Bactrian Brief: Snow Leopard Conservation

Snow Leopard in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Photo source: Panthera via Smithsonian Magazine

I recently read a great article in the March issue of Smithsonian magazine called "Into Thin Air",  written by Matthew Shaer, about the efforts of hunters and scientists to study the snow leopard, a rare mountain cat that lives high in the mountains and plateaus of Central Eurasia. The range of the snow leopard, according to the Snow Leopard Trust website, runs through twelve countries, including "Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. China is one of the most influential countries for [snow leopard] conservation efforts, as it contains as much as 60% of all snow leopard habitat areas"(1). Yet, with such an enormous range, and while inhabiting areas that can range from 1000 meters above sea level to 3000-4500 meters above sea level, there are estimated to be only 4000-6500 snow leopards in the wild (2). With regard to the extreme climates that the snow leopard inhabits, Shaer writes, "Although snow leopards will descend to altitudes of 2,500 feet, they are most comfortable in steep and rocky mountains of 10,000 feet or higher, in the distant reaches of terrain historically inhospitable to man. It is no accident that in so many cultures, from Buddhist Tibet to the tribal regions of Tajikistan, the snow leopard is viewed as sacred: We must climb upward, in the direction of the heavens, to find it"(3).

It is with these dwindling numbers and a passion for snow leopard conservation that scientist Tanya Rosen leads the efforts of a group called Panthera for studying and restoring the populations of snow leopards within Central Eurasia. She has previously worked successfully with local hunters and farmers in Tajikistan to conserve and protect snow leopard populations from poaching, with her efforts culminating in a rise in the Tajik snow leopard population. She now works in Kyrgyzstan with local hunters by encouraging them to participate in local-run conservancy. This method of conservation creates a local stake in the management and preservation of native species like the snow leopard. Local-run conservancy has shown to work very well in places like the former soviet states, where national government cannot always facilitate the kind of infrastructure and budget necessary for preservation and protection of endangered wildlife.

It is clear in the article that the local Kyrgyz who participate in the conservation efforts take great pride in what they do, and they express great admiration and love for the snow leopard. However, the conservation efforts are not without significant risk. The leader of Shaer's expedition fell through thin ice at one point of the trek. Another man, a Kyrgyz park ranger named Beken, that Shaer interviewed for his article was swept away in a river while trying to retrieve a memory card from a camera trap set by Rosen and her team. It is because of these perils that snow leopard studies have been few and far between previously. Only now are conservation and serious study efforts, spearheaded by Rosen, garnering broader interest and action from the scientific community.

The article, time and again, references the connection that the locals feel toward the snow leopard. Beken, the man who gave his life for the preservation of the animal, spoke of wanting to ensure that the snow leopard "would never disappear from the land of his grandfather and father" and that the snow leopard itself was "a part of who we are."(4) Yakut, another local involved in the conservation effort, spoke of spotting snow leopards every day in his youth. "Now, months and months go by before I see a single track...My hope is that one day, maybe when my grandchildren are grown, the snow leopards will start to return."(5)

This summary doesn't really do justice to the article. It's a really interesting read and the author gives some great descriptions of the physical stress the body endures working at the high elevations of the Tien Shan mountains. If you don't have access to a physical copy of Smithsonian magazine, you can check out the online article here.


1. Unknown. "Habitat." Snow Leopard Trust website. http://www.snowleopard.org/learn/cat-facts/habitat

2. Ibid.

3. Shaer, Matthew. "Into Thin Air", Smithsonian Magazine. March 2016, 56

4. Ibid, 100.

5. Ibid, 98.

To Armenia via America

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Kristina Amerkanian, a recent graduate of Mount Saint Mary College and resident of Washingtonville, NY. Kristina, who is engaged to be married to my cousin, Matt, is of Armenian descent through her father. She graciously enlightened me on her family's history, both Armenian and American, and gave me a brief introduction to the Armenian Apostolic Church from the view of a practitioner of the faith.

BGB: Tell me, to the best of your knowledge, about your family history in Amernia. Do you know where your family came from and what they did there? When did they come to America?

KA: I’ll give you some basic facts to help you know Family members and their respective birth dates. I was born to John Amerkanian in 1993, my father John was born to John Amerkanian, in 1959 (Sadly, they didn’t use Jr vs Sr titles. We will call my Great-Grandfather Pop-Pop to make it easier to follow) Pop-Pop was born to Karekan Amerikhanian & Arousiac Kashoian in 1931. Karekan was

Karekan (Frank) Amerkanian

born in 1873 and Arousiac was born in 1904.Karekan didn’t have his start in New York, instead he started out in Texas. He arrived in Texas around 1914, changed his name to Frank Amerkanian to become more “American”. Frank left behind his brothers, who didn’t want/intend to change their name. His brothers (we don’t know how many brothers Frank traveled with, or had) left Frank behind and traveled to California, never having contact with Frank again. Frank decided to go to Canada and join the Army. When he came back, he had an arranged marriage with Arousiac, they ended up falling in love the first night they met, under a lamp post. Frank sold tools and sharpened knives in New York City. Frank died of pneumonia, leaving behind Arousiac with two sons, John age 9 and Charles age 2.

Arousiac, was born on March 10, 1904 in Armenia, to Hagop (Paul) and Mairam Kashoian. They are from the Arapgir Region near the Black Sea. Both Hagop and Mairam were born and raised in Armenia. Hagop & Mairam had 5 children, Arousiac, Pilibos (Philip), Sarkis Keri (Sam), Homestoui and Yeghishe. As a family, they left Armenia right as the Genocide started. They arrived in New York City, around 1914 and Settled in Camden, New Jersey.

BGB: Was your family affected by the Armenian Genocide? If so, how?

KA: Throughout the years, I have heard many stories of families affected by the Genocide, watching their family members beheaded, breasts torn off, led on the death march. Fortunately, my family was rather lucky. However the Armenian people take the Genocide very seriously and even if it didn’t affect their families directly, they hold the grudge and burdens as if it did.

Arousiac claims the reason that they left Armenia so early was because they were poisoned by a couple of Turkish Soldiers and left to die. Fortunately they left and (all) survived. Arousiac never talked about her family that was left behind, however we later found out they were killed and nothing was left of their village.

The Amerkanian family doesn’t know much about Karekan’s family involvement in the Genocide. We do, however, know that they were in the government and were most likely killed early on. We also know that the Amerkanian family had been wealthy and owned a lot of land.

BGB: Your family really did seem to be lucky to leave when they did. From what you said in your second answer, it seems like Armenians had their wealth and property confiscated during the genocide. Was that the case? That isn't really surprising, but usually the horrific death toll is the part that receives the most attention.

KA: Their money was taken by the government, but in 70s a gentleman contacted my grandfather and his brother, claiming they knew where the Amerikhanian funds were. Close to 70 million or so. Charlie got in contact with them and apparently it was true - they had the money but it was in some bank in London with ties in Turkey and it would take lawyers upon lawyers and I guess they gave up trying to get the money back. A lot of them lost Land, most soldiers took the homes for themselves and their families.

BGB: What was the impetus for the genocide? Was it just part of WWI? I know I'm asking you something I could look up, but it's interesting to hear it from a personal perspective.

KA: Religious Cleansing. Basically the same thing that happened in Serbia in '82. I remember, when I was in Armenian Camp, we learned about how the Turkish were jealous of all the Armenian advances.

BGB: Was Armenia part of the Ottoman Empire at that time?

KA: Yes.

BGB: By advances, do you mean modernization? I know the Ottomans were having a heck of a time trying to adapt to Western influenced modern trends.

KA: Yes! They were disgusted that the Armenians could create such architecture and advances throughout the state in mathematics & literature. "Ottomanization", I believe, is what they called the ethnic cleansing.

BGB: I know Armenia has a long and interesting historical relationship with Christianity, but I know few details of the Armenian Church. As someone with more familiarity than I have, could you give me a sort of introduction to Armenian Christianity? (I don't expect you to be an expert, I just honestly don't know much about it and it would be really neat to have someone familiar with the topic explain it to me and my readers).

KA: What is really interesting about the Armenian Church is that they have the first ties to Christianity and so they really set the stepping stones for our modern day Christians. What I was taught was that St. Gregory the Enlightener converted the people of Armenia through the help of King Tiridates III.

I think the biggest difference I always point out to other Christians about Armenian Apostolic beliefs is that they don’t focus on the life of the Virgin Mary. As we know, the Catholic Church focuses much of their holidays, beliefs and prayers around her. The Armenian Church really dives into the life and times of Jesus and the trials and tribulations he faced. The best way for me to describe the The Divine Liturgy is to quote the Diocese themselves:

The Divine Liturgy is the main worship service of the Armenian Church. But the Badarak, as we call it in Armenian, is much more than that. It provides the most intimate encounter we can have with God in this life. In the Divine Liturgy, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, comes to his people—to you and me—in two forms: First, by his Word, in the reading of the holy Gospel; and second, by his holy Body and Blood, in Holy Communion. These two actions—the reading of the Word of God, and the reception of Holy Communion—are the two pillars or building blocks of the Divine Liturgy in all ancient, apostolic churches. Supported by these two pillars is a magnificent structure of words, music, symbols, and rituals. For those unfamiliar with it, the Divine Liturgy can seem like a bewildering array of disjointed movements and rituals, and arcane theological terminology. The complex interplay of the celebrant priest, the deacons, the other altar servers, the choir, and the people might lead one to overlook the logic and purpose of the Divine Liturgy, and to miss its very real benefits. - Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern).

The Armenian Apostolic church today, really strives to keep all of the older roots throughout the service, using the old Armenian language and continuing to follow the Badarak. A typical Sunday Divine Liturgy service is 3 hours. Unfortunately because of the growing younger population not being interested in religion many Armenian churches are switching to a shorter service, typical Christian (hour) service and translating many of the hymns into English. A “fun” fact about the Armenian Church is that they believe Mt. Ararat, which is now under Turkey's domain, is the home of Noah’s Ark. 

John Amerkanian and Kristina Amerkanian, Karekan's grandson and great-granddaughter.

Baby Got Bactria would like to thank Kristina Amerkanian for her time and for contributing her family's story to the blog.

Bactrian Brief: Everything Old is That Much Older

Lately, I've been thinking about the destruction of ancient sites that has accompanied the warfare going on in regions like Syria, Iraq, and places in Africa, like Mali.  Sites like Palmyra in Syria, and numerous others in the world today, were ancient even in the days when observers whom we consider historical figures were alive and active. That is often a very sobering and fascinating concept for me to ponder. Think about it: The pyramids at Giza in Egypt were ancient by the time Alexander the Great came through and declared himself Pharaoh. They were ancient when Rome was founded. That thought is so profound to me!

An example of this that hits home for me when I think of these things is Ibn Battuta's brief, sad description of Balkh in his Rihla. Starting in 1325 at the age of 20, Ibn Battuta set off on a journey that would take him across the Islamic world (Dar al-Islam) of his day, covering "about 75,000 miles visiting the equivalent of 44 modern countries which were then mostly under the governments of Muslim leader"(1).  Balkh itself had been in existence since the 6th c. BCE as part of the Achaemenid  Empire, and was attested by Ctesias of Cnidos as possibly being inhabited as early as the 8th or 9th century BCE(2). So to a 14th century observer viewing a site such as Balkh that had seen its share of strife and war, especially at the hands of the recent Mongol invasion, Balkh must not have appeared as the Umm al-Belaad (Mother of Cities, so named due to its ancient origins) that earlier Arab conquerors must have beheld for themselves(3).

 Ibn Battuta had this observation to give of the ancient city of Balkh:

We crossed the river Oxus into the land of Kurasan and after a day and a half's march through a sandy uninhabited waste reached Balkh. It is an utter ruin and uinhabited, but anyone seeing it would think it inhabited on account of the solidity of its construction. The accursed Tinkiz (Chinggis, or Genghis Khan) destroyed this city and demolished about a third of its mosque on account of a treasure which he was told lay under one of its columns. He pulled down a third of them and found nothing and left the rest as it was. After leaving Balkh we travelled for seven days through the mountains of Quhistan, in which there are numerous inhabited villages with running streams and leafy trees, mostly fig-trees, and many hospices inhabited by devotees. Thereafter we reached the city of Herat, which is the largest inhabited city in Khurasan. There are four large cities in the province, two of them, Herat and Naysabur [Nishapur] inhabited, and two, Balkh and Merv, in ruins.

690 years from the time Ibn Battuta began his travels to today is no small stretch of time, yet even then Balkh was ancient and ruinous by the time the traveling qadi (judge of Islamic Law) laid eyes upon it.

I suppose, what I am trying to say is, that perspective is important. When regarding the ancient sites that still exist in our world today, it is important to note that even these great, man-made monuments have witnessed the rise and decline of successive generations. What do you think future travelers will think when they behold the works of the present that endure into the decades and centuries to come?


1.) Bartel, Nick. "The Travels of Ibn Battuta: A Virtual Tour with the 14th Century Traveler." U.C. Berkley website. 2012. http://ibnbattuta.berkeley.edu/index.html (accessed on 11 December 2015).

2.)  Leirche, P. and F. Grenet. "Bactra". Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2011, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bactria (accessed on 11 December 2015).

3.) Harold, Frank. "Balkh and Mazar-e-Sharif." Silk Road Seattle website. Walter Chapin Simpson Center for Humanities: University of Washington. 2006. http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/cities/afghanistan/balkh.html

4) Ibn Battuta. Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354, trans. H.A.R. Gibb. (London: Routeledge and Kegan Paul LTD/ Psychology Press, 2004), pg. 175 accessed through Google Books.

Sogtoberfest Round-up!

I hope my dear readers have learned a lot this first annual Sogtoberfest. I know I have! And I know I have enjoyed relaying so many interesting and unique stories and facts about Sogdian history to you! I did not complete everything I set out to do, but I managed to cover some things I thought were very important. This post will index all of my Sogtoberfest posts into one, easy to browse list, so that you can go back and read your favorite entries, find a particular piece of information, or catch an update you may have missed.


First Annual Sogtoberfest Articles Index

Introductory Post
Welcome to Sogtoberfest!

Introduction to terms, geography, and maps
Transoxiana and Sogdiana: A Discussion of Interchangeable Terms pt. 1
Transoxiana and Sogdiana: The Thrilling Conclusion, Pt. 2

A handy timeline of Sogdian trade from its early days to its eventual decline
Sogdian Trade: The Nitty-Gritty

A brief discussion of the life of An Lushan and his rebellion against the Tang Dynasty
Sogtoberfest Spotlight: An Lushan

A discussion of the tomb of An Jia and the artwork contained therein
Sogtoberfest Spotlight: An Jia

I'm also including in this post a Bibliography of all the works I cited during Sogtoberfest. I encourage everyone to check out these sources and do a little Sogdian research of your own! Maybe there is some aspect of Sogdian history you wish to delve into further? Maybe you want to explore more about Sogdian arts, including silk brocades and silversmithing, that I wasn't able to cover this Sogtoberfest? The sources below are all lovely tools for digging deeper into the rich history of the Sogdians!

Sogtoberfest Bibliography

Beckwith, Christopher I. Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009. Available for preview here. Available for purchase new, used, and in Kindle format from Amazon.

Bosworth, C. Edmund. "Ma Wara al-Nahr", Encyclopedia Iranica online edition, 2011. available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mawara-al-nahr

de la Vassiere, Etienne. "Sogdiana iii. History and Archaeology," Encyclopedia Iranica, online edition 2011. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdiana-iii-history-and-archeology

de la Vaissiere, Etienne, “Sogdian Trade,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2004, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdian-trade

de la Vaissiere, Etienne. Sogdian Traders: A History. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Available in PDF format here. Available for purchase from Amazon.

Dien, Albert E. "The Glories of Sogdiana", The Silk Road Foundation.
http://www.silk-road.com/artl/sogdian.shtml

Guity, Azarpay, "The Development of Arts in Transoxiana," Cambridge History of Iran: Seleucid, Parthian, and Sassanian Periods. ed. Ehsan Yarshater. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983. Available for preview here. Available for purchase new and used from Amazon.

Hansen, Valerie. The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2000. Available new and used from Amazon.

Hansen, Valerie. The Silk Road: A New History. New York: Oxford, 2012. Available for preview here. Available for purhcase new, used, and in Kindle format from Amazon.

Hudud al-Alam 'The Regions of the World': A Persian Geography 372 A.H - 982 A.D. trans.Vladimir Minorsky. ed. C. E. Bosworth. London: Gibb Memorial Trust, 2015. Available in preview form here. Available for purchase new, used, and in Kindle format from Amazon.

Pulleyblank, E.G. "An Lu-shan", Encyclopedia Iranica, I/9, pp. 1000; available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/an-lu-shan-frontier-general

Sogtoberfest Spotlight: An Jia

For my Sogtoberfest wrap-up, I would like to set the spotlight squarely upon another famous Sogdian: An Jia. An Jia is famous not so much for what he did in his life, but for where he was stored after his death. His tomb, according to Valerie Hansen, was named one of the top ten archaeological finds of 2001(1). The significance of An Jia's tomb lay in two areas: One, that it and its contents were largely undisturbed, while other tombs of Sogdians in China had been looted, sometimes repeatedly, over time (2).  And two, it is an excellent example of the blending of Chinese artistic styles with Sogdian cultural and religious motifs.

An Jia, according to his epitaph, was the son of a Sogdian father and a Chinese mother (3). Born in 537, he was desceneded from a Sogdian family hailing from Bukhara. An Jia was a successful sabao, or head of the Sogdian community, in Tongzhou. He was appointed to this position by the administration of the Northern Zhou dynasty (4). Hansen explains that at the time An Jia received this appointment, the originally Sogdian term sabao had morphed in China, being adopted by the Chinese bureaucracy to refer to an administrator of a foreign community (5). An Jia was apparently very good at his job, as Hansen reports he received the highest rank a Sogdian could achieve under the Northern Zhou government (6).

Though the tomb itself is Chinese in design, the Sogdian Zoroastrians would often have small stone houses or platforms in their tombs to hold their remains rather than a funerary bed. Zoroastrians would expose the remains of their dead and collect the bones into small ossuaries, which would then be placed on these platforms or in these small stone houses (7). The craftsmen who created and decorated An Jia's tomb combined the Chinese design and artistic styles with Sogdian religious and cultural symbols. For visual reference, here is the first example of art from An Jia's tomb.

Photo found in Valerie Hansen's Silk Road: A New History. Source: Cultural Relics Publishing House.

Hansen states that the painting over the entryway depicts "a Zoroastrian fire altar on a table borne by three camels, an attribute of the Sogdian God of Victory" (8).

Photo found in Valerie Hansen's Silk Road: A New History. Source: Cultural Relics Publishing House.

This next picture depicts the "Sogdian Swirl Dance". Hansen states that this dance was performed by Sogdian men and women at parties and is a popular motif found in many surviving Sogdian artworks from China (9). There are three separate examples of the Sogdian Swirl Dance depicted within An Jia's tomb (10).

An Jia's funerary couch. Xi'an Museum, Xi'an, China. Source: Stephen Bartlett Travels.

This is the funeral couch from An Jia's tomb. It depicts several scenes from An Jia's life, including the Sogdian swirl (10).

An Jia's funerary couch and tomb entry arch. Xi'an Museum, Xi'an China. Source: Stephen Bartlett Travels.

A closer view of the decorative mural atop the entry arch. Xi'an Museum, Xi'an, China. Source: Stephen Bartlett Travels.

An Jia's tomb is not the only Sogdian tomb to be unearthed in China, but his tomb is important for its undisturbed condition and the quality and craftsmanship of the artifacts and artwork contained therein. In life, An Jia was a successful sabao and leader in his community, but in death, he has contributed to our historical knowledge of Sogdian/Chinese relations and left his invaluable mark on world history.

Sources

1) Hansen, Valerie. The Silk Road: A New History. Illustrated edition. New York: Oxford, 2012, pg, pg. 143.

2) Ibid, 143

3) Ibid, 144.

4) Ibid, 144

5) Ibid, 144

6) Ibid, 144

7) Ibid, 144

8) Ibid, 144

9) Ibid, 144-145

10) Ibid, 145

11) Ibid, 145

Images

Images attributed Cultural Relics Publishing House found in Valerie Hansen. The Silk Road: A New History. Illustrated edition. New York: Oxford, 2012. 

Images attributed to Stephen Bartlett Travels are the original works of photographer Stephen Bartlett and can be found here. 

Sogtoberfest Spotlight: An Lushan

Famous Sogdian names that stand out from the pack are surprisingly few despite the great number of Sogdians active along the Silk Routes. But among the few prominent Sogdian names that have come down to us through history emerges the figure of An Lushan, likely the most famous Sogdian in Silk Road history.

An Lushan was of mixed Turkco-Sogdian descent (although he may have been adopted, therefore his true origin is unknown). "According to the somewhat mythologized account of his birth that is found in his biography in the T'ang histories, he was the son of a Turkish shamaness and a Sogdian father"(1). His surname An was one of several surnames used by Sogdian families in China, "deriving ultimately from the Chinese name for Parthia, An-hsi (Anxi)...[and] at this period referred specifically to [Sogdians from] Bokhara (Bukhara)"(2).

At the time of the rise of An Lushan's family, the T'ang were engaged militarily on the western frontiers of their empire. The T'ang forces in these regions were made up of and commanded by local, non-Chinese soldiers (3). A testament to the warrior nature of his family, An Lushan's father and cousin rose to prominent ranks in such frontier armies in their own right (4). An Lushan became a favorite at court with Emperor Xuanzong and his consort, Yang Guifei. Even though he enjoyed favorite status with the emperor and the imperial consort, he became embroiled in court intrigues and quarrels, particular with the minister Yang Kou-chung(5). Hansen states that An Lushan was to be made chief minister by the emperor, but An Lushan's enemies fought against such an appointment for the frontier general. "The emperor compromised by appointing [An Lushan] Commissioner of the Imperial Stables, a position that allowed An to purchase many new horses for his army. This was a dangerous position to give to someone whom others suspected of plotting a revolt"(6). Below is Hansen's summary of An Lushan's rebellion:

The situation at court worsened, and in 755, when the emperor summoned An Lushan to attend the wedding of one of his sons, General An refused. The emperor sent an envoy, but the general refused him even the most basic courtesy of standing in his presence. Four months later the general rebelled. The advantage lay with his powerful army, and his forces took the eastern capital of Luoyang with ease. A few months later, after a particularly disastrous defeat, the emperor, accompanied by a few troops and Precious Consort Yang, fled Changan for Sichuan. Blaming Precious Consort Yang for their predicament, the troops mutinied and refused to go on unless the emperor killed his beloved concubine. Giving in to the mutineer's wishes, the emperor ordered his chief eunuch to strangle her...Internal schisms surfaced following the rebels' early succes in 755, and after the assassination of their commander An Lushan in early 757, the rebel forces split into two factions, one led by An Lushan's son, the other by a rival general. The new emperor Suzong (reigned 756-762) was able to regain Changan only with the help of Uighur mercenaries. After a long stalemate, the rebellion finally ended in 763, following the suicide of the rebels' leading general. Still dependent on hired Uighur troops from Central Asia, and unable to defeat the rebels decisively, the court was forced to give them a blanket pardon...The uncertain peace was short lived. At the end of 763, Tibetan troops entered Changan for two weeks of pillaging and then withdrew, only to attack the capital every autumn for the next twenty years(7).

 This is Vaissiere's summary of the rebellion:

 An Lushan revolted in December 755 and took the capital in July 756. He was assassinated by his son, An Qingxu, who succeeded him in January 757. From Gansu the imperial armies recaptured the capital of Chang'an with the aid of the Uighurs in November, and Luoyang in December. Luoyang was taken a second time in October 759 by Shi Shiming, one of An Lushan's generals, who proclaimed himself emperor after having killed An Qingxu. The rebellion was definitively quelled only in January 763. The seven years of revolt ruined Tang China. The dynasty never succeeded in reimposting a centralized state. The provincial governors seized their autonomy. The most distant provinces, in particular the Tarim basin and Turkestan, were completely lost: their armies were recalled to fight against the rebellion, and the Tibetans to the south and the Uighurs to the north divided the old imperial possessions between them.(8).

Map of all the action during the An Lushan Rebellion. Note An Lushan's powerbase in the northeast, where Sogdian communities were present. Source: Valerie Hansen's The Open Emire.

Hansen goes on to discuss the legacy of the rebellion in terms of the fall of the Tang dynasty. She discusses the way in which the centralized government was undermined by regional authorities, and how the power vacuum at the center ceded power to the provincial governors (9). She also points out that the central government lacked the records to collect taxes. "[The central authorities] were forced to rely on locally powerful families to collect taxes for them. They were permanently weakened as a result"(10). Thus, An Lushan's legacy in China was a Tang dynasty, limping along to its ultimate demise at the hands of other, stronger, regional powers. There would be no one, powerful central Chinese authority in China until the establishment of the Sung dynasty in 960 CE (11).

Vaissiere discusses in great detail in Sogdian Traders what Beckwith summarizes nicely in his text Empires of the Silk Road, that An Lushan was building his power in alliance with Sogdian warriors and merchants. Vaissiere and Beckwith both point to the evidence that An Lushan was in contact with Sogdian merchants throughout northern China, and drew from their connections to fund and supply his rebellion(12).

An Lushan's meteoric rise to power and his gambit to overthrow the Tang left its mark on China and its resident peoples. His bid for power left the Tang in such disarray that no one central dynasty would emergey for some 200 years after the end of the rebellion. His connections to the Sogdian trade network, his Sogdian descent, and his Sogdian family name would, of course, create associations that would prove to have dire consequences for the Sogdians in China, as we discussed in our previous article.  

Sources

1) Pulleyblank, E.G. "An Lu-shan", Encyclopedia Iranica, I/9, pp. 1000; available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/an-lu-shan-frontier-general (accessed online October 21, 2015).

2) Ibid.

3)Hansen, Valerie. The Silk Road: A New History. Illustrated edition. New York: Oxford, 2012, pg. 107

4) Pulleyblank, E.G. "An Lu-shan", Encyclopedia Iranica, I/9, pp. 1000; available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/an-lu-shan-frontier-general (accessed online October 21, 2015).

5) Ibid.

6) Hansen, Valerie. The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2000, pg. 223.

7) Ibid, pg. 224, 227-228.

8) de la Vaissiere, Etienne. Sogdian Traders: A History. Leiden: Brill, 2005, pg. 216.

9) Hansen, Valerie. The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2000, pg. 244.

10) Ibid, pg. 245.

11) Pulleyblank, E.G. "An Lu-shan", Encyclopedia Iranica, I/9, pp. 1000; available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/an-lu-shan-frontier-general (accessed online October 21, 2015).

12) de la Vaissiere, Etienne. Sogdian Traders: A History. Leiden: Brill, 2005, pg. 217-218. and Christopher I. Beckwith. Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, pg. 146.

Map

Unknown. The An Lushan Rebellion [map]. 1" = 300 miles. In: Valerie Hansen.
The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2000, pg. 223.

Sogdian Trade: The Nitty-Gritty

Taking on the daunting task of trying to summarize a phenomenon that expanded three centuries and stretched across a large portion of the world is quite a lot for a hapless blogger such as myself. Etienne de la Vaissiere's wonderful article entitled "Sogdian Trade", found on the Encyclopedia Iranica online edition website, does a far better job of summarizing and explaining the nuances of Sogdian trade history than I ever could. However, I have decided to take Vassiere's excellent article and turn it into a timeline, further streamlining this material for ease of access to the neophyte Sogdian enthusiasts out there. I might also sprinkle in other information here and there as I deem necessary or interesting.

Origins:

6th century BCE - Achaemenids mention the Sogdians paying tribute in the form of Lapis Lazuli. The only Lapis mine is located in Badakhshan in Sogdiana (1).

100 BCE - First concrete mention of Sogdian merchants in the Shiji (Shih Chi "Han Histories")(2).

29 BCE and 11 BCE - "Ambassadors from Kangju, a nomad state centered on the middle reaches of the Syr [Darya] [that included in its borders] Sogdiana, presented themselves at the Chinese court pronouncing the word "commerce"(3).

1st-3rd centuries CE - "Buddhist sources show that Sogdian merchants, who were not on the main roads situated farther to the south (Ptolemy, tr. Ronca, pp. 31-36, misplaces Samarkand) emigrated as far as India, benefiting from this prosperity [of the Kushan Empire] (biography of the monk Kang seng hui [Seng-Houei], born in the early 3rd century, tr. Chavannes, 1909, pp. 199-200; Grenet, 1996)"(4).

3rd Century - Sogdian commercial network expands into China (5).

313 - Sogdian Ancient Letters - a cache of documents dated to 313 and written in the Gansu region of China. These documents relate the commercial activities of the Sogdian communities active in Northern China at the time (6).

439 - Sogdians become the main foreign trading force in Gansu (7).

4th-5th centuries CE - Sogdian traders supplant Bactrian traders as the dominant caravan runners in the Indus Valley passes. This is based on the 600 Sogdian inscriptions found in this area vs the ten Bactrian inscriptions present that date to this time period (8).

5th century - Sogdians travel from Gansu and Turfan to do small-scale trade with steppe nomadic peoples. Sogdians later begin acting as intermediaries between steppe powers and the Chinese. From these Sogdian and Turkic connections, the Turks received their administrative language and system via the Sogdians (9). 

5th-7th centuries CE - "The Sogdians were the principal long-distance [overland] caravan merchants in Central Asia". A constant flow of Sogdian merchants, craftsmen, and their families settled in Northern China (10).

Mid-6th century CE - Sogdian trade communities, organized and lead by powerful sabao, or caravan chiefs, become a recognized legal entity integrated into the Mandarin system. Sogdians are very familiar to the Chinese and are consistently noted for their prominent facial features, including their distinct beards, eyes, and noses (11).

550 (6th century) - "In Alexandria in 550, the Nestorian Cosmas Indicopleustes pointed out that it was by caravan routes, rather than by sea, that Persia received most of its silk (Cosmas Indicopleustes, II, pp. 45-46)"(12). With Sogdians acting as the primary caravan runners, this trade would likely have taken place under their guidance.

568-575 Menander Protector's history "reports an actual case...of how the Sogdians used their diplomatic influence with the Turks to open up new markets. After failing with the Sasanians, the Sogdian merchants persuaded the kaqan [Khagan, leader of a nomadic confederation, would later shorten to 'Khan'] to get in touch with Byzantium in order to export the thousands of silk rolls which China paid as tribute to the Turks (Menander, tr. Blockley, pp. 115-15)(13).

630s - "...with the campaigns against the Western Turks, the Tang administration poured funds into the Western Regions to support its military efforts. To finance their campaigns, the Tang state collected bolts of cloth in central China and then shipped them to Wuwei and Qinzhou (modern Qin'an), also in Gansu Province, and from there to places farther west, closer to the frontier" (14).

7th Century - "When a trading entrepot under Khazar protection in the Crimea, it bore the name Sogdaia. During this period almost half of the Sasanian and Central Asian silver dishes found near the Urals had gone through Sogdian or Khwarezmian hands, and in the 8th century, three-quarters had done so."(de la Vaissiere, 2000. pp. 368-369)(15)

640-755 - The T'ang government begins sending 10% of its annual receipts to the frontier regions to pay its garrisons. Imports of western manufactured luxury goods increase at this time. The Sogdians profit from this military presence and the injection of goods and currency into the frontier economy (16).

8th Century - Sogdians are the primary horse breeders and dealers in the Ordos region. "Their hold was such that the northern Ordos was called the 'Six Sogdian prefectures,' both in Chinese and in Turkish. The T'ang also employed Sogdians as merchants to accompany them on their military campaigns"(17).

"Immediately after the 640 conquest, the T'ang forces in Turfan probably numbered several thousand. Although we speak of T'ang armies, may of the soldiers were not Chinese but local. The losses of territory in the northwest, including Kucha, to the Tibetans from 670-692 resulted in ever-increasing military expenditures in the eighth century. Du You (735-812), the author of the first comprehensive institutional encyclopedia, put the costs of defending the frontier at two million strings of coins in 713, ten million strings in 741, and fourteen to fifteen million strings in 755. Tang officials combined strings of coin, piculs of grain, and bolts of cloth to create an aggregate accounting unit whose value eludes anyone who has tried to make sense of the internally contradictory figures that survive." (18).

755 - The An Lushan Rebellion - A pivotal point for Sogdians in China. Beckwith postulates that members of the Sogdian merchant network used their influence and access to goods and resources to supply An Lushan in his bid to overthrow the T'ang (19). Vaissiere states that the rebellion "profoundly changed the imperial economy and put an end to the symbiosis under which Sogdian trade had existed for a century"(20). Valerie Hansen explains the climate of the rebellion and post-rebellion period further:

The first great rebellion that shattered the steady peace of the first century and a half of Tang rule occurred in 755, when An Lushan (or An Rokhshan) led a military uprising against the Tang emperor Xuanzong. After conquering Luoyang, An Lushan and the rebels took Chang'an in 755, forcing the emperor to flee the capital with his beautiful consort Yang Guifei. En route to Sichuan, the imperial guard threatened mutiny unless the emperor killed Yang Guifei, and the emperor gave the order to strangle her. He then relinquished the throne in favor of his son....Even though An Lushan was assassinated in 757 and his second-in-command was also assassinated in 761, the rebels maintained a strong presence until the Tang emperor asked the help of the Uighur kaghan, whose troops defeated the rebel army in 763. The Uighurs were allowed to sack the Tang capital as a reward for their services, and they devastated the city.
     When the Tang forces finally regain control of the empire, they took measures against the Sogdians, whom they blamed for the rebellion...Once account of the rebellion recounts that the general Gao Juren, himself ethnically Korean, who wrested control of Beijing from the rebels "ordered that those who killed hu [Iranians, most likely Sogdians] would be richly rewarded. As a result, the jiehu [a sub-set of the hu that An Lushan belonged to, possibly those living in north China] were completely exterminated. Small children were tossed in the air and caught on lances. Those who had big noses like the Sogdians and those who were killed by mistake for this reason were extremely numerous.
     The targeting of Sogdians marked a new and ugly chapter in the history of the Silk Road...no earlier ruler had ever targeted a minority group within the larger Chinese population in this way (21).

Hansen goes on to note that other prominent Sogdian expat communities were not targeted in quite this way in other parts of China. And, in spite of this attack, many Sogdians chose to remain in China rather than take their chances returning to their now-Islamified homeland (22).

Mid-8th to late 9th century - Vaissiere laments that there is little information on this period of time, but that the Sogdian setbacks experienced in China, and the restive period following the Tang victory, must have caused a break in their prominent trade (23).

Beginning of the 9th century - Sogdians find new patrons under the protection of the powerful Uighur Khaghanate, "which until 840 extended all over northern Central Asian and obtained from the weakened Tang enormous deliveries of silk in exchange for horses" (24).

750-840 - Sogdian data from this period about eastern Asia which is used later by Muslim Geographers of the 10th century as sources of reliable descriptions of region (25).

Early 10th Century - Some Sogdian merchants are still mentioned as traveling to China, but after the 10th century, they disappear from the records (26).


Sources:

1) de la Vaissiere, Etienne, “Sogdian Trade,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2004, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdian-trade (accessed 19 October 2015).

2) Ibid.

3) Ibid.

4) Ibid.

5) Ibid.

6) Ibid.

7) Ibid.

8) Ibid.

9) Ibid.

10) Ibid.

11) Ibid.

12) Ibid.

13) Ibid.

14) Hansen, Valerie. The Silk Road: A New History.  Illustrated edition. New York: Oxford, 2012, pg. 107

15) de la Vaissiere, Etienne, “Sogdian Trade,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2004, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdian-trade (accessed 19 October 2015).

16) Ibid.

17) Ibid.

18)  Hansen, Valerie. The Silk Road: A New History.  Illustrated edition. New York: Oxford, 2012, pg. 107.

19) Christopher I. Beckwith. Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, pg. 146.

20) de la Vaissiere, Etienne, “Sogdian Trade,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2004, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdian-trade (accessed 19 October 2015).

21) Hansen, Valerie. The Silk Road: A New History.  Illustrated edition. New York: Oxford, 2012, pg.157-158

22) Ibid, pg 158.

23) de la Vaissiere, Etienne, “Sogdian Trade,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2004, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdian-trade (accessed 19 October 2015).

24) Ibid.

25) Ibid.

26) Ibid.

 

Transoxiana and Sogdiana: The Thrilling Conclusion, Pt. 2

In my last post, I discussed a lot of maps, and I wondered if the place names "Transoxiana" and "Sogdiana" were completely interchangeable. By that, I mean do these two terms refer to the same area. And based upon my research, I have drawn the following conclusion:

Kind of, sort of, maybe.

Here is the map from Empires of the Silk Road again. This map is probably the most helpful map because it lists Transoxiana and Sogdiana together. This map goes the extra mile in demonstrating that Transoxiana is, in fact, a much larger area than Sogdiana. It is the ideal map for this kind of investigation, and I wish other maps would take the hint.

But there is more evidence beyond maps to support my theory that Sogdiana is part of the larger Transoxiana area. There is no shortage of literature describing the borders of Sogdiana. This is a description of Sogdiana's varying borders by Etienne de la Vassiere:

[Sogdiana is an] Iranian-speaking region in Central Asia [stretching] from the rivers Amu Darya in the south to the Syr Dara in the north, with its heart in the valleys of the Zarafsan and the Kaska Darya...Sogdian colonial expansion in the north during the Early Middle Ages led to a Chinese pilgrim in the mid-seventh century to define Sogdiana as the entire region stretching from Lake Issyk Kul in eastern Kyrgyzstan to the Amy Darya (Xuanzang, tr. p. 26). After the ninth century, the name Sogd/al-Sogd was restricted to the rural area between Samarkand and Bukhara (Ebn Hawqal, p. 492; on Sogdian geography, see Barthold).(1)

 And here is a description of the borders of Transoxiana from The Cambridge History of Iran. 

Turan, or Transoxiana, was there vaguely defined as the area between the Oxus River and Khotan "on the frontiers of China"...Today Transoxiana would be the roughly rectangular area between the Amu Darya (Oxus) and the Syr Darya (Jaxartes) rivers, which flow into the Aral Sea from the Pamir and Tien Shan mountain ranges respectively.(2)

And, for my final pieces of evidence, I present two quotes from the Hudud al-Alam ('The Regions of the World') describing Transoxiana and its location.

East of this country are the borders of  Tibet; south of it, Korasan and its Marches; west of it, the Ghuz and the borders of the Khallukh; north of it, also the borders of the Khallukh. This is a vast, propserours, and very pleasant country. It is the gate of Turkistan and a resort of merchants.(3)

The second quote from the Hudud al-Alam goes further to describe the region of "Sughd" (this is the same as the aforementioned "Sogd"/"al-Sogd") located in Transoxiana.

Sughd, a region. There is no place among the eastern regions more flourishing than this. It has running waters, many trees, and a good climate. The people are hospitable and sociable. It abounds in amenities, is prosperous, and mild, pious people are numerous there.(4)

The way my investigation is shaping up, it appears that Sogdiana is, in fact, part of the larger area of Transoxiana. However, if any of my dear readers are like me, they will likely be wondering where the confusion came from. I believe I may have an answer for that, as well.

Transoxiana, according to Albert E. Dien, is comprised of three regions: Khorezm, Ferghana, and Sogdiana (5). So, if we refer to this map from Etienne de la Vassiere's Sogdian Traders: A History, we can get a better idea of just what Transoxiana encompasses.

This map displays the areas of Khorezm, Sogdiana, and Ferghana very nicely and prominently. We can also see Bactria, Sogdiana's immediate southern neighbor. What is important to note about these areas, as Dien points out, is that these are all areas with predominantly Iranian-speaking populations.(6) An important characteristic of Sogdiana is that Sogdians were the dominant language group there. And, while Sogdian kings with imperial intentions grew the borders of Sogdiana to encompass Lake Issyk Kul (just north of the Tarim Basin and Tianshan mountains on the above map) all the way to the Amu Darya (7), this does not change the following facts: The Sogdian heartland is in the Sogdian plains, and the larger area of Transoxiana includes Sogdiana as just a part of a larger whole. Border expansion and contraction, along with such closely related languages among related Iranian groups, may have contributed greatly to the jumbling of these terms.

Sogdiana is just a part of the lovely Iranian-language tapestry that is Transoxiana.

In his article on Transoxiana, Vassiere discusses the use and definition of this place name:

Ma wara al-nahr (lit. "What lies beyond the river") [is] the classical designation for Transoxiania or Transoxiana. It was defined by the early Arabic historians and geographers as the lands under Muslim control lying to the north of the middle and upper Oxus or Amu Darya, in contrast to Iran proper and its eastern province of Khorasan, sometimes called Ma dun al-nahr (lit. "what lies this side of the river")...The norther frontiers of Ma wara al-nahr are ill-defined and tended to correspond to the limits of Arab military expansion, but by early Abbasid times (ca. 800 CE) they might be taken to comprise the regions between the Oxus and Jaxartes or Syr Darya, that is, Sogdia, the upper Oxus provinces of Caganiyan, Kottal, and Wakan, Osrusana to the south of the middle Syr Darya; Cac [Chach] or Sas beyond the middle Syr Darya, and Fargana and the vally of the upper Syr Darya.(8)

Sogdiana's borders have variously grown and retracted, just as the definition of Transoxiana has. However, it is clear that Transoxiana has been used to refer to far more land area than Sogdiana, and, depending on the time period being discussed, likely should be properly designated and distinguished in future research to avoid confusion.

It is my hope that this research of the geography of Sogdiana, Transoxiana, and Central Eurasia has provided some insight to the issue of discussing places that have had nebulous, changing borders and inconsistent sources on those borders. I hope my dear readers can get a sense of how difficult it can be to research these areas, even on a question that should be as straightforward and simple as names for regions on a map.

Sources

1) de la Vassiere, Etienne. "Sogdiana iii. - History and Archaeology," Encyclopedia Iranica online edition, 2011. available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdiana-iii-history-and-archeology accessed October 7, 2015

2) Guity, Azarpay, "The Development of Arts in Transoxiana," Cambridge History of Iran: Seleucid, Parthian, and Sassanian Periods. ed. Ehsan Yarshater. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 1130.

3)Unknown, Hudud al-Alam 'The Regions of the World': A Persian Geography 37 A.H - 982 A.D. trans.Vladimir Minorsky. ed. C. E. Bosworth. (London: Gibb Memorial Trust, 2015), 119

4) Ibid.

5) Dien, Albert E. "The Glories of Sogdiana", The Silk Road Foundation. accessed 10/9/2015. http://www.silk-road.com/artl/sogdian.shtml

6) Ibid.

7) de la Vassiere, Etienne. "Sogdiana iii. - History and Archaeology," Encyclopedia Iranica online edition, 2011. available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdiana-iii-history-and-archeology accessed October 7, 2015

8) Bosworth, C. Edmund. "Ma Wara al-Nahr", Encyclopedia Iranica online edition, 2011. available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mawara-al-nahr accessed 10/7/2015

Maps 

MAP 1
Unknown. Premodern Central Eurasia [map]. no scale. In: Christopher I. Beckwith. Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, inside cover.


MAP 2 and MAP 3
Unknown. Central Asia General Map [map]. 3" = 1000 km. In: Etienne de la Vassiere. Sogdian Traders: A History. Leiden: Brill, 2005, 14.

Transoxiana and Sogdiana: A Discussion of Interchangeable Terms pt. 1

While researching Sogdians and their origins, one is likely to come across two names to identify the Sogdian homeland: Sogdiana and Transoxiana. These terms seem to be used interchangeably to refer to the place of origin of the Sogdian people. It was my theory, from my research, that Transoxiana referred to a larger area than just that of Sogdiana. This entry will discuss my investigation and research into this topic.

When tackling a topic dealing with Geography, the go-to item anyone would want to look for are maps. Now, I'm not an expert on maps. And, while I am fairly adept at Political Geography, I am not a Geographer and I do not possess an extensive knowledge of map terminology. But, what I am here to tell you is that finding good, authoritative maps of Transoxiana and Sogdiana is not easy. In the Age of the Internet, anyone can create maps for Wikipedia, and the researcher investigating a topic like this will often find maps of unknown origin, with no citation for the original creator of the map or even an idea of what the creator used to inform their creation of the map. One hopes it is scholarly, but that cannot be ascertained with any certainty unless the artist creating it cites the sources of their information.

There is also the problem of the types of maps produced. Some will be historic maps displaying the topography of the region and giving the historic city and regional names. Others will show modern political borders with no names and a colored in area where the historic region was located. Here are some examples below: 

MAP 1

The map of Sogdiana found on Wikipedia's Sogdiana page. It yields few clues about the modern countries the region of Sogdiana straddled, and gives no topography to indicate the rivers that were so important as the natural boundaries of Sogdiana. Source: Wikimedia Commons

MAP 2

This map can be found on Wikipedia's Transoxiana page. Despite being on the Transoxiana page, the map does nothing to indicate where Transoxiana might be located, nor does it even display the name of Transoxiana. Granted, this map does show the general, historic area of Transoxiana, but without any kind of naming or names of other places of classical period in question, one is at a loss to derive any information from the map except the route of the Amu Darya, the major towns along the Amu Darya, and the modern country names of that region. The file name, as given on Wikimedia Commons, indicates this is a map of the Amu Darya basin and makes no mention of Transoxiana. 

MAP 3

And this map seems to indicate that Sogdiana is part of a larger Transoxiana area, but there are no borders of modern countries to overlap for border comparisons. This map also comes from a site with no reputable sources, nor does it seem to be associated with any sort of well-known academic community or higher education institution. Therefore, while it is probably one of the most helpful maps I have found on the topic, I cannot confirm its authoritative nature without an original source.

But, wait! There's more! I chose three scholarly texts for my research of the topic, and the maps included in the texts only add to the confusion:

MAP 4

This is one map from Valerie Hansen's Silk Road: A New History and it is slightly confusing. It places the label for Sogdiana on the other side of the Amu Darya (Oxus), with a line indicating where Sogdiana is (just north of Balkh on this map). I don't like this and I haven't really seen a map drawn like this before. Usually mapmakers can fit Sogdiana into its proper spot, but it looks like the space where the name Sogdiana would usually fit is occupied by the Kizil Kum desert, Samarkand, and the trade route lines. It's a busy map, but it is also somewhat frustrating to look at with Sogdian research in mind.

This map, also from Valerie Hansen's Silk Road: A New History, places Sogdiana back in its proper area, between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya (Oxus and Jaxartes). I actually like this map because it shows classical names for ancient areas while also showing modern country names and political borders. However, if this map had gone the extra mile and just thrown a Transoxiana in there, that would have been great. There is no mention in the index of the Transoxiana place name, so I am going to go out on a limb and just assume Dr. Hansen uses the term Sogdiana as a catch all.

MAP 6

This map from Richard Foltz's Spirituality in the Land of the Noble shows historic borders of the various empires around Iran in the 6th century CE. This map uses neither the name "Sogdiana" or "Transoxiana", but uses the word "Sogdians" around their historical homeland. This is actually very interesting, because using the term "Sogdiana" implies that there is some kind of organized, central authority ruling over some sort of a Sogdian Empire or Sogdian Kingdom, which is just not the case. Sogdian authority was very decentralized, and while regional rulers may have paid homage to a few, far more powerful individuals who ruled larger areas, generally there is no one Sogdian Empire to speak of.

MAP 6

Christopher Beckwith's map from his text Empires of the Silk Road is perhaps the most interesting, since it, like the other found on the internet above, uses the names Transoxiana and Sogdiana. This map seems to identify Sogdiana as part of the larger area of Transoxiana. The map also claims to show pre-modern Central Eurasia. With its authoritative source, this map lends credibility to the other map found online that displayed both Transoxiana and Sogdiana.

So, as we can see from the examples above, trying to determine just what Transoxiana and Sogdiana are in relation to each other based on available maps is murky at best. But what can be done to solve problem of when to use "Transoxiana" and "Sogdiana", and how can we know if the two are completely interchangeable?? I will discuss that in my next post, where I will share my thoughts and conclusions on this topic. 
Continued in Part 2

Sources

Map 1 
Source: Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sogdiana-300BCE.png. Found on Wikipedia Entry: Sogdiana

Map 2
Source: Wikimedia Commons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transoxiana 
Found on Wikipedia Entry: Transoxiana

Map 3
Source: Paradise on Earth: Encyclopedia of Countries and Cities- Transoxiana http://allworldtowns.com/cities/transoxiana.html 

Map 4

Thiede, Alice. The Main Routes Across Eurasia [map]. 1" = 1000 miles. In: Valerie Hansen.  The Silk Road: A New History. Illustrated edition. New York: Oxford, 2012, inside cover.

Map 5 

Thiede, Alice. The Main Routes of the Taklamakan [map]. 1" = 300 miles. In: Valerie Hansen. The Silk Road: A New History. Illustrated edition. New York: Oxford, 2012, back inside cover.

Map 6

Unknown. Iran and its neighbors in the 6th century CE [map]. 1/2" = 250 miles. In: Richard C. Foltz. Spirituality in the Land of the Noble: How Iran Shaped the World's Religions. Oxford: OneWorld, 2008, xviii.

Map 7

Unknown. Premodern Central Eurasia [map]. no scale. In: Christopher I. Beckwith. Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, inside cover.

Welcome to Sogtoberfest!

Camels bearing Sogdian Traders, Tang Dynasty. Source: Ancient Art: Art of Central Asia

Greetings to all on this, the first day of Sogtoberfest! If you have been following my Facebook page, you may have seen the build-up to this event. However, if you are a newcomer, I will briefly lay out my introduction to the Sogtoberfest celebration.

1.) What is Sogtoberfest about?
Sogtoberfest was an idea I had awhile back to raise awareness of the Sogdian people and, more specifically, Sogdian commerce and influence on the Silk Routes. Outside of scholarly circles, many people have little to no idea what a Sogdian is, let alone what they did or the way they left their mark on world history. It is with this in mind that I have sought to bring light to Sogdian accomplishments through my blog to my dear readers.

2.) Who were the Sogdians?
To be brief, the Sogdians were a group of Iranian-speaking peoples that settled in the area between the Oxus and Jaxartes Rivers (Amu Darya and Syr Darya). The Sogdians are attested in Achaemenid sources around the 6th century BCE (1). However, the area that the Sogdians inhabited showed signs of pre-Sogdian settlement as early as the 4th-3rd millennium BCE, at the site of Sarazam. The second site of early settlement was in the 15th century at Kok Tepe (2). The latter settlement at Kok Tepe endured "throughout the Iron Age, until the arrival from the north of the Iranian-speaking populations that were to become the Sogdian group" (3). Kok Tepe declined with the establishment of nearby Samarkand by the Sogdians (4). While no exact date can be ascribed to the arrival of the Sogdians, the Sogdians are named in the Younger Avesta as inhabiting an area called Gava, which correlates to Sogdiana (5). Etienne de la Vassiere notes that the Sogdian people have been attested in primary sources from the 6th c. BCE all the way down to the 10th c. CE, which is a whopping fifteen centuries of continuous existence as a distinct group (6).

Map of the location of Sogdiana. Note the presence of the Amu Darya on the left and the Syr Darya (not labeled) on the right. Source: Coins of Central Asia

3) What did the Sogdians do that was so important?
That is what we'll be discussing in-depth all month long! But in short, the Sogdian merchants were the primary caravan runners of the Silk Routes from the 5th - 8th centuries BCE (7). But beyond this, they served as intermediaries between cultures, which lead to the Sogdians providing the means by which Buddhism, Manichaeism, Christianity moved along the Silk Routes. Their influence on writing is still felt today as the Sogdian script, by way of Uighur transmission, endures as the written form of the modern Mongolian script. Though their surviving written records are few, their art and their influence on art of the time was profound. However, the subject of Sogdian art is vast and will require its own entry for further investigation.

An example of Mongol script. Source: Wikimedia Commons

I hope this has been an adequate introduction to Sogtoberfest and I hope everyone enjoys what I have in store for the blog. I wish you all a happy Sogtoberfest, and I am looking forward to this celebration.



Sources

1) De la Vassiere, Etienne. Sogdian Traders: A History. Trans. by James Ward. Vol. 10. Brill, 2005. pg. 2.

2) De la Vassiere, Etienne. "Sogdiana iii. History and Archaeology," Encyclopedia Iranica, online edition 2011. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdiana-iii-history-and-archeology

3) Ibid.

4) Ibid.

5) Ibid.

6) De la Vassiere, Etienne. Sogdian Traders: A History. Trans. by James Ward. Vol. 10. Brill, 2005. pg. 2

7) De la Vassiere, Etienne. "Sogdian Trade," Encyclopedia Iranica, online edition 2004. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sogdian-trade

Picture sources from Wikimedia Commons and from Taiyo Ltd: Ancient Art Gallery.