Uzbeks From Turkey

The Uzbeks () are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak minorities, and also form minority groups in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia, and China. Uzbek diaspora communities also exist in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United States, Ukraine, Pakistan, and other countries.

Etymology

The origin of the word ''Uzbek'' is disputed. One view holds that it is eponymously named after Oghuz Khagan, also known as ''Oghuz Beg'', became the word ''Uzbeg'' or ''Uzbek''.A. H. Keane, A. Hingston Quiggin, A. C. Haddon, Man: Past and Present, p.312, Cambridge University Press, 2011, Google Books, quoted: "Who take their name from a mythical Uz-beg, Prince Uz (beg in Turki=a chief, or hereditary ruler)." Another theory states that the name means ''independent'', ''genuine man'', or the ''lord himself'', from ''Öz'' (self) and the Turkic title '' bek/bey/beg''. A third theory holds that the variant ''Uz'', of the word ''uğuz'', earlier ''oğuz'', united with the word ''bek'' to form ''Uğuz-bek'' > ''Uz-bek'', meaning "leader of an oğuz".

The personal name "Uzbek" is found in Arabic and Persian historical writings. Historian Usama ibn Munqidh (d. 1188), describing the events in Iran under the Seljuk Empire, notes that one of the leaders of Bursuk's troops in 1115–1116 was the "emir of the troops" Uzbek, the ruler of Mosul. According to Rashid ad-din, the last representative of the Oghuz dynasty of Ildegizids who ruled in Tabriz was Uzbek Muzaffar 1210–1225.

The name Uzbek seems to have become widely adopted as an ethnonym under the rule of Ozbeg Khan, who converted the Golden Horde to Islam.

Origins

Before the 5th century, what is today's Uzbekistan was part of Sogdia, Khwarazm, Bactria mainly inhabited by Sogdians, Bactrians, and Khwarazmians, all Indo-Iranian peoples. It was part of the Achaemenid Empire in the sixth to fourth centuries BC and, by the 3rd century CE, part of Sasanian Empire.

From the fifth to sixth century, what is today's Uzbekistan was part of the Hephthalite Empire. From 6th to 8th century, what is today's Uzbekistan was under the rule of First Turkic Khaganate.

The Turkic component was part of the Kidarites in the fifth century. The seal of the Kidarites, made in the 5th century in Samarkand, has a Bactrian inscription containing the title of the ruler: "Oglar Khun", of Turkic origin.

Since the entry of Central Asia into the Turkic Khaganate (6th century), the process of Turkicization has intensified. In subsequent centuries, the main ethnocultural process that took place on the territory of the Central Asian interfluve was the convergence and partial merging of the settled, Iranian-speaking and Turkic-speaking, with the nomadic, mainly Turkic-speaking population.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): 134.

Turkic and Chinese migration into Central Asia occurred during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and Chinese armies commanded by Turkic generals stationed in large parts of Central Asia. But Chinese influence ended with the An Lushan Rebellion. During the ninth and tenth centuries, Transoxiana was ruled by the Persian Samanid Empire. From the 11th century on, Transoxiana was under the rule of the Turkic Kara-Khanid Khanate, their arrival in Transoxiana signalled a definitive shift from Iranian to Turkic predominance in Central Asia. The Kara-Khanid ruler Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan was the first Turkic ruler to convert to Islam, most people of Central Asia soon followed. In the 12th century, Transoxiana was conquered by the Qara Khitai (Western Liao), a sinicized Khitan dynasty, they brought to Central Asia the Chinese system of government. In the 13th century, Kara-Khanid Khanate was destroyed by the Turkic Anushtegin dynasty, a former vassal of the Qara Khitai.

Although Turko-Mongol infiltration into Central Asia had started early, and the influence of the Turkic tribes was felt in Khwarazm before the campaigns of the Mongols, after the beginning of the Chingizid rule, bilingualism became more common.Golden, Peter B. ''An Introduction to the History of Turkic Peoples'' (1992) p. 407-408 It is generally believed that these ancient Indo-European-speaking peoples were linguistically assimilated by smaller but dominant Turkic-speaking groups while the sedentary population finally adopted the Persian language, the traditional ''lingua franca'' of the eastern Islamic lands.Richard H. Rowland, Richard N. Frye, C. Edmund Bosworth, Bertold Spuler, Robert D. McChesney, Yuri Bregel, Abbas Amanat, Edward Allworth, Peter B. Golden, Robert D. McChesney, Ian Matley, Ivan M. Steblin-Kamenskij, Gerhard Doerfer, Keith Hitchins, Walter Feldman. ''Central Asia'', in Encyclopaedia Iranica, v., Online Edition, 2007, () The language-shift from Middle Iranian to Turkic and New Persian was predominantly the result of an ''elite dominance'' process. Peter B. Golden listed three basic ethnic elements contributing to the Uzbeks' ethnogenesis:
# the Turkicized, formerly Iranian-speaking sedentary Sarts, a composite population including both Iranians (Sakas, Sogdians, Khwarzamians, Kushano-Bactrians) and some Arab elements;
# the pre-Uzbek amalgam of nomadic Türk(î) or Chagatays, who consisted of Karluks, Yaghmas and other tribes of the Göktürks' khaganates, and later of the Kara-Khanid Khanate, Oghuz Turks, the Kangly-Kipchaks (particularly in the western region) and many Turkicized Mongol tribes, who entered Central Asia with the Mongol and Timurid conquests and invasions.
# The East Kipchak-speaking "Pure Uzbeks" (''Taza Özbek'').

The modern Uzbek language is largely derived from the Chagatai language which gained prominence in the Timurid Empire. The position of Chagatai (and later Uzbek) was further strengthened after the fall of the Timurids and the rise of the Shaybanid Uzbek Khaqanate that finally shaped the Turkic language and identity of modern Uzbeks, while the unique grammatical and phonetical features of the Uzbek language as well as the modern Uzbek culture reflect the more ancient Iranian roots of the Uzbek people.

Genetic origins

Uzbeks share a large portion of their ancestry with nearby Turkic populations, including Kyrgyz people, Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Bashkirs.

The western ancestry of Uzbeks includes a Caucasus component (≈35–40%), and a (Northern) European component (≈5–20%), the Uzbeks eastern ancestry includes an Eastern Asian component (≈35%), and a (Central and East) Siberian component (≈5–20%). The best proxy for their western ancestry are modern day Abkhaz people, while the best proxy for their eastern ancestry are Yakuts (or alternatively, Tuvans).

A study on modern Central Asians comparing them to ancient historical samples found that Uzbeks can be modeled as 59.1% Iron Age Indo-Iranians, and 40.9% Eastern Steppe Xiongnu, from the Mongolian Plateau.

Paternal haplogroups

Based on the research of several studies, the paternal lineages of Uzbeks have been described:
* Haplogroup R1a1, a West Eurasian haplogroup, occurs at a rate of 17-32% among Uzbek men, making it the predominant Y-DNA lineage among Uzbeks. It is unclear if this haplogroup in Uzbeks came from local Bronze Age Indo-European pastoralists, or if it originates from Turkic migrants, because despite being considered a diagnostic Indo-Iranian haplogroup, it occurs at a high frequency among Turkic males from Siberia.
* Haplogroup J, a West Eurasian haplogroup, occurs at a rate of 5.9–21.4% in Uzbek males. This haplogroup has been present in the Middle East for tens of thousands of years.
* Haplogroup C2, an East Eurasian haplogroup, occurs at a rate of 4–18% among Uzbek men. In one sample from Afghanistan, 41.2% of Uzbek men carried this haplogroup. Lee & Kuang posit that the males in this sample are descended from the nomadic Uzbeks of the Qipchaq steppe. It is likely that haplogroup C2 was brought to the middle east by Turkic or Mongolic peoples, along with minor Uzbek haplogroups O3 and N.

Maternal haplogroups

According to a 2010 study, slightly more than 50% of Uzbeks from Tashkent belong to East Eurasian and South Asian maternal haplogroups, while nearly 50% belong to West Eurasian haplogroups.

A majority of Uzbeks from Ferghana belong to East Eurasian and South Asian maternal haplogroups, while considerably fewer belong to West Eurasian haplogroups. Regional results can be seen in figure 3.

In Khorzem and Qashkadarya, a majority of Uzbeks belong to West Eurasian maternal haplogroups, while considerably fewer belong to East Eurasian and South Asian haplogroups.

History

Ancient history

In the southern part of Central Asia, there was a Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex, which has recently been dated to c. 2250–1700 BC.Lyonnet, Bertille, and Nadezhda A. Dubova, (2020b)
"Questioning the Oxus Civilization or Bactria- Margiana Archaeological Culture (BMAC): an overview"
, 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..." 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.

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 Bactrian, Khwarazm, Soghdian, and 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 and Sassanid Empires.

In the first centuries, the northern territories of modern Uzbekistan were part of the Kangju nomad state.

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.Lubin, Nancy. "Early history". In Curtis.

In 350–375 AD, Sogdiana and Tashkent oasis were captured by the nomadic Xionite tribes who arrived from the steppe regions of Central Asia.

Turkic Khaganate period

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.

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. 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

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.

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.

The Turks had a great influence in the development of the armament of the Sogdians. The Turks are depicted in the wall paintings of ancient Samarkand.

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 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.

Early Islamic period

The 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 at the Talas River.Lubin, Nancy. "Early Islamic period". In Curtis.

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.

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 Cordoba. Some of the greatest historians, scientists, and geographers in the history of Islamic culture were natives of the region.

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.

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. The Samanids were descendants of Bahram Chobin,Iran and America: Re-Kind ng a Love Lost By Badi Badiozamani, Ghazal Badiozamani, pg. 123History of Bukhara by Narshakhi, Chapter XXIV, Pg 79 and thus descended from the 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. They were rewarded for supporting the Abbasids in Transoxania and Khorasan, and with their established capitals located in Bukhara, Balkh, Samarkand, and Herat, they carved their kingdom after defeating the Saffarids.

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 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 Khorasan. 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.

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 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 Persianized. With the emergence of a Turkic ruling group in the region, other Turkic tribes began to migrate to Transoxiana.Lubin, Nancy. "Turkification of Mawarannahr". In Curtis.

The first of the Turkic states in the region was the Persianate 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 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.

According to Peter Golden, the Karakhanid state was one of the first Turkic-Islamic states. 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.

The founder of the Western Karakhanid Kaganate, 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.

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.

The dominance of Ghazna was curtailed, however, when the Seljuks led themselves into the western part of the region, conquering the Ghaznavid territory of Khorazm (also spelled Khorezm and Khwarazm). The Seljuks also defeated the Qarakhanids, but did not annex their territories outright. Instead they made the Qarakhanids a vassal state. The 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. The power of the Seljuks however became diminished when the Seljuk Sultan Ahmed Sanjar

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