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Turkic-speaking peoples established kingdoms in Central Asia - A.D. 600
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Chinese armies conquered Central Asia.
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Arabic speakers brought the Islamic faith to Central Asia when they invaded in A.D. 700. In A.D. 751 They defeated the Chinese.
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In 1218 Mongols, led by Genghis Khan. began ruling over Central Asia for 200 years. They destroyed many cities and irrigation systems.
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Timur was a turkish speaking Mongol, he was also known as Tamerlane. He rose to power in the 1300s, his reign lasting from 1370 to 1405. He supported art, literature, and science; and built gardens, mosques, and palaces.
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In the late 1400s Europeans begain to sail to East Asia, avoiding the Silk Road. Trade through Central Asia declined.
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Empire broke up into city states.
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In the mid-1800s Russia conquered and colonized Central Asia. It began in the North and traveled South. Russians built railroads, which helped to create a stronger military presence between India, which was under British control, and Russia. The railroads also offered easier access to the region's resources. Cotton and oil production expanded.
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The Soviet goverment took power after the Russian Revolution in 1917. Soviets drew new political boundaries that separated people and resources to weaken resistance. Central Asian countries were now called republics, but were fully under the control of the Soviets. Russians migrated into the regions, bringing in several millions of people.
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The Soviet Union collapses in 1991 and the republics of Central Asia declared their independence.
