Editing Uzbekistan (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Uzbekistan}}

[[File:Kaunakes Bactria Louvre AO31917.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Female statuette wearing the [[kaunakes]]. Chlorite and limestone, [[Bactria]], beginning of the second millennium BC.]]

The region currently known as the country of Uzbekistan has been referred to by many names over the millennia. The name Uzbekistan first appears in 16th century literature.<ref name="Kenzheakhmet Nurlan 2013 140"/> Other names for the region include: [[Transoxonia|Transoxiana]], [[Turkestan]], and [[Khanate of Bukhara|Bukhara]].  In the 14th century the region served as the birthplace, home, and capital of [[Tamerlane]].  Under Tamerlane, the region was a part of the [[Timurid Empire]] which extended from the [[Black Sea]] to the [[Arabian Sea]], and to just outside of [[Delhi, India]].

=== Prehistory and ancient history ===
The first people known to have inhabited Central Asia were [[Scythians]] who came from the northern grasslands of what is now Uzbekistan, sometime in the first millennium BC; when these nomads settled in the region they built an extensive irrigation system along the rivers.{{sfnp|Lubin|1997|pp=385-6}} At this time, cities such as Bukhoro ([[Bukhara]]) and Samarqand ([[Samarkand]]) emerged as centres of government and high culture.{{sfnp|Lubin|1997|pp=385-6}} By the fifth century BC, the [[Bactria]]n, [[Sogdia]]n, and [[Yuezhi|Tokharian]] states dominated the region.{{sfnp|Lubin|1997|pp=385-6}}

As [[East Asia]] began to develop its silk trade with the West, using an extensive network of cities and rural settlements in the province of [[Transoxiana]], and further east in what is today [[Xinjiang]], the Sogdian intermediaries became the wealthiest of these merchants. As a result of this trade on what became known as the [[Silk Route|Silk Road]], Bukhara and Samarkand eventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at times [[Transoxiana]] (Mawarannahr) was one of the most influential and powerful provinces of antiquity.{{sfnp|Lubin|1997|pp=385-6}}
[[File:Timur Empire.jpg|thumb|Timur's empire at his death (map without vasals)]]
[[File:1872 Vereshchagin Triumphierend anagoria.JPG|thumb|right|Triumphant crowd at [[Registan]], Sher-Dor Madrasah. The [[Emir of Bukhara]] viewing the [[decapitation|severed heads]] of Russian soldiers on poles. Painting by [[Vasily Vereshchagin]] (1872).]]
[[File:KarazinNN VstRusVoyskGRM.jpg|thumb|right|Russian troops taking [[Samarkand]] in 1868, by [[Nikolay Karazin]]]]
In 327 BC, Macedonian ruler [[Alexander the Great]] conquered the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]] provinces of Sogdiana and Bactria, which contained the territories of modern Uzbekistan. Popular resistance to the conquest was fierce, causing Alexander's army to be bogged down in the region that became the northern part of the Macedonian [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]. The kingdom was replaced with the Yuezhi-dominated [[Kushan Empire]] in the first century BC. For many centuries thereafter the region of Uzbekistan was ruled by the [[Hephthalites]] and [[Sassanid]] Empires, as well as by other empires, for example, those formed by the Turkic [[Gokturk]] peoples.

===Medieval history===
{{More sources|date=April 2025}}
The [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]] from the seventh century onward saw the [[Arabs]] bring [[Islam]] to Uzbekistan. In the same period, Islam began to take root among the nomadic [[Turkic people]]s.

In the eighth century, Transoxiana, the territory between the [[Amu Darya|Amudarya]] and [[Syr Darya|Syrdarya]] rivers, was conquered by the Arabs ([[Qutayba ibn Muslim]]), becoming a focal point soon after the [[Islamic Golden Age]].

In the ninth and tenth centuries, Transoxiana was brought into the [[Samanid]] State. In the tenth century it was gradually dominated by the Turkic-ruled [[Karakhanids]], as well as their [[Seljuks|Seljuk]] (Sultan Sanjar) overseer's.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davidovich |first=E.A. |year=1998 |chapter=The Karakhanids (Chapter 6) |editor1=M.S. Asimov |editor2=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |title=History of civilizations of Central Asia |volume=4.1 The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century; pt. 1, the historical, social and economic setting |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |isbn=92-3-103467-7 |pages=119–44 }}</ref>

The [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] conquest under [[Genghis Khan]] during the 13th century brought change to the region. The invasions of Bukhara, Samarkand, [[Köneürgenç|Urgench]] and others resulted in [[Destruction under the Mongol Empire|mass murders]] and unprecedented destruction, which saw parts of [[Khwarazmian Empire|Khwarezmia]] being completely razed.<ref>{{cite web |last=Modelski |first=George |title=Central Asian world cities (XI – XIII century) |website=faculty.washington.edu |url=https://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/CAWC.htm |archive-date=18 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118054002/https://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/CAWC.htm }}</ref>

Following the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his empire was divided among his four sons and family members. Despite the potential for serious fragmentation, there was an orderly succession for several generations, and control of most of Transoxiana stayed in the hands of the direct descendants of [[Chagatai Khan]], the second son of Genghis Khan. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace prevailed in the Chaghatai lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole remained a strong and united kingdom, known as the [[Golden Horde]].{{sfnp|Lubin|1997|pp=389-90}}

=== Timurid period ===
In the early 14th century, however, as the Persian empire began to break up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory was disrupted as the princes of various tribal groups competed for influence. One tribal chieftain, [[Timur]] (Tamerlane),<ref>Sicker, Martin (2000) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=v3AdA-Ogl34C&pg=PA154 The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912153747/https://books.google.com/books?id=v3AdA-Ogl34C&pg=PA154 |date=12 September 2015 }}''. [[Greenwood Publishing Group]]. p. 154. {{ISBN|0-275-96892-8}}</ref> emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Transoxiana. Although he was not a descendant of Genghis Khan, Timur became the ''de facto'' ruler of Transoxiana and proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, [[Iran]], the [[Caucasus]], [[Mesopotamia]], [[Asia Minor]], and the southern steppe region north of the [[Aral Sea]]. He also invaded Russia before dying during an invasion of [[Ming dynasty|China]] in 1405.{{sfnp|Lubin|1997|pp=389-90}} Timur was also known for his extreme brutality and his conquests were accompanied by [[genocidal massacre]]s in the cities he occupied.<ref>Totten, Samuel and Bartrop, Paul Robert (2008) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=rgGA91skoP4C Dictionary of Genocide: A-L] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018194024/https://books.google.com/books?id=rgGA91skoP4C |date=18 October 2017 }}'', ABC-CLIO, p. 422, {{ISBN|0313346429}}</ref>

Timur initiated the last flowering of Transoxiana by gathering together numerous artisans and scholars from the vast lands he had conquered into his capital, Samarkand, thus imbuing his empire with a rich Perso-Islamic culture. During his reign and the reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious and palatial construction masterpieces were undertaken in Samarkand and other population centres.<ref>Forbes, Andrew, & Henley, David: ''[http://www.cpamedia.com/article.php?pg=archive&acid=120613150427&aiid=120613151433 Timur's Legacy: The Architecture of Samarkand] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524193127/http://www.cpamedia.com/article.php?pg=archive&acid=120613150427&aiid=120613151433 |date=24 May 2013 }}'' (CPA Media).</ref>

Tamerlane also established an exchange of medical discoveries and patronised physicians, scientists and artists from the neighbouring regions such as India;<ref>Medical Links between India & Uzbekistan in Medieval Times by [[Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman]], Historical and Cultural Links between India & Uzbekistan, [[Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library]], Patna, 1996. pp. 353–381.</ref> His grandson [[Ulugh Beg]] was one of the world's first great astronomers. It was during the Timurid dynasty that Turkic, in the form of the [[Chagatai language|Chaghatai]] dialect, became a literary language in its own right in Transoxiana, although the Timurids were Persianate in culture. The greatest Chaghataid writer, [[Ali-Shir Nava'i]], was active in the city of [[Herat]] (now in northwestern Afghanistan) in the second half of the 15th century.{{sfnp|Lubin|1997|pp=389-90}}
[[File:Map of 3 Uzbek tribal dynasties in the middle of the 19th century.svg|thumb|253x253px|Areas of three Uzbek Polities ruled in Central Asia in the middle of the 19th century
{|
|{{legend|#ccff99|[[Khanate of Kokand]] (Ming dynasty)}}
|{{legend|#fdd99b|[[Khanate of Khiva]] (Qhongirat dynasty)}}
|{{legend|#ffaaaa|[[Emirate of Bukhara]] (Manghit dynasty)}}
|}]]

=== Uzbek period ===
The Timurid state quickly split in half after the death of Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted the attention of the Uzbek nomadic tribes living to the north of the Aral Sea. In 1501, the Uzbek forces began a wholesale invasion of Transoxiana.{{sfnp|Lubin|1997|pp=389-90}} The [[Bukhara slave trade|slave trade]] in the [[Emirate of Bukhara]] became prominent and was firmly established at this time.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810930,00.html |title=Adventure in the East |magazine=Time |date=6 April 1959 |access-date=28 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201110849/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810930,00.html |archive-date=1 February 2011 }}</ref> The Khanate of Bukhara was eventually invaded by the foreign government of Persia in 1510, and then became a part of the Persian empire of the day.

Before the arrival of the [[Russians]], present-day Uzbekistan was divided between the [[Emirate of Bukhara]] and the [[khanate]]s of [[Khanate of Khiva|Khiva]] and [[Khanate of Kokand|Kokand]].  [[File:Sartscrop.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|left|Two [[Sart]] men and two Sart boys in [[Samarkand]], c. 1910]]

=== Russian conquest ===
In the 19th century, the [[Russian Empire]] began to expand and spread into [[Central Asia]]. There were 210,306 Russians living in Uzbekistan in 1912.<ref>Shlapentokh, Vladimir; Sendich, Munir; Payin, Emil (1994) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Bg-dn0g0SikC&pg=PA108 The New Russian Diaspora: Russian Minorities in the Former Soviet Republics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408005412/http://books.google.com/books?id=Bg-dn0g0SikC&pg=PA108 |date=8 April 2015 }}''. M.E. Sharpe. p. 108. {{ISBN|1-56324-335-0}}.</ref> The "[[Great Game]]" period is generally regarded as running from approximately 1813 to the [[Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907]]. A second, less intensive phase followed the [[October Revolution|Bolshevik Revolution]] of 1917. At the start of the 19th century, there were some {{convert|3,200|km|mi}} separating [[British India]] and the outlying regions of [[Imperial Russia|Tsarist Russia]]. Much of the land between was unmapped. In the early 1890s, [[Sven Hedin]] passed through Uzbekistan, during his first expedition.

=== Soviet period ===
{{main|Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic}}
By the beginning of 1920, Central Asia was firmly in the hands of Russia and, despite some early [[Basmachi movement|resistance]] to the [[Bolsheviks]], Uzbekistan and the rest of Central Asia became a part of the [[Soviet Union]]. On 27 October 1924, the [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic]] was created. From 1941 to 1945, during [[World War II]], 1,433,230 people from Uzbekistan fought in the [[Red Army]] against [[Nazi Germany]]. A number{{how many|date=April 2025}}also [[Ostlegionen|fought on the German side]].{{undue weight inline|date=April 2025}} As many as 263,005 Uzbek soldiers died in the battlefields of the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], and 32,670 went missing in action.<ref>Chahryar Adle, Madhavan K. Palat, Anara Tabyshalieva (2005). "''[https://books.google.com/books?id=XPfcfF8LRWQC Towards the Contemporary Period: From the Mid-nineteenth to the End of the Twentieth Century] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329231706/https://books.google.com/books?id=XPfcfF8LRWQC |date=29 March 2018 }}''". UNESCO. p.232. {{ISBN|9231039857}}</ref>

During the [[Soviet–Afghan War]], a number of Uzbek troops fought in neighbouring [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]]. At least 1,500 lost their lives and thousands more paralysed.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

===Independence===
On 20 June 1990, Uzbekistan declared its state sovereignty. On 31 August 1991, Uzbekistan declared independence after the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|failed coup attempt]] in Moscow. 1 September was proclaimed National Independence Day. The Soviet Union was [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolved]] on 26 December of that year. [[Islam Karimov]], previously first secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan since 1989, was elected president of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he was elected president of independent Uzbekistan.<ref>{{cite web|title=Islam Karimov {{!}} president of Uzbekistan|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Islam-Karimov|access-date=8 July 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> An authoritarian ruler, Karimov died in September 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37218158|title=Obituary: Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov|website=[[BBC News]]|date=2 October 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160903142534/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37218158|archive-date=3 September 2016}}</ref> He was replaced by his long-time [[Prime Minister of Uzbekistan|Prime Minister]], [[Shavkat Mirziyoyev]], on 14 December of the same year.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/05/uzbekistan-elects-shavkat-mirziyoyev-president-islam-karimov|title = Uzbekistan elects Shavkat Mirziyoyev as president|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 5 December 2016|access-date = 4 May 2021|archive-date = 2 February 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230202215308/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/05/uzbekistan-elects-shavkat-mirziyoyev-president-islam-karimov|url-status = live}}</ref> On 6 November 2021, Mirziyoyev was sworn into his second term in office, after gaining a landslide victory in presidential [[2021 Uzbek presidential election|election.]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Uzbek president secures second term in landslide election victory |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/25/uzbek-president-secures-second-term-in-landslide-election-victory |work=www.aljazeera.com |date=25 October 2021 |language=en |access-date=20 December 2021 |archive-date=2 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202215317/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/25/uzbek-president-secures-second-term-in-landslide-election-victory |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Uzbek president pledges constitutional reform {{!}} Eurasianet |url=https://eurasianet.org/uzbek-president-pledges-constitutional-reform |work=eurasianet.org |date=7 November 2021 |language=en |access-date=20 December 2021 |archive-date=2 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202215319/https://eurasianet.org/uzbek-president-pledges-constitutional-reform |url-status=live }}</ref>