istochnik. Alma Ata: Nauka, 1987. 200 p. Summaries in English and French.
S. Soodanbekov,Общественный и Государственный Строй Кокандского Ханства,Bishkek, 2000
Beisembiev T. K. Kokandskaia istoriografiia : Issledovanie po istochnikovedeniiu Srednei Azii XVIII-XIX vekov. Almaty, TOO "PrintS", 2009, 1263 pp.,ISBN9965-482-84-5.
Beisembiev T. "Annotated indices to the Kokand Chronicles". Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Studia Culturae Islamica. № 91, 2008, 889 pp.,ISBN978-4-86337-001-2.
Beisembiev T. "The Life of Alimqul: A Native Chronicle of Nineteenth Century Central Asia". Published 2003. Routledge (UK), 280 pages,ISBN0-7007-1114-7.
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