A History of Inner Asia

The history of Inner Asia from the arrival of Islam to the present day.

Svat Soucek (Author)

9780521657044, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 February 2000

384 pages, 13 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.52 kg

'The information presented is comprehensive and of remarkably fluid reading considering the complexity of the subject. … It is indeed a distinct merit of Soucek's to subscribe to the integrity of this field with a work of sound scholarship and broad reach.' New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies

Svat Soucek's book offers a short and accessible introduction to the history of Inner Asia. The narrative, which begins with the arrival of Islam, charts the rise and fall of the different dynasties right up to the Russian conquest. Dynastic tables and maps augment and elucidate the text. The contemporary focus rests on the seven countries which make up the core of present-day Eurasia, that is Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Sinkiang and Mongolia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, renewed interest in these countries has prompted considerable political, cultural, economic and religious debate. While a divergent literature has evolved in consequence, no comprehensive survey of the region has been attempted. Soucek's history promises to fill this gap and to become an indispensable source of information for anyone studying or visiting the region.

Introduction
1. The beginnings
2. The Kok Turks, Chinese expansion and the Arab conquest
3. The Samanids
4. The Uighur kingdom of Qocho
5. The Qarakhanids
6. Seljukids and Ghaznavids
7. The conquering Mongols
8. The Chaghatayids
9. Timur and the Timurids
10. The last Timurids and the first Uzbeks
11. The Shaybanids
12. The rise of Russia, the fall of the Golden Horde, and the resilient Chaghatayids
13. The Buddhist Mongols
14. Bukhara, Khiva, and Khoqand in the seventeenth - nineteenth centuries
15. The Russian conquest and rule of Central Asia
16. From the Governates-General to Union Republics
17. Soviet Central Asia
18. Central Asia becomes independent
19. Sinkiang as part of China
20. Independent Central Asian Republics
21. The Republic of Mongolia.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]