Glossary · Central Asia
Every Central Asian territory on the map
Kushans, Turkic khaganates, Timur and the khanates.
- Entries
- 68
- Span
- AD 1 – today
- Eras
- 6
What this region covers
The steppe and the oasis cities between the Caspian and the Altai — Transoxiana, Khwarezm, the Tarim Basin, the Kazakh steppe and the Caucasus rim — from the Kushans and the Turkic khaganates, through the Mongol uluses, Timur and the khanates, to the republics on the map today.
Nothing matches that.
The steppe in antiquity
AD 1 – 550 10 entries- c. 2nd century BC – 8th century AD Caucasian Albania Ancient kingdom of eastern Transcaucasia overlapping modern Azerbaijan and Dagestan, its modern name unrelated to Balkan Albania.
- c. 2nd century BC – 1st century AD Dayuan (Great Yuan) Mongol-ruled imperial dynasty of China founded by Kublai Khan, the first non-Han dynasty to rule the whole of China proper.
- c. 2nd century BC – 5th century AD Wusun Semi-nomadic steppe people ruling the Ili valley and northern Tian Shan from a seat at Chigu, a power of the Western Regions.
- c. 3rd century BC – 1st century AD Yuezhi Nomadic people of western Gansu controlling the jade trade, whose Xiongnu defeat triggered migrations ending in the Kushans.
- c. 30–375 CEEmpire Kushan Empire Syncretic empire formed by a tribe of the Yuezhi confederation, straddling Central and South Asia as a great Eurasian power.
- c. 370s–469 Huns Nomadic people of Central Asian origin who triggered the Gothic flight west and built a short hegemony on the Danube under Attila.
- 60/59 BC – AD 107 Protectorate of the Western Regions Han Chinese administration over the Tarim Basin's oasis city-states, the first direct Chinese rule of the region.
- c. 320–467 CE Kidarites Dynasty of nomadic origin ruling Bactria, Sogdiana, Gandhara, and Punjab, founding the first of four great Hunnic states.
- AD 387–401 Xionites Cluster of Iranian-Hunnic nomadic groups dominating Transoxiana and Bactria, linked debatably to the European Huns and Xiongnu.
- AD 410–560 Hephthalites Nomadic confederation of so-called Iranian Huns who built an empire from Merv to the Tarim Basin, defeating the Sasanians.
Turkic khaganates and Islam
550 – 1200 17 entries- AD 555–586 Göktürk Khaganate Turkic khaganate founded by the Ashina clan, the first transcontinental empire of Central Asia, stretching to the Black Sea.
- AD 587–660 Western Göktürk Khaganate Western half of the Göktürk realm, known as the Ten Arrow People, controlling Semirechye and Silk Road trade routes.
- AD 638–646 Balasagan Sogdian-founded Silk Road city in the Chüy Valley, later capital successively of the Kara-Khanid khans and the Qara Khitai empire.
- AD 666–717, 750–756 Turks Steppe khaganate founded by Ilterish of the Ashina clan, restoring Göktürk independence from Tang China before its own later fall.
- AD 750–1235 Kimek-Kipchak confederation Medieval Turkic tribal confederation of seven peoples between the Ob and Irtysh rivers, controlling a stretch of the Silk Road.
- AD 750–1055 Oghuz Turks Western Turkic tribal confederation of a steppe khanate, ancestor of the modern Turkmens, Azerbaijanis, and Turks of Turkey.
- AD 793–849 Qarlugs Nomadic Turkic tribal confederacy west of the Altai, ancestor of most modern Uzbeks and Uyghurs and core of a later khanate.
- AD 825–839, 866–1084, 1126–1235, 1344–1384, 1415–1539 Shirvan Long-lived Islamic dynasty of the eastern Caucasus, from the Kur River to the Caspian coast, among the longest-lived Islamic ones.
- AD 850–1045 Kara-Khanid Khanate First Turkic-ruled Central Asian state to embrace Islam, its conquest of Transoxiana shifting the region to Turkic hands.
- AD 860–1138 Kingdom of Qocho Uyghur kingdom of the Turfan oasis founded by refugees after the old Uyghur Khaganate's destruction, ruled by kings styled idiqut.
- AD 886–999 Samanid Empire Persianate Sunni empire of Iranian gentry origin centered on Khorasan and Transoxiana, centerpiece of a Persian cultural revival.
- AD 888–1009 Kingdom of Khotan Ancient Iranian Saka Buddhist kingdom of the southern Silk Road in the Tarim Basin, conquered by the Muslim Kara-Khanid Khanate.
- AD 898–935 Sajid Dynasty Sunni Muslim dynasty of Sogdian Iranian origin ruling Azerbaijan and parts of Armenia as Abbasid central power decayed.
- AD 990–1039 Seljuk Dynasty Oghuz Turkic dynasty risen from the steppe to found a great empire, patronizing Persian culture in the Turco-Persian tradition.
- 1046–1138 Eastern Kara-Khanids Eastern successor state of a great Turkic khanate after its eleventh-century split, ruling Semirechye, Ferghana, and Tarim rim.
- 1046–1084 Western Karakhanid Khanate Western successor state of a great Turkic khanate centered on Transoxiana, ruled from Samarkand until the Khwarazmshahs' conquest.
- 1094–1146, 1152–1201 Khwarezmid Dynasty Sunni dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin ruling Khwarazm and a vast empire across Central Asia and Iran until the Mongol destruction.
The Mongol uluses
1200 – 1370 6 entries- 1294–1462 Chagatai Khanate Mongol khanate ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan's second son, stretching from the Amu Darya to the Altai Mountains.
- 1294–1362, 1385–1501, 1547–1695 Golden Horde Northwestern successor state of the Mongol Empire founded by Batu Khan, exacting tribute from Russia's princes for centuries.
- 1344–1362 Chobanids Mongol amirate of the Suldus clan that seized control of the western Ilkhanid realm, ruling through puppet khans from Tabriz.
- 1344–1394 Sarbadars Hybrid state of religious dervishes and secular notables ruling western Khurasan from Sabzevar, lacking any dynastic legitimacy.
- 1363–1449 Blue Horde Western wing of a great Jochid steppe realm stretching from the Ural River to the Danube, exacting tribute from Russian princes.
- 1363–1384 White Horde Eastern wing of a great Jochid steppe realm along the Syr Darya, ruled by princes descended from Jochi's son Orda until its fall.
Timur and the khanates
1370 – 1700 21 entries- 1375–1528 Timurid Empire Turco-Mongol Persianate empire founded by Timur, dominating Greater Iran and Central Asia through rule via puppet Chagatai khans.
- 1402–1474 Four Oirats Confederation of Western Mongol tribes that rose after the Yuan dynasty's fall, peaking under the Choros leader Esen Taishi.
- 1440–1551 Khanate of Kazan Tatar successor state of the Golden Horde occupying former Volga Bulgaria, chronically unstable until conquered by Tsarist Russia.
- 1450–1563 Nogai Horde Nomadic confederation of the Pontic-Caspian steppe founded by the Manghit tribe, its beys rejecting Golden Horde succession.
- 15th-century Altishahr East Turkestan Historical-geographic term for the Tarim Basin's oasis towns, later called Altishahr and nominally part of Moghulistan.
- 1463–1518 Moghulistan Turco-Mongol Muslim breakaway khanate of the Chagatai realm, embracing Ili, Dzungaria, and the Tarim Basin from Almaliq.
- 1468–1555, 1642–1768 Astrakhan Khanate Tatar rump successor state of the Golden Horde on the lower Volga, ruled by khans claiming descent from Jochi's son Toqa Temür.
- 1468–1847 Kazakh Khanate Nomadic steppe state and the longest-lived post-Golden Horde Jochid khanate, ruled by Genghisid khans of the Töre clan.
- 1468–1578, 1706–1737, 1744–1762 Kingdom of Kakheti Georgian Bagrationi monarchy of the Alazani and Iori river valleys, formed from a medieval kingdom's tripartite dissolution.
- 1347–1462/1487 Eastern Chagatai Khanate Chinese name for a breakaway eastern khanate whose Mongols kept a steppe identity after the western Chagatayids settled down.
- 1497–1511 Shaybanids Turco-Mongol Uzbek dynasty descended from Jochi's son Shiban, ruling the khanates of Bukhara, Khwarezm, and Sibir at its height.
- 1502–1726, 1734–1737 Safavid Empire Iranian empire descended from an Ardabil Sufi order, proclaiming Twelver Shi'ism the state faith and opening modern Iranian rule.
- 1512–1872, 1918–1919 Khanate of Khiva Uzbek monarchy of the lower Amu Darya delta known to its people as the vilayet Khwarazm, ruled from Konye-Urgench and then Khiva.
- 1516–1787 Khanate of Bukhara Uzbek monarchy of Transoxiana founded after Muhammad Shaybani's conquest, later ruled by the Janid and then Manghit dynasties.
- 1487–c. 1660s Eastern Moghulistan Turco-Mongol khanate formed from the eastern half of a great steppe realm, centered on Turpan under the Chagatayid Moghul line.
- 1487/1514–1705 Western Moghulistan Western half of a great steppe realm continued as a Tarim Basin khanate, ruled by the same Chagatayid Moghul house from Yarkent.
- 1547–1699 Tümed Southern Mongol tribal division centered on the Hohhot plain, core of Altan Khan's powerful sixteenth-century Mongol principality.
- 1564–1737 Little Horde Westernmost of the three Kazakh tribal confederations, a supra-tribal alliance occupying the former Nogai Khanate's grazing lands.
- 1609–1618, 1677–1756 Dzungar Khanate Last great nomadic empire of Inner Asia, built by Choros-led Oirat tribes reaching from Siberia to Tibet before Qing rule.
- 1619–1676 Oirat Confederation Tribal confederation of the Western Mongols that dominated the post-Yuan Mongol world before splitting into rival khanates.
- 1632–1771 Kalmyk Khanate Oirat-Mongol khanate of the lower Volga steppe, the only Buddhist state ever established in Europe and a Russian military ally.
Russian and Qing conquest
1700 – 1917 5 entries- 1709–1876 Khanate of Kokand Central Asian state of the Fergana Valley ruled by an Uzbek dynasty of the Ming tribe, stretching across four modern republics.
- 1748–1795 Khanates of the Caucasus Semi-independent South Caucasus principalities under Iranian suzerainty, formed once Nader Shah's death caused regional disorder.
- 1788–1867, 1918–1919 Emirate of Bukhara Central Asian monarchy of the Uzbek Manghit dynasty in Transoxiana, ending 135 years of rule before Soviet national delimitation.
- 1828–1858 Caucasian Imamate Theocratic resistance state of Dagestan and Chechnya seeking sharia unity against Russian rule, led at its height by Imam Shamil.
- 1911–1914 Republic of Uryankhay Nominally independent Tuvan state that broke from Qing China in the Sayan Mountains before becoming a Russian protectorate.
The Soviet century and after
1917 – today 9 entries- 1918–1920 Azerbaijan Democratic Republic First secular democratic republic of the Turkic and Muslim worlds, founded after the Transcaucasian federation's collapse.
- 1933–1934 and 1944–1949 East Turkestan Republic Two short-lived breakaway states in Xinjiang, an Islamic republic at Kashgar and a Soviet-backed republic in northern districts.
- 1991–present Azerbaijan South Caucasus republic on the Caspian Sea, heir to Caucasian Albania and the Shirvanshahs, independent since the Soviet fall.
- 1992–1995, 2000–2005 Chechen Republic North Caucasus republic of the Russian Federation, home to the Nakh Chechen people and site of a mass Soviet-era deportation.
- 1991–present Kazakhstan World's largest landlocked country, straddling Central Asia and Eastern Europe as heir to the Kazakh Khanate and Soviet rule.
- 1991–present Kyrgyzstan Mountainous Tian Shan republic tracing statehood to the Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate, later a Soviet republic and a post-Soviet state.
- 1991–present Tajikistan Smallest and most mountainous Central Asian state, a Persian-speaking heir to the Samanid Empire's cultural legacy.
- 1991–present Turkmenistan Largely desert Central Asian country holding vast natural gas reserves, heir to the medieval Silk Road oasis city of Merv.
- 1991–present Uzbekistan Central Asia's most populous country and a doubly landlocked state, heir to the Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara.
Common questions
- How many Central Asian states are in this glossary?
- 68 — every Central Asian territory the atlas draws, from Caucasian Albania (c. 2nd century BC – 8th century AD) to the states on the map today. Each entry lists its dates, its peak extent and the sources it was written from.
- Which is the oldest Central Asian state on the map?
- Caucasian Albania, c. 2nd century BC – 8th century AD — the first territory the atlas draws in Central Asia. The most recent to appear is Uzbekistan (1991–present).
- Which Central Asian state covered the most ground?
- Of the territories mapped here, Göktürk Khaganate reached the largest area — about 6.5M km² at its peak, as drawn by the border data.