Editing History of Tajikistan (section)

==Medieval history (710&ndash;1506)==

===Arab Caliphate (710–867)===
[[Image:Map of expansion of Caliphate.svg|thumb|The Age of the Caliphs {{legend|#a1584e|Muhammad, 622–632}} {{legend|#ef9070|Patriarchal Caliphate, 632–661}} {{legend|#fad07d|Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750}}]]
The Transoxiana principalities never formed a viable confederacy. Beginning in 651, the Arabs organized periodic marauding raids deep into the territory of Transoxania, but it was not until the appointment of Ibn Qutaiba as Governor of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] in 705, during the reign of Walid I, that the Caliphate adopted the policy of annexing the lands beyond the Oxus. In 715, the task of annexation was accomplished. The entire region thus came under the control of the [[Caliph]] and of Islam, but the Arabs continued to rule through local Soghdian Kings and ''[[dihqan]]s''. The ascension of the [[Abbasids]] to rule the Caliphate (750–1258) opened a new era in the history of Central Asia. While their predecessors the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyads]] (661–750) were little more than leaders of a loose confederation of Arab tribes, the Abbasids set out to build a huge multi-ethnic centralized state that would emulate and perfect the Sassanian government machine. They gave the Near East and Transoxiana a unity, which they had been lacking since the time of Alexander the Great.

===Samanid Empire (819–999)===
[[File:Samanid dynasty (819–999).GIF|thumb|Samanid empire]]

The [[Samanid dynasty]] ruled (819–1005) in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] (including Eastern Iran and [[Transoxiana]]) and was founded by [[Saman Khuda]]. The Samanids were one of the first purely indigenous dynasties to rule in Persia after the Muslim Arab conquest. During the reign (892–907) of Saman Khuda's great-grandson, Ismail I (known as [[Ismail Samani]]), Samanids expanded in Khorasan. In 900, Ismail defeated the Saffarids in Khorasan (area of current Northwest Afghanistan and northeastern Iran), while his brother was the governor of Transoxiana. Thus, Samanid rule was acclaimed over the combined regions. The cities of [[Bukhara]] (the Samanid capital) and Samarkand became centres of art, science, and literature; industries included pottery making and bronze casting. After 950, Samanid power weakened, but was briefly revitalized under Nuh II, who ruled from 976 to 997. However, with the oncoming encroachment of Muslim [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], the Samanids lost their domains south of the [[Oxus river]] which were taken by [[Ghaznavids]].  In 999, Bukhara was taken by the [[Qarakhanids]].  The Samanid [[Isma'il Muntasir]] (died 1005) tried to restore the dynasty (1000–1005), until he was assassinated by an Arab [[bedouin]] chieftain.<ref name="sinor">{{citation |year = 1990|title = The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia|editor-last = Sinor|editor-first = Denis|publisher = Cambridge University Press|isbn = 0-521-24304-1}}</ref>

The attack of the Qarakhanid Turks ended the Samanid dynasty in 999 and dominance in Transoxiana passed on to Turkic rulers.

===Qarakhanids (999–1211) and Khwarezmshahs (1211–1218)===
After the collapse of Samanid Dynasty, Central Asia became the battleground of many Asian invaders who came from the north-east.

=== Mongol rule (1218–1370)===

The [[Mongol Empire]] swept through Central Asia, invaded [[Khwarezmian Empire]] and sacked the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, looting and massacring people everywhere.

===Timurid Empire (1370–1506)===
Timur, founder of the [[Timurid Empire]], was born on 8 April 1336 in [[Shahrisabz|Kesh]] near Samarkand. He was a member of the Turkicized Barlas tribe, a Mongol subgroup that had settled in [[Transoxiana]] after taking part in [[Genghis Khan]]'s son [[Chagatai Khan|Chagatai]]'s campaigns in that region. Timur began his life as a bandit leader. During this period, he received an arrow-wound in the leg, as a result of which he was nicknamed Timur-e Lang (in Dari) or Timur the Lame. Although the last Timurid ruler of Herat, Badi az Zaman finally fell to the armies of the Uzbek Muhammad Shaibani Khan in 1506, the Timurid ruler of Ferghana, Zahir-ud-Din [[Babur]], survived the collapse of the dynasty and re-established the [[Timurid dynasty]] in India in 1526 where they became known as the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]].