Produced by Turgut Dincer, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Transcriber’s notes, including explanations of how italic, boldface, and accented text are represented, will be found after the Index. [Illustration: GŪR AMĪR, THE MAUSOLEUM OF TAMERLANE] THE HEART OF ASIA A HISTORY OF RUSSIAN TURKESTAN AND THE CENTRAL ASIAN KHANATES FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES BY FRANCIS HENRY SKRINE FORMERLY A MEMBER OF H.M. INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE AND EDWARD DENISON ROSS, PH.D. PROFESSOR OF PERSIAN AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON WITH 19 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SKETCHES BY VERESTCHAGIN NUMEROUS PHOTOGRAPHS AND 2 MAPS METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET, W.C. LONDON 1899 CONTENTS PART I FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE RUSSIAN OCCUPATION CHAP. PAGE I. EARLIEST TIMES TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER 3 II. BACTRIANS AND PARTHIANS 10 III. THE HUNS AND THE YUÉ-CHI 14 IV. THE SĀSĀNIDES, THE EPHTHALITES, AND THE TURKS 22 V. THE RISE OF ISLAM AND INVASIONS OF THE ARABS 34 VI. THE FIRST EASTERN CAMPAIGNS OF KUTAYBA IBN MUSLIM 45 VII. KUTAYBA’S LAST CAMPAIGNS 56 VIII. KUTAYBA’S FALL AND DEATH 63 IX. KUTAYBA’S SUCCESSORS 67 X. NASR IBN SAYYĀR AND ABŪ MUSLIM 77 XI. KHORĀSĀN UNDER THE FIRST ABBĀSIDS 84 XII. THE CALIPHATES OF EL-MANSŪR, EL-HĀDI, AND HĀRŪN ER-RASHĪD 90 XIII. DECLINE OF THE CALIPHS’ AUTHORITY IN KHORĀSĀN. THE TĀHIRIDES 98 XIV. THE SAFFĀRIDES AND THE RISE OF THE SĀMĀNIDES 103 XV. THE SĀMĀNIDES 109 XVI. THE KARA-KHĀNIDES, OR UÏGHŪRS 114 XVII. THE GHAZNAVIDES AND THE RISE OF THE SELJŪKS 123 XVIII. THE SELJŪKS 129 XIX. SULTAN SANJAR AND THE KARA-KHITĀYS 136 XX. THE KHWĀRAZM-SHĀHS 144 XXI. CHINGIZ KHĀN 149 XXII. MONGOL INVASION OF CENTRAL ASIA 155 XXIII. THE LINE OF CHAGHATĀY 160 XXIV. TĪMŪR, THE GREAT AMĪR 165 XXV. THE SUCCESSORS OF TĪMŪR 173