This is a pioneering study which presents carefully researched data on the some 55 million Turkish-speaking peoples of the former Soviet Union and Central Asia. The historical background of and the recent developments in Central Asia and the Trans-Caucasus are presented in detail. Hostler's conclusions emphasize the present instability and the importance of Central Asia as well as the competing roles of Turkey, Iran, Russia and other countries. This unique book follows a standard, traditional historical approach. Central Asia is a vast, little-understood area of great strategic, political, military, and economic importance, which could be a source of future world instability. Scholars and policymakers will be interested in this source of updated and factual information about a little-known area of increasing significance.

This narrative history of the Tibetan Empire in Central Asia from about A.D. 600 to 866 depicts the struggles of the great Tibetan, Turkic, Arab, and Chinese powers for dominance over the Silk Road lands that connected Europe and East Asia. It shows the importance of overland contacts between East and West in the Early Middle Ages and elucidates Tibet's role in the conflict over Central Asia.

Who are the Turks? This study spans Central Asia, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, & Europe, to explain the origins & the history of the Turkish people up until the present day.

An anthology of primary documents for the study of Central Asian history. It illustrates important aspects of the social, political, and economic history of Islamic Central Asia. It covers the period from the 7th-century Arab conquests to the 19th-century Russian colonial era and provides insights into the history and significance of the region.

Volume 2 of The Turks continues from where Volume 1 left off. After the Turks migrated away from the Far East, they came into contact with Islam once they reached the Near East. By mastering their military skills they became the masters of the Islamic world nearly for a millennium. Transitioning from nomadic states of the Eurasian steppes to forming formidable empires, they proved to be part of the evolving world history. In fact, as they stretched their influence into the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa, they contributed in the development of Western in addition to the Asian cultures. By controlling the Silk Road - an important historic avenue that allowed not only the transfer of merchandise across the vast territories of Eurasia but also facilitated the transfer of information and cultural traits between the West and the East - the Turks influenced the evolution of the Western civilization for more than a millennium. The Turks will provide you with what you did not know about them. This volume also shows how the Turkish speakers evolved into their present-day demographic state. Today, the Turks live in the republics of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. Furthermore, they are found in multiple autonomous regions across Eurasia and eastern Turkestan in China. Examining the history of the Turks will give you a different perspective in what you learned about the world history. The Turks provides evidence-based history of a nation that proudly displays its Central Asian culture, which transformed into its modern-day form with a fusion multiple traditions from Arabs, Chinese, Greeks, Indians, Persians, and so on.

A vast region stretching roughly from the Volga River to Manchuria and the northern Chinese borderlands, Central Asia has been called the "pivot of history," a land where nomadic invaders and Silk Road traders changed the destinies of states that ringed its borders, including pre-modern Europe, the Middle East, and China. In Central Asia in World History, Peter B. Golden provides an engaging account of this important region, ranging from prehistory to the present, focusing largely on the unique melting pot of cultures that this region has produced over millennia. Golden describes the traders who braved the heat and cold along caravan routes to link East Asia and Europe; the Mongol Empire of Chinggis Khan and his successors, the largest contiguous land empire in history; the invention of gunpowder, which allowed the great sedentary empires to overcome the horse-based nomads; the power struggles of Russia and China, and later Russia and Britain, for control of the area. Finally, he discusses the region today, a key area that neighbors such geopolitical hot spots as Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China.

For its citizens, contemporary Central Asia is a land of great promise and peril. While the end of Soviet rule has opened new opportunities for social mobility and cultural expression, political and economic dynamics have also imposed severe hardships. In this lively volume, contributors from a variety of disciplines examine how ordinary Central Asians lead their lives and navigate shifting historical and political trends. Provocative stories of Turkmen nomads, Afghan villagers, Kazakh scientists, Kyrgyz border guards, a Tajik strongman, guardians of religious shrines in Uzbekistan, and other narratives illuminate important issues of gender, religion, power, culture, and wealth. A vibrant and dynamic world of life in urban neighborhoods and small villages, at weddings and celebrations, at classroom tables, and around dinner tables emerges from this introduction to a geopolitically strategic and culturally fascinating region.

A study of the heritage of Central Asia. It brings together such distinct elements as the world of Zoroaster, the Achaemenid ecumene, the Sakas and later waves of nomadic invaders, the spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road, the historic role of the Turks, and more.

This book focuses on Central Asia's place in world affairs and how international politics of state-building has affected the Asian region, thus filling the gaps in ongoing discussions on the rise of Asia in global governance. It also attempts to generalize and contextualize the "Central Asian experience" and re-evaluate its comparative relevance, by explaining the complex dynamics of Central Asian politics through a detailed analysis of the effects of major international actors -- both international organizations as well as current and rising great powers.--Publisher's description.