Editing Sogdia (section)

== History ==
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center
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| image2   = 12-petalled flower MNAT SZM001.jpg
| image1   = Necklace Sarazm NMAT SZM5-190 1147-365 (cleanup).jpg
| footer='''Left''': Bead necklace from the tomb of the so-called "Sarazm princess" in [[Sarazm]], Sogdia, middle 4th millennium BC.<br> '''Right''': 12-petalled flower from the cult structure in [[Sarazm]], Sogdia, early 3rd millennium BC 
}}
{{further|Ethnic groups in Chinese history|Ethnic minorities in China|Western Regions}}

=== Prehistory ===
{{further|Indo-Iranians}}
Sogdiana possessed a [[Bronze Age]] urban culture: original Bronze Age towns appear in the archaeological record beginning with the settlement at [[Sarazm]], Tajikistan, spanning as far back as the 4th millennium BC, and then at Kök Tepe, near modern-day [[Bulungur]], Uzbekistan, from at least the 15th century BC.<ref name="Vaissière Encyclopædia Iranica">{{Encyclopædia Iranica|volume=online|first=É.|last=de La Vaissière|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdiana-iii-history-and-archeology|title=SOGDIANA iii. HISTORY AND ARCHEOLOGY|year=2011|access-date=31 August 2016}}</ref>

===Young Avestan period (c. 900–500 BC)===
{{further|Avestan period|Avestan geography}}
In the [[Avesta]], namely in the [[Mihr Yasht]] and the [[Vendidad]], the [[toponym]] of Gava ({{lang|ae|gava-, gāum}}) is mentioned as the land of the Sogdians. Gava is, therefore, interpreted as referring to Sogdia during the [[Avestan period|time of the Avesta]].{{Sfn|Grenet|2005|p=30|ps=: "Of a total of sixteen countries, seven have always been identified beyond doubt, as they kept their name until historical times or even to the present day. Five of these countries are at the beginning of the list, directly following Airyanem Vaējah: Gava "inhabited by the Sogdians", Merv, Bactria, Nisāya said to be "between 
Margiana and Bactria" and therefore corresponding at least in part to medieval Juzjān in northwest Afghanistan. Then comes the sixth country, Harōiva [.]"}} Although there is no universal consensus on the chronology of the Avesta, most scholars today argue for an early chronology, which would place the composition of [[Avestan|Young Avestan]] texts like the Mihr Yasht and the Vendiad in the first half of the first millennium BCE.{{Sfn|Skjaervø|1995|loc=p.166 "The fact that the oldest Young Avestan texts apparently contain no reference to western Iran, including Media, would seem to indicate that they were composed in eastern Iran before the Median domination reached the area."}}

[[File:Young avestan geography.png|thumb|Overview over the geographical horizon of the [[Avestan period|Young Avestan period]]. Sources for the different localizations are given in the file description.]]
The first mention of Gava is found in the Mihr Yasht, ie., the hymn dedicated to the [[Zoroastrian]] [[yazata|deity]] [[Mithra]]. In verse 10.14 it is described how Mithra reaches [[Hara Berezaiti|Mount Hara]] and looks at the entirety of the Airyoshayan ({{lang|ae|airiio.shaiianem}}, 'lands of the [[Arya (Iran)|Arya]]'),

{{Blockquote|
<poem>
where navigable rivers rush with wide a swell
towards Parutian Ishkata, [[Herat|Haraivian]] [[Margu]], Gava Sogdia ({{lang|ae|gaom-ca suγδəm}}), and [[Chorasmia]].
</poem>
|Mihr Yasht 10.14 (translated by Ilya Gershovitch).{{Sfn|Gershevitch|1967|pp=79–80}}}}

The second mention is found in the first chapter of the Vendidad, which consists of a list of the sixteen good [[Avestan geography|regions]] created by [[Ahura Mazda]] for the Iranians. Gava is the second region mentioned on the list, directly behind [[Airyanem Vaejah]], the homeland of [[Zarathustra]] and the Iranians, according to Zoroastrian tradition:

{{Blockquote|
<poem>
The second of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the Gava of the Sogdians ({{lang|ae|gāum yim suγδō.shaiianəm}}).
Thereupon came [[Angra Mainyu]], who is all death, and he counter-created the locust, which brings death unto cattle and plants.
</poem>
|Vendidad 1.4 (translated by [[James Darmesteter]]).{{Sfn|Darmesteter|1880|pp=5–9}}}}

While it is widely accepted that Gava referred to the region inhabited by the Sogdians during the Avestan period, its meaning is not clear.{{Sfn|Lurje|2017|loc= "The earliest records of the name of Sogdiana (Soḡd) are found in the Avesta (Vendīdād, 1.4; Yašt 10.14; the by-name of Sogdian lands in the Avesta is Gauua[.]"}} For example, [[Willem Vogelsang|Vogelsang]] connects it with Gabae, a Sogdian stronghold in western Sogdia and speculates that during the time of the Avesta, the center of Sogdia may have been closer to [[Bukhara]] instead of [[Samarkand]].{{Sfn|Vogelsang|2000|p=51|ps=: "If Gava and Gabae refer to an identical place, then the present text appears to refer to a situation whereby the center of Sogdia was to lie, not at Samarkand, but further to the west, perhaps at or near Bukhara."}}

=== Achaemenid period (546–327 BC)===
[[File:Artaxerxes III Sogdian soldier.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|left|Sogdian soldier circa 338 BCE, tomb of [[Artaxerxes III]].]]
Achaemenid ruler [[Cyrus the Great]] conquered Sogdiana while [[Wars of Cyrus the Great|campaigning in Central Asia]] in 546–539 BC,<ref>Kirill Nourzhanov, Christian Bleuer (2013), ''Tajikistan: a Political and Social History'', Canberra: Australian National University Press, p. 12, {{ISBN|978-1-925021-15-8}}.</ref> a fact mentioned by the ancient Greek historian [[Herodotus]] in his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]''.<ref name="simonin 2012 sogdiana">Antoine Simonin. (8 January 2012). "Sogdiana." ''[https://www.worldhistory.org/sogdiana/ World History Encyclopedia]''. Retrieved 31 August 2016.</ref> [[Darius I]] introduced the [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic writing system]] and [[Achaemenid coinage|coin currency]] to [[Central Asia]], in addition to incorporating Sogdians into his [[standing army]] as regular soldiers and cavalrymen.<ref name="baumer 2012 pp202-203" /> Sogdia was also listed on the [[Behistun Inscription]] of Darius.<ref>Mark J. Dresden (1981), "Introductory Note", in Guitty Azarpay, ''Sogdian Painting: the Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art'', Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, pp 2–3, {{ISBN|0-520-03765-0}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd1sbe.htm|title=Avesta: Vendidad (English): Fargard 1|publisher=Avesta.org|access-date=4 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004213252/http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd1sbe.htm|archive-date=4 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="dresden 2003 p1216" /> A contingent of Sogdian soldiers fought in the main army of [[Xerxes I]] during his second, ultimately-failed [[Second Persian invasion of Greece|invasion of Greece]] in 480 BC.<ref name="dresden 2003 p1216" /><ref name="dresden 1981 p3">Mark J. Dresden (1981), "Introductory Note", in Guitty Azarpay, ''Sogdian Painting: the Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art'', Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, p. 3, {{ISBN|0-520-03765-0}}.</ref> A Persian inscription from [[Susa]] claims that the palace there was adorned with [[lapis lazuli]] and [[carnelian]] originating from Sogdiana.<ref name="dresden 2003 p1216" />

During this period of Persian rule, the western half of [[Asia Minor]] was part of the Greek civilization. As the Achaemenids conquered it, they met persistent resistance and revolt. One of their solutions was to ethnically cleanse rebelling regions, relocating those who survived to the far side of the empire. Thus Sogdiana came to have a significant Greek population.

[[File:Sogdian Tribute Bearers on the Apadana Staircase 16 (Best Viewed Size "Large") (4689076272).jpg|thumb|300px|Sogdians on an [[Achaemenid]] Persian [[relief]] from the [[Apadana]] of [[Persepolis]], offering tributary gifts to the Persian king [[Darius I]], 5th century BC]]
Given the absence of any named [[satrap]]s (i.e. Achaemenid provincial governors) for Sogdiana in historical records, modern scholarship has concluded that Sogdiana was governed from the satrapy of nearby [[Bactria]].<ref>Pierre Briant (2002), ''From Cyrus to Alexander: a History of the Persian Empire'', trans. Peter T. Daniels, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, p. 746, {{ISBN|1-57506-120-1}}.</ref> The satraps were often relatives of the ruling Persian kings, especially sons who were not designated as the [[heir apparent]].<ref name="simonin 2012 sogdiana" /> Sogdiana likely remained under Persian control until roughly 400 BC, during the reign of [[Artaxerxes II]].<ref name="baumer 2012 p207">Christoph Baumer (2012), ''The History of Central Asia: the Age of the Steppe Warriors'', London, New York: I.B. Tauris, p. 207, {{ISBN|978-1-78076-060-5}}.</ref> Rebellious states of the Persian Empire took advantage of the weak Artaxerxes II, and some, such as [[Twenty-eighth Dynasty of Egypt|Egypt]], were able to regain their independence. Persia's massive loss of Central Asian territory is widely attributed to the ruler's lack of control. However, unlike Egypt, which was quickly recaptured by the Persian Empire, Sogdiana remained independent until it was conquered by [[Alexander the Great]]. When the latter [[Wars of Alexander the Great|invaded the Persian Empire]], Pharasmanes, an already independent king of [[Khwarezm]], allied with the Macedonians and sent troops to Alexander in 329 BC for his war against the [[Scythia]]ns of the [[Black Sea]] region (even though this anticipated campaign never materialized).<ref name="baumer 2012 p207" />

During the Achaemenid period (550–330 BC), the Sogdians lived as a [[nomad]]ic people much like the neighboring [[Yuezhi]], who [[Bactrian language|spoke Bactrian]], an [[Indo-Iranian language]] closely related to Sogdian,<ref>Hansen, Valerie (2012), ''The Silk Road: A New History'', Oxford University Press, p. 72, {{ISBN|978-0-19-993921-3}}.</ref> and were already engaging in overland trade. Some of them had also gradually settled the land to engage in agriculture.<ref name="liu 2010 p67">Liu, Xinru (2010), ''The Silk Road in World History'', Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p 67.</ref> Similar to how the Yuezhi offered tributary gifts of [[jade]] to the [[emperors of China]], the Sogdians are recorded in Persian records as submitting precious gifts of [[lapis lazuli]] and [[carnelian]] to [[Darius I]], the Persian [[king of kings]].<ref name="liu 2010 p67" /> Although the Sogdians were at times independent and living outside the boundaries of large empires, they never formed a great empire of their own like the Yuezhi, who established the [[Kushan Empire]] (30–375 AD) of Central and [[South Asia]].<ref name="liu 2010 p67" />

=== Hellenistic period (327–145 BC)===
{{further|Wars of Alexander the Great|Chronology of the expedition of Alexander the Great into Asia|Hellenistic civilization}}
{{multiple image| align = right | direction = vertical | header = | header_align = left/right/center | footer = '''Top''': painted clay and [[alabaster]] head of a [[Mobad|Zoroastrian priest]] wearing a distinctive [[Bactria]]n-style headdress, [[Takhti-Sangin]], Tajikistan, 3rd–2nd century BC.<br>'''Bottom''': a [[barbaric]] copy of a coin of the [[Greco-Bactrian]] king [[Euthydemus I]], from the region of Sogdiana; the legend on [[Obverse and reverse|the reverse]] is in [[Aramaic]] script.| footer_align = left | image2 = Sogdian barbaric copy of a coin of Euthydemus.jpg | total_width = 250 | caption1 = | image1 = Head of Bactrian ruler (Satrap), Temple of the Oxus, Takht-i-Sangin, 3rd-2nd century BCE (left side).jpg | caption2 = }}
A now-independent and warlike Sogdiana formed a border region insulating the Achaemenid Persians from the nomadic [[Scythians]] to the north and east.<ref>"The province of Sogdia was to Asia what Macedonia was to Greece: a buffer between a brittle civilization and the restless barbarians beyond, whether the Scyths of Alexander's day and later or the [[White Huns]], Turks and Mongols who eventually poured south to wreck the thin veneer of Iranian society" ([[Robin Lane Fox]], ''Alexander the Great'' (1973) 1986:301).</ref> It was led at first by [[Bessus]], the Achaemenid [[satrap]] of [[Bactria]]. After assassinating [[Darius III]] in his flight from the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian Greek]] army,<ref>John Prevas (2004), ''Envy of the Gods: Alexander the Great's Ill-Fated Journey across Asia'', Da Capo Press, pp 60–69.</ref><ref>Independent Sogdiana: Lane Fox (1973, 1986:533) notes [[Quintus Curtius]], vi.3.9: with no satrap to rule them, they were under the command of [[Bessus]] at [[Gaugamela]], according to [[Arrian]], iii.8.3.</ref> he became claimant to the Achaemenid throne. The [[Sogdian Rock]] or Rock of Ariamazes, a fortress in Sogdiana, was captured in 327 BC by the forces of [[Alexander the Great]], the ''[[basileus]]'' of Macedonian Greece, and conqueror of the Persian Achaemenid Empire.<ref>Horn, LT Bernd; Spencer, Emily, eds. (2012), ''No Easy Task: Fighting in Afghanistan'', Dundurn Press Ltd, p. 40, {{ISBN|978-1-4597-0164-9}}.</ref> [[Oxyartes]], a Sogdian nobleman of Bactria, had hoped to keep his daughter [[Roxana]] safe at the fortress of the Sogdian Rock, yet after its fall Roxana was soon wed to Alexander as one of his several wives.<ref name="ahmed 2004 p61">Ahmed, S. Z. (2004), ''Chaghatai: the Fabulous Cities and People of the Silk Road'', West Conshokoken: Infinity Publishing, p. 61.</ref> Roxana, a Sogdian whose name ''Roshanak'' means "little star",<ref name="livius roxane">Livius.org. "[https://www.livius.org/articles/person/roxane/ Roxane]." ''Articles on Ancient History''. Page last modified 17 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2016.</ref><ref name="strachan 2008 p87">Strachan, Edward and Roy Bolton (2008), ''Russia and Europe in the Nineteenth Century'', London: Sphinx Fine Art, p. 87, {{ISBN|978-1-907200-02-1}}.</ref><ref>For another publication calling her "Sogdian", see Christopoulos, Lucas (August 2012), "Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China (240 BC – 1398 AD)", in Victor H. Mair (ed), ''Sino-Platonic Papers'', No. 230, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, University of Pennsylvania Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, p. 4, {{ISSN|2157-9687}}.</ref> was the mother of [[Alexander IV of Macedon]], who inherited his late father's throne in 323 BC (although the empire was soon divided in the [[Wars of the Diadochi]]).<ref>William Smith, eds et al. (1873), ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Volume 1'', London: John Murray, p. 122.</ref>

After an extended campaign putting down Sogdian resistance and founding military outposts manned by his Macedonian veterans, Alexander united Sogdiana with Bactria into one satrapy. The Sogdian nobleman and warlord [[Spitamenes]] (370–328 BC), allied with Scythian tribes, led an uprising against Alexander's forces. This revolt was put down by Alexander and his generals [[Amyntas (son of Andromenes)|Amyntas]], [[Craterus]], and [[Coenus (general)|Coenus]], with the aid of native Bactrian and Sogdian troops.<ref name="holt 1989 pp64-65">Holt, Frank L. (1989), ''Alexander the Great and Bactria: the Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia'', Leiden, New York, Copenhagen, Cologne: E. J. Brill, pp 64–65 (see also footnote #62 for mention of Sogdian troops), {{ISBN|90-04-08612-9}}.</ref> With the Scythian and Sogdian rebels defeated, Spitamenes was allegedly betrayed by his own wife and beheaded.<ref>Holt, Frank L. (1989), ''Alexander the Great and Bactria: the Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia'', Leiden, New York, Copenhagen, Cologne: E. J. Brill, p. 65 (see footnote #63), {{ISBN|90-04-08612-9}}.</ref> Pursuant with his own marriage to Roxana, Alexander encouraged his men to marry Sogdian women in order to discourage further revolt.<ref name="ahmed 2004 p61" /><ref>Holt, Frank L. (1989), ''Alexander the Great and Bactria: the Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia'', Leiden, New York, Copenhagen, Cologne: E. J. Brill, pp 67–8, {{ISBN|90-04-08612-9}}.</ref> This included [[Apama]], daughter of the rebel Spitamenes, who wed [[Seleucus I Nicator]] and bore him [[Antiochus I Soter|a son and future heir]] to the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid throne]].<ref name="magill et al 1998 p1010">Magill, Frank N. et al. (1998), ''The Ancient World: Dictionary of World Biography, Volume 1'', Pasadena, Chicago, London,: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Salem Press, p. 1010, {{ISBN|0-89356-313-7}}.</ref> According to the Roman historian [[Appian]], Seleucus I named three new Hellenistic cities in Asia after her (see ''[[Apamea (disambiguation)|Apamea]]''<!--intentional link to DAB page-->).<ref name="magill et al 1998 p1010" /><ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Apamea}}</ref>

The military power of the Sogdians never recovered. Subsequently, Sogdiana formed part of the [[Hellenistic]] [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]], a breakaway state from the Seleucid Empire founded in 248 BC by [[Diodotus I]], for roughly a century.<ref>Christopoulos, Lucas (August 2012), "Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China (240 BC – 1398 AD)", in Victor H. Mair (ed), ''Sino-Platonic Papers'', No. 230, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, University of Pennsylvania Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, pp 8–9, {{ISSN|2157-9687}}.</ref><ref>Mark J. Dresden (1981), "Introductory Note", in Guitty Azarpay, ''Sogdian Painting: the Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art'', Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, pp 3–5, {{ISBN|0-520-03765-0}}.</ref> [[Euthydemus I]], a former satrap of Sogdiana, seems to have held the Sogdian territory as a rival claimant to the Greco-Bactrian throne; [[Ancient Greek coinage|his coins]] were later copied locally and bore [[Aramaic language|Aramaic inscriptions]].<ref>Jeffrey D. Lerner (1999), ''The Impact of Seleucid Decline on the Eastern Iranian Plateau: the Foundations of Arsacid Parthia and Graeco-Bactria'', Stuttgart: Steiner, pp 82–84, {{ISBN|3-515-07417-1}}.</ref> The Greco-Bactrian king [[Eucratides I]] may have recovered sovereignty of Sogdia temporarily.

=== Saka and Kushan periods (146 BC–260 AD) ===
[[File:Saka warrior Termez Achaeological Museum.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Head of a [[Sakas|Saka]] warrior, as a defeated enemy of the [[Yuezhi]], from [[Khalchayan]], northern [[Bactria]], 1st century BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abdullaev |first1=Kazim |title=Nomad Migration in Central Asia (in After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam) |journal=Proceedings of the British Academy |date=2007 |volume=133 |pages=87–98 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6864202}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Greek Art in Central Asia, Afghan – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/greece-viii#prettyPhoto[content]/7/}}</ref><ref>[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bf/c2/42/bfc242271c38d714044837d179faab53.jpg Also a Saka according to this source]</ref>]]
Finally Sogdia was occupied by [[nomad]]s when the [[Sakas]] overran the [[Greco-Bactrian kingdom]] around 145 BC, soon followed by the [[Yuezhi]], the nomadic predecessors of the [[Kushans]]. From then until about 40 BC the Yuezhi tepidly minted coins imitating and still bearing the images of the Greco-Bactrian kings Eucratides I and [[Heliocles I]].<ref name="Michon, Daniel 2015 pp 112">Michon, Daniel (2015), ''Archaeology and Religion in Early Northwest India: History, Theory, Practice'', London, New York, New Delhi: Routledge, pp 112–123, {{ISBN|978-1-138-82249-8}}.</ref>

The Yuezhis were visited in [[Transoxiana]] by a Chinese mission, led by [[Zhang Qian]] in 126 BC,<ref name="megalithic">[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006 ''Silk Road, North China''], C. Michael Hogan, The Megalithic Portal, A. Burnham, ed.</ref> which sought an offensive alliance with the Yuezhi against the [[Xiongnu]]. Zhang Qian, who spent a year in Transoxiana and [[Bactria]], wrote a detailed account in the ''Shiji'', which gives considerable insight into the situation in [[Central Asia]] at the time.{{sfn|Watson|1993|pp=233–236}} The request for an alliance was denied by the son of the slain Yuezhi king, who preferred to maintain peace in Transoxiana rather than seek revenge.

[[File:Noin-Ula carpet, Yuezhi fighting a SogdianNoin-Ula carpet, Yuezhi fighting a Sogdian.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Yuezhi]] (left) fighting a Sogdian behind a shield (right), [[Noin-Ula|Noin-Ula carpet]], 1st century BC/AD.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yatsenko |first1=Sergey A. |title=Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia |journal=The Silk Road |date=2012 |volume=10 |url=http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol10/SilkRoad_10_2012_yatsenko.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114012702/http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol10/SilkRoad_10_2012_yatsenko.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Zhang Qian also reported:

{{blockquote|text=the Great Yuezhi live 2,000 or 3,000 ''li'' [832–1,247 kilometers] west of ''[[Dayuan]]'', north of the ''Gui'' {{bracket|[[Oxus]] }} river. They are bordered on the south by ''[[Daxia]]'' {{bracket|[[Bactria]]}}, on the west by ''Anxi'' {{bracket|[[Parthia]]}}, and on the north by ''[[Kangju]]'' [beyond the middle [[Jaxartes]]/Syr Darya]. They are a nation of [[nomad]]s, moving from place to place with their herds, and their customs are like those of the Xiongnu. They have some 100,000 or 200,000 archer warriors.|title=''Shiji''|source=123{{sfn|Watson|1993|p=234}}}}

From the 1st century AD, the Yuezhi morphed into the powerful [[Kushan Empire]], covering an area from Sogdia to eastern [[India]]. The Kushan Empire became the center of the profitable Central Asian commerce. They began minting unique coins bearing the faces of their own rulers.<ref name="Michon, Daniel 2015 pp 112"/> They are related to have collaborated militarily with the Chinese against nomadic incursion, particularly when they allied with the [[Han dynasty]] general [[Ban Chao]] against the Sogdians in 84, when the latter were trying to support a revolt by the king of [[Kashgar]].<ref name="de crespigny 2007 5-6">de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). ''A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220&nbsp;AD)''. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. page 5-6. {{ISBN|90-04-15605-4}}.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="150px" perrow="4">
File:Orlat plaque encounter.jpg|Battle scenes between "Kangju" Saka warriors, from the [[Orlat plaques]]. 1st century CE.<ref name="SPL42">{{cite book |last1=Ilyasov |first1=Djangar |title=Splendeurs des oasis d'Ouzbékistan |date=2022 |publisher=Louvre Editions |location=Paris |isbn=978-8412527858 |pages=42–47}}</ref>
File:Orlat plaque hunter.jpg|[[Orlat plaque]] hunter.
File:Kalchayan Prince (armour).jpg|Model of a [[Saka]] [[cataphract]] armour with neck-guard, from [[Khalchayan]]. 1st century BCE. [[Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan]], nb 40.<ref name="SPL56">{{cite book |last1=Frantz |first1=Grenet |title=Splendeurs des oasis d'Ouzbékistan |date=2022 |publisher=Louvre Editions |location=Paris |isbn=978-8412527858 |page=56}}</ref>
</gallery>

=== Sasanian satrapy (260–479 AD) ===
Historical knowledge about Sogdia is somewhat hazy during the period of the [[Parthian Empire]] (247 BC – 224 AD) in Persia.<ref name="dresden 1981 p5">Mark J. Dresden (1981), "Introductory Note", in Guitty Azarpay, Sogdian Painting: the Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, p. 5, {{ISBN|0-520-03765-0}}.</ref><ref name="dresden 2003 p1217">Mark J. Dresden (2003), "Sogdian Language and Literature", in Ehsan Yarshater, The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol III: The Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian Periods, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 1217, {{ISBN|0-521-24699-7}}.</ref> The subsequent [[Sasanian Empire]] of Persia conquered and incorporated Sogdia as a satrapy in 260,<ref name="dresden 1981 p5" /> an [[Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht|inscription dating to the reign of Shapur I]] claiming "Sogdia, to the mountains of [[Tashkent]]" as his territory, and noting that its limits formed the northeastern Sasanian borderlands with the [[Kushan Empire]].<ref name="dresden 2003 p1217" /> However, by the 5th century the region was captured by the rival [[Hephthalite Empire]].<ref name="dresden 1981 p5" />

=== Hephthalite conquest of Sogdiana (479–557 AD) ===
[[File:Sogdiana. Samarkand (Pre-Ikhshid), Hephthalite tamgha S2 on the reverse.jpg|thumb|Local coinage of [[Samarkand]], Sogdia, with the [[Hepthalite]] [[tamgha]] [[File:Hephthalite_tamgha.jpg|15px]] on the reverse.{{sfn|Alram|2008|loc=coin type 46}}]]
The [[Hephthalites]] conquered the territory of Sogdiana, and incorporated it into their Empire, around 479 AD, as this is the date of the last known independent embassy of the Sogdians to China.<ref name="CP" />{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}}

The Hephthalites may have built major fortified [[Hippodamian]] cities (rectangular walls with an orthogonal network of streets) in Sogdiana, such as [[Bukhara]] and [[Panjikent]], as they had also in [[Herat]], continuing the city-building efforts of the [[Kidarites]].{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}} The Hephthalites probably ruled over a confederation of local rulers or governors, linked through alliance agreements. One of these vassals may have been Asbar, ruler of [[Vardanzi]], who also minted his own coinage during the period.{{sfn|Adylov|Mirzaahmedov|2006|pp=34–36}}

[[File:Varahsha, Relief of a hunter, 5th-7th century CE.jpg|thumb|left|Relief of a hunter, [[Varakhsha|Varahsha]], Sogdia, 5th–7th century CE.]]
The wealth of the Sasanian ransoms and tributes to the Hephthalites may have been reinvested in Sogdia, possibly explaining the prosperity of the region from that time.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2003|pp=128–129 and note 35}} Sogdia, at the center of a new [[Silk Road]] between China to the Sasanian Empire and the [[Byzantine Empire]] became extremely prosperous under its nomadic elites.{{sfn|de la Vaissière|2012|pp=144–160|ps=. "Sogdiana under its nomadic elites became the principal center of agricultural wealth and population in Central Asia." and paragraph on "The Shift of the Trade Routes"}} The Hephthalites took on the role of major intermediary on the [[Silk Road]], after their great predecessor the [[Kushans]], and contracted local [[Sogdians]] to carry on the trade of silk and other luxury goods between the Chinese Empire and the Sasanian Empire.<ref name="JAM28">{{cite book |last1=Millward |first1=James A. |title=The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press US |isbn=978-0-19-978286-4 |page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0uMBi67IngC&pg=PA28}}</ref>

Because of the Hephthalite occupation of Sogdia, the original coinage of Sogdia came to be flooded by the influx of Sasanian coins received as a tribute to the Hephthalites. This coinage then spread along the [[Silk Road]].<ref name="CP">{{cite journal |last1=Pei 裴 |first1=Chengguo 成国 |title=The Silk Road and the economy of Gaochang: evidence on the Circulation of silver coins |journal=Silk Road |date=2017 |volume=15 |page=57, note 5 |url=https://religiondocbox.com/74666854-Islam/Volume-contents.html}}</ref> The symbol of the Hephthalites appears on the residual coinage of [[Samarkand]], probably as a consequence of the Hephthalite control of Sogdia, and becomes prominent in Sogdian coinage from 500 to 700 AD, including in the coinage of their indigenous successors the [[Ikhshid]]s (642–755 AD), ending with the [[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana]].{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA138 138]}}<ref name="MF">{{cite journal |last1=Fedorov |first1=Michael |title=ON THE PORTRAITS OF THE SOGDIAN KINGS (IKHSHĪDS) OF SAMARQAND |journal=Iran |date=2007 |volume=45 |page=155 |doi=10.1080/05786967.2007.11864723 |jstor=25651416 |s2cid=194538468 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25651416 |issn=0578-6967}}</ref>

=== Turkic Khaganates (557–742 AD) ===
[[File:An Jia with a Turkic Chieftain in Yurt. Xi’an, 579 CE. Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Xi’an.jpg|thumb|The Sogdian merchant [[An Jia]] with a Turkic Chieftain in his [[yurt]]. 579 AD.]]
The Turks of the [[First Turkic Khaganate]] and the Sasanians under [[Khosrow I]] allied against the Hephthalites and defeated them after an eight-day battle near [[Qarshi]], the [[Battle of Bukhara]], perhaps in 557.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Maas |first1=Michael |title=The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila |date=29 September 2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-06085-8 |page=284 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0dcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA284 |language=en}}</ref> The Turks retained the area north of the Oxus, including all of Sogdia, while the Sasanians obtained the areas south of it. The Turks fragmented in 581, and the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]] took over in Sogdia.

Archaeological remains suggest that the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] probably became the main trading partners of the Sogdians, as appears from the tomb of the Sogdian trader [[An Jia]].<ref name="FG141">{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |last2=Riboud |first2=Pénélope |title=A Reflection of the Hephthalite Empire: The Biographical Narra- tive in the Reliefs of the Tomb of the Sabao Wirkak (494–579) |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |date=2003 |volume=17 |pages=141–142 |url=https://www.podgorski.com/main/assets/documents/A_reflection_of_the_Hephtalite_empire.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531060342/https://www.podgorski.com/main/assets/documents/A_reflection_of_the_Hephtalite_empire.pdf |archive-date=31 May 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Turks also appear in great numbers in the [[Afrasiab murals]] of [[Samarkand]], where they are probably shown attending the reception by the local Sogdian ruler [[Varkhuman]] in the 7th century AD.<ref name="SW">{{cite book |last1=Whitfield |first1=Susan |title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith |year=2004 |publisher=British Library. Serindia Publications, Inc. |isbn=978-1-932476-13-2 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArWLD4Qop38C&pg=PA110 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Millward |first1=James A. |title=Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang |year=2007 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-13924-3 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA31 |language=en}}</ref> These paintings suggest that Sogdia was a very cosmopolitan environment at that time, as delegates of various nations, including Chinese and Korean delegates, are also shown.<ref name="SW"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Compareti (University of California, Berkeley) |first1=Matteo |title=The Chinese Scene at Afrāsyāb |journal=Eurasiatica |date=2007 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287420208}}</ref> From around 650, China led the [[conquest of the Western Turks]], and the Sogdian rulers such as [[Varkhuman]] as well as the [[Western Turks]] all became nominal vassals of China, as part of the [[Anxi Protectorate]] of the [[Tang dynasty]], until the [[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana]].<ref name="CB243">{{cite book |last1=Baumer |first1=Christoph |title=History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set |date=18 April 2018 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-83860-868-2 |page=243 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA243 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Afrasiab West Wall.jpg|thumb|center|upright=3|Ambassadors from various countries ([[China]], [[Korea]], Iranian and Hephthalite principalities...), paying hommage to king [[Varkhuman]] and possibly [[Western Turk]] [[Khagan]] [[Irbis Seguy|Shekui]], under the massive presence of Turkic officers and courtiers. [[Afrasiab murals]], [[Samarkand]], 648–651 AD.<ref name="CB243"/>]]

===Arab Muslim conquest (8th century AD)===
{{Main|Muslim conquest of Transoxiana}}
{{further|Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri|Sogdian city-states}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
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| image1   = Letter of an Arab Emir to Devashtich.jpg
| caption1 = Letter of an Arab Emir to the Sogdian ruler [[Devashtich]], found in Mount Mugh
| image2   = Wealthy Arab, Palace of Devashtich, Penjikent.jpg
| caption2 = Wealthy Arab, Palace of Devashtich, [[Penjikent murals]]
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}}

====Umayyads (−750)====
[[Qutayba ibn Muslim]] (669–716), Governor of [[Greater Khorasan]] under the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] (661–750), initiated the Muslim conquest of Sogdia during the early 8th century, with the local ruler of [[Balkh]] offering him aid as an Umayyad ally.<ref name="dresden 2003 p1217" /><ref>Litvinski, B. A., A. H. Jalilov, A. I. Kolesnikov (1999), "The Arab Conquest", in ''History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Volume III, the Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250–750'', eds B. A. Litvinski, Zhang Guangda, and R. Shabani Samghabadi, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, pp 457–58.</ref> However, when his successor [[al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah]] governed Khorasan (717–719), many native Sogdians, who had converted to Islam, began to revolt when they were no longer exempt from paying the tax on non-Muslims, the ''[[jizya]],'' because of a new law stating that proof of [[circumcision]] and literacy in the [[Quran]] was necessary for new converts.<ref name="dresden 2003 p1217" /><ref name="litvinski et al 1999 p459">Litvinski, B. A., A. H. Jalilov, A. I. Kolesnikov (1999), "The Arab Conquest", in ''History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Volume III, the Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250–750'', eds B. A. Litvinski, Zhang Guangda, and R. Shabani Samghabadi, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, p. 459.</ref> With the aid of the Turkic [[Turgesh]], the Sogdians were able to expel the Umayyad Arab garrison from Samarkand, and Umayyad attempts to restore power there were rebuffed until the arrival of [[Sa'id ibn Amr al-Harashi]] (fl. 720–735). The Sogdian ruler (i.e. ''[[ikhshid]]'') of Samarkand, [[Gurak]], who had previously overthrown the pro-Umayyad Sogdian ruler [[Tarkhun]] in 710, decided that resistance against al-Harashi's large Arab force was pointless, and thereafter persuaded his followers to declare allegiance to the Umayyad governor.<ref name="litvinski et al 1999 p459" /> [[Divashtich]] (r. 706–722), the Sogdian ruler of [[Panjakent]], led his forces to the [[Zarafshan Range]] (near modern [[Zarafshan, Tajikistan]]), whereas the Sogdians following Karzanj, the ruler of Pai (modern [[Kattakurgan]], Uzbekistan), fled to the [[Principality of Farghana]], where their ruler at-Tar (or Alutar) promised them safety and refuge from the Umayyads. However, at-Tar secretly informed al-Harashi of the Sogdians hiding in [[Khujand]], who were then slaughtered by al-Harashi's forces after their arrival.<ref>Litvinski, B. A., A. H. Jalilov, A. I. Kolesnikov (1999), "The Arab Conquest", in ''History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Volume III, the Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250–750'', eds B. A. Litvinski, Zhang Guangda, and R. Shabani Samghabadi, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, pp 459–60.</ref>

From 722, following the Muslim invasion, new groups of Sogdians, many of them [[Nestorian Christians]], emigrated to the east, where the Turks had been more welcoming and more tolerant of their religion since the time of Sassanian religious persecutions. They particularly created colonies in the area of [[Semirechye]], where they continued to flourish into the 10th century with the rise of the [[Karluks]] and the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]]. These Sogdians are known for producing beautiful silver plates with Eastern Christian iconography, such as the ''[[Anikova dish]]''.<ref name="ES">{{cite book |last1=Sims |first1=Eleanor |title=Peerless images : Persian painting and its sources |date=2002 |publisher=New Haven : Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-09038-3 |pages=293–294 |url=https://archive.org/details/peerlessimagespe0000sims/page/294/mode/1up}}</ref><ref name="SEDU">{{cite web |title=Anikova Plate The Sogdians |url=https://sogdians.si.edu/anikova-plate/ |website=sogdians.si.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Daly |first1=Briton (Yale University) |title=An Israel of the Seven Rivers |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |date=2021 |pages=10–12 |url=https://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp308_Zhetysu_Karluk_Turks_Sogdians.pdf| quote=Turkic peoples, both indirectly and directly, helped bring Christianity to [[Zhetysu]] after the Göktürk Khaganate took over the region in the sixth century. Following that conquest, the Sogdians, an Iranian people historically known for their commercial influence throughout the Silk Road networks, colonized the area under the encouragement of Turkic rulers eager for economic development. Syriac Christians would have numbered among these initial Sogdian colonists, and religious persecutions in the Sassanid Empire also drove Christians into Zhetysu, where the ruling Turks offered greater religious tolerance. The region experienced a significant religious-political development when the [[Karluk Turks]] conquered Zhetysu in 766 and then, most likely, converted to Syriac Christianity in the late eighth century.}}</ref>

====Abbasid Caliphate (750–819)====
[[File:Decorated niche, 750-825 CE, Afrasiab, Samarkand.jpg|thumb|Decorated niche from the Abbasid mosque of [[Afrasiyab (Samarkand)|Afrasiab]], Samarkand, 750–825 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allegranzi |first1=Viola |last2=Aube |first2=Sandra|title=Splendeurs des oasis d'Ouzbékistan |date=2022 |publisher=Louvre Editions |location=Paris |isbn=978-8412527858 |page=181}}</ref>]]
The Umayyads [[Abbasid Revolution|fell]] in 750 to the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], which quickly asserted itself in Central Asia after winning the [[Battle of Talas]] (along the [[Talas River]] in modern [[Talas Oblast]], Kyrgyzstan) in 751, against the Chinese Tang dynasty. This conflict incidentally introduced Chinese [[papermaking]] to the [[Islamic world]].<ref name="hanks 2010 p4">Hanks, Reuel R. (2010), ''Global Security Watch: Central Asia'', Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford: Praeger, p. 4.</ref> The cultural consequences and political ramifications of this battle meant the [[Protectorate General to Pacify the West|retreat of the Chinese empire from Central Asia]]. It also allowed for the rise of the [[Samanid Empire]] (819–999), a Persian state centered at Bukhara (in what is now modern [[Uzbekistan]]) that nominally observed the Abbasids as their [[overlord]]s, yet retained a great deal of autonomy and upheld the mercantile legacy of the Sogdians.<ref name="hanks 2010 p4" /> Yet the [[Sogdian language]] gradually declined in favor of the [[Persian language]] of the Samanids (the ancestor to the modern [[Tajik language]]), the spoken language of renowned poets and intellectuals of the age such as [[Ferdowsi]] (940–1020).<ref name="hanks 2010 p4" /> So too did the original religions of the Sogdians decline; Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, [[Manichaeism]], and [[Nestorian Christianity]] disappeared in the region by the end of the Samanid period.<ref name="hanks 2010 p4" /> The Samanids were also responsible for converting the surrounding [[Turkic peoples]] to [[Islam]].

====Samanids (819–999)====
{{main|Samanid Empire}}
The Samanids occupied the Sogdian region from circa 819 until 999, establishing their capital at [[Samarkand]] (819–892) and then at [[Bukhara]] (892–999).

===Turkic conquests: Kara-Khanid Khanate (999–1212)===
[[File:Kara-Khanid ruler (sitting cross-legged on a throne), Afrasiab, circa 1200 CE.jpg|thumb|Detail of a Kara-Khanid ruler of Samarkand (sitting cross-legged on a throne in the complete reconstructed relief), [[Afrasiyab (Samarkand)|Afrasiab]], [[Samarkand]], circa 1200 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Karev |first1=Yury |title=Turko-Mongol rulers, cities and city life |date=2013 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=9789004257009 |pages=114–115|quote="The ceramics and monetary finds in the pavilion can be dated to no earlier than to the second half of the twelfth century, and more plausibly towards the end of that century. This is the only pavilion of those excavated that was decorated with paintings, which leave no doubt about the master of the place. (...) The whole artistic project was aimed at exalting the royal figure and the magnificence of his court. (...) the main scenes from the northern wall represents the ruler sitting cross-legged on a throne (see Figs 13, 14) (...) It was undoubtedly a private residence of the Qarakhanid ruler and his family and not a place for solemn receptions."}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Frantz |first1=Grenet |title=Splendeurs des oasis d'Ouzbékistan |date=2022 |publisher=Louvre Editions |location=Paris |isbn=978-8412527858 |pages=221–222|quote="Peintures murales qui ornaient (...) la résidence privée des derniers souverains qarakhanides de Samarkande (fin du 12ième - début du 13ième siècle (...) le souverain assis, les jambes repliées sur le trône, tient une flèche, symbole du pouvoir (Fig.171)."}}</ref> It was possibly defaced in 1212 when the [[Khwarazmian Empire]] shah [[Muḥammad b. Tekish]] took over Samarkand.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Karev |first1=Yury |title=Turko-Mongol rulers, cities and city life |date=2013 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=9789004257009 |page=120|quote="We cannot exclude the possibility that this action was related to the dramatic events of the year 1212, when Samarqand was taken by the Khwarazmshah Muḥammad b. Tekish."}}</ref>]]
In 999 the Samanid Empire was conquered by an Islamic Turkic power, the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]] (840–1212).<ref>Hanks, Reuel R. (2010), ''Global Security Watch: Central Asia'', Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford: Praeger, pp 4–5.</ref>

From 1212, the Kara-Khanids in Samarkand were conquered by the [[Khwarazmian Empire|Kwarazmians]]. Soon however, [[Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia|Khwarezmia was invaded]] by the early [[Mongol Empire]] and its ruler [[Genghis Khan]] [[Siege of Bukhara|destroyed]] the once vibrant cities of Bukhara and Samarkand.<ref>Sophie Ibbotson and Max Lovell-Hoare (2016), ''Uzbekistan'', 2nd edition, Bradt Travel Guides Ltd, pp 12–13, {{ISBN|978-1-78477-017-4}}.</ref> However, in 1370, Samarkand saw a revival as the capital of the [[Timurid Empire]]. The [[Turko-Mongol]] ruler [[Timur]] brought about the forced immigration to Samarkand of artisans and intellectuals from across Asia, transforming it not only into a trade hub but also into one of the most important cities of the Islamic world.<ref>Sophie Ibbotson and Max Lovell-Hoare (2016), ''Uzbekistan'', 2nd edition, Bradt Travel Guides Ltd, pp 14–15, {{ISBN|978-1-78477-017-4}}.</ref>