History of Civilizations of Central Asia - Vol. 2: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations : 700 B.C. to A.D. 250

573 Pages·1994·18.18 MB·english

by  Janos Harmatta

History of civilizations of Central Asia - II
History of civilizations of Central Asia
VolumeI
The dawn of civilization:
earliest times to 700 B.c.
VolumeII
The developmentofsedentary and nomadic civilizations:
700 B.c. to a.d. 250
VolumeIII
The crossroads of civilizations:
a.d. 250 to 750
VolumeIV
The age of achievement:
A.D. 750 to the end ofthe fifteenth century:
PartI:
The historical, socialandeconomicsetting
PartII:
Theachievements
Volume V
Development in contrast:
from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century
Volume VI
Towards contemporary civilization:
from the beginning of the nineteenth century
to the present time
History of
civilizations
of Central
Asia
Volume II
The development of sedentary and
nomadic civilizations:
700 b.c. to A.D. 2}0
Editor; Jdnos Harmatta
Co-editors: B. N. Puri and G. F. Etemadi
UNESCO Publishing
The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation
of the facts contained in this book and for the opinions
expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO
and do not commit the Organization.
The designations employed and the presentation of material
throughout this publication do not imply the expression
of any opinion whatsoever on the part ofUNESCO concerning
the legal status of any country, territory, city or
area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation
of its frontiers or boundaries.
Firstpublished in1994bytheUnitedNations Educational,
ScientificandCulturalOrganization
7placedeFontenoy,75352Paris07SP
ComposedbyUNESCOPublishing,Paris
PrintedbyDarantière, Quétigny
Secondimpression 1996
ISBN92-3-102846-4
©Unesco 1994
PrintedinFrance
Preface
Federico Mayor
Director-General of UNESCO
One ofthe purposes ofUNESCO, as proclaimed in its Constitution, is
'to develop and to increase the means of communication between . . .
peoples and to employ these means for the purposes of mutual
understanding and a truer and more perfect knowledge of each other's lives'.
The History ofthe Scientificand CulturalDevelopment ofMankind, published
in 1968, was a major early response on the part of UNESCO to the task of ena¬
bling the peoples of the world to have a keener sense of their collective destiny
by highlighting their individual contributions to the history of humanity. This
universal history-itselfnow undergoing a fundamental revision - has beenfol¬
lowed by a number ofregional projects, including the GeneralHistory ofAfrica
and the planned volumes on Latin America, the Caribbean and on aspects of
Islamic culture. The History ofCivilizations ofCentralAsia is an integral part
of this wider enterprise.
It is appropriate that the second of UNESCO's regional histories should
be concernedwith Central Asia. For, like Africa, CentralAsia is a regionwhose
cultural heritage has tended to be excluded from the main focus of historical
attention. Yet from time immemorial the area has served as the generator of
population movements within the Eurasian land-mass. The history of the
ancient and medieval worlds, in particular, was shaped to an important extent
by the succession of peoples that arose out of the steppe, desert, oases and
mountain ranges of this vast area extending from the Caspian Sea to the high
plateaux of Mongolia. From the Cimmerians mentioned in Homer's Odyssey,
the Scythians described by Herodotus, the Hsiung-nu whose incursions led the
emperors of China to build the Great Wall, the sixth-century Turks who
extended their empire to the boundaries of Byzantium, the Khitans who gave
their name to ancient Cathay, through to the Mongols who erupted into world
history in the thirteenth century under Genghis Khan, the nomadic horsemen
of Central Asia helped to define the limits and test the mettle of the great civil¬
izations of Europe and Asia.
Preface
Nor is it sufficient to identify the peoples of Central Asia simply with
nomadic cultures. This is to ignore the complex symbiosis within Central Asia
itself between nomadism and settlement, between pastoralists and agricultura¬
lists. It is to overlook above all the burgeoning ofthe great cities ofCentral Asia
such as Samarkand, Bukharaand Khiva, which established themselves in the late
Middle Ages as outstanding centres of intellectual inquiry and artistic creation.
The seminal writings of the philosopher-scientist Avicenna (a native of Buk¬
hara) and the timeless masterpieces of Timurid architecture epitomize the
flowering of medieval culture in the steppes and deserts of Central Asia.
The civilizations of Central Asia did not, of course, develop in a vacuum.
The impact of Islam was pervasive and fundamental. The great civilizations on
the periphery of the Eurasian continent likewise exerted an important influence
on these lands. For some 1,500 years this arid inland sea -farremoved from the
earth's true oceans -was crucial as the route along which merchandise (notably
silk) and ideas flowed between China, India, Iran and Europe. The influence of
Iran-althoughthe core ofits civilization lies in South-WestAsia-was particu¬
larly strong, to the extent that it is sometimes difficult to establish a clear boun¬
dary between the civilization ofthe Iranian motherland and that of the outlying
lands of Central Asia.
To the rich variety of peoples of Central Asia was thus added a multi¬
plicity of external influences. For century after century, the region experienced
the influx of foreign art and ideas, colliding and merging with the indigenous
patterns of Central Asia. Migrations and the recurrent shock of military inva¬
sion, mingling and displacing peoples and cultures, combined to maintain the
vast region in flux.
The systole and diastole of population movements down the ages add to
the difficulty of delimiting a region whose topology alone does not prescribe
clear boundaries. Thus, when, at the nineteenth session of its General Confe¬
rence, UNESCO decided to embark on a History of Civilizations of Central
Asia the first problem to be resolved was to define the scope of the region
concerned. Subsequently, at a UNESCO meeting held in 1978, it was agreed
that the study on Central Asia should dealwith the civilizations ofAfghanistan,
north-eastern Iran, Pakistan, northern India, western China, Mongolia and the
former Soviet Central Asian republics. The appellation 'Central Asia', as
employed in this History, refers to this area, which corresponds to a clearly dis¬
cernible cultural and historical reality.
UNESCO's call to specialists, and particularly to scholars native to the
region, to participate in the undertaking met with a wide and generous res¬
ponse. The project was deemed by academics to be an excellent opportunity to
draw back the curtain that had veiled Central Asia for so long. However, none
were in any doubt as to the huge dimensions of the task.
An ad hoc International Scientific Committee was formed in 1980 to plan
and prepare the work, which it was agreed should cover, in six volumes, the
Preface
history of Central Asia from earliest times to the present day. The Committee's
initial task was to decide where pre-eminence should be given in the very wide
canvas before it. In due course, aproper balance was struck and teams ofeditors
and authors were selected.
The preparation of the History of Civilizations of Central Asia is now
well advanced. The best resources of research and archaeology have been used
to make the work as thorough as possible, and countless annals consulted in
major centres throughout the region. It is my sincere wish that this, the second
volume, and those that follow will bring instruction and pleasure to readers all
over the world.
It remains for me to thank the President, Rapporteur and members of the
International Scientific Committee, and the editors, authors and teams of spe¬
cialists who have collaborated to shed new light on Central Asia with this
detailed account of its vital and stirring past. I am sure it will prove a notable
contribution to the study and mutual appreciation of the cultures that are the
common heritage of mankind.
k^y
Contents
Description of the project
Mohammad S. Asimov, President, International Scientific Committee . 11
Members of the International Scientific Committee . . . .15
List of contributors . . . . . . .17
Introduction /. Harmatta . . . . . .19
1 Ancient Iranian nomads in western Central Asia
A. Abetekov and H. Yusupov ...... 23
2 Media and Achaemenid Iran M. A. Dandamayev . . .35
3 Alexander and his successors in Central Asia
A. H. Dani and P. Bernard ...... 67
4 The Greek kingdoms of Central Asia P. Bernard . . .99
5 Parthia G. A. Koshelenko and V. N. Pilipko . . . .131
6 Nomads in eastern Central Asia N. Ishjamts . . . .151
7 The Yüeh-chih and their migrations
K. Enoki, G. A. Koshelenko and Z. Haidary . . .171
8 The Sakas and Indo-Parthians B. N. Puri (cid:9) 191
9 The culture of the Xinjiang region Ma Yong and Wang Binghua . 209
10 The Western Regions under the Hsiung-nu and the Han
Ma Yong and Sun Yutang ...... 227
11 The Kushans B. N. Puri (cid:9) 247
12 Economy and social system in Central Asia in the Kushan age
A. R. Mukhamedjanov ....... 265
13 Cities and urban life in the Kushan kingdom
B. A. Litvinsky . . . . . . . .291
14 Religions in the Kushan Empire
/. Harmatta, with the contributions ofB. N. Puri, L. Lelekov,
S. Humayun and D. C. Sircar...... 313
15 Kushan art
G. A. Pugachenkova, S. R. Dar, R. C. Sharma andM. A.Joyenda,
in collaboration with H. Siddiqi ..... 331
16 Languages and scripts in Graeco-Bactria and the Saka kingdoms
/. Harmatta ........ 397
17 Languages and literature in the Kushan Empire /. Harmatta . 417
18 States in north-western Central Asia N. N. Negmatov . 441
19 The nomads of northern Central Asia after the invasion
of Alexander
Y. A. Zadneprovskiy ....... 457
20 The rise of Sasanian Iran
B. A. Litvinsky, with the contri,butions ofM. Hussain Shah and
R. Shabani Samghabadi 473
Conclusion /. Harmatta 485
Maps ..... 494
Bibliography and references . 511
Index ..... 555