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Of Persian origin, the term "Turkestan" (ترکستان) has never referred to a single national state, although the area was at one time ruled by an Emperor.[1] Persian geographers first used the word to describe the place of Turkish peoples.[2] After the defeat and weakening of Persia in the Anglo-Persian War of 1856-1857, Imperial Russia stepped up its campaign to wrest full control over the Central Asian region from Persian dominance. On their way southward, the Russians took the city of Turkestan (in present-day Kazakhstan) in 1864. Mistaking its name for that of the entire region, they adopted the appellation of "Turkestan" for their new territory.[2][3] As of 2015 the term labels a region which is inhabited mainly by Turkic peoples in Central Asia. It includes present-day Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang (East Turkestan or Chinese Turkestan).[4][5] Many would also include Turkic regions of Russia (Tatarstan and parts of Siberia) as well.
Turkestan was at one time ruled by Emperor Gustasp (believed to be either Hystaspes (father of Darius I) or Darius I).[6][7] Additional documents indicate that Turkestan's history dates back to at least the third millennium BC. Many artifacts were produced in that period, and much trade was conducted. The region was a focal point for cultural diffusion, as the Silk Road traversed it. Turkestan covers the area of Central Asia and acquired its "Turkic" character from the 4th to 6th centuries AD with the incipient Turkic expansion.
Turkic sagas, such as the Ergenekon legend, and written sources such as the Orkhon Inscriptions state that Turkic peoples originated in the nearby Altay Mountains, and, through nomadic settlement, started their long journey westwards. Huns conquered the area after they conquered Kashgaria in the early 2nd century BC. With the dissolution of the Huns' empire, Chinese rulers took over Eastern Turkestan.[8] Arab forces captured it in the 8th century. The Persian Samanid dynasty subsequently conquered it and the area experienced economic success.[8] The entire territory was held at various times by Turkic forces, such as the Göktürks until the conquest by Genghis Khan and the Mongols in 1220. Genghis Khan gave the territory to his son, Chagatai and the area became the Chagatai Khanate.[8] Timur took over the area in 1369 and the area became the Timurid Empire.[8]
Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turkestan has also been known historically as Sogdiana, Ma wara'u'n-nahr (by its Arab conquerors), and Transoxiana by Western travellers. The latter two names refer to its position beyond the River Oxus when approached from the south, emphasizing Turkestan's long-standing relationship with Iran, the Persian Empires and the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates.
The regions of Central Asia lying between Siberia on the north; Tibet, British India (now Pakistan), Afghanistan, and Iran on the south; the Gobi Desert on the east; and the Caspian Sea on the west.[9] Oghuz Turks (also known as Turkmens), Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Khazars, Kyrgyz, Hazara and Uyghurs are some of the Turkic inhabitants of the region who, as history progressed, have spread further into Eurasia forming such Turkic nations as Turkey and Azerbaijan, and subnational regions like Tatarstan in Russia and Crimea in Ukraine. Tajiks and Russians form sizable non-Turkic minorities.
It is subdivided into Afghan Turkestan and Russian Turkestan in the West, and Xinjiang (previously Chinese Turkestan) in the East.
A summary of Classical sources on the Seres (Greek and Roman name of China) (essentially Pliny and Ptolemy) gives the following account:
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Soviet Union, Paris, Poland, Edmund Charaszkiewicz, World War II
Islamic theology, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Fiqh, Sunni Islam