History of Uzbekistan is the history of individuals and great nations, bloody conquests and large rebellions; it is the history of origin of the most beautiful cities in Central Asia; it is the history of people, who wholeheartedly loved their homeland.
People settled on the territory of Uzbekistan centuries ago.
Stone Age — The Zoroastrians and Persians — The process of settling the territory of Uzbekistan dates back to the Stone Age, and the most ancient information on the nationalities of Central Asia is documented in the Avesta — the code of holy hymns of the Zoroastrians lands which were inhabited by the Sogdians, Bactrians and others. During the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries BC, the greatest part of the Central Asian lands was under the power of the Persian dynasty of the Akhemenids. The above mentioned groups are described by Persian original sources. Greek writers mentioned the existence of Marakanda city (today’s Samarkand) and Kiropol in Ferghana.
Alexander the Great was the first world conqueror and one of the most remarkable men in history. The son of Philip Macedon, tsar, an excellent general and organizer Alexander brought Greek ideas and the Greek way of doing things to all the countries that he conquered. He was born in 356 and died in 323 B.C.
His mother, Olimpias, princess of Epirus, was brilliant and hot-tempered. Alexander inherited the best qualities of both his parents. Alexander the Great was an ambitious emperor. He decided to conquer Persia. This had been part of his father’s plan. In the spring of 336 B.C., he crossed the Hellespont (Dardanelles) with an army. His army won a victory over the Persians on the bank of the Gracious River.
This victory opened the road to Asia Minor. Before the summer of 327, he had once more crossed the Hindu-Kush Mountains on this way to India. It was the beginning of the crash of Alexander’s Army. Alexander left some of his soldiers in Middle Asia and because of this as the legend says some Uzbek people appeared with green eyes and blond hair. Greek roots are still present in Uzbek culture.
The Turkic Kaganate, a huge Turkic state appeared in 500-600 A.D. as a result of the union of diverse nomadic tribes and peoples of the Altai. During the 6thcentury the tribes extended their rule over the territory of Central Asia. It was a period of the assimilation of various ethnic groups of the kaganate and various local cultures and the formation of large and small alliances of tribes with related languages and dialects. The Kaganate played a great role in uniting and consolidating nomadic speaking Turkish, which roamed and settled down in the Central Asian steppes and oases.
The Arab invasion — During the seventh and eighth centuries, Central Asia was conquered by the Arab Khalifat. The Arabs took over these lands with the mission of spreading the new religion of Islam. As a result, their conquest entirely changed the region’s way of life. Architecture, art and science declined under the pressures of war and arose only in the middle of the ninth century. This was connected with the creation of independent empires ruled by the dynasties of the local aristocracy: the Tahirids and Samanids. In the l0th century, the Arabs were forced to withdraw their troops and the Samanids rose to power
The samanid dynasty- Ismail Samanid is the representative of the Eastern dynasty that ruled in 819-999 over the vast territory of Mavara-Un-Nahr (the Arabic name of the territory between the Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya rivers in Central Asia since the 7th century A.D). Ismail Samanid reigned from 892 till 907. It was the person who erected this marvelous Mausoleum in Noble Bukhara over his father’s grave. This has been testified by the archeological excavations held in 1926-1928. It has been established that there were several graves inside the Mausoleum, and the grave of Ismail himself was situated aside at the entrance. Next to him his son and grandson were buried.
Genghis Khan and Tamerlane — In 1220/1221 Central Asia could not withstand the invasion of Genghis-Khan’s army. Many cities, such as Bukhara, Khorezm, and Samarkand were destroyed. Thousands of people perished (in Samarkand, only 50,000 out of a population of one million survived). In the middle of the 14th century, with the help of the famous warlord Tamerlane, the local people were freed from the Mongols. Tamerlane began his successful campaigns to Iraq, India, Turkey, and North Africa, which led to the establishment of one of the most powerful medieval empires, with Samarkand as the capital. The restoration and development of the cities (Samarkand and Shakhrisabz, Tamerlane’s native town in particular) revived commerce, handicrafts, science and the arts.
Uzbek Nomadic Tribes In the 16th century, Uzbek nomadic tribes invaded from the north, conquered the small feudal states of the Timurids and formed their own state (later to be called Uzbekistan). The term «Uzbek» means «master» or «lord» of oneself. The economy of Central Asia in the past relied on stable relations with China, India and Europe. In the 2nd century BC caravan trade routes connected Southeast Europe, Iraq, The Caucasus and Central Asia with Mongolia and China, and is now known as the great Silk Road. The Silk Road passed through the centers of Central Asia — Samarkand, Bukhara, Marghilan, Shakhrisabz, and Andijan.
Russian Empire — In the second half of the 19th century the Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand khanates were annexed by the Russian Empire. During this period agriculture became highly developed in Uzbekistan for one specific reason: it was more economical to grow cotton in Central Asia instead of importing it from the US. Cotton became the most important agricultural item. The construction of railroads made an impact on the development of trade and cultural relations between Asia and Europe. This was when the country began to overcome its earlier period of stagnation.
The Russian Revolution — The year 1917 changed the political situation in the Russian Empire and in 1924 Uzbekistan became one of the republics of the USSR. Uzbekistan later announced its independence from Russia, and September 1, 1991 was proclaimed as its Independence Day.