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Samarkand under the Karakhanids

Type Object Region Central Asia Time c. -500–1220

Samarkand, one of Transoxiana's oldest oasis cities, was the western Karakhanid khanate's core city and trade hub in the mid-11th century, blending P…

Timeline

  1. c. -500–700Samarkand · SogdianaAs a key member of the Sogdian city-state confederation, Samarkand prospered on irrigated agriculture in the Zarafshan valley and Silk Road transit trade, serving as a commercial hub linking China and Persia.
  2. c. 750–999Samarkand · TransoxianaAfter the Abbasid conquest, Samarkand gradually Islamized; under the Samanids it became a major center of Persianized Islamic culture, with mosques and schools built and papermaking and handicrafts notably developed.
  3. 999–1041Samarkand · Karakhanid KhanateAfter the Karakhanid Turks replaced the Samanids, Samarkand became an important western city of the khanate, co-governed by Turkic military nobles and Persian civil officials, continuing as a center of Transoxianan trade and religious learning.
  4. 1041–1050Samarkand · Karakhanid KhanateAround 1040 the Karakhanid Khanate split into eastern and western halves; Samarkand lay in the western khanate's core, with bazaar trade, papermaking workshops, and madrasas operating as usual, and caravans linking Persia and the steppe peoples.

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