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111-405: The Qyzylorda Region shares a border with the neighboring country of Uzbekistan . It is bound as well by three other regions of Kazakhstan: Aktobe Region to the west, Ulytau Region to the north and Turkistan Region to the east. The Lesser Barsuki and Aral Karakum deserts are located in the region. The main lakes are Zhaksykylysh , Kamyslybas and Arys . The Syr Darya River , flowing from

222-634: A republic of the Soviet Union . It declared independence as the Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991. Uzbekistan is a secular state , with a semi-presidential constitutional government. Uzbekistan comprises 12 regions (vilayats), Tashkent City, and one autonomous republic, Karakalpakstan . While non-governmental organisations have defined Uzbekistan as "an authoritarian state with limited civil rights ", significant reforms under Uzbekistan's second president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev , have been made following

333-607: A Samanid army in Tukharistan , which resulted in a Samanid victory. Fortunately for Abu Ali Chaghani, he managed to secure the support of other Samanid vassals, such as the rulers of Khuttal , and the Kumiji mountain people , but in the end made peace with Nuh, who allowed him to keep Chaghaniyan in return for sending his son Abu'l Muzaffar Abdallah as hostage to Bukhara. By 945, the Turkic military slave faction (who were formerly recruited by

444-627: A Samanid counter-attack. Nevertheless, the Samanid general Hamuya ibn Ali managed to lure Ahmad out of Merv, and defeated him in a battle at Marw al-Rudh ; he was captured and imprisoned in Bukhara, where he remained until his death in 920. In the west, Nasr II clashed several times with Daylamite and Gilite rulers; In 921, the Zaydids under the Gilite ruler Lili ibn al-Nu'man invaded Khorasan, but were defeated by

555-514: A banquet designed to organize the plot and had the head of their leader cut off. To appease the other officers, he promised to stop the Isma'ili missionaries from continuing their activities. He then convinced his father to abdicate, who died of tuberculosis after a few months. Right when Nuh I ascended the throne, a revolt erupted in Khwarazm, which he managed to suppress. Later in 945, he had to deal with

666-581: A campaign to restore the Samanid state, but failed. Some time afterwards, he returned to the Zarafshan valley, where he gained the support of the Oghuz and others. A Karakhanid army was defeated in May 1004, but subsequently the Oghuz deserted Isma'il during another battle, and his army fell apart. Fleeing to Khorasan yet again, Isma'il attempted to reenter Transoxiana in the end of 1004. The Karakhanids stopped this and Isma'il

777-476: A catastrophic scenario with the agricultural industry being the main contributor to the pollution and devastation of both air and water in the country. The Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest inland sea on Earth, humidifying the surrounding air and irrigating the arid land. Since the 1960s, when the overuse of the Aral Sea water began, it has shrunk to about 10% of its former area and divided into parts, with only

888-583: A growing influence of the Ghaznavids , who would later rule the region. Under Nuh II , a Hanafi work, which was being used to contest Ismailism, was translated into Persian. Agriculture and trading were the economic bases of the Samanid State. The Samanids heavily engaged in trade with Europe . Thousands of Samanid coins have been found in the Baltic and Scandinavia . During the 9th and 10th centuries, there

999-610: A lesser extent Kyrgyzstan ). When the U.S. joined in a call for an independent international investigation of the bloody events at Andijan , the relationship further declined, and President Islam Karimov changed the political alignment of the country to bring it closer to Russia and China. In late July 2005, the government of Uzbekistan ordered the United States to vacate an airbase in Karshi-Kanabad (near Uzbekistan's border with Afghanistan) within 180 days. Karimov had offered use of

1110-529: A low GDP per capita . Uzbekistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), United Nations (UN) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The name "Uzbegistán" appears in the 16th century Tarikh-i Rashidi . The origin of the word Uzbek remains disputed. All three have the middle syllable/phoneme being cognate with the Turkic title Beg . The name of

1221-754: A man of great perception, was Rudaki, who was born in the village of Panjrudak , which is today part of the Panjakent District in Tajikistan . Rudaki was already becoming popular during his early years, due to his poems, his voice, and his great skill in using the chang (an Iranian instrument similar to the harp ). He was shortly invited to the Samanid court, where he stayed almost the rest of his life. Fewer than 2,000 lines of his poetry have survived, but are enough to prove his great poetic skills—he perfected every basic verse form of medieval Persian poetry: mathnawi , qasida , ghazal and ruba'i . "Look at

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1332-560: A minor tributary in Sistan. It was during this period that the Samanids were at their height of power, ruling as far as Qazvin in the west and Peshawar in the east. Ismail is known in history as a competent general and a strong ruler; many stories about him are written in Arabic and Persian sources. Furthermore, because of his campaigns in the north, his empire was so safe from enemy incursions that

1443-689: A part of the Persian empire of the day. Before the arrival of the Russians, present-day Uzbekistan was divided between the Emirate of Bukhara and the khanates of Khiva and Kokand . In the 19th century, the Russian Empire began to expand and spread into Central Asia . There were 210,306 Russians living in Uzbekistan in 1912. The " Great Game " period is generally regarded as running from approximately 1813 to

1554-481: A quarter of its military budget), the government of Uzbekistan has recently restricted American military use of the airbase at Karshi-Khanabad for air operations in neighbouring Afghanistan. Uzbekistan was an active supporter of U.S. efforts against worldwide terrorism. The relationship between Uzbekistan and the United States began to deteriorate after the so-called " colour revolutions " in Georgia and Ukraine (and to

1665-778: A relative of the Samanid ruler or a local Iranian prince (such as the Muhtajids ), but was later given to one of his most trusted slaves. The governor of Khorasan was normally the sipah-salar (commander-in-chief). Like in the Abbasid Caliphate, Turkic slaves could rise to high office in the Samanid state, which would sometimes give them enough power to nearly make the ruler their puppet. The Samanids revived Persian culture by patronizing Rudaki , Bal'ami and Daqiqi . The Samanids determinedly propagated Sunni Islam, and repressed Ismaili Shiism but were more tolerant of Twelver Shiism. Islamic architecture and Islamo-Persian culture

1776-452: A rich Perso-Islamic culture. During his reign and the reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious and palatial construction masterpieces were undertaken in Samarkand and other population centres. Tamerlane also established an exchange of medical discoveries and patronised physicians, scientists and artists from the neighbouring regions such as India; His grandson Ulugh Beg

1887-511: A small part of it, which was about the conflict between Gushtasp and Arjasp . However, the most prominent poet of that age was Ferdowsi, born in Tus in 940 to a dehqan family. It was during his youth that there was a period of growth under the Samanids. The rapid growth of interest in ancient Iranian history made him continue the work of Daqiqi, completing the Shahnameh in 994, only a few years before

1998-571: Is in force in the city, and Russian ruble is used. The region sent a bandy team to the Spartakiade 2009. In 2021, Kazakh Industry and Infrastructure Development Minister Beibut Atamkulov announced that the country plans to launch glass production in the Qyzylorda region in 2022. The aim is to produce a capacity of 197,100 tons of flat glass each year, with a projection of generating KZT 42.1 billion. Uzbekistan Uzbekistan , officially

2109-585: Is opposed to reintegration and withdrew from the CIS collective security arrangement in 1999. Since that time, Uzbekistan has participated in the CIS peacekeeping force in Tajikistan and in UN-organized groups to help resolve the Tajikistan and Afghanistan conflicts, both of which it sees as posing threats to its own stability. Previously close to Washington (which gave Uzbekistan half a billion dollars in aid in 2004, about

2220-704: The Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers, was conquered by the Arabs ( Qutayba ibn Muslim ), becoming a focal point soon after the Islamic Golden Age . In the ninth and tenth centuries, Transoxiana was brought into the Samanid State. In the tenth century it was gradually dominated by the Turkic-ruled Karakhanids , as well as their Seljuk (Sultan Sanjar) overseer's. The Mongol conquest under Genghis Khan during

2331-532: The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 . A second, less intensive phase followed the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. At the start of the 19th century, there were some 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) separating British India and the outlying regions of Tsarist Russia . Much of the land between was unmapped. In the early 1890s, Sven Hedin passed through Uzbekistan, during his first expedition. By

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2442-476: The Aral Sea . He also invaded Russia before dying during an invasion of China in 1405. Timur was also known for his extreme brutality and his conquests were accompanied by genocidal massacres in the cities he occupied. Timur initiated the last flowering of Transoxiana by gathering together numerous artisans and scholars from the vast lands he had conquered into his capital, Samarkand, thus imbuing his empire with

2553-530: The CIS countries, it is the fourth largest by area and the second largest by population. Uzbekistan lies between latitudes 37° and 46° N , and longitudes 56° and 74° E . It stretches 1,425 kilometres (885 mi) from west to east and 930 kilometres (580 mi) from north to south. Bordering Kazakhstan and the Aralkum Desert (former Aral Sea ) to the north and northwest, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan to

2664-455: The December 2016 presidential election , winning 88.6% of the vote, and was sworn in on 14 December. Deputy Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov replaced him as prime minister. Mirziyoyev removed most of Karimov's officials and urged the government to employ "new, young people who love their country." After a year in office, Mirziyoyev moved away from many of his predecessor's policies. He visited all

2775-799: The Ferghana valley by the Ferghanans; southern Khorasan by Khorasanians; and the Pamir mountains and environs by the Saka and other early Iranian peoples. All these groups were of Iranian ethnicity and spoke dialects of Middle Iranian and New Persian . In the words of Negmatov, "they were the basis for the emergence and gradual consolidation of what became an Eastern Persian-Tajik ethnic identity." Ferghana, Samarkand, and Bukhara were starting to be linguistically Persianized in originally Khwarazmian and Sogdian areas during Samanid rule. The Persian language spread and led to

2886-539: The Muhtajid ruler Abu 'Ali Chaghani , who refused to relinquish his post as governor of Khorasan to Ibrahim ibn Simjur . Abu 'Ali Chaghani then rebelled, and was joined by several prominent figures such as Abu Mansur Muhammad , whom he appointed as his commander-in-chief. In 947, he installed Nuh's uncle Ibrahim ibn Ahmad as amir in Bukhara. Abu 'Ali Chaghani then returned to his domains in Chaghaniyan . Ibrahim, however,

2997-572: The Nestorian church there into a mosque. The same year, he conducted a campaign to gather slaves, taking ten to fifteen thousand captives. The Samanid slave trade was the main trade income of the Samanid Empire, forming the base of economy of the state. In 900, Ismail sent an army under Muhammad ibn Harun al-Sarakhsi against Muhammad ibn Zayd , the Zaydi ruler of Tabaristan and Gorgan . The invasion

3108-513: The Oliy Majlis appointed Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev as interim president. Although the chairman of the Senate, Nigmatilla Yuldashev , was constitutionally designated as Karimov's successor, Yuldashev proposed that Mirziyoyev take the post of the interim president instead in light of Mirziyoyev's "many years of experience". Mirziyoyev was subsequently elected as the country's second president in

3219-713: The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). It belongs to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) (comprising the five Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan , Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Pakistan). In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the GUAM alliance (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova ), which was formed in 1997 (making it GUUAM), but pulled out of

3330-513: The Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country located in Central Asia . It is surrounded by five countries: Kazakhstan to the north , Kyrgyzstan to the northeast , Tajikistan to the southeast , Afghanistan to the south , and Turkmenistan to the southwest , making it one of only two doubly landlocked countries on Earth, the other being Liechtenstein . Uzbekistan is part of

3441-644: The Silk Road , and became a center of the Islamic Golden Age . The local Khwarazmian dynasty was destroyed by the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, leading to a dominance by Mongol peoples. Timur (Tamerlane) in the 14th century established the Timurid Empire . Its capital was Samarkand , which became a centre of science under the rule of Ulugh Beg , giving birth to the Timurid Renaissance . The territories of

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3552-517: The Simjurid general Simjur al-Dawati . Later in 930, a Dailamite military leader, Makan ibn Kaki , seized Tabaristan and Gurgan, and even took possession of Nishapur in western Khorasan. He was, however, forced to withdraw back to Tabaristan one year later, due to the threat that Samanids posed. Makan then returned to Tabaristan, where he was defeated by the Ziyarid ruler Mardavij , who managed to conquer

3663-575: The Soviet Union in 1991, an election was held, and Islam Karimov was elected as the first President of Uzbekistan on 29 December 1991. The elections of the Oliy Majlis (Parliament or Supreme Assembly) were held under a resolution adopted by the 16th Supreme Soviet in 1994. In that year, the Supreme Soviet was replaced by the Oliy Majlis. The third elections for the bicameral 150-member Oliy Majlis,

3774-600: The Tian Shan mountains to the Aral Sea , passes through Qyzylorda Region. As of 2020, Qyzylorda Region has a population of 803,531. Due to historical reasons, the percentage of Russians in Qyzylorda Region is the smallest, and the percentage of Kazakhs is the largest among all regions of Kazakhstan. Before the construction of the Baikonur cosmodrome, the region was the only one where there were no places of compact residence of

3885-658: The Timurid dynasty were conquered by Kipchak Shaybanids in the 16th century. Conquests by Emperor Babur towards the east led to the foundation of the Mughal Empire in India. Most of Central Asia was gradually incorporated into the Russian Empire during the 19th century, with Tashkent becoming the political center of Russian Turkestan . In 1924, national delimitation created the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic as

3996-661: The Turkic world, as well as a member of the Organization of Turkic States . Uzbek , spoken by the Uzbek people , is the official language and spoken by the majority of its inhabitants, while Russian and Tajik are significant minority languages. Islam is the predominant religion, and most Uzbeks are Sunni Muslims . The first recorded settlers in the land of what is modern Uzbekistan were Eastern Iranian nomads , known as Scythians , who founded kingdoms in Khwarazm , Bactria , and Sogdia in

4107-709: The failed coup attempt in Moscow. 1 September was proclaimed National Independence Day. The Soviet Union was dissolved on 26 December of that year. Islam Karimov , previously first secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan since 1989, was elected president of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he was elected president of independent Uzbekistan. An authoritarian ruler, Karimov died in September 2016. He

4218-484: The 13th century brought change to the region. The invasions of Bukhara, Samarkand, Urgench and others resulted in mass murders and unprecedented destruction, which saw parts of Khwarezmia being completely razed. Following the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his empire was divided among his four sons and his family members. Despite the potential for serious fragmentation, there was an orderly succession for several generations, and control of most of Transoxiana stayed in

4329-498: The 22nd Congress of the Communist Party). However, in 2023, two mountaineers successfully summited the neighboring Alpomish peak, which they measured to be 4,668 metres (15,315 ft), 25 m higher than Khazret Sultan. The climate in Uzbekistan is continental, with little precipitation expected annually (100–200 millimetres, or 3.9–7.9 inches). The average summer high temperature tends to be 40 °C (104 °F) , while

4440-636: The 8th–6th centuries BC, as well as Fergana and Margiana in the 3rd century BC – 6th century AD. The area was incorporated into the Achaemenid Empire and, after a period of Greco-Bactrian rule and later by the Sasanian Empire , until the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century. The early Muslim conquests and the subsequent Samanid Empire converted most of the people into adherents of Islam . During this period, cities began to grow rich from

4551-738: The Afrighid dynasty was forced into submission. Before Ismail Samani's major victory against the Saffarids, he had made various expeditions in Transoxiana; in 892, he put an end to the Principality of Ushrusana by seizing all of its lands. During the same period, he put an end to the Bukhar Khudas in Bukhara. In 893, Ismail Samani invaded the territories of the Karluk Turks , taking Talas and converting

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4662-466: The Aral Sea. The bulk of the nation's water resources is used for farming, which accounts for nearly 84% of the water use and contributes to high soil salinity . Heavy use of pesticides and fertilisers for cotton growing further aggravates soil contamination . According to the UNDP (United Nations Development Program), climate risk management in Uzbekistan should consider its ecological safety. Numerous oil and gas deposits have been discovered in

4773-415: The German side . As many as 263,005 Uzbek soldiers died in the battlefields of the Eastern Front , and 32,670 went missing in action. During the Soviet-Afghan War , a number of Uzbek troops fought in neighbouring Afghanistan . At least 1,500 lost their lives and thousands more paralysed. On 20 June 1990, Uzbekistan declared its state sovereignty. On 31 August 1991, Uzbekistan declared independence after

4884-430: The Great conquered the Persian Empire provinces of Sogdiana and Bactria, which contained the territories of modern Uzbekistan. Popular resistance to the conquest was fierce, causing Alexander's army to be bogged down in the region that became the northern part of the Macedonian Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . The kingdom was replaced with the Yuezhi-dominated Kushan Empire in the first century BC. For many centuries thereafter

4995-473: The Legislative Chamber, and the 100-member Senate for five-year terms, were held on 27 December 2009. The second elections were held from December 2004 to January 2005. The Oliy Majlis was unicameral up to 2004. Its size increased from 69 deputies (members) in 1994 to 120 in 2004–05 and currently stands at 150. Karimov's first presidential term was extended to 2000 via a referendum , and he was re-elected in 2000 , 2007 , and 2015, each time receiving over 90% of

5106-399: The Russian-speaking population. Ethnic groups (2020): The region is administratively divided into seven districts and the city of Qyzylorda . Three localities in Qyzylorda Region have town status. These are Aral , Kazaly , and Qyzylorda . The city of Baikonur is located within the area of the oblast but is currently rented and administered by Russian Federation . Russian legislation

5217-446: The Samanid Empire, its distance from Baghdad allowed the Samanids to be a crucial element in the renaissance of New Persian language and culture. This Persianate culture variant was the first to use a language besides Arabic in Islamic culture. Although the Zoroastrian population had previously been suppressed by the Abbasid Caliphate, according to Al-Masudi, the Samanid empire still had fire-temples that were still being venerated by

5328-534: The Samanid family's authority had become purely symbolic. The Samanid Empire is part of the Iranian Intermezzo , which saw the creation of a Persianate culture and identity that brought Iranian speech and traditions into the fold of the Islamic world . This later contributed to the formation of the Turko-Persian culture. The Samanids promoted the arts, giving rise to the advancement of science and literature, and thus attracted scholars such as Rudaki , Ferdowsi , and Avicenna . While under Samanid control, Bukhara

5439-446: The Samanid rulers in positions of governance) were fully in charge of the government. By this time, the Samanid family only held nominal power; similar to how the Buyids held de facto power over the Abbasid Caliphate around the same time. Alp Tigin , nominal vassal of the Samanids, conquered Ghazna in 962 from the Lawik dynasty. The fifth of these commanders was Sebüktigin, who governed Ḡazna for twenty years till 387 AH/997 CE with

5550-406: The Samanid state was modelled after the Abbasid system, which in turn was modelled after the Sasanian system. The ruler of the state was the amir , and the provinces were governed by appointed governors or local vassal rulers. The administrative, political and economic affairs were administered by the divan , and the Samanid bureaucracy used Arabic in its diplomatic discourses. The economy

5661-416: The Samanid state. Each of them ruled territories under Abbasid suzerainty. In 892, Ismail Samani (892–907) united the Samanid state under one ruler, thus effectively putting an end to the feudal system used by the Samanids. It was also under him that the Samanids became independent of Abbasid authority. However, by 945, the government was under the de facto control of the Turkic military slave faction, and

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5772-403: The Samanids claimed to be descended from the House of Mihran of Bahram Chobin . It has been claimed that the House of Saman belonged to the Oghuz Turks , although the veracity is unlikely. Originally a Zoroastrian, Saman Khuda converted to Islam during the governorship of Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri in Khorasan , and named his oldest son as Asad ibn Saman in the governor's honour. In 819,

5883-422: The Samanids returned to Bukhara. In 999, Nasr b. Ali, a nephew of Harun, returned and took possession of Bukhara, meeting little resistance. The Samanid domains were split up between the Ghaznavids , who gained Khorasan and Afghanistan , and the Karakhanids , who received Transoxiana ; the Oxus River thus became the boundary between the two rival empires. Isma'il Muntasir was the youngest son of Nuh II—he

5994-471: The Samanids. In the 9th and 10th centuries, intellectual life in Transoxiana and Khorasan reached a high level. In the words of N.N. Negmatov, "It was inevitable that the local Samanid dynasty, seeking support among its literate classes, should cultivate and promote local cultural traditions, literacy and literature." The main Samanid towns – Bukhara , Samarkand , Balkh , Merv , Nishapur , Khujand , Bunjikath , Hulbuk , Termez and others, became

6105-429: The Soviet era, is considered one of the world's worst environmental disasters. The rest is the vast Kyzylkum Desert and mountains. According to a 1981 Soviet study, the highest point in Uzbekistan is Khazret Sultan at 4,643 metres (15,233 ft) above sea level, in the southern part of the Gissar Range in the Surxondaryo Region on the border with Tajikistan, just northwest of Dushanbe (formerly called Peak of

6216-448: The Tahirids' authority had significantly weakened after suffering several defeats to Saffarid ruler Ya'qub al-Saffar. Hence, causing the Tahirids to lose their grip over the Samanids, who became more or less independent. Nasr I, used this opportunity to strengthen his authority by sending his brother Ismail to Bukhara , which was in an unstable condition after suffering from raids by the Afrighid dynasty of Khwarazm . When Ismail reached

6327-438: The Uzbek regions and big cities to get acquainted with the implementation of the projects and reforms which he ordered. Many analysts and Western media compared his rule with Chinese Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping or Soviet Communist Party general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev . His rule has been quoted as being an "Uzbek Spring". Uzbekistan joined the Commonwealth of Independent States in December 1991. However, it

6438-480: The average winter low temperature is around −23 °C (−9 °F) . Uzbekistan is home to six terrestrial ecoregions: Alai-Western Tian Shan steppe , Gissaro-Alai open woodlands , Badghyz and Karabil semi-desert , Central Asian northern desert , Central Asian riparian woodlands , and Central Asian southern desert . Uzbekistan has a rich and diverse natural environment. However, decades of Soviet policies in pursuit of greater cotton production have resulted in

6549-413: The base to the U.S. shortly after 9/11 . It is also believed by some Uzbeks that the protests in Andijan were brought about by the UK and U.S. influences in the area of Andijan. This is another reason for the hostility between Uzbekistan and the West. Uzbekistan is a member of the United Nations (UN) (since 2 March 1992), the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), Partnership for Peace (PfP), and

6660-423: The beginning of 1920, Central Asia was firmly in the hands of Russia and, despite some early resistance to the Bolsheviks , Uzbekistan and the rest of Central Asia became a part of the Soviet Union . On 27 October 1924 the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was created. From 1941 to 1945, during World War II , 1,433,230 people from Uzbekistan fought in the Red Army against Nazi Germany . A number also fought on

6771-454: The city to protect it from their attacks. He died in 841/2—his two brothers Yahya and Ahmad, were then appointed as the joint rulers of the city by the Tahirid governor of Khorasan. After Yahya died in 855, Ahmad took control over Châch, thus becoming the ruler of most of Transoxiana. He died in 864/5; his son Nasr I received Farghana and Samarkand, while his other son Ya'qub received Châch (areas around modern Tashkent/Chachkent). Meanwhile,

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6882-430: The city, he was warmly received by its inhabitants, who saw him as one who could restore order. After not so long, disagreement over where to distribute tax money caused a conflict between the brothers. Ismail was eventually victorious in the dynastic struggle and took control of the Samanid state. However, Nasr had been the one who had been invested with Transoxiana, and the Abbasid caliphs continued to recognize him as

6993-499: The cloud, how it cries like a grieving man Another prominent poet was Shahid Balkhi , born in the village of Jakhudanak near Balkh. Not much is known about his life, but he is mentioned as being one of the best poets in the court of Nasr II, and one of the best scholars of the age. He was also a student of Rudaki, and had close relations with him. He died in 936, a few years before Rudaki's death. His death saddened Rudaki, who afterwards wrote an emotional elegy about him. Daqiqi, who

7104-412: The commander of his army, and sent him on an expedition against the Saffarid ruler Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar in Sistan . After facing defeat in battle near Pushang in 857, he fled to Nishapur , only to be captured by Ya'qub al-Saffar and sent to Sistan as a hostage. In 839/40, Nuh seized Isfijab from the nomadic pagan Turks living in the steppe. Consequently, he had a wall constructed around

7215-405: The country was often spelled as " Ўзбекистон " in Uzbek Cyrillic or " Узбекистан " in Russian during Soviet rule. The region currently known as the country of Uzbekistan has been referred to by many names over the millennia. The name, Uzbekistan first appears in 16th century literature. Other names for the region include: Transoxiana , Sogdia , and the Khanate of Bukhara . In the 14th century

7326-556: The country's currency became fully convertible at market rates. Uzbekistan is a major producer and exporter of cotton . With the gigantic power-generation facilities from the Soviet era and an ample supply of natural gas , Uzbekistan has become the largest electricity producer in Central Asia. From 2018 to 2021, the republic received a BB− sovereign credit rating by both Standard and Poor (S&P) and Fitch Ratings . The Brookings Institution described Uzbekistan as having large liquid assets, high economic growth, low public debt , and

7437-436: The death of Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted the attention of the Uzbek nomadic tribes living to the north of the Aral Sea. In 1501, the Uzbek forces began a wholesale invasion of Transoxiana. The slave trade in the Emirate of Bukhara became prominent and was firmly established at this time. The Khanate of Bukhara was eventually invaded by the foreign government of Persia in 1510, and then became

7548-465: The death of the first president, Islam Karimov . Owing to these reforms, relations with the neighbouring countries of Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , and Afghanistan have drastically improved. A United Nations report of 2020 found much progress toward achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals . The Uzbek economy is in a gradual transition to the market economy , with foreign trade policy being based on import substitution . In September 2017,

7659-432: The defences of Bukhara and Samarkand went unused. However, this later had consequences; at the end of the dynasty, the walls—earlier strong, but now falling apart—were greatly missed by the Samanids, who were constantly under attack by the Karakhanids and other enemies. Ismail died in November 907, and was succeeded by his son Ahmad Samani (r. 907–914). Not long after his accession, Ahmad invaded Sistan; by 911, Sistan

7770-428: The extinction of Eastern Iranian languages like Bactrian and Khwarezmian with only a tiny amount of Sogdian -descended Yaghnobi speakers remaining among the now Persian-speaking Tajik population of Central Asia. This was due to the fact that the Arab-Islamic army which invaded Central Asia at the time also included some Persians who later governed the region like the Samanids. Persian was rooted into Central Asia by

7881-413: The fall of the Samanid Empire. He later completed a second version of the Shahnameh in 1010, which he presented to the Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud. However, his work was not as appreciated by the Ghaznavids as it had been by the Samanids. Under the Samanid Empire, the Zarafshan valley, Kashka Darya and Usrushana were populated by Sogdians ; Tukharistan by the Bactrians; Khwarezm by the Khwarazmians;

7992-462: The governor of Greater Khorasan, Ghassan ibn Abbad, rewarded the four sons of Asad ibn Saman for their aid against the rebel Rafi ibn al-Layth . Nuh ibn Asad received Samarkand ; Ahmad ibn Asad received Farghana ; Yahya ibn Asad received Tashkent , and Ilyas ibn Asad received Herat . Ilyas died in 856, and his son Ibrahim ibn Ilyas became his successor. The Tahirid governor of Khorasan, Muhammad ibn Tahir , subsequently appointed him as

8103-573: The hands of the direct descendants of Chagatai Khan , the second son of Genghis Khan. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace prevailed in the Chaghatai lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole remained a strong and united kingdom, the Golden Horde . In the early 14th century, however, as the Persian empire began to break up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory was disrupted as

8214-416: The heir of the Saffarids. In the spring of 900, Amr clashed with Ismail near Balkh , but was defeated and taken into captivity. Ismail thereafter sent him to Baghdad, where he was executed. Ismail was thereafter recognized as the ruler of all of Khorasan and Transoxiana by the caliph. Furthermore, he also received the investiture over Tabaristan , Ray and Isfahan . It was also during this period that

8325-506: The kings of this realm are Persian kings." The Samanid dynasty was founded by Saman Khuda , his descendants became rulers of the Samanid Empire. He was a dehqan of Iranian origin from the village of Saman in Balkh province , in present-day northern Afghanistan. The earliest appearance of the Samanid family appears to be in Greater Khorasan rather than Transoxiana . In some sources,

8436-565: The major cultural centres under the state. Scholars, poets, artists and other men of education from many Muslim countries assembled in the Samanid capital of Bukhara, where a rich soil was created for the prosper of creative thought, thus making it one of the most distinguished cultural centres of the Eastern world. An outstanding library known as Siwān al-Hikma ("Storehouse of Wisdom") was put together in Bukhara, known for its various types of books. Due to extensive excavations at Nishapur , Iran, in

8547-558: The mid-twentieth century, Samanid pottery is well-represented in Islamic art collections around the world. These ceramics are largely made from earthenware and feature either calligraphic inscriptions of Arabic proverbs, or colorful figural decorations. The Arabic proverbs often speak to the values of "Adab" culture—hospitality, generosity, and modesty. In commending the Samanids, the epic Persian poet Ferdowsi says of them: کجا آن بزرگان ساسانیان ز بهرامیان تا به سامانیان "Where have all

8658-486: The organisation in 2005. Samanid Empire The Samanid Empire ( Persian : سامانیان , romanized :  Sāmāniyān ) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, ruled by a dynasty of Iranian dehqan origin. The empire was centred in Khorasan and Transoxiana , at its greatest extent encompassing northeastern Iran and Central Asia , from 819 to 999. Four brothers— Nuh , Ahmad , Yahya , and Ilyas —founded

8769-581: The present Zoroastrian population. Despite the fact that the Samanids professed Sunni Islam, however, they were much more tolerant towards its Zoroastrian population than the previous empires. Through zealous missionary work as many as 30,000 tents of Turks came to profess Islam and later under the Ghaznavids more than 55,000 under the Hanafi school of thought. The mass conversion of the Turks to Islam eventually led to

8880-480: The princes of various tribal groups competed for influence. One tribal chieftain, Timur (Tamerlane), emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Transoxiana. Although he was not a descendant of Genghis Khan, Timur became the de facto ruler of Transoxiana and proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran , the Caucasus , Mesopotamia , Asia Minor , and the southern steppe region north of

8991-480: The province of Transoxiana , and further east in what is today Xinjiang , the Sogdian intermediaries became the wealthiest of these merchants. As a result of this trade on what became known as the Silk Road , Bukhara and Samarkand eventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at times Transoxiana (Mawarannahr) was one of the most influential and powerful provinces of antiquity. In 327 BC, Macedonian ruler Alexander

9102-569: The region of Uzbekistan was ruled by the Hephthalites and Sassanid Empires, as well as by other empires, for example, those formed by the Turkic Gokturk peoples. The Muslim conquests from the seventh century onward saw the Arabs bring Islam to Uzbekistan. In the same period, Islam began to take root among the nomadic Turkic peoples . In the eighth century, Transoxiana, the territory between

9213-538: The region served as the birthplace, home, and capital of Tamerlane . Under Tamerlane, the region was a part of the Timurid Empire which extended from the Black Sea to the Arabian Sea , and to just outside of Delhi, India The first people known to have inhabited Central Asia were Scythians who came from the northern grasslands of what is now Uzbekistan, sometime in the first millennium BC; when these nomads settled in

9324-522: The region they built an extensive irrigation system along the rivers. At this time, cities such as Bukhoro ( Bukhara ) and Samarqand ( Samarkand ) emerged as centres of government and high culture. By the fifth century BC, the Bactrian , Sogdian , and Tokharian states dominated the region. As East Asia began to develop its silk trade with the West, Using an extensive network of cities and rural settlements in

9435-656: The region, and Isma'il decided it necessary to flee again. In 1003 Isma'il came back to Transoxiana, where he requested and received assistance from the Oghuz Turks of the Zarafshan valley. They defeated the Karakhanids in several battles, even when Nasr Khan was involved. For various reasons, however, Isma'il came to feel that he could not rely on the Oghuz to restore him, so he went back to Khorasan. He tried to gain Mahmud's support for

9546-459: The region. In 935, Nasr II re-established Samanid control in Gurgan and made Mardavij's successor Vushmgir his vassal. However, in 939 he declared independence, but was defeated the following year at Iskhabad . In 943 several Samanid army officers, angry at Nasr's support of Isma'ili missionaries, formed a conspiracy to murder him. Nasr's son Nuh I , however, learned of the conspiracy. He went to

9657-527: The rightful ruler. Because of this, Ismail continued to recognize his brother as well, but Nasr was completely powerless, a situation that would continue until his death in August 892. Following Nasr's death, Ismail moved the capital of the Samanid dynasty from Samarkand to Bukhara. A few months later the Saffarid emir, Ya'qub al-Saffar, also died and was succeeded by his brother Amr ibn al-Layth , who saw himself as

9768-482: The south of the country. Uzbekistan has also been home to seismic activity, as evidenced by the 1902 Andijan earthquake , 2011 Fergana Valley earthquake , and 1966 Tashkent earthquake . A dam collapse at Sardoba Reservoir in May 2020 flooded 35,000 hectares of land. Six people died and 111,000 evacuated with recovery estimates over 1.5 trillion som. The devastation extended into areas inside neighbouring Kazakhstan . After Uzbekistan declared independence from

9879-533: The southern part of the narrow western lobe of the South Aral Sea remaining permanently in Uzbekistan. Much of the water was and continues to be used for the irrigation of cotton fields , a crop requiring a large amount of water to grow. Due to the Aral Sea loss, high salinity and contamination of the soil with heavy elements are especially widespread in Karakalpakstan , the region of Uzbekistan adjacent to

9990-408: The southwest, Tajikistan to the southeast, and Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Uzbekistan is one of the largest Central Asian states and the only Central Asian state to border all the other four. Uzbekistan also shares a short border (less than 150 km or 93 mi) with Afghanistan to the south. Uzbekistan is a hot, dry, landlocked country . It is one of two doubly landlocked countries in

10101-472: The state affairs. Jaihani was not only an experienced administrator, but also a prominent geographer and greatly educated man. Almost right after Nasr II had ascended the throne, several revolts erupted, the most dangerous one being under his paternal grand-uncle, Ishaq ibn Ahmad, who seized Samarkand and began minting coins there, while his son Abu Salih Mansur seized Nishapur and several cities in Khorasan. Ishaq

10212-585: The title (as it appears from his tomb inscription ) of al-ḥājeb al-ajall (most noble commander). He would later be the founder of an independent dynasty based in Ghazna, following the decline of the Samanid Empire in the 990s. The power of the Samanids began to crumble in the latter half of the 10th century. In 962, one of the ghulams , Alp Tigin , commander of the army in Khorasan, seized Ghazna and established himself there. His successors, however, including Sebük Tigin , continued to rule as Samanid "governors". With

10323-545: The vote. Most international observers refused to participate in the process and did not recognise the results, dismissing them as not meeting basic standards. The 2002 referendum also included a plan for a bicameral parliament consisting of a lower house (the Oliy Majlis) and an upper house (Senate). Members of the lower house are to be "full-time" legislators. Elections for the new bicameral parliament took place on 26 December. Following Islam Karimov's death on 2 September 2016,

10434-637: The weakened Samanids facing rising challenges from the Karakhanids for control of Transoxiana , Sebük later took control of all the provinces south of the Oxus and established the Ghaznavid Empire . In 992, a Karakhanid , Harun Bughra Khan, grandson of the paramount tribal chief of the Karluk confederation Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan , captured Bukhara , the Samanid capital. Harun died shortly afterwards, however, and

10545-445: The world - that is, a landlocked country completely surrounded by other landlocked countries. The second doubly landlocked country is Liechtenstein . In addition, due to its location within a series of endorheic basins , none of its rivers lead to the sea. Less than 10% of its territory is intensively cultivated irrigated land in river valleys and oases. The Aral Sea , which has been largely desiccated by cotton production established in

10656-499: Was a large amount of growth in literature, mostly in poetry. It was during the Samanid period that Persian literature appeared in Transoxiana and was formally recognized. The advancement of an Islamic New Persian literature thus started in Transoxiana and Khorasan instead of Fars , the homeland of the Persians. The best known poets of the Samanid period were Rudaki (d. 941), Daqiqi (d. 977) and Ferdowsi (d. 1020). Although Persian

10767-553: Was a native of Tus , began his career at the court of the Muhtajid ruler Abu'l Muzaffar ibn Muhammad in Chaghaniyan , and was later invited to the Samanid court. Under the Samanids, a special interest arose in ancient Iranian legends and heroic traditions, thus inspiring Daqiqi to write the Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings"), a long epic poem based on the history of the Iranians. However, by his death in 977, he had only managed to complete

10878-504: Was a rival to Baghdad in its glory. Scholars note that the Samanids revived Persian language and culture more than the Buyids and the Saffarids while continuing to use Arabic for sciences as well as religious studies. They considered themselves to be descendants of the Sasanian Empire . In a famous edict, Samanid authorities declared that "here, in this region, the language is Persian, and

10989-567: Was eventually defeated and captured, while Abu Salih Mansur died of natural causes in 915. Some time later Nasr II once again had to deal with rebels; in 919, the governor of Khorasan, Husayn ibn Ali Marvarrudhi, rebelled against Samanid authority. Nasr responded by sending an army under Ahmad ibn Sahl to suppress the rebellion, which the latter managed to accomplish. After a few weeks, however, Ahmad shortly rebelled himself at Nishapur, made incursions into Gorgan, and then fortified himself in Merv to avoid

11100-497: Was imprisoned by the Karakhanids after their conquest of Bukhara in 999. Some time later, Isma'il managed to escape to Khwarazm, where he gained support. Driving the Karakhanids out of Bukhara, he then moved on to and captured Samarkand. The approach of the Karakhanid army, however, forced Isma'il to give up all of his possessions, following which he travelled to Khorasan, where he captured Nishapur. Mahmud's army, however, made its way to

11211-405: Was managed by the mustawfi , diplomatic correspondence and important state papers by the diwanal-rasa'il , and the royal guard and military affairs by the sahib al-shurta . The main responsibility of both governors and local rulers was to collect taxes and support the Samanid ruler with troops if needed. The most important province in the Samanid Empire was Khorasan, which was initially given to

11322-407: Was nearly killed. Following this, he sought the hospitality of an Arab tribe near Merv . Their chief, however, killed Isma'il in 1005. His death marked the defeat of the last attempt to restore the Samanid state. Descendants of the Samanid family continued to live in Transoxiana where they were well regarded, but their power was relatively broken. Along with several other states, the Samanid Empire

11433-604: Was one of the world's first great astronomers. It was during the Timurid dynasty that Turkic, in the form of the Chaghatai dialect, became a literary language in its own right in Transoxiana, although the Timurids were Persianate in culture. The greatest Chaghataid writer, Ali-Shir Nava'i , was active in the city of Herat (now in northwestern Afghanistan) in the second half of the 15th century. The Timurid state quickly split in half after

11544-577: Was part of the Iranian Intermezzo , or "Persian renaissance". This period has been described as having a key importance in the formation of the Islamic civilization, both politically and culturally. In political terms, it saw an effective break up of the Abbasid power and the rise of several successor states such as the Samanids and Buyids while in cultural terms, it witnessed the rise of new Persian as an administrative and literary language. The system of

11655-408: Was replaced by his long-time Prime Minister , Shavkat Mirziyoyev , on 14 December of the same year. On 6 November 2021, Mirziyoyev was sworn into his second term in office, after gaining a landslide victory in presidential election. Uzbekistan has an area of 448,978 square kilometres (173,351 sq mi). It is the 56th largest country in the world by area and the 40th by population. Among

11766-445: Was spread deep into the heartlands of Central Asia by the Samanids. Following the first complete translation of the Qur'an into Persian in the 9th century, populations under the Samanid empire began accepting Islam in significant numbers. The arabization of the Samanids was clearly minimal compared to the almost entirely arabized Tahirids. Despite Arabic literature and science flourishing in

11877-410: Was successful; Muhammad ibn Zayd was killed and Tabaristan was conquered by the Samanids. However, Muhammad ibn Harun shortly revolted, forcing Ismail himself to invade the region the following year. Muhammad ibn Harun thereafter fled to Daylam , while Ismail reconquered Tabaristan and Gorgan. In 901, Amr Saffari was defeated at the battle of Balkh by the Samanids, which reduced the Saffarid dynasty to

11988-449: Was the following year murdered by some of his slaves in a tent near Bukhara. During his reign, Ahmad is also said to have replaced the language of the court from Persian to Arabic , which made him unpopular among his subjects, and forced him to change it back to Persian. After Ahmad's death, his eight-year-old son Nasr II (r. 914–943) succeeded him. Due to Nasr's youth, his prime minister Abu 'Abd-Allah al-Jaihani took care over most of

12099-469: Was the most-favored language, Arabic continued to enjoy a high status and was still popular among the members of the Samanid family. For example, al-Tha'alibi wrote an Arabic anthology named Yatimat al-Dahr ("The Unique Pearl"). The fourth section of the anthology included a detailed account of the poets that lived under the Samanids. It also states that the poets of Khwarazm mostly wrote in Arabic. The acknowledged founder of Persian classical poetry, and

12210-469: Was under complete Samanid control, and Ahmad's cousin Abu Salih Mansur was appointed as its governor. Meanwhile, an Alid named Hasan al-Utrush was slowly re-establishing Zaydi over Tabaristan. In 913, Ahmad sent an army under Muhammad ibn Sa'luk to deal with him. Although the Samanid army was much larger, Hasan managed to emerge victorious. Ahmad, before he could plan another expedition to Tabaristan,

12321-522: Was unpopular with the people of Bukhara, and Nuh soon retaliated by retaking the city and blinding Ibrahim and two brothers. When Abu Ali Chaghani received the news of the re-capture of Bukhara, he once again marched towards it, but was defeated by an army sent by Nuh and withdrew back to Chaghaniyan. After some time, he left the region and tried to obtain support from other Samanid vassals. Meanwhile, Nuh had Chaghaniyan ravaged and its capital sacked. Another battle shortly ensued between Abu 'Ali Chaghani and

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