Editing Central Asia (section)

=== Medieval to modern history ===
[[File:Mongolia in 1636.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Central Asia in 1636. The [[Dzungar Khanate]] was the last great [[nomadic empire]] in Central Asia.]]
The [[Tang dynasty]] of China expanded westwards and controlled large parts of Central Asia, directly and indirectly through their Turkic vassals. Tang China actively supported the Turkification of Central Asia, while extending its cultural influence.<ref name="XZ">{{cite journal|last1=Zhou|first1=Xiuqin (University of Pennsylvania)|date=2009|title=Zhaoling: The Mausoleum of Emperor Tang Taizong|url=http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp187_taizong_emperor.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923100254/http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp187_taizong_emperor.pdf|archive-date=23 September 2011|url-status=live|journal=Sino-Platonic Papers|issue=187|pages=155–156}}</ref> The Tang Chinese were defeated by the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] at the [[Battle of Talas]] in 751, marking the end of the Tang dynasty's western expansion and the 150 years of Chinese influence. The [[Tibetan Empire]] would take the chance to rule portions of Central Asia and South Asia. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the [[Mongols]] conquered and ruled the largest contiguous empire in recorded history. Most of Central Asia fell under the control of the [[Chagatai Khanate]].

The dominance of the nomads ended in the 16th century, as [[firearm]]s allowed settled peoples to gain control of the region. [[Russia]], [[China]], and other powers expanded into the region and had captured the bulk of Central Asia by the end of the 19th century. The [[Qing dynasty]] gained control of [[East Turkestan]] in the 18th century as a result of a [[Dzungar–Qing Wars|long struggle with the Dzungars]]. The Russian Empire [[Russian conquest of Central Asia|conquered]] the lands of the [[nomad]]ic Kazakhs, Turkmens, Kyrgyz and Central Asian [[khanat]]es in the 19th century. A major revolt known as the [[Dungan Revolt (1862–1877)|Dungan Revolt]] occurred in the 1860s and 1870s in the eastern part of Central Asia, and [[Xinjiang under Qing rule|Qing rule]] almost collapsed in all of East Turkestan. After the [[Russian Revolution]], the western Central Asian regions were incorporated into the [[Soviet Union]]. The eastern part of Central Asia, known as [[Xinjiang]], was [[Incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China|incorporated]] into the [[People's Republic of China]], having been previously ruled by the [[Qing dynasty]] and the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]. Mongolia gained its independence from China and has remained independent but became a Soviet [[satellite state]] until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Afghanistan remained relatively independent of major influence by the Soviet Union until the [[Saur Revolution]] of 1978.
[[File:Karazin - Entry of Russian troops into Samarkand 1868.jpg|thumb|Russian troops taking [[Samarkand]] during the [[Russian conquest of Bukhara]], 1868]]
The Soviet areas of Central Asia saw much [[Soviet infrastructure in Central Asia|industrialisation and construction of infrastructure]], but also the suppression of local cultures, hundreds of thousands of deaths from failed collectivisation programmes, and a lasting legacy of ethnic tensions and environmental problems. Soviet authorities [[Population transfer in the Soviet Union|deported]] millions of people, including entire nationalities,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/minorities/USSR/Deported-Nationalities.html|title=Deported Nationalities|access-date=14 November 2014|archive-date=4 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104090832/http://www.faqs.org/minorities/USSR/Deported-Nationalities.html|url-status=live}}</ref> from western areas of the Soviet Union to Central Asia and [[Siberia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.anneapplebaum.com/gulag/intro.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013124127/http://anneapplebaum.com/gulag/intro.html|url-status=dead|title=Anne Applebaum – Gulag: A History Intro|archivedate=13 October 2007}}</ref> According to Touraj Atabaki and Sanjyot Mehendale, "From 1959 to 1970, about two million people from various parts of the Soviet Union migrated to Central Asia, of which about one million moved to Kazakhstan."<ref>"''[https://books.google.com/books?id=zwKBZmpBo5YC&pg=PA66 Central Asia and the Caucasus: transnationalism and diaspora] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410131014/https://books.google.com/books?id=zwKBZmpBo5YC&pg=PA66 |date=10 April 2023 }}''". Touraj Atabaki, Sanjyot Mehendale (2005). p.{{nbs}}66. {{ISBN|0-415-33260-5}}.</ref>