Transoxiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Transoxiana (sometimes spelled Transoxania) / Ma Wara'un-Nahr (Arabic: ما وراء النهر) / Farārood (Persian: فرارود)[citation needed] is the largely obsolete name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it means the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. When used in the present, it usually implies that one is talking about that region in the time prior to about the 8th century AD, although the term continued to remain in use among western historians for several centuries after. In the Persian epic Shahnameh, written by the poet Ferdowsi, Transoxiana is the homeland of the Iranian nomadic tribes and the Oxus river is the border between Iran and Turan.
The region was one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia under name Sogdiana. Transoxiana, however, is Latin, and literally means "beyond the Oxus River", the Greek name for the Amu Darya, which describes the region perfectly from the viewpoint of the Greeks and Romans. The Arabic "mā wara` an-nahr", "that which is beyond the river": is an alternate name for the country. See also Khwarezm and Greater Khorasan.
[edit] History
The name Transoxiana stuck in Western consciousness because of the exploits of Alexander the Great, who extended Greek culture into the region with his conquests of the 4th century BC; Transoxiana was the most northeastern point of the Hellenistic culture, and in fact kept a hybrid Greek/Persian/Chinese/Indian/Buddhist culture, dubbed 'Serindian', until the Islamic conquest. During the Sassanid Empire, it was often called Sogdiana, a provincial name taken from the Achaemenid Empire, and used to distinguish it from nearby Bactria. In Sassanid times, the region became a major cultural and scientific center due to effective royal authority and the wealth derived from the Silk Road. Many Persian nobles and landlords escaped to this region after the Muslim invasion. Following the Arab conquest, the area became known as Ma wara'un-Nahr (Arabic, "what is beyond the river").
Transoxiana's major cities and cultural centers are Samarkand and Bukhara. Both are in the southern portion of Transoxiana, (though still to the north of the Amu Darya itself, on the river Zeravshan), and the majority of the region was dry but fertile plains. Both cities remained centers of Persian culture and civilization after the Islamic conquest of Iran, and played a crucial role in the revival of Persian culture with establishment of the Samanid dynasty.
Genghis Khan invaded Transoxiana in 1219 during his conquest of Khwarazm. Before his death in 1227, he assigned the lands of Western Central Asia to his second son Chagatai, and this region became known as the Chagatai Khanate. In 1369 Timur, of the Barlas tribe, became the effective ruler while continuing the ceremonial authority of Chagatai Khan's dynasty, and made Samarkand the capital of his future empire.
[edit] Other uses
"Transoxiana" is also the name of a well-respected publication of researchers from Argentina and worldwide. This journal is available online at www.transoxiana.org.
