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Sogdiana

Sogdiana, ca. 300 BCE.
Languages Sogdian language
Religions Zoroastrianism, Manicheism, Christianity
Capitals Samarkand, Bukhara, Khujand, Kesh
Area Between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya
Existed
Sogdians, depicted on a Chinese Northern Qi stela, circa 550 CE.
Sogdians, depicted on a Chinese Northern Qi stela, circa 550 CE. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them The Sogdian language is a Middle Iranian language that was spoken in Sogdiana ( Zarafshan River Valley located in modern day Uzbekistan The world's principal Religions and spiritual traditions may be classified into a small number of major groups or world religions'. Zoroastrianism (ˌzɔroʊˈæstriəˌnɪzəm is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings Manichaeism (in Modern Persian fa-Arab آیین مانی Āyin e Māni; Chinese zh 摩尼教 was one of the major Gnostic Religions originating Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Samarkand (Samarqand Самарқанд سمرقند UniPers: "Samarqand" is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Bukhara (Buxoro Бухоро بُخارا Бухара also spelled as Bukhoro and Bokhara, from the Soghdian βuxārak ("lucky Shahrisabz or Shahr-e Sabz (Shahrisabz/Шахрисабз is a city in Uzbekistan located approximately 80 km south of Samarkand with the population of Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. The Amu Darya (formerly Oxus River the Greeks (Ptolemeus called it Oxiana palus) is the longest river in Central Asia. Syr Darya (Сырдария Сирдарё Sirdaryoسيردريا also transliterated Syrdarya or Sirdaryo) is a River in Central Asia This page attempts to list the many extinct States, countries, Nations Empires or territories that have ceased to exist as political The Northern Qi Dynasty (Chinese 北齊 Běiqí was one of the Northern dynasties of Chinese history and ruled northern China from 550 to 577.

Sogdiana or Sogdia (Tajik: Суғд - Old Persian: Suguda-; Persian: سغد; Ancient Greek: Σογδιανῆ) was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, the eighteenth in the list in the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great (i. The Tajik language, or Tajik Persian, or Tajiki, (sometimes written Tadjik or Tadzhik; тоҷикӣ, tg-Latn ''tojikí'') is a modern The Old Persian language is one of the two attested Old Iranian languages (besides Avestan) The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c The Iranian people are a collection of Ethnic groups defined along linguistic lines as speaking Iranian languages. The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia The Behistun Inscription (also Bisitun or Bisutun, Modern Persian: بیستون; Old Persian: Bagastana, meaning "the god's Darius I the Great (c 549 BC&ndash486 BC 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 Dārayavahuš: "Possessing goodness" Having ascended to power amidst controversy and bloodshed 16). Sogdiana is "listed" as the second 'good lands and countries' that Ahura Mazda created. Ahura Mazda ( ae Ahura Mazdā) is the Avestan language name for a divinity exalted by Zoroaster as the one uncreated Creator This region is listed after the first, Airyana Vaeja, Land of the Aryans, in the Zoroastrian book of Vendidad, hence one can see how ancient this region is considered. Zoroastrianism (ˌzɔroʊˈæstriəˌnɪzəm is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings [1] Sogdiana, at different periods of time, included territories around Samarkand, Bukhara, Khujand and Kesh in modern Uzbekistan. Samarkand (Samarqand Самарқанд سمرقند UniPers: "Samarqand" is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Bukhara (Buxoro Бухоро بُخارا Бухара also spelled as Bukhoro and Bokhara, from the Soghdian βuxārak ("lucky Shahrisabz or Shahr-e Sabz (Shahrisabz/Шахрисабз is a city in Uzbekistan located approximately 80 km south of Samarkand with the population of Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси is a doubly

The Sogdian states, although never politically united, were centred around their main city of Samarkand. Samarkand (Samarqand Самарқанд سمرقند UniPers: "Samarqand" is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of It lay north of Bactria, east of Khwarezm, and southeast of Kangju between the Oxus (Amu Darya) and the Jaxartes (Syr Darya), embracing the fertile valley of the Zarafshan (ancient Polytimetus). "Bactrian" redirects here For the camel see Bactrian camel. Khwarezm were a series of States centered on the Amu Darya River delta of the Kangju (Chinese 康居 was the name of an ancient people and the kingdom they established in central Asia The Amu Darya (formerly Oxus River the Greeks (Ptolemeus called it Oxiana palus) is the longest river in Central Asia. Syr Darya (Сырдария Сирдарё Sirdaryoسيردريا also transliterated Syrdarya or Sirdaryo) is a River in Central Asia Zeravshan River (also Zarafshan or Zarafshon, Дарёи Зарафшон Zarafshon from the Persian word زر افشان zar afshān, meaning Sogdian territory corresponds to the modern provinces of Samarkand and Bokhara in modern Uzbekistan as well as the Sughd province of modern Tajikistan. Samarqand Province (Samarkand Province (Samarqand viloyati is a Viloyat (province of Uzbekistan located in the center of the country in the basin of Zarafshan Buxoro Province ( Bukhara Province) (Buxoro viloyati/Бухоро вилояти is a Viloyat (province of Uzbekistan located in the southwest of Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси is a doubly Sughd ( Tajik: Суғд ( Sogdiana) is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces (вилоятҳо viloyatho Tajikistan (təˈdʒɪkɨstæn or /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/ Тоҷикистон tɔʤikɪsˈtɔn or, Persian تاجیکستان‎ taajikestaan officially the Republic of

Contents

History

Gold coin of Diodotus c. 250 BC.
Gold coin of Diodotus c. Diodotus, Seleucid Satrap of Bactria, rebelled against Antiochus II (about 255 BC and became the founder of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom 250 BC. Events By place Egypt Ptolemy II encourages the Jewish residents of Alexandria to have their Bible translated
Barbaric copy of a coin of Euthydemus I, from the region of Sogdiana. The legend on the reverse is in Aramaic script.
Barbaric copy of a coin of Euthydemus I, from the region of Sogdiana. Euthydemus I was allegedly a native of Magnesia and possible Satrap of Sogdiana, who overturned the dynasty of Diodotus of Bactria and became The legend on the reverse is in Aramaic script. Aramaic is a Semitic language with

Hellenistic period

The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes, a fortress in Sogdiana, was captured in 327 BC by the forces of Alexander the Great, who united Sogdiana with Bactria into one satrapy. Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes, a fortress located north of Bactria in Sogdiana (near Samarkand on the northern Silk Road) was Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' "Bactrian" redirects here For the camel see Bactrian camel. See also the related deity Satrapes. Satrap (Persian ساتراپ was the name given to the governors of the Provinces of ancient Subsequently it formed part of the Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian kingdom, founded in 248 BCE by Diodotus, for about a century. This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. The Gr(aeco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 Diodotus, Seleucid Satrap of Bactria, rebelled against Antiochus II (about 255 BC and became the founder of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom Euthydemus I seems to have held the Sogdian territory, and his coins were later copied locally. Euthydemus I was allegedly a native of Magnesia and possible Satrap of Sogdiana, who overturned the dynasty of Diodotus of Bactria and became Eucratides apparently recovered sovereignty on Sogdia temporarily. Eucratides I (or Eukratides I)(reigned ca 170 BCE - 145 BCE was one of the most important Greco-Bactrian kings Finally the area was occupied by nomads when the Scythians and Yuezhis overran it around 150 BCE. In Classical Antiquity, Scythia ( Greek Skuthia) was the area in Eurasia inhabited by the Scythians, from the 8th The Yuezhi or Rouzhi ( Chinese: 月支 Pinyin: yuè zhī or ròu zhī; also 月氏 Pinyin: yuè shì

Battle of Sogdiana

In 36 BC, a "Han expedition into central Asia, west of the Jaxartes River, apparently encountered and defeated a contingent of Roman legionaries. Syr Darya (Сырдария Сирдарё Sirdaryoسيردريا also transliterated Syrdarya or Sirdaryo) is a River in Central Asia The Romans may have been the enslaved remnants of Crassus' army, defeated by the Parthians and forced to fight on their eastern frontier. Marcus Licinius Crassus ( Latin: M·LICINIVS·P·F·P·N·CRASSVS (ca Sogdiana (modern Bukhara), east of the Oxus River, on the Polytimetus River, was apparently the most easterly penetration ever made by Roman forces in Asia. Bukhara (Buxoro Бухоро بُخارا Бухара also spelled as Bukhoro and Bokhara, from the Soghdian βuxārak ("lucky The margin of Chinese victory appears to have been their crossbows, whose bolts and darts seem easily to have penetrated Roman shields and armor. A crossbow is a Weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles often called bolts "[2]

Contacts with China

Sogdiana was "Sùtè" for the Chinese.
Sogdiana was "Sùtè" for the Chinese.

The Sogdians occupied a key position along the ancient Silk Road, and played a major role in facilitating trade between China and Central Asia. The Silk Road, or Silk Routes, are an extensive interconnected network of Trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East South and Western Asia with the China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south Their contacts with China were triggered by the embassy of the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian during the reign of Wudi in the former Han Dynasty, 141-87 BCE. Zhang Qian ( 張[[wikt 騫|騫]] Wade-Giles Chang Ch'ien was an imperial envoy to the outside world in the 2nd century BC during the time of the Han Dynasty Background birth and years as crown prince Emperor Wu was the tenth child of Emperor Jing, and was born to one of Emperor Jing's favorite Concubines, The Han Dynasty ( 206 BC–220 AD followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. He wrote a report of his visit in Central Asia, and named the area of Sogdiana, "Kangju". Kangju (Chinese 康居 was the name of an ancient people and the kingdom they established in central Asia

Following Zhang Qian's embassy and report, commercial Chinese relations with Central Asia and Sogdiana flourished,[3] as many Chinese missions were sent throughout the 1st century BC: "The largest of these embassies to foreign states numbered several hundred persons, while even the smaller parties included over 100 members. The 1st century BC started the first day of 100 BC and ended the last day of 1 BC. . . In the course of one year anywhere from five to six to over ten parties would be sent out. " (Shiji, trans. The Records of the Grand Historian, also known in English by the Chinese name 史記 or Shiji, written from 109 BC to 91 BC Burton Watson); however, the Sogdian traders were then still less important in the Silk Road trade than their Southern neighbours, Indian and Bactrian.

Central Asian role

Sogdian coin, 6th century CE. British Museum.
Sogdian coin, 6th century CE. British Museum. The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London.
Chinese-influenced Sogdian coin, Kelpin, 8th century CE. British Museum.
Chinese-influenced Sogdian coin, Kelpin, 8th century CE. British Museum. The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London.

The Sogdians dominated the East-West trade after the 4th century CE up to the 8th century CE, with Suyab and Talas ranking among their main centres in the north. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini / Common era) was that Century The 8th century is the period from 701 to 800 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. Suyab ( also known as Ordukent, modern-day Ak-Beshim) was an ancient Silk Road city located some 60 km north east from Bishkek, and 6 km southeast Taraz ( Тараз) formerly Talas, Zhambyl (Kazakh Жамбы́л and Aulie-Ata (Kazakh Әулие́-Ата Chagatai: اولياه They were the main caravan merchants of Central Asia. Their commercial interests were protected by the resurgent military power of the Göktürks, whose empire has been described as "the joint enterprise of the Ashina clan and the Soghdians". Göktürks ( Turkish: Gök Türkler) were a Turkic people of ancient Central Asia. Ashina ( Asen, Asena, etc was a tribe and the ruling dynasty of the ancient Turks who rose to prominence in the mid- 6th century when their leader [4][5] Their trades with some interruptions continued in 9th century. It is occurred in 10th century within the framework of the Uighur Empire, which until 840 extended all over northern Central Asia and obtained from China enormous deliveries of silk in exchange for horses. At this time caravans of Sogdians traveling to Upper Mongolia are mentioned in Chinese sources.

They played an equally important religious and cultural role. Part of the data about eastern Asia provided by Muslim geographers of the 10th century actually goes back to Sogdian data of the period 750-840 and thus shows the survival of links between east and west. However, after the end of the Uighur Empire, Sogdian trade went through a crisis. What mainly issued from Muslim Central Asia was the trade of the Samanids, which resumed the northwestern road leading to the Khazars and the Urals and the northeastern one toward the nearby Turkic tribes. [5]

Language and culture

Sogdian in Sassanid style dresses donors to the Buddha (fresco, with detail), Bezeklik, eastern Tarim Basin, China, 8th century.
Sogdian in Sassanid style dresses donors to the Buddha (fresco, with detail), Bezeklik, eastern Tarim Basin, China, 8th century. The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves ( Simplified Chinese:柏孜克里千佛洞 Hanyu Pinyin: Bózīkèlǐ Qiān Fó Dòng are complex of Buddhist cave grottos dating The Tarim Basin ( is a large Endorheic basin occupying an area of more than 400000 km²

The Sogdians were noted for their tolerance of different religious beliefs. Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion among Sogdians and remained so until shortly after the Islamic conquest, when the Arabs made repeated efforts to forcefully suppress it. Zoroastrianism (ˌzɔroʊˈæstriəˌnɪzəm is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings Manichaeism and Nestorian Christianity also had significant followings. Manichaeism (in Modern Persian fa-Arab آیین مانی Āyin e Māni; Chinese zh 摩尼教 was one of the major Gnostic Religions originating Nestorius Nestorius (c  386 &ndashc  451) was a pupil of Theodore of Mopsuestia in Antioch in Syria (modern Much of our knowledge of the Sogdians and their language comes from the numerous religious texts that they have left behind.

The Sogdians spoke an Eastern Iranian language called Sogdian, closely related to Bactrian, another major language of the region in ancient times. The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from ca The Sogdian language is a Middle Iranian language that was spoken in Sogdiana ( Zarafshan River Valley located in modern day Uzbekistan The Bactrian language is an extinct Eastern Iranian language which was spoken in the Central Asian region of Bactria. Sogdian was written in a variety of scripts, all of them derived from the Aramaic alphabet. The Sogdian alphabet was originally used for the Sogdian language, which belongs to the Iranian family The Aramaic alphabet is an Abjad, a Consonantal Alphabet, used for writing Aramaic.

The valley of the Zarafshan about Samarkand retained even in the Middle Ages the name of the Soghd O Samarkand. Samarkand (Samarqand Самарқанд سمرقند UniPers: "Samarqand" is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Arabic geographers reckon it as one of the four fairest districts in the world. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena The Yaghnobis living in the Sughd province of Tajikistan still speak a dialect of the Soghdian language. Yaghnobi people (or Yagnobian people, Tajik яғнобиҳо /yaġnobiho/ یغنابی‌ها is the name of a people who live in mountainous Tajikistan Sughd ( Tajik: Суғд ( Sogdiana) is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces (вилоятҳо viloyatho Tajikistan (təˈdʒɪkɨstæn or /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/ Тоҷикистон tɔʤikɪsˈtɔn or, Persian تاجیکستان‎ taajikestaan officially the Republic of The Yaghnobi language is a living Northeastern Iranian language (the only other living member being Ossetic)

The great majority of the Sogdian people gradually mixed with other local groups such as the Bactrians, Chorasmians, Turks and Persians, and came to speak Persian or (after the Turkic conquest of Central Asia) Turkic (modern Uzbek). Uzbek ( O‘zbek tili or O'zbekcha in Latin script, Ўзбек тили in Cyrillic script; أۇزبېك ﺗﻴﻠی in Arabic They are among the ancestors of the modern Tajik and Uzbek people. Tajik ( - Tādjīk; UniPers: Tâjik; Cyrillic: Тоҷик is a term generally applied to Persian-speaking people of The Uzbeks (Self designation sg O‘zbek, pl O‘zbeklar) are a Turkic people of Central Asia. Numerous Sogdian words can be found in modern Persian and Uzbek as a result of this admixture.

Famous Sogdians

See also

Literature

References

  1. ^ Avesta.org
  2. ^ R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy, The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History from 3500 B. C. to the Present, Fourth Edition (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993), 133.
  3. ^ C.Michael Hogan, Silk Road, North China, The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham
  4. ^ Wink, André. Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Brill Academic Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0391041738.
  5. ^ a b Sogdian Trade, Encyclopedia Iranica, (retrieved 15 June 2007)

External links

Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Xerxes II (Xšayāršā was a Persian king and the son and successor of Artaxerxes I.

Dictionary

Sogdiana

-proper noun

  1. an ancient Persian-speaking civilization of what is today eastern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan
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