Editing Uzbeks (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of the Uzbeks}}

===Ancient history===
[[File:Kaunakes Bactria Louvre AO31917.jpg|thumb|upright|Female statuette bearing the kaunakes. Chlorite and limestone, [[Bactria]], beginning of the 2nd millennium BC.]]
In the southern part of [[Central Asia]], there was a Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex, which has recently been dated to c. 2250–1700 BC.<ref name="Lyonnet, Bertille, and Nadezhda A. Dubova, (2020b)">Lyonnet, Bertille, and Nadezhda A. Dubova, (2020b). [https://www.routledge.com/The-World-of-the-Oxus-Civilization/Lyonnet-Dubova/p/book/9781138722873 "Questioning the Oxus Civilization or Bactria- Margiana Archaeological Culture (BMAC): an overview" ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702085820/https://www.routledge.com/The-World-of-the-Oxus-Civilization/Lyonnet-Dubova/p/book/9781138722873 |date=2022-07-02 }}, in Bertille Lyonnet and Nadezhda A. Dubova (eds.), ''The World of the Oxus Civilization'', Routledge, London and New York, '''p. 32.''': "...Salvatori has often dated its beginning very early (ca. 2400 BC), to make it match with Shahdad where a large amount of material similar to that of the BMAC has been discovered. With the start of international cooperation and the multiplication of analyses, the dates now admitted by all place the Oxus Civilization between 2250 and 1700 BC, while its final phase extends until ca. 1500 BC..."</ref><ref>Lyonnet, Bertille, and Nadezhda A. Dubova, (2020a). [https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Bertille-Lyonnet/dp/1138722871?asin=036753309X&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1 "Introduction"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726193815/https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Bertille-Lyonnet/dp/1138722871?asin=036753309X&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1 |date=2022-07-26 }}, in Bertille Lyonnet and Nadezhda A. Dubova (eds.), ''The World of the Oxus Civilization'', Routledge, London and New York, '''p. 1''' : "The Oxus Civilization, also named the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (or Culture) (BMAC), developed in southern Central Asia during the Middle and Late Bronze Age and lasted for about half a millennium (ca. 2250–1700 BC)..."</ref> That name is the modern archaeological designation for a [[Bronze Age]] [[civilization]] of Central Asia, previously dated to c. 2400–1900 BC by Sandro Salvatori.<ref name="Lyonnet, Bertille, and Nadezhda A. Dubova, (2020b)" />

[[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] nomads arrived from the northern grasslands of what is now Uzbekistan sometime in the first millennium BC. These nomads, who spoke Iranian dialects, settled in Central Asia and began to build an extensive irrigation system along the rivers of the region. At this time, cities such as Bukhara and Samarkand began to appear as centers of government and culture. By the 5th century BC, the [[Bactria]]n, [[Khwarazm]], [[Sogdiana|Soghdian]], and [[Yuezhi|Tokharian]] states dominated the region.

Alexander the Great conquered Sogdiana and Bactria in 329 BC, marrying [[Roxana]], daughter of a local Bactrian chieftain. The conquest was supposedly of little help to Alexander as popular resistance was fierce, causing Alexander's army to be bogged down in the region that became the northern part of Hellenistic [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]. For many centuries the region of Uzbekistan was ruled by Persian empires, including the [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] and [[Sassanid]] Empires.

In the first centuries, the northern territories of modern Uzbekistan were part of the [[Kangju]] nomad state.<ref>Zadneprovskiy, Y. A. (1 January 1994). "The Nomads of Northern Central Asia After The Invasion of Alexander". In Harmatta, János(ed.). History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations, 700 B. C. to A. D. 250.UNESCO. pp. 457–472.</ref>

With the arrival of the Greeks, writing based on the Greek alphabet began to spread on the territory of Bactria and Sogdiana. As a result of archaeological research on the territory of Sogdiana and Bactria, fragments of pottery with Greek inscriptions have been found.

In 2nd century BC China began to develop its silk trade with the West. Because of this trade on what became known as the [[Silk Route]], Bukhara and Samarkand eventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at times Mawarannahr (Transoxiana) was one of the most influential and powerful Persian provinces of antiquity.<ref name=eh>Lubin, Nancy. "Early history". In Curtis.</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=January 2014}}

In 350–375 AD, Sogdiana and Tashkent oasis were captured by the nomadic [[Xionite]] tribes who arrived from the steppe regions of Central Asia.<ref>Grenet Frantz, Regional interaction in Central Asia and northwest India in the Kidarite and Hephtalites periods in Indo-Iranian languages and peoples. Edited by Nicholas Sims-Williams. Oxford university press, 2003. Р.218–222</ref>
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| image1            = Khingila portrait (young).jpg
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| image2            = Afrasiab, elongated skull 600-800 CE, Afrasiab Museum.jpg
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| footer            = '''Left''': portrait of Alchon king [[Khingila]], from his coinage (circa 450 CE). '''Right''': [[Elongated skull]] excavated in [[Samarkand]] (dated 600–800 CE), [[Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand]].
}}

=== Turkic Khaganate period ===
[[File:Turkish officers during a audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab, Samarkand.jpg|thumb|[[Western Turks|Turkish officers]] during an audience with king [[Varkhuman]] of Samarkand. 648–651 CE, [[Afrasiyab (Samarkand)|Afrasiyab murals]], Samarkand.<ref>{{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 |access-date=17 January 2021 |archive-date=2 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202223540/https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA243 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |title=Maracanda/Samarkand, une métropole pré-mongole |journal=Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales |date=2004 |volume=5/6 |page=Fig. B |url=https://www.cairn.info/journal-annales-2004-5-page-1043.htm |access-date=2021-01-17 |archive-date=2020-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024201835/https://www.cairn.info/journal-annales-2004-5-page-1043.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

The First Turkic Khaganate and migration of the population played a large role in the formation of a sedentary Turkic population in the territory of the oases of Central Asia in the 6th–8th centuries.

In the Western Turkic Khaganate, in addition to various Turkic tribes, there were Iranian nomadic elements, which were gradually assimilated by the Turks. The urban population of Sogd, Khwarazm, Bactria was in close contact with the Turks.<ref name="Golden, Peter B 1992"/>

Turkic names and titles are found in Bactrian documents of the 7th–8th centuries: kagan, tapaglig eltabir, tarkhan, tudun, the names Kutlug Tapaglig Bilga savuk, Kara-tongi, Tongaspar, Turkic ethnic names: halach, Turk.<ref>Sims-Williams Nicholas, Bactrian documents from Northern Afghanistan. I. Legal and economic documents. London: Oxford university press, 2000</ref> During the excavations of the Sogdian Penjikent, a fragment of a draft letter in the Sogdian language was discovered, in the text of which there is a Turkic name Turkash <ref>Marshak Boris. Legends, tales and fables in the art of Sogdiana with an appendix by V.A. Livshits. New York: Bibliotheca persica press, 2002. Р.168</ref>

The Turkic population of the Fergana Valley had their own runic writing. The Turkic rulers of Ferghana, [[Tokharistan]], [[Bukhara]] and Chach issued their own coins.<ref>Baratova L.S. Drevnetyurkskiye monety Sredney Azii VI-IX vv. (tipologiya, ikonografiya, istoricheskaya interpretatsiya). Avtoref. diss. kand. ist. nauk. Tashkent, 1995</ref><ref>Smirnova O. I., Svodnyy katalog sogdiyskikh monet. Moscow, 1981, p.59.</ref>

The Turkic population of certain regions of Central Asia in the early Middle Ages had their own urban culture and used the proper Turkic terms, for example, baliq, which meant city.<ref>Bartol'd V.V. Raboty po istoricheskoy geografii. Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura, 2002. pp.360–363.</ref>

The Turks had a great influence in the development of the armament of the Sogdians.<ref>Raspopova V.I. Metallicheskiye izdeliya rannesrednevekovogo Sogda. Leningrad: 1980</ref> The Turks are depicted in the wall paintings of ancient Samarkand.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="100px" perrow="4">
File:Shahi Tegin (Sri Shahi). After 679 in the style of the Nezak Huns.jpg|Early coin of [[Tegin Shah]], in the style of the [[Nezak|Nezak Huns]], whom he displaced. Tokharistan, late 7th century CE.
File:Shahi Tegin 728 CE.jpg|Trilingual coin of [[Tegin Shah]] towards the end of his reign. Tokharistan, 728 CE.
</gallery>

=== Early Islamic period ===
The [[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana|conquest of Central Asia]] by [[Muslim]] [[Arabs]], which was completed in the 8th century AD, brought to the region a new religion that continues to be dominant. The Arabs first invaded Mawarannahr in the middle of the 7th century through sporadic raids during their conquest of Persia. Available sources on the Arab conquest suggest that the Soghdians and other Iranian peoples of Central Asia were unable to defend their land against the Arabs because of internal divisions and the lack of strong indigenous leadership. The Arabs, on the other hand, were led by a brilliant general, [[Qutaybah ibn Muslim]], and were also highly motivated by the desire to spread their new faith, [[Islam]], the official beginning of which was in AD 622. Because of these factors, the population of Mawarannahr was easily subdued. The new religion brought by the Arabs spread gradually into the region. The native religious identities, which in some respects were already being displaced by Persian influences before the Arabs arrived, were further displaced in the ensuing centuries. Nevertheless, the destiny of Central Asia as an Islamic region was firmly established by the Arab victory over the Chinese armies in 750 in a [[Battle of Talas|battle]] at the [[Talas River]].<ref name=eip>Lubin, Nancy. "Early Islamic period". In Curtis.</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=January 2014}}

Despite brief Arab rule, Central Asia successfully retained much of its Iranian characteristic, remaining an important center of culture and trade for centuries after the adoption of the new religion. Mawarannahr continued to be an important political player in regional affairs, as it had been under various Persian dynasties. In fact, the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], which ruled the Arab world for five centuries beginning in 750, was established thanks in great part to assistance from Central Asian supporters in their struggle against the then-ruling [[Umayyad Caliphate]].<ref name=eip/>

During the height of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th and 9th centuries, Central Asia and Mawarannahr experienced a truly golden age. Bukhara became one of the leading centers of learning, culture, and art in the Muslim world, its magnificence rivaling contemporaneous cultural centers such as [[Baghdad]], [[Cairo]], and [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]]. Some of the greatest historians, scientists, and geographers in the history of Islamic culture were natives of the region.<ref name=eip/>

As the Abbasid Caliphate began to weaken and local Islamic Iranian states emerged as the rulers of Iran and Central Asia, the [[Persian language]] continued its preeminent role in the region as the language of literature and government. The rulers of the eastern section of Iran and of Mawarannahr were Persians. Under the [[Samanids]] and the [[Buyids]], the rich Perso-Islamic culture of Mawarannahr continued to flourish.<ref name=eip/>

=== Samanid Empire, Ghaznavids, and Kara-Khanid Khanate ===
The Samanids were a Persian state that reigned for 180 years, encompassing a vast territoriy stretching from Central Asia to West Asia.<ref>Tabaḳāt-i-nāsiri: a general history of the Muhammadan dynastics of Asia, pg.31, By Minhāj Sirāj Jūzjānī</ref><ref>The historical, social and economic setting By M. S. Asimov, pg.79</ref> The Samanids were descendants of [[Bahram Chobin]],<ref name="America pg. 123">Iran and America: Re-Kind[l]ing a Love Lost By Badi Badiozamani, Ghazal Badiozamani, pg. 123</ref><ref name="Lineage of Samanids pg.79">History of Bukhara by Narshakhi, Chapter XXIV, Pg 79</ref> and thus descended from the [[House of Mihran|House of Mihrān]], one of the [[Seven Great Houses of Iran]]. In governing their territory, the Samanids modeled their state organization after the [[Abbasids]], mirroring the [[caliph]]'s court and organization.<ref>The Monumental Inscriptions from Early Islamic Iran and Transoxiana By Sheila S. Blair, pg. 27</ref> They were rewarded for supporting the [[Abbasids]] in [[Transoxania]] and [[greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], and with their established capitals located in [[Bukhara]], [[Balkh]], [[Samarkand]], and [[Herat]], they carved their kingdom after defeating the [[Saffarids]].<ref name="America pg. 123"/>

The Samanid Empire was the first native Persian dynasty to arise after the Muslim Arab conquest. The four grandsons of the dynasty's founder, [[Saman Khuda]], had been rewarded with provinces for their faithful service to the Abbasid caliph [[al-Mamun]]: Nuh obtained [[Samarkand]]; Ahmad, [[Fergana]]; Yahya, Shash; and Elyas, [[Herat]]. Ahmad's son Nasr became governor of [[Transoxania]] in 875, but it was his brother and successor, [[Ismail Samani]] who overthrew the Saffarids and the Zaydites of Tabaristan, thus establishing a semiautonomous rule over Transoxania and Khorasan, with Bukhara as his capital.

Samanid rule in [[Bukhara]] was not formally recognized by the caliph until the early 10th century when the Saffarid ruler [[Amr-i Laith Saffari|'Amr-i Laith]] had asked the caliph for the investiture of Transoxiana. The caliph, [[Al-Mu'tadid]] however sent the Samanid amir, [[Ismail Samani]], a letter urging him to fight Amr-i Laith and the Saffarids whom the caliph considered usurpers. According to the letter, the caliph stated that he prayed for Ismail who the caliph considered as the rightful ruler of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]].<ref>The book of government, or, Rules for kings: the Siyar al-Muluk, or, Siyasat-nama of Nizam al-Mulk, Niẓām al-Mulk, Hubert Darke, pg.18–19</ref> The letter had a profound effect on Ismail, as he was determined to oppose the Saffarids.

Since the 9th century, the Turkization of the population of the Central Asian interfluve has been increasing. At this time, a military system was created, in which the influence of the Turkic military was strong.<ref>Bregel Yuri, Turko-Mongol influences in Central Asia in Turco-Persia in Historical Perspective Edited by R. Canfield (Cambridge University Press), 1991, p.56</ref>

In the 9th century, the continued influx of nomads from the northern steppes brought a new group of people into Central Asia. These people were the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] who lived in the great grasslands stretching from [[Mongolia]] to the [[Caspian Sea]]. Introduced mainly as slave soldiers to the Samanid dynasty, these Turks served in the armies of all the states of the region, including the Abbasid army. In the late 10th century, as the Samanids began to lose control of [[Transoxiana]] (Mawarannahr) and northeastern Iran, some of these soldiers came to positions of power in the government of the region, and eventually established their own states, albeit highly [[Persianate society|Persianized]]. With the emergence of a Turkic ruling group in the region, other Turkic tribes began to migrate to Transoxiana.<ref name=tm>Lubin, Nancy. "Turkification of Mawarannahr". In Curtis.</ref>

The first of the Turkic states in the region was the Persianate [[Ghaznavids|Ghaznavid Empire]], established in the last years of the 10th century. The Ghaznavid state, which captured Samanid domains south of the [[Amu Darya]], was able to conquer large areas of Iran, [[Afghanistan]], and northern [[India]] apart from Central Asia, during the reign of [[Mahmud of Ghazna|Sultan Mahmud]]. The Ghaznavids were closely followed by the Turkic [[Qarakhanids]], who took the Samanid capital Bukhara in 999 AD, and ruled Transoxiana for the next two centuries. Samarkand was made the capital of the Western Qarakhanid state.<ref name="UNESCO" />

According to Peter Golden, the Karakhanid state was one of the first Turkic-Islamic states.<ref>Golden, Peter B. "An introduction to the history of the Turkic peoples." Ethnogenesis and state-formation in medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East (1992): 228.</ref> The Islamization of the Karakhanids and their Turkic subjects played an important role in the cultural development of the Turkic culture. In the late 10th–early 11th century for the first time in the history of the Turkic peoples, Tafsir (commentary on the Koran) was translated into the Turkic language.<ref>Borovkov, A.K. Leksika sredneaziatskogo tefsira: XII—XIII vv. Moscow, 1963</ref>

The founder of the Western Karakhanid Kaganate, [[Böritigin|Ibrahim Tamgach Khan]] (1040–1068), for the first time erected a madrasah in Samarkand with state funds and supported the development of culture in the region. One of the famous scholars was the historian Majid ad-din al-Surkhakati, who in Samarkand wrote the "History of Turkestan", which outlined the history of the Karakhanid dynasty.<ref>Introduction to The Jawami u'l-hikayat wa Lawami'ur-riwayat of Sadidu'u-din Muhammad al-Awfi by Muhammad Nizamu'd-din. London: Luzac & Co, 1929</ref>

The most striking monument of the Karakhanid era in Samarkand was the palace of Ibrahim ibn Hussein (1178–1202), which was built in the citadel in the 12th century, where fragments of monumental painting depicting a Turkic ruler were discovered.<ref>Karev, Yuri. "Un cycle de peintures murales d'époque qarakhanide (XIIe-XIIIe siècles) à la citadelle de Samarkand: le souverain et le peintre." Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 147, no. 4 (2003): 1685–1731.</ref>

The dominance of Ghazna was curtailed, however, when the [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuks]] led themselves into the western part of the region, conquering the Ghaznavid territory of [[Khorazm]] (also spelled Khorezm and Khwarazm).<ref name=tm/> The Seljuks also defeated the Qarakhanids, but did not annex their territories outright. Instead they made the Qarakhanids a vassal state.<ref name="sinor">{{citation|last = Golden|first = Peter. B.|contribution = The Karakhanids and Early Islam|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 [[Great Seljuq Empire|Seljuks]] dominated a wide area from [[Asia Minor]] to the western sections of Transoxiana in the 11th century. The Seljuk Empire then split into states ruled by various local Turkic and Iranian rulers. The culture and intellectual life of the region continued unaffected by such political changes, however. Turkic tribes from the north continued to migrate into the region during this period.<ref name=tm/> The power of the Seljuks however became diminished when the Seljuk Sultan [[Ahmed Sanjar]] was defeated by the [[Kara-Khitans]] at the [[Battle of Qatwan]] in 1141.

Turkic words and terms characteristic of the literature of the 11th century are used in the modern Bukhara dialect of the Uzbeks.<ref>Kilichev E. R., Vostochno-tyurkskiy yazyk XI veka i leksika bukharskogo govora // Sovetskaya tyurkologiya, 1975, No. 6, p.87</ref>

In the late 12th century, a Turkic leader of Khorazm, which is the region south of the Aral Sea, united Khorazm, Transoxiana, and Iran under his rule. Under the rule of the Khorazm [[shah]] [[Kutbeddin Muhammad]] and his son, [[Muhammad II of Khwarazm|Muhammad II]], Transoxiana continued to be prosperous and rich while maintaining the region's Perso-Islamic identity. However, a new incursion of nomads from the north soon changed this situation. This time the invader was [[Genghis Khan]] with his [[Mongol]] armies.<ref name=tm/>

=== Mongol period ===
The Mongol invasion of Central Asia is one of the turning points in the history of the region. The Mongols had such a lasting impact because they established the tradition that the legitimate ruler of any Central Asian state could only be a blood descendant of Genghis Khan.<ref name=mp>Lubin, Nancy. "Mongol period". In Curtis.</ref>

The [[Mongol invasion of Central Asia|Mongol conquest of Central Asia]], which took place from 1219 to 1225, led to a wholesale change in the population of Mawarannahr. The conquest quickened the process of Turkification in some parts of the region because, although the armies of Genghis Khan were led by Mongols, they were made up mostly of Turkic tribes that had been incorporated into the Mongol armies as the tribes were encountered in the Mongols' southward sweep. As these armies settled in Mawarannahr, they intermixed with the local populations which did not flee. Another effect of the Mongol conquest was the large-scale damage the soldiers inflicted on cities such as Bukhara and on regions such as Khorazm. As the leading province of a wealthy state, Khorazm was treated especially severely. The [[irrigation]] networks in the region suffered extensive damage that was not repaired for several generations.<ref name=mp/> Many Iranian-speaking populations were forced to flee southwards in order to avoid persecution.

Following the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his empire was divided among his four sons and his family members. Despite the potential for serious fragmentation, [[Yassa|Mongol law]] of the [[Mongol Empire]] maintained orderly succession for several more generations, and control of most of Mawarannahr stayed in the hands of direct descendants of [[Chagatai Khan|Chaghatai]], the second son of Genghis. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace prevailed in the Chaghatai lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole remained strong and united.<ref name=rt>Lubin, Nancy. "Rule of Timur". In Curtis.</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=January 2014}}

=== Rule of Timur and Timurids ===
[[File:Teymur.jpg|thumb|upright|Timur feasts in [[Samarkand]]]]

In the early 14th century, however, as the empire began to break up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory also was disrupted as the princes of various tribal groups competed for influence. One tribal chieftain, [[Timur]] (Tamerlane), emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Mawarannahr. Although he was not a descendant of Genghis, Timur became the de facto ruler of Mawarannahr and proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran, the [[Caucasus]], Asia Minor, and the southern steppe region north of the [[Aral Sea]]. He also invaded Russia before dying during an invasion of China in 1405.<ref name=rt/>
[[File:Ulugh Beg with ladies of his harem and retainers, Timurid 1425-50.jpg|thumb|[[Ulugbeg]] with ladies of his harem and retainers, 1425–1450]]
Timur initiated the last flowering of Mawarannahr by gathering in his capital, Samarkand, numerous artisans and scholars from the lands he had conquered. By supporting such people, Timur imbued his empire with a very rich Perso-Islamic culture. During Timur's reign and the reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious and palatial construction projects were undertaken in Samarkand and other population centers. Timur also patronized scientists and artists; 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 [[Chaghatai dialect]], became a [[literary language]] in its own right in Mawarannahr, although the Timurids were Persianate in nature. 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.<ref name=rt/>

The Timurids supported the development of literature in the Turkic language. In 1398, Timur's son Miranshah ordered to draw up an official document in the Turkic language in the Uyghur script.<ref>Matsui, Dai, Ryoko WATABE, and Hiroshi Ono. «A Turkic-Persian Decree of Timurid Mīrān Šāh of 800 AH/1398 CE.» Orient 50 (2015): 53–75.</ref>

Timur's grandson Iskandar Sultan had a court that included a group of poets, for example, Mir Khaidar, whom Iskandar encouraged to write poetry in the Turkic language. Thanks to the patronage of Iskandar Sultan, the Turkic poem "Gul and Navruz" was written.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/eskandar-soltan|title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=2021-02-15|archive-date=2021-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415024737/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/eskandar-soltan|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Timurid state quickly broke into two halves after the death of Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted the attention of the [[Fergana Kipchak language|Eastern Kipchak-speaking]] nomadic tribes called [[Uzbek tribes|Taza Uzbeks]] who were living to the north of the Aral Sea. In 1501, the Uzbeks began a wholesale invasion of Mawarannahr.<ref name=rt/> Under the leadership of [[Muhammad Shaybani]], the Uzbeks conquered the key cities of [[Samarkand]] and [[Herat]] in 1505 and 1507, respectively, and founded the [[Khanate of Bukhara]].

=== Uzbek period ===
[[File:Shaybani.jpg|thumb|[[Shaybani Khan]], 1507]]
By 1510, the Uzbeks had completed their conquest of Central Asia{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}}, including the territory of the present-day Uzbekistan. Of the states they established, the most powerful, the [[Khanate of Bukhara]], centered on the city of Bukhara. The khanate controlled Mawarannahr, especially the region of [[Tashkent]], the [[Fergana Valley]] in the east, and northern Afghanistan. A second Uzbek state, the [[Khanate of Khiva]] was established in the oasis of [[Khorazm]] at the mouth of the Amu Darya. The Khanate of Bukhara was initially led by the energetic [[Shaybanids|Shaybanid dynasty]], the successors of [[Muhammad Shaybani]]. The Shaybanids initially competed against Iran for a few years, which was led by the [[Safavid dynasty]], for the rich far-eastern territory of present-day Iran.<ref name="Eraly2007">{{cite book|author=Abraham Eraly|title=Emperors Of The Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7kPQs8llvkC&pg=PT25|date=17 September 2007|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-93-5118-093-7|page=25|access-date=13 October 2015|archive-date=2 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202223542/https://books.google.com/books?id=h7kPQs8llvkC&pg=PT25|url-status=live}}</ref> The struggle with the Safavids also had a religious aspect, because the Uzbeks were [[Sunni]] Muslims while Iran was [[Shia]].<ref name=up>Lubin, Nancy. "Uzbek period". In Curtis.</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=January 2014}}

Shaybani Khan wrote poetry under the pseudonym "Shibani". A collection of poems by Shaybani Khan, written in the Central Asian Turkic literary language, is currently kept in the Topkapi manuscript collection in Istanbul. The manuscript of his philosophical and religious work: "Bahr ul-Khudo", written in the Central Asian Turkic literary language in 1508, is located in London.<ref>A.J.E.Bodrogligeti, «Muhammad Shaybanî's Bahru'l-huda : An Early Sixteenth Century Didactic Qasida in Chagatay», Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher, vol.54 (1982), p. 1 and n.4</ref>

Shaybani-khan's nephew [[Ubaydulla Khan]] was a very educated person, he skillfully recited the Koran and provided it with commentaries in the Turkic language. Ubaydulla himself wrote poetry in Turkic, Persian and Arabic under the literary pseudonym Ubaydiy. A collection of his poems has reached us.<ref>B. V. Norik, Rol shibanidskikh praviteley v literaturnoy zhizni Maverannakhra XVI v. // Rakhmat-name. Sankt Petersburg, 2008, p.230</ref>

The term "92 Uzbek tribes", which appeared in the fifteenth-century Dasht-i Qipchaq, began to be used with a variety of meanings in the following centuries depending on the political and cultural context.<ref>Malikov A. "92 Uzbek Tribes" in Official Discourses and the Oral Traditions from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2020, vol. 8, no. 3, p.515</ref> Near the end of the 16th century, the Uzbek states<ref>Bregel, Yuri. "The New Uzbek States: Bukhara, Khiva and Khoqand: c. 1750–1886." The Cambridge History of Inner Asia: The Chinggisid Age (2009): 392–411.</ref> of Bukhara and Khorazm began to weaken because of their endless wars against each other and the Persians and because of strong competition for the throne among the khans in power and their heirs. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Shaybanid dynasty was replaced by the [[Janid dynasty]].<ref name=up/>

Another factor contributing to the weakness of the Uzbek khanates in this period was the general decline of trade moving through the region. This change had begun in the previous century when ocean trade routes were established from Europe to India and China, circumventing the Silk Route. As European-dominated ocean transport expanded and some trading centers were destroyed, cities such as Bukhara, [[Merv]], and Samarkand in the Khanate of Bukhora and [[Khiva]] and [[Urganch]] (Urgench) in Khorazm began to steadily decline.<ref name=up/>

The Uzbeks' struggle with Iran also led to the cultural isolation of Central Asia from the rest of the Islamic world. In addition to these problems, the struggle with the nomads from the northern steppe continued. In the 17th and 18th centuries, [[Kazakhs|Kazakh]] nomads and Mongols continually raided the Uzbek khanates, causing widespread damage and disruption. In the beginning of the 18th century, the Khanate of Bukhara lost the fertile Fergana region, and a [[Khanate of Kokand|new Uzbek khanate]] was formed in [[Quqon]].<ref name=up/>

=== Afghan Pashtun conquest ===
{{main|Balkh|Kunduz|Maymana}}
An Uzbek Khanate existed in [[Maimana]].<ref name="Chaffetz1981">{{cite book|author=David Chaffetz|title=A Journey Through Afghanistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUUCK2xrijIC&q=central+asian+features+turkish+popular+blood&pg=PA63|year=1981|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-10064-7|pages=63–|access-date=2020-10-24|archive-date=2023-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202223544/https://books.google.com/books?id=gUUCK2xrijIC&q=central+asian+features+turkish+popular+blood&pg=PA63|url-status=live}}</ref> The Pashtuns battled and conquered the Uzbeks and forced them into a state of subjugation and discrimination.<ref name="Williams2011">{{cite book|author=Brian Glyn Williams|title=Afghanistan Declassified: A Guide to America's Longest War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYtXJhByzoEC&q=uzbeks+afghanistan&pg=PA32|date=22 September 2011|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-0615-9|pages=32–|access-date=24 October 2020|archive-date=2 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202223545/https://books.google.com/books?id=cYtXJhByzoEC&q=uzbeks+afghanistan&pg=PA32|url-status=live}}</ref>{{when|date=December 2015}} Out of anti-Russian strategic interests, the British assisted the Afghan conquest of the Uzbek Khanates. The British gave weapons to the Afghans and backed the Afghan colonization of northern Afghanistan, which involved sending a huge number of Pashtun colonists onto Uzbek land. Furthermore, British literature from the period demonized the Uzbeks.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/from-slavers-to-warlords-descriptions-of-afghanistans-uzbeks-in-western-writing/ |title=From 'Slavers' to 'Warlords': Descriptions of Afghanistan's Uzbeks in western writing |last1=Bleuer |first1=Christian |date=17 October 2014 |website=Afghanistan Analysts Network |access-date=8 November 2015 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401033603/https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/from-slavers-to-warlords-descriptions-of-afghanistans-uzbeks-in-western-writing/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{when|date=December 2015}} Soviet-era arrivals in Afghanistan from Uzbekistan are referred to as [[Peripatetic groups of Afghanistan#Jogi|Jogi]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Saboory |first=Ghafoor |date=17 July 2015 |title=Jogies Leading Impoverished Life in Balkh |url=http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/20495-jogies-leading-impoverished-life-in-balkh |newspaper=Afghanistan News-TOLOnews.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920145418/http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/20495-jogies-leading-impoverished-life-in-balkh |archive-date=2016-09-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Russo-Soviet era ===
[[File:Defence of the Samarkand Citadel.JPG|thumb|The Defence of the Samarkand Citadel in 1868. From the Russian Illustrated Magazine "Niva" (1872).]]

==== Russian Empire ====
{{Main|Russian Empire}}
In the 19th century, Russian interest in the area increased greatly, sparked by nominal concern over British designs on Central Asia; by anger over the situation of Russian citizens held as slaves; and by the desire to control the trade in the region and to establish a secure source of [[cotton]] for Russia. When the [[United States Civil War]] prevented cotton delivery from Russia's primary supplier, the southern United States, Central Asian cotton assumed much greater importance for Russia.<ref name=rc>Lubin, Nancy. "Russian conquest". In Curtis.</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=January 2014}}

As soon as the Russian conquest of the [[Caucasus]] was completed in the late 1850s, the Russian [[Ministry of War (Russia)|Ministry of War]] began to send military forces against the Central Asian khanates. Three major population centers of the khanates—Tashkent, Bukhara, and Samarkand—were captured in 1865, 1867, and 1868, respectively. In 1868 the Khanate of Bukhara signed a treaty with Russia making Bukhara a Russian [[protectorate]]. Khiva became a Russian protectorate in 1873, and the Khanat of Kokand finally was incorporated into the Russian Empire, also as a protectorate, in 1876.<ref name=rc/>

By 1876, Russia had incorporated all three khanates (hence all of present-day Uzbekistan) into its empire, granting the khanates limited autonomy. In the second half of the 19th century, the Russian population of Uzbekistan grew and some industrialization occurred.<ref name=cp>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Uzbekistan.pdf "Country Profile: Uzbekistan"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050226190612/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Uzbekistan.pdf |date=2005-02-26 }}. [[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]] (February 2007). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the [[public domain]].''</ref> The [[Jadid]]ists engaged in educational reform among Muslims of Central Asia. To escape [[Basmachi movement|Russians slaughtering them in 1916]], Uzbeks escaped to China.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Sydykova |first=Zamira |date=20 January 2016 |title=Commemorating the 1916 Massacres in Kyrgyzstan? Russia Sees a Western Plot |url=http://www.cacianalyst.org/publications/analytical-articles/item/13325-commemorating-the-1916-massacres-in-kyrgyzstan?-russia-sees-a-western-plot.html |magazine=The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst |access-date=12 October 2016 |archive-date=18 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218102849/http://www.cacianalyst.org/publications/analytical-articles/item/13325-commemorating-the-1916-massacres-in-kyrgyzstan?-russia-sees-a-western-plot.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File: Types of Nationalities in the Turkestan Krai. Uzbeks. Mulla Dzhan Turdi Ali, Uncle of the Kokand Khan's Older Son WDL11107.png|thumb|Uzbek Mulla Dzhan Turdi Ali, uncle of the Kokand Khan's older son, 19th century]]

==== Soviet Union ====
{{further|Amersfoort concentration camp|German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war|Islam in the Netherlands#The Second World War|Soviet Central Asia}}
In the 1940s, [[Nazi Germany]] invaded the Soviet Union. In response, many Central Asians, including Uzbeks or [[Samarkand]]ites, were sent to [[Battle of Smolensk (1941)|fight the Germans]] in the area of [[Smolensk]]. However, a number of them, including [[Hatam Kadirov]] and [[Zair Muratov]], were captured, transported to the Netherlands, where they were abused and killed. Their bodies were buried in [[Rusthof cemetery]] near [[Amersfoort]]. For some time, these 101 victims were not identified, apart from the fact that they were Soviets, until an investigation by journalist [[Remco Reiding]]. Their plight was also studied by Uzbek historian Bahodir Uzakov of [[Gouda, South Holland]]. Witness [[Henk Broekhuizen]] said that, despite having seeing them once as a teenager, he would recall the soldiers' faces, whenever he closed his eyes.<ref name=Soldat>[http://www.soldat.ru/search/f_glory/soldiers.html "Soviet Field of Glory"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508112359/http://www.soldat.ru/search/f_glory/soldiers.html |date=2017-05-08 }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref><ref name="BBC2017CentralAsians">{{cite news |author=Rustam Qobil |publisher=BBC |title=Why were 101 Uzbeks killed in the Netherlands in 1942? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39849088 |date=2017-05-09 |access-date=2017-05-09 |archive-date=2020-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330201803/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39849088 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Moscow's control over Uzbekistan weakened in the 1970s as Uzbek party leader [[Sharaf Rashidov]] brought many cronies and relatives into positions of power. In the mid-1980s, Moscow attempted to regain control by again purging the entire Uzbek party leadership. However, this move increased {{ill|Uzbek nationalism|ru|Узбекский национализм}}, which had long resented Soviet policies such as the imposition of cotton monoculture and the suppression of [[Islam]]ic traditions. In the late 1980s, the liberalized atmosphere of the Soviet Union under Mikhail S. Gorbachev (in power 1985–91) fostered political opposition groups and open (albeit limited) opposition to Soviet policy in Uzbekistan. In 1989, a series of violent ethnic clashes, involving Uzbeks, brought the appointment of ethnic Uzbek outsider [[Islam Karimov]] as Communist Party chief.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

=== Post-Soviet era ===
[[File:Uzbek people (4956184285).jpg|thumb|200px|Uzbek elders]]
When the Supreme Soviet of Uzbekistan reluctantly approved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Karimov became president of the Republic of Uzbekistan.<ref name=cp/> On August 31, 1991, Uzbekistan declared independence, marking September 1 as a national holiday.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Independence Day |url=https://gov.uz/en/events/view/705 |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=GOV.UZ |language=en |archive-date=2022-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819054132/https://www.gov.uz/en/events/view/705 |url-status=dead }}</ref>