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Uzbekistan
The Uzbek Period
By 1510 the Uzbeks had completed their conquest of Central Asia,
including the territory of the present-day Uzbekistan. Of the
states they established, the most powerful, the Khanate of Bukhoro,
centered on the city of Bukhoro. The khanate controlled Mawarannahr,
especially the region of Tashkent, the Fergana Valley in the east,
and northern Afghanistan. A second Uzbek state was established
in the oasis of Khorazm at the mouth of the Amu Darya. The Khanate
of Bukhoro was initially led by the energetic Shaybanid Dynasty.
The Shaybanids competed against Iran, which was led by the Safavid
Dynasty, for the rich far-eastern territory of present-day Iran.
The struggle with Iran also had a religious aspect because the
Uzbeks were Sunni (see Glossary) Muslims, and Iran was Shia (see
Glossary).
Near the end of the sixteenth century, the Uzbek states of Bukhoro
and Khorazm began to weaken because of their endless wars against
each other and the Persians and because of strong competition
for the throne among the khans in power and their heirs. At the
beginning of the seventeenth century, the Shaybanid Dynasty was
replaced by the Janid Dynasty.
Another factor contributing to the weakness of the Uzbek khanates
in this period was the general decline of trade moving through
the region. This change had begun in the previous century when
ocean trade routes were established from Europe to India and China,
circumventing the Silk Route. As European-dominated ocean transport
expanded and some trading centers were destroyed, cities such
as Bukhoro, Merv, and Samarqand in the Khanate of Bukhoro and
Khiva and Urganch (Urgench) in Khorazm began to steadily decline.
The Uzbeks' struggle with Iran also led to the cultural isolation
of Central Asia from the rest of the Islamic world. In addition
to these problems, the struggle with the nomads from the northern
steppe continued. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
Kazak nomads and Mongols continually raided the Uzbek khanates,
causing widespread damage and disruption. In the beginning of
the eighteenth century, the Khanate of Bukhoro lost the fertile
Fergana region, and a new Uzbek khanate was formed in Quqon.
Data as of March 1996
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