No General Descriptions provided.
| uncoded [---] |
| Sogdiana - City-States Period |
| continuity |
| UNCLEAR: [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Sogdiana - City-States Period (uz_sogdiana_city_states) [continuity] |
| loose | |
| confederated state |
| [2,800,000 to 3,500,000] km2 | 600 CE |
| [1,500,000 to 2,000,000] people | 600 CE |
| [2 to 3] |
| [1 to 2] |
| [4 to 6] |
| [3 to 5] |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| present |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| present |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| Year Range | Western Turk Khaganate (kg_western_turk_khaganate) was in: |
|---|---|
| (564 CE 603 CE) | Sogdiana |
“According to the Chiu Tang-shu, Shih kuei Qagan (611-618/619), the younger brother of Tardu, expanded the lands under his control up to the Altay in the East and in the West "to the sea."104 His primary camp was in the San-mi mountains, north of Kuca.”
[1]
"Shih Kuei’s activity paved the way for the brief efflorescence of Western Türk power under his younger brother, Tun/Tong Yabgu Qagan (Chin. Tung shê-hu [t’uong d’iiap-guo)618/619?-630). He brought the Tieh-lê to full submission, annexing their lands and extending his sway to Afghanistan as far as Gandhara. The Sui-shu calls him master of the ancient territory of the Wu-sun, i.e. the iii valley. As the ally of the Byzantine emperor, Herakleios (610-641) he warred with Iran in Transcaucasia, contributing significantly to the Byzantine victory and the collapse of the Sâsânid state. From his capital at Ch’ien-Ch’üan ("1000 Springs," east of the Talas), he established an orderly government, sending tuduns (or toôuns, Chin. t’u-t’un [tou-du;:,n] (tax officials105) to supervise the el/il-tebers (Chin. hsieh-li-fa [giet-lji-piwat (piwar)] a title given to governors of conquered peoples106) and established good relations with Tang China, which contributed, along with mutual raiding, in sorne measure to the destruction of the Eastern Qaganate."
[1]
[1]: (Golden 1992, 135)
552 CE: "The end of the Juan-Juan Khaganate caused by the Turks (Göktürk). That is the beginning of the First Turkic Khaganate. The leaders of the Turks were Bumin and his younger brother, Istemi. The Turks were a member group of the Juan-Juan confederation, with their ancestral origins in the Altai Mountains."
[1]
"Khagan Bumin founded the First Turkic (Göktürk) Khaganate that was de facto divided into an eastern and a western part. The ruler of the western part was Khagan Istemi."
[1]
c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions."
[2]
627 or 630 CE: "The Eastern Turkic Khaganate was brought under Chinese supremacy. It is dated to 630 by Györffy et al. and to 627 by Rogers.
"To the west the situation was more stable, in spite of revolts, but after 630 the qaghanate disintegrated into several tribal confederations, with the On Oq in Central Asia and the Bulgars to the west."
[3]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 283) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
[2]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
[3]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 200)
"The half-century which followed is more confused: the western qaghanate became politically independent in 583, and dynastic rivalries emerged which were exploited on one hand by the Chinese, and on the other by certain subject tribes." [1]
[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 200)
" Politically, the Türk Empire “grew out of a tribal confederation.” It had a core of “inner tribes” (the ruling clan and its allies, including “in-law” tribes), a second tier of tribes that joined freely (retaining their ruling houses), a third tier of tribes that joined under constraint (and whose ruling houses were usually replaced by state officials), and finally tribute-paying sedentary populations. Subject populations retaining their own kings included the Sogdians, with their major centers at Bukhara and Samarkand and farflung merchant colonies, willing collaborators with a nomadic state that possessed the military power to force open the Chinese markets.76" [1]
[1]: (Findley 2004, 43)
" Politically, the Türk Empire “grew out of a tribal confederation.” It had a core of “inner tribes” (the ruling clan and its allies, including “in-law” tribes), a second tier of tribes that joined freely (retaining their ruling houses), a third tier of tribes that joined under constraint (and whose ruling houses were usually replaced by state officials), and finally tribute-paying sedentary populations. Subject populations retaining their own kings included the Sogdians, with their major centers at Bukhara and Samarkand and farflung merchant colonies, willing collaborators with a nomadic state that possessed the military power to force open the Chinese markets.76" [1]
[1]: (Findley 2004, 43)
c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [1] "The great Sogdian urban centers certainly remained Iranian-speaking, as did the countryside, but in certain remote regions the Türk element began to be ethnically important (as in the mountains of ’à‘, in Tukharistan and in Semire‘’e) even if it was culturally under Sogdian domination (the overstrikes on the coins of Tukharistan under Türk control were in Sogdian)." [2]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
[2]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 202)
c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [1] "The great Sogdian urban centers certainly remained Iranian-speaking, as did the countryside, but in certain remote regions the Türk element began to be ethnically important (as in the mountains of ’à‘, in Tukharistan and in Semire‘’e) even if it was culturally under Sogdian domination (the overstrikes on the coins of Tukharistan under Türk control were in Sogdian)." [2]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
[2]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 202)
c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [1] "The great Sogdian urban centers certainly remained Iranian-speaking, as did the countryside, but in certain remote regions the Türk element began to be ethnically important (as in the mountains of ’à‘, in Tukharistan and in Semire‘’e) even if it was culturally under Sogdian domination (the overstrikes on the coins of Tukharistan under Türk control were in Sogdian)." [2]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
[2]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 202)
levels.
This is the code for the Hephthalites.
1. Fortified urban community
2. Village3. Nomadic peoples
levels.
Decimal system - as with nomads generally?
1. Ruler
2. 10,0003. 1,0004. 1005. 106. Individual soldier
levels.
1. Khagan
"The Western Turks were composed of ten tribes; and their khagan had the dignitary name jabgu."
[1]
2. Head official of administration inferred3. Departments inferred4. Scribes/Assistants
3. Diplomatic service"Present in large numbers in the administration, the army and the diplomatic service, the Sogdians were also present as simple merchants."
[2]
2. Vassal king e.g. of Samarkand or Bukhara
"Subject populations retaining their own kings included the Sogdians, with their major centers at Bukhara and Samarkand and farflung merchant colonies, willing collaborators with a nomadic state that possessed the military power to force open the Chinese markets.76"
[3]
3. Chief official/assistant of the king4. Head of Mint if coins were produced (present under Hephthalites)
"In the kingdom of Gaochang (Turfan) during the first half of the 7th century, the Türks had functionaries responsible for the supervision and taxation of commerce.38"
[4]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 283) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
[2]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 204)
[3]: (Findley 2004, 43)
[4]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 208)
"Together with writing, the Sogdians also brought Buddhism. Türk Buddhism was, in its oldest stratum, under Sogdian and Chinese influ- ence.12 The Bugut inscription shows that Buddhism was present in the empire at the time of the first sovereigns.13 Maniakh, the ambas- sador of the Türks at Constantinople, bore a Buddhist name14 and his family seems to have been well established at the court of Sizabul, since his son was raised there and while still young was given the sec- ond rank in a second Türk embassy: everything therefore indicates that this Sogdian family was strongly integrated into the framework of the Türk hierarchy, where it possessed rank and hereditary titles even thought the Türk Empire had only just been created." [1] "As the Türk Qaganate expanded and came into greater contact witb surrounding cultures, it was influenced by the religions of the conquered populations. Tbus, Mazdaism, other Iranian religious systems (e.g. Zurvanism) and Buddbist influences came to the fore during the era of the First Qaganate. Mugan and Taspar both fostered Buddbism. This is reflected in the Bugut inscription whicb dates to the second generation of Türk rulers (570’s or 580’s) and was written in Sogdian." [2]
[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 203)
[2]: (Golden 1992, 150)
Nomadic warriors are full-time.
"Present in large numbers in the administration, the army and the diplomatic service, the Sogdians were also present as simple merchants." [1] "In the kingdom of Gaochang (Turfan) during the first half of the 7th century, the Türks had functionaries respon- sible for the supervision and taxation of commerce.38" [2]
[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 204)
[2]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 208)
"Present in large numbers in the administration, the army and the diplomatic service, the Sogdians were also present as simple merchants."
[1]
"In the kingdom of Gaochang (Turfan) during the first half of the 7th century, the Türks had functionaries responsible for the supervision and taxation of commerce.38"
[2]
[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 204)
[2]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 208)
"In the oasis of Otrar to the northwest, the origin of new methods of irrigation implemented in the 6th century should most likely be sought in the old agricultural civilizations of the south, in Sogdiana or Khorezm. These improvements were linked to the presence of the Türk Empire, which unified these areas and made such a diffusion possible by establishing at Otrar the tudun in charge of Cac.84 The empire simultaneously increased the need for greater food production, and thus set in motion a cycle in which irrigated areas were extended and population and urbanization increased, thanks to techniques brought from the south.85 " [1]
[1]: (de la Vaissière 2005, 113)
"The Sogdian contributions to the Türk Empire were important. Chief among them was unquestionably writing. In fact, the Sogdian alphabet, adapted progressively to Turkic phonology, was used throughout the history of the Türk and then Uighur Empires to write Turkic texts, aside from a rather brief period of national xenophobic reaction within the elites at the beginning of the 8th century, during which the runic alphabet was used." [1]
[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 202)
c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [1]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
The runic alphabet was used by the Western Turks as well as the Sogdian one. On the runic alphabet: “This writing system, it is now generally held, also derived from the Aramaic alphabet us.ed in the Eastern Iranian world. Oauson conjectures that this specifie alphabet (based on lrano-Aramaic, supplemented by Greek) was developed by istemi Qagan for use in his diplomatie missions to Byzantiurn. Its inventor was a cultured Hephthalite or Sogdian.221 This seems rather improbable as this new alphabet was unlikely to find readers in Constantinople. Von Gabain views it as an adaptation of the Aramaic cursive that had been in use in the Arsakid chancellery. It was developed by the Western Türks as a result of their contact with Iran in the late 6th century. It spread, together with the first wave of Manichaean missionaries among the Turkic peoples to the East.222 » [1]
[1]: (Golden 1992, 152)
"The Sogdian contributions to the Türk Empire were important. Chief among them was unquestionably writing. In fact, the Sogdian alphabet, adapted progressively to Turkic phonology, was used throughout the history of the Türk and then Uighur Empires to write Turkic texts, aside from a rather brief period of national xenophobic reaction within the elites at the beginning of the 8th century, during which the runic alphabet was used." [1]
[1]: (De la Vaissière 2005, 202)
present for preceding Hepthalites. literate class under Roman and Indian influence.
present for preceding Hepthalites. literate class under Roman and Indian influence.
e.g. used by government
present for preceding Hepthalites. literate class under Roman and Indian influence.
present for preceding Hepthalites. literate class under Roman and Indian influence.
Khwarazm region: "The Khwarazmian solar calendar, related to the Zoroastrian system, is known to us thanks to Biruni, who argued that it was in advance of most other ancient systems for measuring time." [1]
[1]: (Starr 2013) Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton.
Some Sogdian coins produced under the Hephthalities.
At this time in Central Asia if high-quality steel was used it would have been imported. The following sources suggest later dates for fine steel. Reference for high quality of the steel (no beginning date provided): “In the context of this work, it is important to note that crucible steel of fine quality was made at Herat, in Bukhara and in northern India.” [1] Reference for high quality of the steel (this one dates from 900 CE): "Further east from Merv along the Silk Road is a region praised for its iron and steel production by Greek, Islamic, and Chinese writers. The Sogdian state of Ustrushana, a mountainous region east of Samarkand, and the Ferghana basin ... material related to the medieval iron and steel industry has been uncovered here. Most relevant ... is a workshop excavated at a city-site of the +9th-13th centuries in Feghana, at Eski Achsy, Uzbekistan. ..” Crucible fragments ”The excavators consider that the process used here was direct production of steel from ore, just as He Tangkun argues for the Luoyang crucibles. It is quite possible, however, that they were (also) used in co-fusion steel production as suggested by the Merv excavators." [2] Fine steel swords may have been produced at an earlier time than 900 CE with the technology coming from northern India or from this region via Persia: In Tibet c700 CE "steel swords were certainly available through trade with Sogdia and Fergana ... and many steel blades are known from Central Asia from the late first millennium until the arrival of Genghis Khan in the early thirteenth century." [3] "The Sogdian cities of Samarqand and Bukhara probably also manufactured iron and steel weapons that were exported to Tibet. We know that by the early eighth century, the Sogdians, having probably borrowed the technology from the Sasanians, were manufacturing mail armor and offered suits of the material as gifts to the Tang court in 718. ... The Sasasnians may themselves have developed knowledge of steelmaking from contacts with northern India." [4] "The principal centres for the manufacture of steel weapons in Central Asia were Khwarazm, Ferghana and northern India.” [1]
[1]: (Hill 2000, 270) D R Hill. Physics and mechanics. Civil and hydraulic engineering. Industrial processes and manufacturing, and craft activities. C E Bosworth. M S Asimov. eds. 2000. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume IV. The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century. UNESCO. Paris.
[2]: (Wagner and Needham 2008, 265) Donald B Wagner. Joseph Needham. 2008. Science and Civilisation in China. Volume V. Chemistry and Chemical Technology. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Clarke 2006, 22) John Clarke. A History of Ironworking in Tibet: Centers of Production, Styles, and Techniques. Donald J LaRocca. ed. 2006. Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet. Yale University Press. New Haven.
[4]: (Clarke 2006, 21) John Clarke. A History of Ironworking in Tibet: Centers of Production, Styles, and Techniques. Donald J LaRocca. ed. 2006. Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet. Yale University Press. New Haven.
At this time in Central Asia if high-quality steel was used it would have been imported. The following sources suggest later dates for fine steel. Reference for high quality of the steel (no beginning date provided): “In the context of this work, it is important to note that crucible steel of fine quality was made at Herat, in Bukhara and in northern India.” [1] Reference for high quality of the steel (this one dates from 900 CE): "Further east from Merv along the Silk Road is a region praised for its iron and steel production by Greek, Islamic, and Chinese writers. The Sogdian state of Ustrushana, a mountainous region east of Samarkand, and the Ferghana basin ... material related to the medieval iron and steel industry has been uncovered here. Most relevant ... is a workshop excavated at a city-site of the +9th-13th centuries in Feghana, at Eski Achsy, Uzbekistan. ..” Crucible fragments ”The excavators consider that the process used here was direct production of steel from ore, just as He Tangkun argues for the Luoyang crucibles. It is quite possible, however, that they were (also) used in co-fusion steel production as suggested by the Merv excavators." [2] Fine steel swords may have been produced at an earlier time than 900 CE with the technology coming from northern India or from this region via Persia: In Tibet c700 CE "steel swords were certainly available through trade with Sogdia and Fergana ... and many steel blades are known from Central Asia from the late first millennium until the arrival of Genghis Khan in the early thirteenth century." [3] "The Sogdian cities of Samarqand and Bukhara probably also manufactured iron and steel weapons that were exported to Tibet. We know that by the early eighth century, the Sogdians, having probably borrowed the technology from the Sasanians, were manufacturing mail armor and offered suits of the material as gifts to the Tang court in 718. ... The Sasasnians may themselves have developed knowledge of steelmaking from contacts with northern India." [4] "The principal centres for the manufacture of steel weapons in Central Asia were Khwarazm, Ferghana and northern India.” [1]
[1]: (Hill 2000, 270) D R Hill. Physics and mechanics. Civil and hydraulic engineering. Industrial processes and manufacturing, and craft activities. C E Bosworth. M S Asimov. eds. 2000. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume IV. The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century. UNESCO. Paris.
[2]: (Wagner and Needham 2008, 265) Donald B Wagner. Joseph Needham. 2008. Science and Civilisation in China. Volume V. Chemistry and Chemical Technology. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Clarke 2006, 22) John Clarke. A History of Ironworking in Tibet: Centers of Production, Styles, and Techniques. Donald J LaRocca. ed. 2006. Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet. Yale University Press. New Haven.
[4]: (Clarke 2006, 21) John Clarke. A History of Ironworking in Tibet: Centers of Production, Styles, and Techniques. Donald J LaRocca. ed. 2006. Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet. Yale University Press. New Haven.
Required for steel and must have been in use previously for weapons
bronze artifacts and coins all along the silk road
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
"Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea." [1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994: 476-477) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/PMC5FWXF/q/harmatta.
"Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea." [1] "There are a number of artistic depictions, from different eras, that show steppe warriors on horseback and armed with a javelin". [2] ET: Whilst searching for data for the Hephthalites I found this late 19th century quote from an encyclopaedia. I cannot confirm it refers to the Hephthalites but it mentions horsemen. Did the horse backed warriors also carry a javelin? Bone-tipped javelins are less likely to leave finds for archaeologists. "Like the Mongols they were a race of horsemen. They fought with bone-tipped javelins, with sabers, and with slings or lassoes. They ate herbs and half- raw meat, which they first used as saddles ; and they clothed themselves with the skins of wild animals”.
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing.
[2]: Karasulas, Antony. Mounted archers of the steppe 600 BC-AD 1300. Vol. 120. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p.28.
absent before the gunpowder era
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
"It is no wonder that the skill required to produce steel swords over charcoal fires seemed supernatural. The same could be said for bow makers, who required great time and expertise to make the composite bows, which still set distance records exceeding those of European-style longbows “by humiliating margins.”83" [1]
[1]: (Findley 2005, 45)
Weapon of the Americas, extremely unlikely to be in use here
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
"Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea." [1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing.
"Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea." [1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing.
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
"Helmets were widely used, although just as much evidence suggests soft, perhaps padded, headgear was also common. All types of helmets typical of the eras in this discussion found expression among the nomads, often with stylistic changes made to suit the tastes of the new nomadic owner. Often, especially among the Turkic and Mongolian tribes, metal helmets had leather neckflaps attached." [1]
[1]: (Karasulas 2004, 30)
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
Present in preceding and succeeding polities.