Editing Uzbeks (section)

===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]].
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