Amu Darya

The Amu Darya (also Amudarya, Amudar'ya, in Persian آمودریا; Darya means "Sea" in Persian) is a river in Central Asia. It is navigable for over 1450 km (800 miles). Its total length is 2400 km (1500 miles). In Classical Antiquity, the river was known as the Oxus in Greek. It rises in the Pamir Mountains as the Pamir River, emerging from Zorkul, flowing east until Ishtragh, where it turns north and then east north-west through the Hindu Kush as the Panj, forming the border of Afgh ...

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The Zeravshan or Zarafshan river, whilst smaller and less well-known than the two great rivers of Central Asia, the Amu Darya (or Oxus) and the Syr Darya (or Jaxartes), is if anything more valuable as a source of irrigation in the region. Its name signifies 'Spreader of Gold' in Persian, and refers to the presence of gold-bearing sands in the upper reaches of the river. Its course runs through present-day Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, from a source on the fringes of the Pamirs, past Penjikent to the legendary cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, which a ...

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Chagatai Khan (alternative spellings Chagata, Chugta, Chagta, Djagatai, Jagatai), a son of Genghis Khan (1206—1227), controlled the part of the Mongol Empire which extended from the Ili river (eastern Kazakhstan) and Kashgaria (western Tarim Basin) to Transoxiana. He inherited most of what are now the five Central Asian states and northern Iran after the death of his father which he ruled until his death in 1242. The Empire later came to be known as the Chagatai Khanate, part of the Mongol Empire. These te ...

Including:

• Chagatai Khanate - Mongol successor states
• Chagatai Khanate - The Chagatai Khanate after Chagatai
• Chagatai Khanate - Tughlugh Timur and Tamerlane
• Chagatai Khanate - Successors of the Chagataites

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Afghanistan:    2,000,000 Tajikistan:    1,500,000 Kyrgyzstan:    700,000 Turkmenistan:    450,000 Kazakhstan:    350,000 Russia:    125,000 Pakistan:    80,000 China:    14,800 The Uzbeks (Self designation – O`zbek) are a Turkic people of Central Asia and comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan and are also located in other adjacent countries in ...

Including:

• Uzbeks - Name
• Uzbeks - History
• Uzbeks - Language
• Uzbeks - Religion
• Uzbeks - Genetic Origins
• Uzbeks - Uzbeks in China

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Urgench (Uzbek: Urganch / Урганч) is city (1999 pop. 139,100) in southern Uzbekistan. It is the capital of the Khorezm Province, on the Amu Darya River and the Shavat canal. The city is situated 450 km west of Bukhara across the Kyzyl Kum Desert. It is located at latitude 41° 32' 60N longitude 60° 37' 60E, at an altitude of 91 meters. The history of the city goes back to the second half of the 18th century. The city should not be confused with the city of Konya-Urgench (also known as "Old Urgench" or "Gurg ...

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The Culture of Tajikistan has developed over several thousand years. Historically, Tajiks and Persians come from very similar stock with a mutual language and are related as part of the larger group of Iranian peoples. Tajik culture can be divided into two areas, Metropolitan and Kuhiston(Highland). Ancient towns such as Bukhara, Samarkand, Herat, Balkh and Nishopur Khiva are no longer part of the country. More modern centres include Dushan ...

Including:

• Culture of Tajikistan - Historical background
• Culture of Tajikistan - Religion

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Central Asia (Russian: Среднaя Азия/"Srednaya Azia" for "Middle Asia" or Центральная Азия/"Tsentral'naya Azia" for "Central Asia"; in Persian آسياى ميانه; Standard Mandarin Chinese: 中亚/ pinyin: "Zhōngyà"; Arabic: ﺔﻄﻮﺳﻠﺍ ﺎﺴﻴﺁ/"Asya al Wsta") is a vast landlocked region of Asia. Though various definitions of its exact composition exist, no one definition is universally accepted. Despite this uncertainty in defining borders, it does have some important overall characteristics. ...

Including:

• Central Asia - Definitions
• Central Asia - Geography
• Central Asia - Climate
• Central Asia - History
• Central Asia - Geostrategy
• Central Asia - Oil politics
• Central Asia - War on Terror
• Central Asia - Culture
• Central Asia - Religions
• Central Asia - Arts
• Central Asia - Demographics
• Central Asia - Languages

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Xuanzang (Chinese: 玄奘; Hanyu Pinyin: xuán zàng; Wade-Giles: Hsüan-tsang; Cantonese IPA: jyn4dzɔŋ1; Cantonese Jyutping:jyun4zong1) (602-644/664) was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk. Xuanzang was born near Luoyang, Henan in 602 as Chen Yi (陳褘 Ch'en I, yi1). He came from a scholarly family, and had three elder brothers. (Other texts had it that he had two elder brothers and an elder sister). He became famous for his sevente ...

Including:

• Xuanzang - Name
• Xuanzang - Early Life
• Xuanzang - Pilgrimage
• Xuanzang - India
• Xuanzang - Legacy
• Xuanzang - Relics
• Xuanzang - Sources

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The Hindu Kush, Hindū Kūsh, Hindoo Koosh or Hindukush (هندوکش in Persian) is a mountain range in Afghanistan as well as in Balawaristan (Northern Areas of Pakistan). It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and the Himalaya. Hindu Kush - Nomenclature. The name Hindu Kush is usually applied to the whole of the range separating the basins of the Kabul and Helmand Rivers from that of the Amu Darya (or ancient Oxus), or, more specifically, ...

Including:

• Hindu Kush - Nomenclature
• Hindu Kush - Mountains

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Today Balkh is a small town in the Province of Balkh, Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 74 km (46 miles) south of the Amu Darya, the Oxus River of antiquity, of which a tributary formerly flowed past Balkh. Old Balkh was a city in Khorasan province of Persia. It was located in a Persian-speaking area of eastern Persia. The ancient city of Balkh, the oldest in today's Afghanistan, is associated with the Vedic name Bhakri, which as Bactra gave its name to ...

Including:

• Balkh - Balkh in 1911
• Balkh - Balkh today
• Balkh - Ancient ruins of Balkh
• Balkh - History of Balkh

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The Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (or BMAC, also known as the Oxus civilization) the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age culture of Central Asia, dated to ca. 2200–1700 BC, located in present day Turkmenistan, northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan, centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus). Its sites were discovered and named by Victor Sarianidi (1976). Bactria was the Greek name for the area of Bactra (modern Balkh), in what is now northern Afghanistan, an ...

Including:

• Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - Overview
• Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - A previously unknown civilization?
• Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - The Indo-Iranian hypothesis
• Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - Notes:

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Sogdiana ("Sug`ud","Sug`diyona" -Uzbek, Sughd - Tajik, Sugdiane, Old Persian Sughuda, Persian:سغد, Chinese: Kang-Kü) ancient civilization of Iranian peoples, then was a province of the Achaemenian Empire, the eighteenth in the list in the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great (i. 16). Sogdiana at different periods of time included territories around Samarkand, Bukhar ...

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The Aral Sea (Kazakh: Арал Теңізі) is an endorheic inland sea in Central Asia; it lies between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south. Since the 1960s the Aral Sea has been shrinking, as the rivers that feed it (the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya) were diverted by the Soviet Union for irrigation. The Aral Sea is badly polluted, largely as the result of weapons testing, industrial projects, and fertilizer runoff before the breakup of the Soviet Union. Aral Sea - ...

Including:

• Aral Sea - Ecological problems
• Aral Sea - History
• Aral Sea - Current situation
• Aral Sea - Possible solutions
• Aral Sea - Bioweapons facility on the Vozrozhdeniya Island

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A river is a large natural waterway. The source of a river may be a lake, a spring, or a collection of small streams, known as headwaters. From their source, all rivers flow downhill, typically terminating in the ocean. The mouth, or lower end of a river is known as its base level. A river's water is normally confined to a channel, made up of a stream bed between banks. Most rainfall on land passes through a river on its way to the ocean. Smaller side streams that join a river are tributaries. The scientific term for any flowing natur ...

Including:

• River - Topography
• River - Biology
• River - Pollution
• River - Navigation
• River - Dams
• River - Flooding
• River - Logjams
• River - Management
• River - River lists
• River - The world's ten longest rivers
• River - Well-known rivers in alphabetic order
• River - Other lists
• River - Rivers in myth and fiction
• River - Real rivers
• River - Mythological rivers
• River - Fictional rivers
• River - Crossings
• River - Transport

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Bactria (Bactriana) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush (Caucasus Indicus) and the Amu Darya (Oxus); its capital, Bactra (now Balkh), was located in what is now northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Bactria was bounded on the east by the ancient region of Gandhara in the Indian subcontinent. The Bactrian language is an Iranian language of the Indo-Ir ...

Including:

• Bactria - Geography
• Bactria - History
• Bactria - Cyrus and Alexander
• Bactria - Seleucid Empire
• Bactria - Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
• Bactria - Indo-Greek Kingdom
• Bactria - Contacts with China
• Bactria - Tokharistan
• Bactria - Archaeological sites

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Numerous artifacts and structures were found, pointing to a high Hellenistic culture, combined with Eastern influences. "It has all the hallmarks of a Hellenistic city, with a Greek theater, gymnasium and some Greek houses with colonnaded courtyards" (Boardman). Overall, Aï-Khanoum was extremely important Greek city (1.5 sq kilometer), characteristic of the Seleucid Empire and then the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. It seems the city was destroyed, never to be rebuilt, during the time of the Greco-Bactrian king Eucratides around 150 BCE.See also:

Ai-Khanoum, Ai-Khanoum - Strategic location, Ai-Khanoum - A Greek city in Bactria, Ai-Khanoum - Architecture, Ai-Khanoum - Sculptural remains, Ai-Khanoum - Epigraphic remains, Ai-Khanoum - Artifacts, Ai-Khanoum - Nomadic invasions, Ai-Khanoum - Significance, Ai-Khanoum - Notes

Read more here: » Ai-Khanoum: Encyclopedia II - Ai-Khanoum - A Greek city in Bactria

Near the place where Arys River flows into the Syr Darya lie the ruins of a town, the memory of which has survived throughout the ages. Despite many changes, it still retains its original name of Otrar. The town has become famous as the place where Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, the great philosopher of the Middle Ages, was born. Otrar, which was renamed Farab in the Middle Ages, was the capital of the Otrar-Farab district. From the west, the district extended to the Kzylkum desert, spread out between the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. Syr Dary ...

See also:

Otrar, Otrar - Importance, Otrar - Ancient history, Otrar - Mongol influence, Otrar - Middle Ages, Otrar - Archaeological findings, Otrar - External link

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Negotiations are going on between the Indian government and the amir tending to the appointment of a joint commission for determining the last 100 miles of Indo-Afghan frontier yet unsettled, from Lundi Kotal in the Khyber to Nawar Kotal on the Kunar River. Nasrullah Khan is received in a most cordial manner on his return from his visit to England. There are great rejoicings for two or three weeks, but then he gradually drops out of notice. His brother, Habibullah Khan, on the other hand, is immensely popular with everybody, and is in high favour with the amir. ...

See also:

Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - 1896, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - Early 1896, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - Summer 1896, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - October 1896, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - December 1896, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - 1897, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - January 1897, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - May 1897, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - September 6 and 7 1897, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - 1898, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - April 1898, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - May 1898, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - December 1898, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - 1899, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - February 1899, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - March 1 1899, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - May 1899, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - July 1899, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - December 1899, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - 1900, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - June 1900, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - September 1900, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - October 1900, Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - November 1900

Read more here: » Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900: Encyclopedia II - Afghanistan timeline 1896-1900 - 1896

As far as British interests were concerned, Abdur Rahman answered their prayers: a forceful, intelligent leader capable of welding his divided people into a state; and he was willing to accept limitations to his power imposed by British control of his country's foreign affairs and the British buffer state policy. His twenty-one-year reign was marked by efforts to modernize and establish control of the kingdom, whose boundaries were delineated by the two empires bordering it. Abdur Rahman turned his considerable e ...

See also:

European influence in Afghanistan, European influence in Afghanistan - The Rise of Dost Mohammad, European influence in Afghanistan - The Great Game, European influence in Afghanistan - The First Anglo-Afghan War, European influence in Afghanistan - The Second Anglo-Afghan War, European influence in Afghanistan - The Iron Amir 1880-1901, European influence in Afghanistan - Habibullah Khan 1901-1919, European influence in Afghanistan - Amanullah Khan 1919-1929, European influence in Afghanistan - Third Anglo-Afghan War and Independence

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The modern Uzbek population represents varying degrees of diversity derived from the high traffic invasion routes through Central Asia. Once populated by Iranian tribes and other Indo-European peoples, Central Asia experienced numerous invasions emanating out of Mongolia that would drastically impact the region. According to recent Genetic genealogy testing from a University of Chicago study, the Uzbeks cluster somewhere be ...

See also:

Uzbeks, Uzbeks - Name, Uzbeks - History, Uzbeks - Language, Uzbeks - Religion, Uzbeks - Genetic Origins, Uzbeks - Uzbeks in China

Read more here: » Uzbeks: Encyclopedia II - Uzbeks - Genetic Origins