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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Uzbekistan
Index
The conquest of Central Asia by Islamic Arabs, which was completed in
the eighth century A.D., brought to the region a new religion and culture
that continue to be dominant. The Arabs first invaded Mawarannahr in the
middle of the seventh century through sporadic raids during their conquest
of Persia. Available sources on the Arab conquest suggest that the
Soghdians and other Iranian peoples of Central Asia were unable to defend
their land against the Arabs because of internal divisions and the lack of
strong indigenous leadership. The Arabs, on the other hand, were led by a
brilliant general, Qutaybah ibn Muslim, and they also were highly
motivated by the desire to spread their new faith (the official beginning
of which was in A.D. 622). Because of these factors, the population of
Mawarannahr was easily conquered. The new religion brought by the Arabs
spread gradually in the region. The native cultures, which in some
respects already were being displaced by Persian influences before the
Arabs arrived, were displaced farther in the ensuing centuries.
Nevertheless, the destiny of Central Asia as an Islamic region was firmly
established by the Arab victory over the Chinese armies in 750 in a battle
at the Talas River.
Under Arab rule, Central Asia retained much of its Iranian character,
remaining an important center of culture and trade for centuries after the
Arab conquest. However, until the tenth century the language of
government, literature, and commerce was Arabic. Mawarannahr continued to
be an important political player in regional affairs, as it had been under
various Persian dynasties. In fact, the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled the
Arab world for five centuries beginning in 750, was established thanks in
great part to assistance from Central Asian supporters in their struggle
against the then-ruling Umayyad Caliphate.
During the height of the Abbasid Caliphate in the eighth and the ninth
centuries, Central Asia and Mawarannahr experienced a truly golden age.
Bukhoro became one of the leading centers of learning, culture, and art in
the Muslim world, its magnificence rivaling contemporaneous cultural
centers such as Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordoba. Some of the greatest
historians, scientists, and geographers in the history of Islamic culture
were natives of the region.
As the Abbasid Caliphate began to weaken and local Islamic Iranian
states emerged as the rulers of Iran and Central Asia, the Persian
language began to regain its preeminent role in the region as the language
of literature and government. The rulers of the eastern section of Iran
and of Mawarannahr were Persians. Under the Samanids and the Buyids, the
rich culture of Mawarannahr continued to flourish.
Data as of March 1996
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