Islamic conquest of Turkestan
Encyclopedia
The Islamic conquest of Turkestan
or the Arab conquest of Turkestan was the conquest of Turkestan
by the Arab-Islamic armies as part of Muslim conquests
. Muslims invaded Turkestan and pressured the local Turks
living there to become Muslims by converting to Islam
.
faith. The Turks, especially the Turgesh
under leadership of Suluk, and Khazars
under Barjik
have clashed with their Arab neigbours in order to prevent region from Arabization and Islamization. Turgesh-Umayyad Wars and Khazars-Arab Wars were done mostly for region of Transoxiana but however Khazar-Arab Wars also took place outside Turkestan, in places such as Caucasia, North Caucasia, Mosul
and city of Atil
.
Khaganate and the Umayyad Caliphate (as well as its Abbasid successors) and their respective vassals.
During the 7th and 8th centuries the Khazar fought a series of wars against the Umayyad Caliphate, which was attempting simultaneously to expand its influence into Transoxiana
and the Caucasus
. The first war was fought in the early 650 and ended with the defeat of an Arab force
led by Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah
outside the Khazar town of Balanjar
, after a battle in which both sides used siege engines on the others' troops.
refugees in Khujand
, causing an influx of refugees towards the Turgesh. In 724 Caliph Hisham sent a new governor to Khorasan
, Muslim ibn Sa'id, with orders to crush the "Turks" once and for all, but, confronted by Suluk, Muslim hardly managed to reach Samarkand with a handful of survivors, as the Turgesh raided freely.
A string of subsequent appointees of Hisham were soundly defeated by Suluk, who in 728 took Bukhara
and later on still inflicted painful tactical defeats such as the Battle of the Defile
upon the Arabs, discrediting Umayyad rule and maybe putting the foundations for the Abbasid
revolution. The Turgesh state was at its apex of glory, controlling Sogdiana, the Ferghana Valley It was only in 732, that two powerful Arab expeditions to Samarkand managed, if with heavy losses, to reestablish Caliphal authority in the area; Suluk renounced his ambitions over Samarkand and abandoned Bukhara, withdrawing north.
In 734 an early Abbasid follower, al-Harith ibn Surayj, rose in revolt against Umayyad rule and took Balkh
and Marv
before defecting to the Turgesh three years later, defeated. In 738 Suluk, along with his allies al-Harith, Gurak (a Turco-Sogdian leader) and men from Usrushana, Tashkent
and Khuttal to launch a final offensive. He entered Jowzjan but was defeated by the Umayyad governor Asad at the Battle of Sa'n or Kharistan.
also had campaigns against the Arab Muslims. By 705, the Göktürks had expanded as far south as Samarkand and threatened Arab control of Transoxiana. The Göktürks clashed with the Umayyad Caliphate in a series of battles (712-713) in which the Arabs again emerged as victors.
in the lands of Iran
, Muslims and the Tengrianist Turkic peoples became neighbours in the 700's. Qutayba ibn Muslim was assigned by Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the Muslim viceroy of Iraq, to invade Turkestan. He managed to conquer cities like Sughd
, Bukhara
, Samarkand
, Shash and Farghana. The Muslim expansion resulted in becoming a neighbor of the T'ang Empire
. In the Battle of Talas
an Arab army decisively defeated a Tang Dynasty force and the Arab dominatation of the region were consolidated.
period, the Arab-Islamic armies managed to defeat Turkic warriors of the region, and conquered the lands where Turks were inhabiting. The Islamization
process was slow during Umayyad Caliphate period, but it was accelerated during the Abbasid
period. The Umayyad Caliphate were treating non-Arab peoples as second class citizens, and many Turkic leaders were executed by them, so therefore Islam
didn't get enough conversions by Turkic peoples as Turks were resisting the Islamic aggression. However, during the Abbasid period, Arabs began to respect Turkic peoples and as a result, Islam have began spreading across Central Asia
and Turks. In 932, Satuk Bughra Khan
of Kara-Khanid Khanate
embraced Islam, making him first Turkic khagan
to adopt Islam and make it state religion.
Islamic conquest of Turkestan
The Islamic conquest of Turkestan or the Arab conquest of Turkestan was the conquest of Turkestan by the Arab-Islamic armies as part of Muslim conquests...
or the Arab conquest of Turkestan was the conquest of Turkestan
Turkestan
Turkestan, spelled also as Turkistan, literally means "Land of the Turks".The term Turkestan is of Persian origin and has never been in use to denote a single nation. It was first used by Persian geographers to describe the place of Turkish peoples...
by the Arab-Islamic armies as part of Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
. Muslims invaded Turkestan and pressured the local Turks
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
living there to become Muslims by converting to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Battles between Muslims and Turks
Right after Muslims managed to conquer Persia by Muslim conquest of Persia, they've became neigbours of Turks of Turkestan, whom were predominantly adherents of their TengrianistTengriism
Tengriism is a Central Asian religion that incorporates elements of shamanism, animism, totemism and ancestor worship. Despite still being active in some minorities, it was, in old times, the major belief of Turkic peoples , Bulgars, Hungarians and Mongols...
faith. The Turks, especially the Turgesh
Turgesh
The Türgesh, Turgish or Türgish were a Turkic tribal confederation who emerged from the ruins of the Western Turkic Kaganate...
under leadership of Suluk, and Khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
under Barjik
Barjik
Barjik was a Khazar prince who flourished in the late 720s. He is described by al-Tabari as "the son of the Khagan"; his exact status and position is unknown though he may have been the Bek....
have clashed with their Arab neigbours in order to prevent region from Arabization and Islamization. Turgesh-Umayyad Wars and Khazars-Arab Wars were done mostly for region of Transoxiana but however Khazar-Arab Wars also took place outside Turkestan, in places such as Caucasia, North Caucasia, Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
and city of Atil
Atil
Atil , literally meaning "Big River", was the capital of Khazaria from the middle of the 8th century until the end of the 10th century. The word is also a Turkic name for the Volga River.-History:...
.
Khazar–Arab Wars
The Khazar-Arab Wars were a series of campaigns, usually grouped into the First (669) and Second (c.715-737) Khazar–Arab Wars, fought between the armies of the KhazarKhazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
Khaganate and the Umayyad Caliphate (as well as its Abbasid successors) and their respective vassals.
During the 7th and 8th centuries the Khazar fought a series of wars against the Umayyad Caliphate, which was attempting simultaneously to expand its influence into Transoxiana
Transoxiana
Transoxiana is the ancient name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgystan and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers...
and the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
. The first war was fought in the early 650 and ended with the defeat of an Arab force
Rashidun army
The Rashidun Caliphate Army or Rashidun army was the primary military body of the Rashidun Caliphate's armed forces during the Muslim conquests of the 7th century, serving alongside the Rashidun Navy...
led by Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah
Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah
Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah was the Arab general of the early Caliphate. He may have been the brother of Salman ibn Rabiah, the military governor of Armenia under Caliph Umar I. He was charged with the task of conquering the Khazars and invaded the northern Caucasus for this purpose in the late 640s...
outside the Khazar town of Balanjar
Balanjar
Balanjar was a medieval city located in the North Caucasus region, between the cities of Derbent and Samandar, probably on the lower Sulak River. It flourished from the seventh to the tenth centuries CE...
, after a battle in which both sides used siege engines on the others' troops.
Umayyad–Turgesh Wars
Suluk's aim was to reconquer all of Transoxiana from the Arab invaders - his war was paralleled, much more westwards, by the Khazar empire. In 721 Turgesh forces, led by Kül Chor, defated the Caliphal army commanded by Sa'id ibn Abdu'l-Aziz near Samarkand. Sa'id's successor, Al-Kharashi, massacred Turks and SogdianSogdiana
Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great . Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created...
refugees in Khujand
Khujand
Khujand , also transliterated as Khudzhand, , formerly Khodjend or Khodzhent until 1936 and Leninabad until 1991, is the second-largest city of Tajikistan. It is situated on the Syr Darya River at the mouth of the Fergana Valley...
, causing an influx of refugees towards the Turgesh. In 724 Caliph Hisham sent a new governor to Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
, Muslim ibn Sa'id, with orders to crush the "Turks" once and for all, but, confronted by Suluk, Muslim hardly managed to reach Samarkand with a handful of survivors, as the Turgesh raided freely.
A string of subsequent appointees of Hisham were soundly defeated by Suluk, who in 728 took Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
and later on still inflicted painful tactical defeats such as the Battle of the Defile
Battle of the Defile
The Battle of the Defile or Battle of the Pass was fought over three days in the Tashtakaracha Pass between a large Umayyad army and the Turgesh in July 731 CE...
upon the Arabs, discrediting Umayyad rule and maybe putting the foundations for the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
revolution. The Turgesh state was at its apex of glory, controlling Sogdiana, the Ferghana Valley It was only in 732, that two powerful Arab expeditions to Samarkand managed, if with heavy losses, to reestablish Caliphal authority in the area; Suluk renounced his ambitions over Samarkand and abandoned Bukhara, withdrawing north.
In 734 an early Abbasid follower, al-Harith ibn Surayj, rose in revolt against Umayyad rule and took Balkh
Balkh
Balkh , was an ancient city and centre of Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan...
and Marv
Marv
Marv is a fictional character in the graphic novel series Sin City, created by Frank Miller. In the 2005 film adaptation, he is played by Mickey Rourke. He first appears in The Hard Goodbye and follows with appearances in A Dame to Kill For, Just Another Saturday Night, and Silent Night...
before defecting to the Turgesh three years later, defeated. In 738 Suluk, along with his allies al-Harith, Gurak (a Turco-Sogdian leader) and men from Usrushana, Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
and Khuttal to launch a final offensive. He entered Jowzjan but was defeated by the Umayyad governor Asad at the Battle of Sa'n or Kharistan.
Battles between Göktürk Empire and Umayyad Caliphate
The GöktürksGöktürks
The Göktürks or Kök Türks, were a nomadic confederation of peoples in medieval Inner Asia. Known in Chinese sources as 突厥 , the Göktürks under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan The Göktürks or Kök Türks, (Old Turkic: Türük or Kök Türük or Türük; Celestial Turks) were a nomadic confederation of...
also had campaigns against the Arab Muslims. By 705, the Göktürks had expanded as far south as Samarkand and threatened Arab control of Transoxiana. The Göktürks clashed with the Umayyad Caliphate in a series of battles (712-713) in which the Arabs again emerged as victors.
Conquest
After the spread of IslamSpread of Islam
The Spread of Islam started shortly after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632 AD. During his lifetime, the community of Muhammad, the ummah, was established in the Arabian Peninsula by means of conversion to Islam and conquering of territory, and oftentimes the conquered had to either...
in the lands of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Muslims and the Tengrianist Turkic peoples became neighbours in the 700's. Qutayba ibn Muslim was assigned by Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the Muslim viceroy of Iraq, to invade Turkestan. He managed to conquer cities like Sughd
Sughd
Sughd Province is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces that make up Tajikistan. Centered in the historical Sogdiana, it is located in the northwest of the country, with an area of some 25,400 square kilometers and a population of 2,132,100 , up from 1,870,000...
, Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
, Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
, Shash and Farghana. The Muslim expansion resulted in becoming a neighbor of the T'ang Empire
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
. In the Battle of Talas
Battle of Talas
The Battle of Talas in 751 AD was an especially notable conflict between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang Dynasty for control not only of the Syr Darya region, but even more...
an Arab army decisively defeated a Tang Dynasty force and the Arab dominatation of the region were consolidated.
Islamization
In the UmayyadUmayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
period, the Arab-Islamic armies managed to defeat Turkic warriors of the region, and conquered the lands where Turks were inhabiting. The Islamization
Islamization
Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
process was slow during Umayyad Caliphate period, but it was accelerated during the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
period. The Umayyad Caliphate were treating non-Arab peoples as second class citizens, and many Turkic leaders were executed by them, so therefore Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
didn't get enough conversions by Turkic peoples as Turks were resisting the Islamic aggression. However, during the Abbasid period, Arabs began to respect Turkic peoples and as a result, Islam have began spreading across Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and Turks. In 932, Satuk Bughra Khan
Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan
Satuq Boghra Khan was a Kara-Khanid Khan; in 934, he was one of the first Turks to convert to Islam.According to 12th century historian Jamal Qarshi's History of Kashgar, Satuq was first taught about Islam by Nasr, a wealthy merchant from Bukhara...
of Kara-Khanid Khanate
Kara-Khanid Khanate
The Kara-Khanid Khanate was a confederation of Turkic tribes ruled by a dynasty known in literature as the Karakhanids or Ilek Khanids, . Both dynastic names represent titles with Kara Kağan being the most important Turkish title up till the end of the dynasty.The Khanate ruled Transoxania in...
embraced Islam, making him first Turkic khagan
Khagan
Khagan or qagan , alternatively spelled kagan, khaghan, qaghan, or chagan, is a title of imperial rank in the Mongolian and Turkic languages equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a khaganate...
to adopt Islam and make it state religion.