Khwarazm has been known also asChorasmia,Khaurism,[3]Khwarezm,Khwarezmia,Khwarizm,Khwarazm,Khorezm,[4]Khoresm,Khorasam,Kharazm,Harezm,Horezm, andChorezm.[5]
The Arab geographerYaqut al-Hamawi in hisMuʿǧam al-Buldan wrote that the name was a Persian compound ofkhwar (خوار), andrazm (رزم), referring to the abundance of cooked fish as a main diet of the peoples of this area.[6]
C.E. Bosworth, however, believed the Persian name to be made up ofxor (خور 'the sun') andzam (زم 'earth, land'), designating 'the land from which the sun rises',[7] although a similar etymology is also given forKhurasan. Another view is that the Iranian compound stands for 'lowland' fromkh(w)ar 'low' andzam 'land'.[5] Khwarazm is indeed the lowest region in Central Asia (except for theCaspian Sea to the far west), located on the delta of theAmu Darya on the southern shores of theAral Sea. Various forms ofkhwar/khar/khor/hor are commonly used in thePersian Gulf to stand for tidal flats, marshland, or tidal bays (e.g.,Khor Musa,Khor Abdallah,Hor al-Azim,Hor al-Himar, etc.)[citation needed]
The name also appears inAchaemenid inscriptions asHuvarazmish, which is declared to be part of thePersian Empire.
Some of the early scholars believed Khwarazm to be what ancientAvestic texts refer to asAiryanem Vaejah (Airyanəm Vaēǰah; laterMiddle PersianĒrān-wēz).[8] These sources claim thatOld Urgench, which was the capital of ancient Khwarazm for many years, was actually Ourva, the eighth land ofAhura Mazda mentioned in thePahlavi text ofVendidad.[9] However,Michael Witzel, a researcher in early Indo-European history, believes that Airyanem Vaejah was in what is nowAfghanistan, the northern areas of which were a part of ancient Khwarazm andGreater Khorasan.[10] Others, however, disagree.University of Hawaiʻi historianElton L. Daniel believes Khwarazm to be the "most likely locale" corresponding to the original home of theAvestan people, andDehkhoda calls Khwarazm "the cradle of theAryan tribe" (مهد قوم آریا).[11]
Chorasmian fresco from Kazakly-Yatkan (fortress ofAkcha-Khan Kala), 1st century BC-2nd century AD.[15][16]
LikeSogdia, Khwarazm was an expansion of theBactria–Margiana culture during theBronze Age, which later fused with Indo-Iranians during their migrations around 1000 BC. EarlyIron Age states arose from this cultural exchange. List of successive cultures in Khwarazm region 3000–500 BC:[17]
During the final Saka phase, there were about 400 settlements in Khwarezm.[18] Ruled by the nativeAfrighid dynasty, it was at this point that Khwarezm entered the historical record with theAchaemenid expansion.[citation needed]
For most of its history, up until the Mongol conquest, the inhabitants of the area were from Iranian stock,[23][24] and they spoke an Eastern Iranian language called Khwarezmian. The scientist Al-Biruni, a Khwarezm native, in hisAthar ul-Baqiyah,[25] specifically verifies the Iranian origins of Khwarezmians when he wrote (in Arabic):
أهل خوارزم [...] کانوا غصناً من دوحة الفرس ("The people of Khwarezm were a branch from the Persian tree.")
The area of Khwarezm was underAfrighid and thenSamanid control until the 10th century before it was conquered by theGhaznavids. The Iranian Khwarezmian language and culture felt the pressure ofTurkic infiltration from northern Khwarezm southwards, leading to the disappearance of the original Iranian character[14] of the province and its completeTurkicization today. Khwarezmian speech probably lasted in upper Khwarezm, the region roundHazarasp, till the end of the 8th/14th century.[14]
The Khwarezmian language survived for several centuries after Islam until the Turkification of the region, and so must some at least of the culture and lore of ancient Khwarezm, for it is hard to see the commanding figure of Al-Biruni, a repository of so much knowledge, appearing in a cultural vacuum.[14]
TheAchaemenid Empire took control of Chorasmia during the time of KingDarius I (ruled 522–486 BC).[16][26] And thePersian poetFerdowsi mentions Persian cities likeAfrasiab andChach in abundance in his epicShahnama. The contact with the Achaemenid Empire had a great influence on the material culture of Chorasmia, starting a period of rich economic and cultural development.[16]
Artav (Artabanos), ruler of Khwarezm. Blundered Greek legend "ΙΥΙΥΕΩΙΕ ΜΕΛΥΙ ΕΙΛΥΙΛΥ".Nike crowning the bust of the ruler. Chorasmiantamgha. Circa 1st–2nd century AD.[31][32]
Chorasmia was involved in the conquests ofAlexander the Great in Central Asia. When the king of Khwarezm offered friendship to Alexander in 328 BC, Alexander's Greek and Roman biographers imagined the nomad king of a desert waste, but 20th-century Russianarcheologists revealed the region as a stable and centralized kingdom, a land of agriculture to the east of theAral Sea, surrounded by the nomads of Central Asia, protected by its army of mailed horsemen, in the most powerful kingdom northwest of theAmu Darya (theOxus River of antiquity). The king's emissary offered to lead Alexander's armies against his own enemies, west over the Caspian towards theBlack Sea (e.g.Kingdom of Iberia andColchis).
From the 1st century BC, Chorasmia developed original coins inspired from Greco-Bactrian, Parthian, andIndo-Scythian types.Artav (Artabanus), a Chorasmian ruler of the 1st–2nd century AD, whose coins were discovered in the capital city of Toprak-Kala, imitated the type of the KushanHeraios and were found together with coins of the Kushan rulersVima Kadphises andKanishka.[36]
From the 2nd century AD, Chorasmia became part of the vast cultural sphere corresponding to the rise of the Kushan Empire in the east.[16]
Location of the main fortresses of theChorasmian oasis, 4th century BC-6th century AD
UnderShapur I, the Sasanian Empire spread as far as Khwarezm.[37]Yaqut al-Hamawi verifies that Khwarezm was a regional capital of the Sassanid empire. When speaking of the pre-Islamic "khosrau of Khwarezm" (خسرو خوارزم), the Islamic "amir of Khwarezm" (امیر خوارزم), or even theKhwarezmid Empire, sources such asAl-Biruni andIbn Khordadbeh and others clearly refer to Khwarezm as being part of the Iranian (Persian) empire.[38] During the reign ofKhosrow II, extensive areas of Khwarezm were conquered.[39]
Silver bowl from Khwarezm depicting a four-armed goddess seated on a lion, possiblyNana. Dated 658 AD,British Museum.[41] The bowl is similar to that of theSassanians, who were ruling the region since early 200's. It displays a fusion of Roman-Hellenistic, Indian and Persian cultural influencies.[42]
In 712, Khwarezm was conquered by theArabCaliphate (Umayyads andAbbasids). It thus came vaguely under Muslim control, but it was not till the end of the 8th century and the beginning of the 9th century that an Afrighid Shah first converted to Islam appearing with the popular convert's name of ʿAbdullah ('slave of God'). In the course of the 10th century—when some geographers such asIstakhri in hisAl-Masalik wa-l-mamalik mention Khwarezm as part ofKhorasan andTransoxiania—the localMa'munids, based inGurganj on the left bank of the Amu Darya, grew in economic and political importance due to trade caravans. In 995, they violently overthrew the Afrighids and themselves assumed the traditional title of Khwarazm-Shah.[44]
Briefly, the area was underSamanid suzerainty, before it passed toMahmud of Ghazni in 1017. From then on, Turko-Mongolian invasions and long rule by Turko-Mongol dynasties supplanted theIranian character of the region[43] although the title of Khwarezm-Shah was maintained well up to the 13th century.[43]
The date of the founding of the Khwarazmian dynasty remains debatable. During a revolt in 1017, Khwarezmian rebels murderedAbu'l-Abbas Ma'mun and his wife,Hurra-ji, sister of theGhaznavid sultanMahmud.[45] In response, Mahmud invaded and occupied the region of Khwarazm, which included Nasa and theribat ofFarawa.[46] As a result, Khwarazm became a province of theGhaznavid Empire from 1017 to 1034. In 1077, the governorship of the province, which since 1042/1043 belonged to theSeljuqs, fell into the hands ofAnush Tigin Gharchai, a formerTurkic slave of the Seljuq sultan. In 1141, the Seljuq SultanAhmed Sanjar was defeated by theQara Khitai at thebattle of Qatwan, and Anush Tigin's grandsonAla ad-Din Atsiz became a vassal toYelü Dashi of theQara Khitan.[47]
Sultan Ahmed Sanjar died in 1156. As the Seljuk state fell into chaos, the Khwarezm-Shahs expanded their territories southward. In 1194, the last Sultan of theGreat Seljuq Empire,Toghrul III, was defeated and killed by the Khwarezm rulerAla ad-Din Tekish, who conquered parts ofKhorasan and western Iran. In 1200, Tekish died and was succeeded by his son,Ala ad-Din Muhammad, who initiated a conflict with theGhurids and was defeated by them at Amu Darya (1204).[48] Following the sack of Khwarizm, Muhammad appealed for aid from hissuzerain, the Qara Khitai who sent him an army.[49] With this reinforcement, Muhammad won a victory over the Ghorids at Hezarasp (1204) and forced them out of Khwarizm.[citation needed]
In 1360 there arose in Ḵwarazm an independent minor dynasty of Qunghrat Turks, the Ṣūfīs, but Solaymān Ṣūfī was crushed byTimur in 1388.[30]
Turabek khanum mausoleum inKunya Urgench, Qunghrat dynasty, 1330, Turkmenistan
The Islamization of Khwarazm was reflected in the creation of literary, scientific and religious works and in the translation of Arabic works into the Turkic language. In theSuleymaniye Library in Istanbul, the Koran is kept with an interlinear translation into Turkic, written in Khwarazm and dated (January – February 1363).[citation needed]
The region of Khwarezm was split between theWhite Horde andJagatai Khanate, and its rebuilt capital Gurganj (modernKunya Urgench, "Old Gorganj" as opposed to the modern city ofUrgench some distance away) again became one of the largest and most important trading centers in Central Asia. In the mid-14th century Khwarezm gained independence from theGolden Horde under theSufid dynasty. However,Timur regarded Khwarezm as a rival toSamarkand, and over the course of five campaigns, destroyed Urganch in 1388.[citation needed]
Control of the region was disputed by the Timurids and the Golden Horde, but in 1511 it passed to a new, local Uzbek dynasty, the ʿArabshahids.[30]
Khwarezm (Karasm), on a 1734 French map. The Khanate on the map surrounds theAral Sea (depicted as much smaller than it actually was in those days) and includes much of theCaspian Sea coast of today'sKazakhstan and Turkmenistan
This, together with a shift in the course of the Amu-Darya, caused the center of Khwarezm to shift toKhiva, which became in the 16th century the capital of theKhanate of Khiva, ruled over by the dynasty of theArabshahids.[citation needed]
Khiva Khanate is the name of Khwarazm adopted in the Russian historical tradition during the period of its existence (1512–1920). The Khiva Khanate was one of theUzbek khanates. The term "Khiva Khanate" was used for the state in Khwarazm that existed from the beginning of the 16th century until 1920. The term "Khiva Khanate" was not used by the locals, who used the name Khvarazm. In Russian sources the term Khiva Khanate began to be used from the 18th century.[50]
During the reign of the Uzbek Khan Said Muhammad Khan (1856–1864) in the 1850s, for the first time in the history of Khwarazm, a general population census of Khwarazm was carried out.[citation needed]
It was under TsarsAlexander II andAlexander III that serious efforts to annex the region started. One of the main pretexts for Russian military expeditions to Khiva was to free Russian slaves in the khanate and to prevent future slave capture and trade.[citation needed]
The Khanate of Khiva was gradually reduced in size from Russian expansion inTurkestan (including Khwarezm) and, in 1873, a peace treaty was signed that established Khiva as a quasi-independent Russianprotectorate.[citation needed]
In 1912, the Khiva Khanate numbered up to 440 schools and up to 65madrasahs with 22,500 students. More than half of the madrasahs were in the city of Khiva (38).[citation needed]
The larger historical area of Khwarezm is further divided. Northern Khwarezm became theUzbek SSR, and in 1925 the western part became theTurkmen SSR. Also, in 1936 the northwestern part became theKazakh SSR. Following the collapse of theSoviet Union in 1991, these became Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan andKazakhstan respectively. Many of the ancient Khwarezmian towns now lie inXorazm Region, Uzbekistan.[citation needed]
Khwarezm and her cities appear inPersian literature in abundance, in both prose and poetry.Dehkhoda for example defines the nameBukhara itself as "full of knowledge", referring to the fact that in antiquity, Bukhara was a scientific and scholarship powerhouse.Rumi verifies this when he praises the city as such.[citation needed]
Other examples illustrate the eminent status of Khwarezmid and Transoxianian cities in Persian literature in the past 1500 years:
عالم جانها بر او هست مقرر چنانک
The world of hearts is under his power in the same manner that دولت خوارزمشاه داد جهان را قرار TheKhwarazmshahs have brought peace to the world.
Yaqut al-Hamawi, who visited Khwarezm and its capital in 1219, wrote: "I have never seen a city more wealthy and beautiful thanGurganj". The city, however, was destroyed during several invasions, in particular when the Mongol army broke the dams of theAmu Darya, which flooded the city. He reports that for every Mongol soldier, four inhabitants of Gurganj were killed.Najmeddin Kubra, the greatSufi master, was among the casualties. The Mongol army that devastated Gurganj was estimated to have been near 80,000 soldiers. The verse below refers to an early previous calamity that fell upon the region:
آخر ای خاک خراسان داد یزدانت نجات Oh land ofKhorasan! God has saved you, از بلای غیرت خاک ره گرگانج و کات from the disaster that befell the land ofGurganj andKath.
^L. Massignon, "Al-Biruni et la valuer internationale de la science arabe" inAl-Biruni Commemoration Volume (Calcutta, 1951), pages 217–219. excerpt: In a celebrated preface to theBook of Drugs,Biruni says: "It is through the Arabic language that the sciences have been transmitted by means of translations from all parts of the world. They have been enhanced by the translation into the Arabic language and have as a result insinuated themselves into men's hearts, and the beauty of this language has commingled with these sciences in our veins and arteries. And if it is true that in all nations one likes to adorn oneself by using the language to which one has remained loyal, having become accustomed to using it with friends and companions according to need, I must judge for myself that in mynativeChorasmian, science has as much as chance of becoming perpetuated as a camel has of facingKaaba."
^Andrew Dalby,Dictionary of Languages: The definitive reference to more than 400 languages, Columbia University Press, 2004, page 278
^MacKenzie, D. N. "Khwarazmian Language and Literature," in E. Yarshater ed. Cambridge History of Iran, Volume III, Part 2, Cambridge 1983, pp. 1244–1249
^Encyclopædia Iranica, "Central Asia: The Islamic period up to the mongols", C. Edmund Bosworth: "In early Islamic times Persians tended to identify all the lands to the northeast of Khorasan and lying beyond the Oxus with the region ofTuran, which in the Shahnama ofFerdowsi is regarded as the land allotted to Fereydun's son Tur. The denizens of Turan were held to include the Turks, in the first four centuries of Islam essentially those nomadizing beyond the Jaxartes, and behind them the Chinese (see Kowalski; Minorsky, "Turan"). Turan thus became both an ethnic and a geographical term, but always containing ambiguities and contradictions, arising from the fact that all through Islamic times the lands immediately beyond the Oxus and along its lower reaches were the homes not of Turks but of Iranian peoples, such as the Sogdians and Khwarezmians."
^C.E. Bosworth, "The Appearance of the Arabs in Central Asia under the Umayyads and the establishment of Islam", inHistory of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume IV: The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century, Part One: The Historical, Social and Economic Setting, edited by M. S. Asimov and C. E. Bosworth. Multiple History Series. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 1998. excerpt from page 23: "Central Asia in the early seventh century, was ethnically, still largely an Iranian land whose people used various Middle Iranian languages.
^"An Artabazus ( Artabazos ), son of Pharnaces, commanded the Parthian and Chorasmian units in Xerxes' expedition of 480, and led the Persian army back to Asia after Mardonius' death at Plataea."Bowder, Diana (1982).Who was who in the Greek World, 776 BC-30 BC. Phaidon. p. 62.ISBN978-0-7148-2207-5.
^"The Parthians and Chorasmians had for their commander Artabazus son of Pharnaces, the Sogdians Azanes son of Artaeus, the Gandarians and DadicaeArtyphius son ofArtabanus." in HerodotusVII 64-66
^"Apart from purely archaeological and artistic evidence , the date has been determined from coins of the Kushan kings Vima Kadphises and Kanishka, and of the Khwarazmian king Artav , that were found on the lower floors of some structures . Some economic documents found in the Palace were dated to between 188 and 252 of theKhwarazmian era, i.e., to within the third century AD It should be borne in mind that only an insignificant portion of the archive has survived." inBulletin of the Asia Institute. Wayne State University Press. 1996. p. 183.
^abcClifford Edmund Bosworth, The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual, Columbia University, 1996.
^C.E. Bosworth, "The Ghaznavids" in History of Civilization: Central Asia in History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume IV: The Age of Achievement : A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century : Part One : The Historical Social and Economic Setting/edited by M.S. Asimov and C.E. Bosworth. Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1999, 485 pages. (Volume IV, Part I).ISBN81-208-1595-5. Excerpt from page 101: "The ancient Iranian kingdom of Khwarazm had been ruled until 995 by the old established line of Afrighids of Kath, but control subsequently passed to the new line of Khwarazm Shahs, theMa'munids of Gurganj"
^C.E. Bosworth,The Ghaznavids:994-1040, (Edinburgh University Press, 1963), 237.
Yuri Bregel. "The Sarts in the Khanate of Khiva",Journal of Asian History, Volume 12, 1978, pages 121–151
Robin Lane Fox.Alexander the Great, pp. 308ff etc.
Shir Muhammad Mirab Munis & Muhammad Reza Mirab Agahi.Firdaws al-Iqbal. History of Khorezm (Leiden: Brill) 1999, trans & ed.Yuri Bregel
Minardi, M. (2015).Ancient Chorasmia. A Polity between the Semi-Nomadic and Sedentary Cultural Areas of Central Asia. Cultural Interactions and Local Developments from the Sixth Century BC to the First Century AD. Peeters.ISBN978-90-429-3138-1.
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