The Ark, fortress walls.
Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

 

 

The fall of the ancient empires of Central Asia and the invasions of the 4th and 5th centuries by wandering tribes from the North predetermined the establishment of a new social order, an intensive feudal system, and the constitution of a great number of semi-independent principalities. It was a period of domination by rich landowners who lived in innumerable fortresses scattered in the plains and mountains. One of the most remarkable characteristics of this renewed social system was the formation of a particular type of medieval culture in the towns, then few in number, and the development of many crafts in different artistic areas.

 

The political dismemberment encouraged the conquest of the region by the Arabs and its submission to the caliphate power from the 7th century. It was at this time that all the countries between the Amu Darya and Zhetysu (previously known as Semirechyez, the Seven Rivers region) was named Mavera-un-Nahr. The south of today’s Turkmenistan became a part of the Khorasan region. From this time, only Khwarezm retained its former name.

 

A part of the patrimony, including mural paintings, sculptures, and representative figures opposed to the Arab laws about ornament, was destroyed during that period, but at the same time, many aspects of artistic life were influenced by Muslim culture.

 

During the 10th through 12th centuries, art was once again faced with many sudden changes. Ancient traditions were abandoned, the development of monumental paintings and sculptures ceased, and the ornamental, decorative style common to all Islamic countries in architecture and the applied arts became the main source of creation. On political grounds, the local noblemen, even if they were nominally subjects of the caliphate, began to conduct their states with total independence from the 9th and 10th centuries.

 

At last, at the beginning of the 11th century, following the numerous Turkmen invasions, the Turkmen dynasties established themselves in this region. This period favoured the development of urban culture and the growth of towns, among which Merv – today abandoned – Samarkand, Khiva, and Bukhara remained representative of the essential spirit.

 

Around 1150, the architecture of Central Asia was monochrome, but in the middle of the 12th century blue brick began to be used and considerable progress was made in the art of building and decorative ornamentation. But the Turco-Mongol invasions at the beginning of the following century put a stop to all artistic development for almost a hundred years.