Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of Central Asia »

Rafis Abazov is an adjunct professor at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University. He worked as a Central Asian regional analyst for Moscow-based news agencies and newspapers and contributed annual analytical reports on Central Asia to various international analytical research centers, including the Freedom House and Transition-on-Line. He has published three books, including Historical Dictionary of Kyrgyzstan and Historical Dictionary of Turkmenistan and contributed a number of articles to edited volumes, including about 50 articles to various encyclopedias.

The first comprehensive atlas of a region of growing importance

Preface     vii
General Key to the Maps     xi
Acronyms and Abbreviations     xiii
Changes in Geographical Names     xv
Introductory Maps
Physical Characteristics
Political Characteristics
Natural Resources
Demography
Central Asian Cultures
Early History, Sixth Century B.C. To Sixth Century A.D.
Political Map of the Ancient World
Bactria, Sogdiana, Margiana and Khwarezm, Sixth to Third Centuries B.C.
Alexander the Great and the Greek Influence in Central Asia
Parthian Empire and the Kushans
Sassanid Empire, Third to Seventh Centuries
Early Turkic Empires
Religions in Central Asia: Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Christianity
International Trade and the Beginning of the Great Silk Road
Islamic Golden Age, Seventh to Twelfth Centuries A.D.
The Political Map of Central Asia in the Middle Ages
The Arab Conquest of Central Asia
Consolidation of the Caliphate's Political Influence
The Samanids (875-999)
The Karakhanid State (999-1140)
The Seljuks (ca. 1038-1194)
The Rise and Collapse of Khwarezm
International and Major Trade Routes in Central Asia
The Mongols and The Decline of Central Asia
The Mongol Invasion of Central Asia
Central Asia under the Mongols
Disintegration of the Mongol Empire
Timur (Tamerlane) and the Timurid Empire in Central Asia
Disintegration of the Timurid Empire
The Rise of the Uzbek Khanate
Bukhara and the Khwarezm Khanates. The Kazakhs and Turkomans
The Era of Colonialism and Nation-State Building
Central Asia and the Major Colonial Powers in the EighteenthCentury
Russian Colonization of the Kazakh Steppe
Russian Colonization of Central Asia
Early Administrative Division of Central Asia
Administrative and Political Changes in the Early Twentieth Century
The Bolshevik Revolution
Creation of the Turkistan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
Civil War in Central Asia
Nation-State Delimitation in Central Asia, 1924-1926
Administrative and Political Changes in Central Asia, 1926-1936
Economic Changes in Central Asia
Post-Communism and Independence
Interethnic Conflicts and the Collapse of the USSR
Independent Kazakhstan
Independent Kyrgyzstan
Independent Tajikistan
Independent Turkmenistan
Independent Uzbekistan
Ethnic Composition and Major Territorial Disputes
Central Asia and the War on International Terrorism
Border Disputes in the Farghona Valley
Major Oil and Gas Pipeline Proposals
Transportation Routes
Selected Bibliography     113
Index     121
About the Author     125