Arab Conquest of Sogdian Cities

Timeline

1. 651Merv · Central AsiaAfter the fall of Sasanian Persia, Arab armies advanced east, capturing the key Khorasan city of Merv around 651, establishing a forward base for pushing into Transoxiana.
2. 705–709Bukhara · SogdianaQutayba ibn Muslim became Umayyad governor of Khorasan in 705 and immediately launched successive expeditions into Transoxiana, capturing Bukhara and other places between 706 and 709; Sogdian nobles were forced to pay tribute and submit, and Arab forces gained direct control of Sogdian core cities for the first time.
3. 712–715Samarkand · SogdianaIn 712 Qutayba captured Samarkand, defeating Sogdian nobles and Turkic reinforcements; by Qutayba's death in 715, the cities of Transoxiana had successively come under Umayyad rule, fundamentally changing the political allegiance of the central Silk Road.