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29-649: The Isfara is a river of the Syr Darya basin in Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan and Uzbekistan . In its upper course, it is called Ak-Suu , in its middle course Karavshin . It rises in the Batken Region of Kyrgyzstan . It is fed by the glaciers on the northern flank of the Turkestan Range . It initially flows in a western arc around a foothill chain. It then maintains its course in a northerly direction. It flows through

58-742: A new introduction and appendices by P.A. Brunt in 1976. An English translation by Aubrey de Sélincourt appeared in Penguin Classics in 1958. This edition was revised and annotated by J.R. Hamilton in 1971. The Landmark Ancient Histories , edited by Robert B. Strassler , includes The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander, edited by James Romm (Professor of Classics at Bard College , 2010), and translated by Pamela Mensch. The Landmark edition includes extensive margin notes and maps on every other page. A new translation by Martin Hammond with introduction and notes by John Atkinson appeared in

87-479: Is a rather antiquated translation by E.J. Chinnock, published in 1884. The original Greek text used by the Perseus Digital Library is the standard A.G. Roos Teubner edition published at Leipzig in 1907. Probably the most widely used scholarly English translation is Loeb Classical Library edition (with facing Greek text), in two volumes. The work first appeared in 1929 and was later revised with

116-764: The Aral Sea the "Sea of Sïr," or Sïr Tengizi . The important evidence is the etymology of the name of the Syr-Darya River mentioned by the Ancient authors – '''Yaksart''', established by V. A. Livshits (2003: 10). It means ‘'''flowing’, ‘streaming’.''' The word belongs to the Sogdian dialect that had emerged from the Saka language group. When the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great reached

145-682: The Central Asian nations have failed to reinstate it. Inadequate infrastructure, poor water-management, and outdated irrigation methods all exacerbate the issue. In 2012, the Syrdarya–Turkestan State Regional Natural Park was opened in the Kazakhstan, in hopes of protecting the river plain ecosystems, archaeological sites, and historical-cultural monuments, as well as plants and animal species, some of which are rare or endangered. The river rises in two headstreams in

174-548: The Greek historian Xenophon , whose own Anabasis in seven books concerned the earlier campaign "up-country" of Cyrus the Younger in 401 BC. The Anabasis is by far the fullest surviving account of Alexander's conquest of the Persian empire. It is primarily a military history, reflecting the content of Arrian's model, Xenophon's Anabasis ; the work begins with Alexander's accession to

203-659: The Macedonian throne in 336 BC, and has nothing to say about Alexander's early life (in contrast, say, to Plutarch 's Life of Alexander ). Nor does Arrian aim to provide a complete history of the Greek-speaking world during Alexander's reign. Arrian's chief sources in writing the Anabasis were the lost contemporary histories of the campaign by Ptolemy and Aristobulus and, for his later books, Nearchus . One of Arrian's main aims in writing his history seems to have been to correct

232-563: The Soviet era, a resource-sharing system was instituted in which Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan shared water originating from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers with Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan in summer. In return, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan received Kazakh, Turkmen, and Uzbek coal, gas, and electricity in winter. After the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union , this system disintegrated and

261-523: The Susa marriages, the Opis mutiny, the multiple predictions and omens of Alexander's own death, the death of Hephaestion , and Alexander's own death (324–323 BC). The very end of this book concludes with speculation about how Alexander died, and whether it was by poisoning or something else. Arrian's Anabasis has traditionally been regarded as the most reliable extant narrative source for Alexander's campaigns. Since

290-835: The Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan —the Naryn River and the Kara Darya which come together in the Uzbek part of the Fergana Valley —and flows for some 2,212 kilometres (1,374 mi) west and north-west through Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan to the remains of the Aral Sea. The Syr Darya drains an area of over 800,000 square kilometres (310,000 sq mi), but no more than 200,000 square kilometres (77,000 sq mi) actually contribute significant flow to

319-570: The 17th and early 18th century, but the Khanate of Kokand rebuilt many in the 19th century, primarily along the Upper and Middle Syr Darya. Massive expansion of irrigation canals in Middle and Lower Syr Darya during the Soviet period to water cotton and rice fields caused ecological damage to the area. The amount of water taken from the river was such that in some periods of the year, no water at all reached

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348-540: The 18th century. The earliest recorded name was Jaxartes or Iaxartes ( Ἰαξάρτης ) in Ancient Greek , consist of two morpheme Iaxa and artes , found in several sources, including those relating to Alexander the Great . The Greek name hearkens back to the Old Persian name Yakhsha Arta ("True Pearl"), perhaps a reference to the color of its glacially-fed water. More evidence for the Persian etymology comes from

377-402: The 1970s, however, a more critical view of Arrian has become widespread, due largely to the work of A. B. Bosworth, who has drawn scholars' attention to Arrian's tendency to hagiography and apologia , not to mention several passages where Arrian can be shown (by comparison with other ancient sources) to be downright misleading. The only complete English translation of Arrian available online

406-658: The Aral Sea. The Amu Darya in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan faced a similar situation. The uranium concentration of the stream water is increased in Tajikistan with values of 43 μg/L and 12 μg/L; the WHO guideline value for drinking water of 30 μg/L is partly exceeded. The main input of uranium occurs upstream in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Anabasis Alexandri The Anabasis of Alexander ( Ancient Greek : Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἀνάβασις , Alexándrou Anábasis ; Latin : Anabasis Alexandri )

435-617: The Jaxartes in 329 BC, after travelling through Bactria and Sogdia without encountering any opposition, they met with the first instances of native resistance to their presence. In October 329 BC the Macedonians fought the Battle of Jaxartes against the Saka , killing some 1,200 combatants including the leader of the nomads. Alexander was forced to retire south to deal with a revolt in Sogdia . Alexander

464-639: The Tajik exclave of Vorukh . It later crosses the border into the Sughd Region of Tajikistan . There, it flows through the city of the same name in the southwest of the Ferghana Valley . 30 km (19 mi) further north, the river reaches the border with Uzbekistan at Rabot . The Isfara formed an alluvial cone north of Rabot. Today, the incoming river water is directed to the Great Fergana Canal to

493-516: The book describes Alexander's pursuit of Darius through northern Iran, the revolt of the pretender Bessus , and the deaths of Philotas and Parmenion (331–329 BC). Book 4 This book begins with describing the long Sogdian campaign of 329–327 BC against Bessus , Spitamenes , and Oxyartes , and the early stages of the campaigns in the Punjab (327–326 BC), with a notable departure from chronological sequence at 4.7–14, where Arrian collects many of

522-703: The decision at the Hyphasis not to push on further into India . Book 6 The journey down the Indus to the Indian Ocean (326–325 BC) is described, including the increasingly brutal violence inflicted on the local inhabitants by the Macedonians en route (notably at the Malli town), and the crossing of the Gedrosian Desert (325–324 BC). Book 7 The last of the books recounts the events of Alexander's final year, including

551-514: The defeat of King Darius of Persia and how Alexander treated Darius's family after his death. The trial of the Gordian Knot is also included in this book. Book 3 Book three begins with an account of Alexander in Egypt , including his visit to the oracle of Zeus-Ammon at Siwah (winter 332/331 BC), before turning to the battle of Gaugamela and defeat of Darius III (331 BC). The latter half of

580-687: The furthest"—in 329 BC. For most of its history since at least the Muslim conquest of Central Asia in the 7th to 8th centuries AD, the name of this city (in present-day Tajikistan ) has been Khujand . In the mid-19th century, during the Russian conquest of Turkestan , the Russian Empire introduced steam navigation to the Syr Darya, initially from Fort Raim but with an important river port at Kazalinsk ( Kazaly ) from 1847 to 1882, when service ceased. During

609-499: The most notorious stories tending to Alexander's discredit in a single apologetic digression (the killing of Cleitus , the proskynesis affair, the pages' conspiracy and the death of Callisthenes ). Book 5 This book continues the narrative of the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great of 326 BC, including Alexander's arrival at Nysa, the battle with Porus at the Hydaspes river, and

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638-477: The northeast. The Isfara has a length of 130 km (81 mi). It drains an area of 3240 km. The river is mainly fed by meltwater from the glaciers and snowmelt. 60% of the annual runoff occurs in the summer months from July to September. Some of the river water is diverted for irrigation purposes. Syr Darya In the Soviet era, extensive irrigation projects were constructed around both rivers, diverting their water into farmland and causing, during

667-533: The post-Soviet era, the virtual disappearance of the Aral Sea, once the world's fourth-largest lake. The point at which the river flows from Tajikistan into Uzbekistan is, at 300 m (980 ft) above sea level, the lowest elevation in Tajikistan. The second part of the name ( darya , دریا ) means "lake" or "sea" in Persian and "river" in the Central Asian Persian . The current name dates only from

696-501: The reign of Alexander the Great. Book 1 This book covers the early years of Alexander's reign (336–334 BC), including notable descriptions of Alexander's sack of Thebes in 335 and the battle of the Granicus in summer 334 BC. Book 2 The majority of this book is dominated by three large set-piece military operations: the campaign and battle of Issus (333 BC) and the sieges of Tyre and Gaza (332 BC). This book also recounts

725-537: The river's Turkic name up to the time of the Arab conquest, the Yinçü , or "Pearl river", from Middle Chinese 眞珠 * t͡ɕiɪn-t͡ɕɨo . Tang Chinese also recorded this name as Yaosha River 藥殺水 ( MC : * jɨɐk-ʃˠɛt ) and later Ye River 葉河 (MC: * jiɛp ). The current local name of the river, Syr ( Sïr ), does not appear before the 16th century. In the 17th century, Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Khan, historian and ruler of Khiva , called

754-723: The river: indeed, two of the largest rivers in its basin, the Talas and the Chu , dry up before reaching it. Its annual flow is a very modest 37 cubic kilometres (30,000,000  acre⋅ft ) per year—half that of its sister river, the Amu Darya . Along its course, the Syr Darya irrigates the most productive agricultural regions in all of Central Asia , together with the towns of Kokand , Khujand , Kyzylorda and Turkestan . Various local governments throughout history have built and maintained an extensive system of canals . These canals are of central importance in this arid region. Many fell into disuse in

783-404: The standard "Vulgate" narrative of Alexander's reign that was current in his own day, primarily associated with the lost writings of the historian Cleitarchus . The Anabasis gives a broadly chronological account of the reign of Alexander the Great of Macedon (336–323 BC), with a particular focus on military matters. After a short Preface concerning Arrian's sources, the seven books describe

812-547: Was composed by Arrian of Nicomedia in the second century AD , most probably during the reign of Hadrian . The Anabasis (which survives complete in seven books) is a history of the campaigns of Alexander the Great , specifically his conquest of the Persian Empire between 336 and 323 BC. Both the unusual title "Anabasis" (literally "a journey up-country from the sea") and the work's seven-book structure reflect Arrian's emulation (in structure, style, and content) of

841-657: Was wounded in the fighting that ensued and the native tribes took to attacking the Macedonian garrisons stationed in their towns. As the revolt against Alexander intensified it spread through Sogdia, plunging it into two years of warfare, the intensity of which surpassed any other conflict of the Anabasis Alexandri . On the shores of the Syr Darya, Alexander placed a garrison in the City of Cyrus ( Cyropolis in Greek), which he then renamed after himself Alexandria Eschate —"Alexandria

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