Editing Turkestan

{{Short description|Historical region in Central Asia}}
{{Redirect|Turkistan|the city in Kazakhstan|Turkistan (city)|other uses|Turkestan (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Turkey|Turkmenistan}}
[[Image:LA2-NSRW-1-0148.jpg|thumb|right|The Turkestan region is noted on this 1914 map]]
'''Turkestan''',{{efn|{{lang-zh|c=突厥斯坦}}; {{langx|kk|Түркістан|Türkıstan}}; {{langx|tk|Türküstan}}; {{langx|ug|تۈركىستان|Türkistan}}; {{langx|uz|Turkiston|italic=yes}}}} also spelled '''Turkistan''',{{efn|From [[Classical Persian|Persian]] {{lang|fa|ترکستان}} {{Transliteration|fa|Turkistān}} {{IPA|fa|tʊɾkɪsˈtɑːn|}}; {{lit|Land of the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]]}}}} is a [[historical region]] in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of [[Transoxiana]] and [[East Turkestan]] ([[Xinjiang]]).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4U0fCVfM8q8C&pg=PA115 |author-first=Sheila |author-last=Blair |title=The Monumental Inscriptions from Early Islamic Iran and Transoxiana |location=Leiden/New York/Copenhagen/Cologne |publisher=Brill |date=1992 |pages=115|isbn=9004093672 }}</ref>{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=178}} The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its borders, and extends directly to the east of the [[Caspian Sea]]. Turkestan is primarily inhabited by [[Turkic peoples]], as well as Russian and Tajik-Persian minorities. Turkestan is subdivided into [[Afghan Turkestan]], [[Russian Turkestan]], and [[East Turkistan]] (the [[Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region]] in China).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Turkistan {{!}} Map, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Turkistan |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Throughout history, the region has been exposed to the invasion of several different groups and kingdoms, including the [[Huns]], [[Hephthalites|Hepthalites]], [[Bactria]]ns, [[Sogdia]]ns also for a short period of time the [[Chinese Empire|Imperial China]], [[Umayyad Caliphate|Arab Caliphate]],  Hellenistic [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian Empire]], as well as [[Achaemenid Empire]], various Turkic forces and the [[Mongol Empire]]. The [[Qara Khitai]] also briefly controlled the majority of Turkestan's land.

==Overview==
Known as [[Turan]] to the [[Persians]], western Turkestan has also been known historically as [[Sogdia]], "Ma wara'u'n-nahr" (by its Arab conquerors), and [[Transoxiana]] by western travelers. The latter two names refer to its position beyond the River [[Oxus]] when approached from the south, emphasizing Turkestan's long-standing relationship with [[Iran]], the [[Persian Empire]]s, and the [[Umayyad]] and [[Abbasid]] [[Caliphate]]s.

[[Oghuz Turks]] (also known as [[Turkmens]]), [[Kyrgyzs]], [[Uzbeks]], [[Kazakhs]], [[Khazars]], [[Uyghurs]], and [[Hazaras]] are some of the Turkic inhabitants of the region who, as history progressed, have spread further into [[Eurasia]] forming such Turkic nations as [[Turkey]], and subnational regions like [[Tatarstan]] in [[Russia]] and [[Crimea]] in [[Ukraine]]. [[Tājik people|Tajiks]] and [[Russian people|Russians]] form sizable non-Turkic minorities.

It is subdivided into [[Afghan Turkestan]] and historical [[Russian Turkestan]] (the latter of which extended in the south to [[Qajar Iran|Persia]], in the west to the [[Aral Sea|Aral]] and [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] Seas and in the northeast to [[Lake Balkhash]] and [[Lake Zaysan]]) in the west, and [[Chinese Turkestan]] or [[East Turkestan]] in the east.

==Etymology and terminology==
[[File:Turkistan-1931.png|thumb|[[Chagatai language|Chaghatay]]-language map depicting Turkestan ({{lang|chg-Arab|تورکستان}}), from the November 1931 issue of the [[Berlin]]-based {{ill|Yash Turkistan|uz|Yosh turkiston}} magazine]]

Of [[Persian language|Persian]] origin (see [[-stan]]), the term "Turkestan" ({{lang|fa|ترکستان}}) had historically never referred to a single [[national state|nation state]].<ref name= "Clewell">{{cite book|author-first1=Gladys D. |author-last1=Clewell |author-first2=Holland |author-last2=Thompson |title=Lands and Peoples: The world in color |volume=3 |pages=163 |quote=Never a single nation, the name Turkestan means simply the place of [[Turkish peoples]].}}</ref> Persian geographers first used the word to describe the place where [[Turkic peoples]] lived.<ref name= "CARC">{{cite journal|journal=Central Asian Review |publisher=Central Asian Research Centre |location=London, England, St. Antony's College (University of Oxford) |title=Soviet Affairs Study Group |volume=16 |pages=3 |quote=The name Turkestan is of Persian origin and was apparently first used by Persian geographers to describe "the country of the Turks". The [[Russian Empire]] revived the word as a convenient name for the governorate-general established in 1867 ({{lang|ru| Туркестанское генерал-губернаторство}}); the terms [[Uzbekistan]], [[Turkmenistan]], etc., came into use only after 1924.}}</ref><ref name="Clewell" /> According to ethnographer [[Somfai Kara David|Dávid Somfai Kara]], prior to the [[Russian conquest of Central Asia|Russian conquest]], Turkestan historically referred only to the western portion of Central Asia:<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kara |first=Dávid Somfai |author-link=Somfai Kara David |date=2018 |title=The Formation of Modern Turkic 'Ethnic' Groups in Central and Inner Asia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26571579 |journal=The Hungarian Historical Review |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=98–110 |issn=2063-8647 |jstor=26571579}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=The Eastern part of Central Asia (inhabited by nomads of the [[Tien Shan Mountains]] and settled peoples of the [[Tarim Basin]]) was called [[Moghulistan]] (“Mongol land”). The Western part (inhabited by nomads of [[Syr-darya]] and settled peoples of [[Khwarazm]]) was called Turkestan (Turk land), although they were both inhabited by linguistically Turkic ethnic groups. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the term Turkestan was also applied to [[Ferghana]] and [[Mawara al-Nahr|Mawara-an-nahr]] by the Russians.}}

On their way southward during the conquest of [[Central Asia]] in the 19th century, the [[Imperial Russia|Russians]] under {{ill|Nikolai Aleksandrovich Veryovkin|ru|Верёвкин, Николай Александрович}} took the [[Turkistan (city)|city of Turkistan]] (in present-day [[Kazakhstan]]) in 1864. Mistaking its name for the entire region, they adopted the name of "Turkestan" ({{langx|ru|Туркестан}}) for [[Russian Turkestan|their new territory]].<ref name="CARC" /><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Meakin |author-first=Annette M. B. |url=https://archive.org/details/inrussianturkes00meakgoog/page/n72/mode/2up |title=In Russian Turkestan: a garden of Asia and its people |date=1903 |pages=44 |quote=On their way southward from [[Siberia]] in 1864, the Russians took it, and many writers affirm that mistaking its name for that of the entire region, they adopted the appellation of "Turkestan" for their new territory. Up to that time, they assure us [[Khanate]]s of [[Bokhara]], [[Khiva]] and [[Kokand]] were known by these names alone. Yet I find that Gibbon also gave the name of Turkestan to that part of the world, and he wrote more than a hundred years earlier.}}</ref>

In 1969, a [[Turpan|Turfanian]] document from 639 CE was found in the Astana district of Turpan, which recorded [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] sale contract of a female slave from the period of the Gaochang kingdom under the rule of Qu clan and mentioned the Sogdian word "twrkstn", which may have referred to the lands to the east and north of [[Syr Darya]] in the realm of the [[First Turkic Khaganate]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=豊 |first1=吉田 |last2=孝夫 |first2=森安 |last3=新疆ウィグル自治区博物館 |date=1988 |script-title=ja:麹氏高昌国時代ソグド文女奴隷売買文書 |url=https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R000000004-I2952542-00 |journal=神戸市外国語大学外国学研究 |pages=1–50 |script-journal=ja:神戸市外国語大学外国学研究}}</ref>{{rp|14,15}}

In 2024, Turkish Ministry of Education changed the term 'Central Asia' ({{langx|tr|Orta Asya}}) to 'Turkestan' ({{langx|tr|Türkistan}}) in history textbooks.<ref>[https://www.turkiyetoday.com/turkiye/turkiye-changes-term-central-asia-to-turkistan-in-education-reforms-63826/ Türkiye changes term ‘Central Asia’ to ‘Turkistan’ in education reforms]</ref><ref>[https://timesca.com/turkey-replaces-central-asia-with-turkestan-in-new-history-curriculum/ Turkey Replaces “Central Asia” with “Turkestan” in New History Curriculum]</ref>

==History==
[[Image:Kashgari map.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Map from [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]]'s [[Dīwān ul-Lughat al-Turk|Dīwān Lughat al-Turk]], showing the 11th century distribution of Turkic tribes]]
{{Further|History of Central Asia}}
The history of the Central Asian region that was later called Turkestan dates back to at least the [[3rd millennium BC|third]] millennium BC. Many [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] were produced in that period, with much trade being conducted. The region was a focal point for [[cultural diffusion]], as the [[Silk Road]] traversed it.

Turkic sagas, such as the "[[Epic of Ergenekon|Ergenekon]]" legend, and written sources, such as the [[Orkhon Inscriptions]], in the 8th century AD, state that Turkic peoples originated in the nearby [[Altai Mountains]], and, through nomadic settlement, started their long journey westwards. 
Much earlier than the Gokturks or their Orkhon Inscriptions, other groups such as the [[Xiongnu|Huns]] conquered the area after they conquered [[Kashgaria]] in the early 2nd century BC. With the dissolution of the Huns' Empire, [[China|Chinese]] rulers took over Eastern Central Asia, which was centuries later also called Turkestan. [[Arab]] forces captured it in the 8th century. The [[Persian Empire|Persian]] [[Samanid]] dynasty subsequently conquered it and the area experienced economic success.<ref name="Turkistan_EB1911">{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle = Turkestan |last = Bealby |first = John Thomas |last2 = Kropotkin |first2 = Peter |author2-link = Peter Kropotkin |volume = 27 |pages = 419–426|short=1 }}</ref> The entire territory was held at various times by Turkic forces, such as the [[Göktürks]], until the conquest by [[Genghis Khan]] and the [[Mongols]] in 1220. Genghis Khan gave the territory to his son [[Chagatai Khan|Chagatai]] and the area became the [[Chagatai Khanate]].<ref name= "Turkistan_EB1911"/> [[Timur]] took over the western portion of Turkestan in 1369, and the area became part of the [[Timurid Empire]].<ref name= "Turkistan_EB1911"/> The eastern portion of Turkestan was also called [[Moghulistan]] and continued to be ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan.

===Chinese influence===
In [[Chinese historiography]], the [[Qara Khitai]] is most commonly called the "Western Liao" ({{lang|zh|西遼}}) and is considered to be a legitimate [[Dynasties in Chinese history|Chinese dynasty]], as is the case for the [[Liao dynasty]].{{sfn|Biran|2005|p=93}} The history of the Qara Khitai was included in the ''[[History of Liao]]'' (one of the ''[[Twenty-Four Histories]]''), which was compiled officially during the [[Yuan dynasty]] by [[Toqto'a (Yuan dynasty)|Toqto'a]] et al.

After the fall of the [[Tang dynasty]], various dynasties of non-[[Han Chinese|Han]] ethnic origins gained prestige by portraying themselves as the legitimate dynasty of China. Qara Khitai monarchs used the title of "[[Emperor of China|Chinese emperor]]",<ref name="Millward2007">{{cite book |first = James A. |last = Millward |title=Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA42 |year=2007 |publisher = [[Columbia University Press]] |isbn = 978-0-231-13924-3 |pages = 42– }}</ref><ref name="biran 2001">{{cite journal |url = http://www.eacenter.huji.ac.il/uploaded/fck/21.%20like%20a%20mighty%20wall%281%29.pdf |page = 46 |volume = 25 |title = Like a Might Wall: The armies of the Qara Khitai |journal = Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam |first = Michal |last = Biran |year = 2001 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151210011401/http://www.eacenter.huji.ac.il/uploaded/fck/21.%20like%20a%20mighty%20wall(1).pdf |archive-date = 2015-12-10 }}</ref> and were also called the "Khan of Chīn".{{sfn|Biran|2005|p=34}} The Qara Khitai used the "image of China" to legitimize their rule to the Central Asians. The Chinese emperor, together with the rulers of the Turks, Arabs, India and the Byzantine Romans, were known to Islamic writers as the world's "five great kings".{{sfn|Biran|2005|p=97}} Qara Khitai kept the trappings of a Chinese state, such as Chinese coins, Chinese imperial titles, the Chinese writing system, tablets, seals, and used Chinese products like porcelain, mirrors, jade and other Chinese customs. The adherence to Liao Chinese traditions has been suggested as a reason why the Qara Khitai did not convert to [[Islam]].{{sfn|Biran|2005|p=102, 196–201}} Despite the Chinese trappings, there were comparatively few Han Chinese among the population of the Qara Khitai.{{sfn|Biran|2005|p= 96–}} These Han Chinese had lived in {{ill|Kedun|zh|镇州 (辽朝)}} during the Liao dynasty,{{sfn|Biran|2005|p=27–}} and in 1124 migrated with the Khitans under [[Yelü Dashi]] along with other people of Kedun, such as the [[Balhae|Bohai]], Jurchen, and Mongol tribes, as well as other Khitans in addition to the Xiao consort clan.{{sfn|Biran|2005|p=146}}

Qara Khitai's rule over the Muslim-majority [[Central Asia]] has the effect of reinforcing the view among some Muslim writers that Central Asia was linked to China even though the Tang dynasty had lost control of the region a few hundred years ago. [[Sharaf al-Zaman al-Marwazi|Marwazī]] wrote that [[Transoxiana]] was a former part of China,{{sfn|Biran|2005|p=98–99}} while Fakhr al-Dīn Mubārak Shāh defined China as part of "Turkestan", and the cities of [[Balasagun|Balāsāghūn]] and [[Kashgar|Kashghar]] were considered part of China.{{sfn|Biran|2005|p=99–101}}

The association of Khitai with China meant that the most enduring trace of the Khitan's power is names that are derived from it, such as [[Cathay]], which is the medieval Latin appellation for China. Names derived from Khitai are still current in modern usage, such as the Russian, Bulgarian, Uzbek and Mongolian names for China.<ref name="khitay">{{citation |last = Sinor |first = D. |contribution-url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledge-bank-article/vol_IVa%20silk%20road_the%20kitan%20and%20the%20kara%20khitay.pdf |contribution= Chapter 11 – The Kitan and the Kara Kitay |year = 1998 |title = History of Civilisations of Central Asia |editor1-last = Asimov |editor1-first = M.S. |editor2-last = Bosworth |editor2-first = C.E.|volume = 4 part I |publisher = UNESCO Publishing |isbn = 978-92-3-103467-1 }}</ref> However, the use of the name Khitai to mean "China" or "Chinese" by [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] speakers within China, such as the [[Uyghurs]], is considered pejorative by the Chinese authorities, who tried to ban it.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XuvqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |editor=S.F.Starr |author1 = James A. Millward |author2= Peter C. Perdue |title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Boarderland |year= 2004|page= 43 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn = 9781317451372}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[East Turkestan]]
* [[Turan]]
* [[Greater Central Asia]]
* [[Russian conquest of Central Asia]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last=Biran |first=Michal |date=2005 |title=The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History: between China and the Islamic World |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521842266 |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofqarakhit0000bira/ |url-access=registration }}
* {{cite book |title=ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity |year=2017 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |author-last=Rezakhani |author-first=Khodadad |chapter=East Iran in Late Antiquity |pages=1–256 |isbn=9781474400305 |jstor=10.3366/j.ctt1g04zr8 }} {{registration required}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* [[V.V. Barthold]] "Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion" (London) 1968 (3rd Edition)
* [[René Grousset]] ''L'empire des steppes'' (Paris) 1965
* David Christian "A History Of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia" (Oxford) 1998 Vol.I
* [[Svat Soucek]] "A History of Inner Asia" (Cambridge) 2000
* E. D. Sokol, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Asia/Central_Asia/_Texts/SOKREV/home.html ''The Revolt of 1916 in Russian Central Asia''] (Baltimore) 1954, 183 pp., complete text online.
* [[Vasily Bartold]] ''Работы по Исторической Географии'' (Moscow) 2002
** [[English language|English]] translation: V.V. Barthold ''Work on Historical Geography'' (Moscow) 2002
* [[Baymirza Hayit]]. "Sowjetrußische Orientpolitik am Beispiel Turkestan. "Köln-Berlin: Kiepenhauer & Witsch, 1956
* Hasan Bülent Paksoy [http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/paksoy-6/cae12.html Basmachi: Turkestan National Liberation Movement]
* The Arts and Crafts of Turkestan (Arts & Crafts) by Johannes Kalter.
* The Desert Road to Turkestan (Kodansha Globe) by Owen Lattimore.
* Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion. by W. BARTHOLD.
* Turkestan and the Fate of the Russian Empire by Daniel Brower.
* Tiger of Turkestan by Nonny Hogrogian.
* Turkestan Reunion (Kodansha Globe) by Eleanor Lattimore.
* Turkestan Solo: A Journey Through Central Asia, by [[Ella Maillart]].
* Baymirza Hayit. "Documents: Soviet Russia's Anti-Islam-Policy in Turkestan. "[[Düsseldorf]]: Gerhard von Mende, 2 vols, 1958.
* Baymirza Hayit. "Turkestan im XX Jahrhundert. "[[Darmstadt]]: Leske, 1956
* Baymirza Hayit. "Turkestan Zwischen Russland Und China. "[[Amsterdam]]: Philo Press, 1971
* Baymirza Hayit. "Some thoughts on the problem of Turkestan" Institute of Turkestan Research, 1984
* Baymirza Hayit. "Islam and Turkestan Under Russian Rule." [[Istanbul]]:Can Matbaa, 1987.
* Baymirza Hayit. "Basmatschi: Nationaler Kampf Turkestans in den Jahren 1917 bis 1934." [[Cologne]]: Dreisam-Verlag, 1993.
* Mission to Turkestan: Being the memoirs of Count K.K. Pahlen, 1908–1909 by Konstantin Konstanovich Pahlen.
* Turkestan: The Heart of Asia by Curtis.
* Tribal Rugs from Afghanistan and Turkestan by Jack Frances.
* The Heart of Asia: A History of Russian Turkestan and the Central Asian Khanates from the Earliest Times by Edward Den Ross.
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Turkestan |volume= XXIII |last= Kropotkin |first= Peter Alexeivitch |author-link= Peter Kropotkin| pages = 631&ndash;640 |short=1}}
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle = Turkestan |last = Bealby |first = John Thomas |last2 = Kropotkin |first2 = Peter |author2-link = Peter Kropotkin |volume = 27 |pages = 419–426 }}
* Turkestan avant-garde. Exhibition catalog. Design by [[Petr Maslov (artist)|Petr Maslov]]. M.: State Museum of Oriental Art, 2009.
{{refend}}

{{Turkic topics}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord missing|Russia}}

[[Category:Turkestan| ]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Geography of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Cultural regions]]
[[Category:Historical regions]]