Abbasid Caliphate (749–1258), the hereditary dynasty of Caliphs, established by as-Saffrah (750–754), and from 762 on resident at Baghdad. Mongol Ilkhan Hulagu ended the dynasty with the sack of Baghdad in 1258.
Achaemenid (descendants of Achaemenes). The royal family of the Great Kings of Persia (559–329 BC).
Afanasievo culture (3300–2500 BC) is the archaeological culture on the steppes and grasslands west of the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia. The Afanasievo people were genetically and linguistically immigrants of Yamnaya Indo-Europeans who became the ancestors of the Tocharian speakers of the Tarim Basin.
Ahura Mazda, the supreme god of creation in Zoroastrianism.
Alans were Iranian-speaking Sarmatians who settled on the steppes north of the Caucasus in the first century BC. In 375, many Alans submitted to the Huns, while others, along with Goths, migrated west. These Alans entered the Roman Empire as allies of the Vandals in 406–407.
Altaic Languages. A family of languages with common agglutinative grammar and syntax, vowel harmony, and vocabulary. The major branches are Finno-Ugric, Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic. The Korean and Japanese languages may also be branches of this language family.
Amber Road, overland routes between the lands of the Baltic and the lands of the Mediterranean and Black Seas since the Bronze Age (2200–1500 BC) over which amber and the products of the northern forests and Arctic lands were exported south. Pliny the Elder (23–79) first described the route in his Natural History.
An Lushan Rebellion (755–762) was raised by the Tang general An Lushan (of mixed Sogdian-Turkish origin) against the emperor Xuanzong (712–756). The revolt, even though it failed, wrought great destruction throughout China, and compelled the emperor to withdraw garrisons from the Western Regions (Tarim Basin).
Anatolian Languages, the first language family to diverge from Proto-Indo-European in ca. 4000–3800 BC. Speakers of these languages who migrated into Asia Minor in ca. 2500–2300 BC were ancestors to the historic languages of Hittite (Neshite), Luvian, and Palaic.
anda is a sworn blood brother in Turkish and Mongolian society.
Andronovo culture (2000–1450) is the archaeological complex of sites on the Middle Eurasian steppes (today Kazakhstan) that was home to the Indo-Aryan-speaking nomads whose descendants migrated into the BMAC of Transoxiana.
Arsacid (descendants of Arsaces) is the royal family of the Kings of Parthia (246 BC–227 AD).
Aryan < Sanskrit arya, “noble.” (1) Designation of related languages that has been replaced by Indo-European languages. (2) Speakers of Sanskrit who entered India in ca. 1500–1000 BC.
Aryavarta, “Aryan homeland,” comprises the lands of the Upper Indus and Ganges Rivers that are home to the sacred cities of Hinduism.
Ashina < Sogdian “blue,” designates the royal clan among the Gök Turks descended from the brothers Bumin (551–552) and Ishtemi (553–575).
Avars founded the first confederation of Turkish-speaking tribes on the eastern Eurasian steppes (557–798). They are known as Juan-Juan or Rouran in Chinese sources. In 551–552, Bumin, Kaghan of the Gök Turks, overthrew the Rouran Kaghanate (330–551). The Avars, kinsmen of the Rouran, migrated west to establish a new kaghanate on the Pannonian plains (580–796).
Avesta, the compilation of the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism. The Persian language of the texts known as Avestan shares close similarities to the Sanskrit of the Rig-Vedas.
Bactria, today northern Afghanistan, the fertile region of the upper Oxus River (Amu Daryu); the principal city Bactra (Balkh) has been the nexus of routes of the Silk Road between Central Asia and India.
Balghasun (or Karabalghasun), capital of the Uyghur Kaghanate (744–840). The city was sacked by the rebel Kyrgyz tribes from the upper Yenisei valley, and abandoned in 840.
Bamyan Buddhas were two colossal statues Vairocana (175 feet high) and Sakyamuni (120 feet high) carved out of living rock in 507 and 554, respectively, in the Bamyan Valley, 140 miles northwest of Kabul. They were destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001.
bashlyk is the distinctive nomadic felt cap.
BMAC, Bactria-Margiane Archaeological Complex (2300–1700 BC), was the agricultural culture centered on the lower Oxus valley revealed by archaeology that was in contact with Sumer and Meluhha. The earliest Indo-Iranian speakers migrated there from the lower Volga River.
Brahmi, the oldest alphabetic script employed in India, and based on Aramaic scripts of the Near East. The earliest inscriptions using the script date from the reign of Ashoka (268–232 BC).
Brahmin, in Hinduism, the first or priestly caste; see varna.
Caliph is the successor to the umma (community of Muslim believers). The first four Rashidun Caliphs were elected by a college. In 661, Muawiya (661–680) established the first line of hereditary caliphs.
caravansary, walled quarters, stables, and storage rooms constructed and maintained by the Turkish Muslim rulers, for the benefit of caravans. The upkeep of the caravansaray was paid by the profits of a foundation (vakif in Turkish; waqf in Arabic).
caste. See varna.
cataphracus (plural cataphracti), “lancers,” heavily armored shock cavalry wearing chain mail or lamellar armor. This heavy cavalry, first attested among the Sarmatians, was adopted by the Romans in the reign of Hadrian (117–138).
Cathay. Medieval European name for China; it was derived from a misunderstanding of Khitan, Mongolian-speaking nomadic rulers of northern China who ruled as the Liao dynasty (907–1125).
Centum Languages are those western language families that evolved out of Proto-Indo-European in 3000–2500 BC. These language families share common changes in sound and morphology. These include the language families of Celtic, Italic, Germanic, and Balkan Indo-European languages (the putative mother language for later Greek, Macedonian, Phrygian, Illyro-Thracian languages, and possibly Armenian).
Chagataid are descendants of Khan Chagatai (1226–1242), second son of Genghis Khan and rulers of the central Eurasian steppes and Transoxiana.
chanyu, “son of endless sky,” was the title of the ruler of the Xiongnu reported by Han and Song Chinese sources. In the early fifth century AD, the title was abandoned, and steppe nomadic rulers henceforth styled themselves as khan.
Chinggisids are descendants of Genghis Khan (1206–1227).
Cumans, Ghuzz or Western Turkish-speaking nomads and scions of the Kipchak Turks, migrated from the central Eurasian steppes, into the Pontic-Caspian steppes in the eleventh century. At the Battle of Leveunium (1091), in alliance with the Byzantine emperor Alexius I (1081–1118), they annihilated the Pechenegs. Also called Polovtsy or Polovtsians.
cuneiform, the first writing system, devised by the Sumerians in ca. 3500–3100 BC. The wedge-shaped writing was inscribed by a stylus on wet clay.
dharma, in Hinduism, the moral law that dictates the cycle of reincarnation.
dhimmi, in Islam, members of protected religious communities of the book, who practiced their faith upon payment of a special tax (jizya). They were originally Jews and Christians; later Sabians (polytheists of Harran) and Zoroastrians were so protected.
digvijaya. The ceremonial royal progress made by an Indian maharaja atop an elephant.
Doab, the fertile lands between the Punjab and the upper Ganges and Yammu Rivers; Delhi and Agra are in the Doab.
Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171), Shi’ite Caliphs who claimed descent from Fatimia, daughter of the prophet Muhammad and wife of Caliph Ali (656–661). In 969, the Fatimid Caliphs ruled from Cairo, in Egypt, and protected the Holy Cities of Medina and Mecca.
Finno-Ugric Languages constitute a family of the Altaic languages. The language family includes Magyar (Hungarian), Estonian, Finnish, and the Samoyedic languages of Siberia.
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907–960) were the rival kingdoms ruling in China between the Tang (618–907) and Song Dynasty (960–1279).
foederatus, plural foederati, “federates,” barbarian military units commanded by their own leaders who fought as allies of the Roman Empire in the later fourth and fifth centuries AD.
Gansu (or Hexi) Corridor, the narrow zone between the Eurasian steppes and the Tibetan highlands that connects China with the Tarim Basin.
ger. Portable home mounted on wheels and made of felt over lattice frame. See yurt.
ghazi, the heroic, nomadic warrior prized by Turks.
Ghaznavid (963–1186), a dynasty of Turkish slave emirs, who ruled from Ghazna (Afghanistan) over Transoxiana and Iran, and raided northern India.
ghulam (plural ghilman), “possession,” Arabic word for slave soldiers, usually of Turkish origin. See mamluk.
Ghurid Sultans (1148–1210), of Iranian origin, used Turkish mamluks and tribal regiments to establish the first Muslim sultanate in northern India. They clashed with the rival Khwarazmian Shahs for control of Transoxiana and Iran.
Ghuzz Turks, speakers of Western Turkish or Oghuz languages, who emerged on the central Eurasian steppes between the ninth and eleventh centuries. They included Seljuk Turks, Cumans, and Kipchak Turks.
Gog and Magog, figures (or nations) in Ezekiel, Revelation, and the Koran, whose arrival marked the great wars leading to the final days of the Apocalypse. Since the fifth century, Christian, and then Muslim, writers identified them with the nomadic invaders of the Eurasian steppes.
Gök Turks, “sky Turks,” overthrew the Rouran Khanate in 551–552. Khan Bumin established the senior Gök Turk Kaghanate (551–744). His brother Ishtemi (551–575) established the junior Western Turk Kaghanate (553–659) on the central and western Eurasian steppes. In 681, after ending the Tang Chinese overlordship, the Western Kaghanate was reconstituted as the Confederation of the Ten Arrows (On Ok Turks).
Golden Horde (1240–1502), the Western Mongol ulus established by Khan Batu; see also Jochids.
Gupta Empire (320–550), the second great empire of India founded by Chandragupta I (319–335). The Gupta emperors patronized Sanskrit letters, and Hinduism, and ended Kushan rule in northern India.
Han Dynasty ruled imperial China as the Former or Western Han (206 BC–9 AD), and then as the restored Later or Eastern Han (25–220). The usurper Wang Mang, who overthrew the Former Han dynasty, failed to establish his own Xin Dynasty (9–25).
Hephthalites, “White Huns,” were Tocharian-speaking nomads, driven from the eastern Eurasian steppes by the Northern Wei emperors of China and Rouran kaghans. They founded an empire embracing the western Tarim Basin, Transoxiana, and northern India in 408–560.
Hexi corridor; see Gansu corridor.
Hinayana Buddhism, “the Lesser Wheel,” represents those Buddhist ascetics who rejected the doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism, and adhered more closely to the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (563–483 BC).
Huns, the first Altaic-speaking nomads who conquered the Pontic-Caspian steppes in ca. 375, and, under Attila (434–453), forged a great barbarian empire from the Rhine to the Volga River that challenged the Roman Empire. The Huns were probably descendants of subject or allied tribes of the Northern Xiongnu.
Ilkhan, “loyal khan,” title granted by Kublai Khan to his brother Hulagu (1256–1265) in 1260. It was carried by his descendants the Ilkhanates (1265–1353), who ruled over Iran, Iraq, and Transoxiana.
Indo-Scythians; see Sacae.
Jade Gate. The name for the strategic Yumen Pass on the Silk Road that connects the Tarim Basin to China.
Jazyges (or Iazgyes) were Sarmatians who settled as allies of Rome on the eastern Pannonian grasslands west of Dacia in the mid-first century AD.
jihad, in Islam, holy war.
Jin Dynasty; see Jurchens.
Jinshi, the highest level of mandarin officials in the Song examination system (960–1279).
Jochids are the descendants of Jochi, first son of Genghis Khan and Börte (1181–1227). Jochi was considered the illegitimate son of a Merkit captor of Börte. Batu (1227–1256), son of Jochi, founded the Western Mongol ulus or Golden Horde.
Jurchens were Tungusic-speaking peoples of Manchuria who overthrew their overlords the Khitans, and ruled northern China under the Chinese dynastic name Jin, “golden,” (1115–1234). The Jurchen emperors exercised a loose hegemony over the Mongol tribes.
kaghan (“khan of khans”) denoted in Turkish a great royal figure ruling over many subordinate khans.
Karakhanid Kaghanate (840–1212) was a Turkish confederation on the central Eurasian steppes that ruled Transoxiana from Kashgar and Samarkand. They converted to Islam in 934.
Karakhitans (1123–1218) were the Sinicized Khitans who migrated to the central Eurasian steppes and so escaped the rule of the Jurchens. In 1141, Kara-Khitan Kaghan Yelü Dashi (1124–1143) defeated the Karakhanids and Seljuk Sultan Ahmad Sanjar (118–1153) near Samarkand—a victory that gave rise to the legend of Prester John. Also called the Western Liao; see also Khitans.
Karakorum, located on the Orkhon River, was built by Great Khan Ögedei (1229–1241) as the political capital of the Mongol Empire in 1225–1260.
karma, in Hinduism and Buddhism, the individual merit acquired by an individual by meritorious deeds.
kashik (or kheshig), the bodyguard of 10,000 of the Great Khan of the Mongols.
khan (“king”) was the Turco-Mongolian royal title.
Kharosthi is the Northern Indian alphabet, based on the Aramaic alphabet of the Near East, used to write Sanskrit and vernaculars of Sanskrit.
khatum (“lady”), Mongolian queen.
Khazars, members of the Ashina clan and Western Turk Kaghante, established their own Kaghantate (ca. 670–967) over the Pontic-Caspian steppes. The Khazar court converted to Judaism in the late eighth century. In ca. 965–967, the Khazar capital of Atil was sacked by Prince Sviatoslav of Kiev (964–972) and the Pechenegs.
Khitans were Mongol-speaking conquerors who ruled northern China under the Chinese dynastic name of Liao (907–1125). They were overthrown by their vassals the Jurchens.
Khwarazm (or Khwarezm) is the fertile delta lands of the lower Oxus River (Am Darya) flowing into the Aral Sea; the lands have been home to important caravan cities since the fifth century BC.
Khwarazmian Shahs (1077–1231) were Persian-speaking Sunni Muslim rulers appointed as governors of Khwarazm by the Seljuk Sultans. After 1156, the Khwarazmian Shahs clashed with the Ghurids over domination of former Ghaznavid lands in Iran and Transoxiana.
Kipchak Turks, Ghuzz or Western Turkish-speaking nomads who dominated the central Eurasian steppes in the eleventh through early thirteenth centuries. They submitted to Mongol Khan Batu in 1238–1241, and constituted the majority of tribes of the Golden Horde.
kshatriya, in Hinduism, the second caste of warriors; see varna.
kurgan is a stone-and-earth tumulus raised as a monumental grave on the Pontic-Caspian steppes and central Eurasian steppes from the Bronze Age to the thirteenth century AD. The kurgans of Scythians, between the sixth and fourth centuries BC, have yielded the richest burial goods.
kurultai (or khuriltai) was the national council of Mongols summoned to elect the khan or to declare war or to conclude peace.
Kushans were the Tocharian-speaking emperors who forged an empire embracing the Central Eurasian steppes, Transoxiana, and nothern India (30–230). They promoted Buddhism, and trade along the Silk Road. See also Yuezhi.
lamellar armor was an armor of overlapping plates sewed together, and often worn as a second protective armor over chain mail armor.
Liao Dynasty; see Khitans.
limes, originally, designated a Roman military highway. The term came to designate the political and cultural boundary between imperial Rome and the foreign peoples (gentes externae).
magister militum, “master of the soldiers,” supreme commander of field armies in the Roman Empire. From the reign of Constantine I (306–337), commanders of the cavalry (magister equitum) and infantry (magister peditum) commanded regional field armies. After 395, the supreme commander of both arms was henceforth designated magister militum, one for the Western and one for the Eastern Roman Empire.
Magyars are Finno-Ugric-speaking nomads who migrated from the Siberian forests east of the Urals to the Pontic-Caspian steppes in the ninth century. In 896, they settled on the Pannonian grasslands; they are the ancestors of the Hungarians.
Mahayana Buddhism, “of the Greater Wheel,” was the school that emerged in India in the first century BC, stressing the divine status of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama (563–483 BC). The schools of Mahayana Buddhism today are in East Asia (Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea, and Japan).
Mamluk, Arabic “servant.” (1) Turkish slave soldier in Islamic world. (2) Dynasty of Turkish slave soldiers that ruled Egypt (1250–1517). (3) Dynasty of Turkish slave soldiers that ruled the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1290).
Manichaeism, the dualist, monotheistic faith proclaimed by the prophet Mani (216–273), in Sassanid Mesopotamia. The faith was popular among Sogdian merchants of the Silk Road; Tengri Bögü, Kaghan of the Uyghurs (759–779), converted to Manichaeism in 763.
Mauryan Empire (322–185 BC), the first empire of India, established by Chandragupta (320–298 BC). The emperor Ashoka (268–232 BC) converted to Buddhism.
Mawarannahr, “land beyond the river,” the Arabic name for Transoxiana.
maya, in Hinduism, the illusion of the physical world.
Meluhha is the Sumerian name for the earliest urban civilization of India known as the Indus Valley Civilization (2600–1700 BC). Possibly the term is related to Sanskrit Mleccha designating foreign-speaking non-Aryans.
Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) was founded by emperor Hongwu (1368–1398), who expelled the Mongols. The Ming was the last native dynasty of imperial China.
Mitanni were Indo-Aryan speakers who migrated from Transoxiana into northern Mesopotamia in the sixteenth century BC, where they established a kingdom over Hurrian-and Amorite-speaking populations. Their language is closely related to Sanskrit and Avestan Iranian.
Nestorian Christianity (Church of the East), the Christian confession that followed the teachings of Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople (429–431), who taught that Mary gave birth only to the Man Jesus rather than Man and God. The Nestorians, condemned at the Third Ecumenical Council (431), spread their faith across the Silk Road, converting Turkish and Mongol tribes.
Northern Wei Dynasty (386–535) were Sinicized nomadic rulers of northern China and the Gansu corridor. They promoted Buddhism and the Silk Road. They were Turkish-speaking Tuoba, the royal clan of the Xianbei tribes.
Oracle Bones were inscribed divination bones of the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046); they are the first examples of Chinese writing.
ordu (“horde”), Turco-Mongolian army or military encampment.
Orkhon Inscriptions are the earliest memorial inscriptions in Turkish (722), celebrating the deeds of Bilğe Kaghan (716–734) of the Gök Turks, and his minister Tonyukuk (646–726). A distinct runic alphabet is used.
Parthians were an Iranian-speaking tribe that were welded into a kingdom, and then a Near Eastern Empire by the Arsacid kings (246 BC–227 AD).
Pechenegs (or Patzinaks) were Turkish-speaking tribes whose confederation dominated the Pontic-Caspian steppes west of the Don River from ca. 860 to 1091.
Prakrit was the vernacular language of India that evolved out of Sanskrit after 600 BC. Buddhist texts were written or translated into Prakrit.
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed mother language of the Indo-European languages in ca. 6000–5000 BC.
Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC) was founded by Qin Shi Huangdi (257–210 BC), when he unified China in 221 BC.
Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), the last imperial dynasty of China founded by the Manchu conquerors.
qumis, Turkish kumis, Mongolian fermented mare’s milk; nomadic beverage of choice.
Rabatak (Afghanistan) is the site where a Kushan royal inscription in the Bactrian language was discovered in 1993. The Kushan emperor Kanishka I (127–147) gives his genealogy and names the tutelary gods of the empire.
Rajputs (“sons of the king”) were the kshatriya or warrior caste who dominated Western India between the ninth and twelfth centuries.
rammed earth is a construction technique using earth, gravel, lime, and clay. The Qin and Han emperors employed this method to build the Great Wall. The construction is simple, but labor intensive.
Rashidun Caliphs (634–661), the first four elected caliphs from among the immediate associates of Muhammad: Abu Bakr (634–636), Umar I (636–644), Uthman (644–656), and Ali (656–661).
Rashtrakuta (753–982) were Prakrit-speaking kings who united most of southern and central India (or Deccan). They favored Hinduism.
Rig-Vedas, the earliest religious texts of Hinduism. The hymns, written in Sanskrit, have been dated as early as 1500 BC and as late as 600 BC.
Roxolani were Sarmatians who settled on the grasslands between the Carpathian Mountains and the Black Sea in the first century AD.
Sacae (Sakai) were an eastern branch of the Scythians dwelling on the central Eurasian steppes. In 145–135 BC they migrated across Sogdiana and Bactria into the Helmand valley, and then via the Bolan Pass into India in the early first century BC, where they were known as the Indo-Scythians.
Samanid (819–1005) was the family of Iranian emirs who ruled from Bukhara eastern Iran and Transoxiana as the representatives of the Abbasid Caliphate. They defined the visual arts and letters of Eastern Islam.
Sangha, the community of Buddhist believers (laity and ascetics) established by Siddhartha Gautama (563–483 BC).
Sanskrit, the sacred literary language of Hinduism.
Sarmatians were the Iranian-speaking nomads who succeeded the Scythians on the Pontic-Caspian steppes between the third century BC and the third century AD. There tribes included the Alans, Roxolani, and Jazyges.
Sassanid (or Sasanian) was the dynasty of Zoroastrian Shahs of the Neo-Persian Empire (227–651).
Satem Languages, the eastern branch of language families that evolved out of Proto-Indo-European in ca. 3000–2500 BC. The language families share sound changes and morphology. These include the Balto-Slavic and Indo-Iranian language families.
satrapy, a province of the Persian empire (550–329 BC), ruled by a satrap; Darius I (521–486 BC) organized the empire into twenty satrapies.
Scythians, “shooters,” the general name applied by Classical Greeks to the Iranian-speaking nomads on the Eurasian steppes.
Seljuk Turks, the Ghuzz or Western Turks who founded the Seljuk Sultanate (1055–1194) that revived the power of Abbasid Caliphate. Seljuk Turks settled in Asia Minor after the Battle of Manzikert (1071).
Shah-nameh (“Book of Kings”) is the Middle Persian national epic composed by Abu’l-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi (ca. 940–1020).
shaman is a mystic prized for his insights gained by contact with the spiritual world through trances often induced by hallucinogens, notably hashish.
Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BC) is the first historical dynasty of China, centered in the lower and middle Yellow River.
Sharia, Muslim religious law based on the Koran.
Shi’ia; Shi’ite < Arabic “partisan” is the sectarian school of Islam that desired a descendant of Ali (656–661) as the rightful Caliph and so upholds the authority of Ali.
Silk Road (German Seidenestraße), the network of caravan routes across Central Asia that linked China with Europe and the Mediterranean world. The German explorer Ferdinand von Richthofen coined the term in 1877.
Sintashta culture (ca. 2050–1900 BC) is an archaeological culture of the ancestors of the Indo-Aryan speakers on the lower Volga and Ural Rivers. The Indo-Aryans bred the ancestor of the modern horse, and perfected the light chariot.
Strategikon, Byzantine military manual, attributed to the emperor Maurice Tiberius (582–602), with sound recommendations for countering nomadic cavalry.
Sogdiana (or Sogdia) was lands of northern Transoxiana and the Ferghana valley; the Sogdians spoke an eastern Iranian language that was long the commercial language of the Silk Road.
Song Dynasty (960–1279), reunited most of China as the successors of the Tang emperors, and promoted Confucian traditions and perfected the bureaucratic state. The Khitans, and then Jurchens, denied the Song the recovery of northern China.
spolia are architectural elements or sculpture of older buildings recycled into new buildings.
sudra, in Hinduism, the fourth caste of laborers or peasants; see varna.
Sufi < Arabic suf woolen garment; Muslim mystic who follows the Sunni tradition.
Sui Dynasty (581–618), reunited China and founded the third great imperial order; they were immediately succeeded by the Tang Dynasty.
Sunni, “the orthodox,” Muslims who accepted the Umayyad Caliphate of Muawiya (661–680). The majority of Muslims follow Sunni Islam and the authority of the Koran first defined by the uncreated word of God by theologians of Baghdad in the ninth century.
Suren, the hereditary commander of the Drangiana and Arachosia (today western Afghanistan and Pakistan). The Suren had the right to crown the Arsacid King of Parthia. The exploits of the Suren might have inspired the legendary Rustam of the Medieval Persian epic Shahnameh.
sutra is a Buddhist sacred text of aphorisms.
taiga is the forest zone of Siberia.
Tang Dynasty (618–907), founded by emperor Gaozu (618–626), was the greatest imperial family of Classical China.
tantric is the higher moral and mystical interpretation of traditional village rites in either Hinduism or Buddhism.
Tarim Basin comprises the valleys of the tributaries of the Tarim River between the Tien Shan and the Tibetan highlands. The central zone comprises the Taklamakan Desert, and the eastern end is dominated by the salt depression of the Lop Nur. Today known as Xinjiang or Eastern Turkestan, the region was home to caravan cities on the Silk Road.
Ten Arrows (On Ok); see Gök Turks.
Tengri, the sky god, and progenitor of mankind in Turkish and Mongol polytheism, which is sometimes designated Tengrism.
Three Kingdoms (220–280), the period of political division (Wei, Shu, and Wu) in China after the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty.
Tien Shan (“Celestial Mountains”) define the northern boundary of the Tarim Basin (today Xinjiang).
Timurids (1405–1506) are the descendants of Tamerlane (1370–1405), who ruled over Iran and Transoxiana.
Tocharian (Greek Tocharoi) is the name given to two, possibly three related Indo-European languages spoken in the Tarim Basin and used to translate Buddhist texts between the sixth and ninth centuries AD. The ancestors of the Tocharians migrated from the original Indo-European homeland on the Pontic-Caspian steppes to the Altai Mountains and then Tarim Basin in ca. 3700–3500 BC.
Toluids are the descendants of Tolui (1227–1229), the fourth son of Genghis Khan.
Transoxiana, the lands between the Oxus (Amu Darya) and Jaxartes River (Syr Darya); in Antiquity known as Bactria and Sogdiana.
tumen. Mongol military unit of 10,000 men.
tundra is the Arctic zone of Siberia.
Tungusic Languages are a branch of the Altaic language family, and are today spoken in Manchuria and eastern Siberia.
türbe (plural türbeler), the memorial tomb to a pious Muslim ruler or mentor (hoca).
ulema, the religious community of Muslim scholars who interpret sharia.
ulus, “nation,” Turco-Mongolian nation, designating related tribes.
Umayyad Caliphate (6561–750), the first hereditary line of Caliphs established by Muawiya (661–680) and ruling from Damascus.
umma, in Islam, the community of believers as proclaimed by the prophet Muhammad (575–634).
Upper Satrapies. The Greek designation of the satrapies of Bactria and Sogdiana (Transoxiana) in the Achaemenid Empire of Persia (550–329 BC).
Uyghurs (744–840), Turkish-speaking nomads who founded the third Turkish confederation on the eastern Eurasian steppes. They converted to Manichaeism in 763.
vaishya, in Hinduism, the third caste of merchants; see varna.
varna, Sanskrit word (“outward appearance”) that designated the original four castes of Indo-Aryan society described in the Rig-Vedas: Brahmins (priests), kshatriyas (warriors), vaishyas (merchants), and sudras (laborers). Only the first three castes were considered twice-born; the sudras represented the subjected populations.
vihara (“secluded place”), the community of Buddhist ascetics.
Warring States (481–221 BC) were the kingdoms in the period of political disunity in China following the collapse of effective rule by the Zhou Dynasty.
Western Regions (Xiyu), the designation by the Han and Tang emperors of their provinces in the Tarim Basin.
White Huns; see Hephthalites.
Xi Xia were Sinicized Tanguts who had settled in Gansu and Western China in the tenth century as nominal vassals of the Song emperors. With Jingzong (1038–1048), Xi Xia monarchs ruled as Chinese-style emperors who favored Buddhism (1038–1227).
Xia Dynasty (ca. 2100–1600 BC) is the legendary first dynasty of China.
Xinjiang (formerly Sinkiang) or Eastern Turkestan; see Tarim Basin.
Xiongnu (220 BC–53 BC), Altaic-speaking nomads, who forged the first nomadic confederacy on the eastern Eurasian steppes. In 56–53 BC, the Xiongnu divided into the southern and northern Xiongnu.
yabgu (plural yabgular), the subordinate of a khan or kaghan; among the Khazars, the leading commander of the army.
Yamnaya (3300–2000 BC) is the archaeological culture on the Pontic-Caspian steppes. It was the original home of Indo-European-speaking nomads who created the nomadic way of life, invented the gers, and began the domestication of the horse.
yassa, customary Mongol law codified by Genghis Khan (1206–1227); it exalted the authority of the Khan over all other legal and religious authorities.
Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368), “originators,” was the Chinese dynastic name adopted by Kublai Khan (1260–1294) and his successors who ruled China and the Mongolia.
Yuezhi. The Chinese name for Tocharian-speaking nomads who dwelled on the central Asian steppes north of the Tarim Basin. In 155 BC, the Xiongnu drove the Yuezhi west into Ferghana, where Zhang Qian visited them in 128 BC. These Tocharian speakers, called Da Yuezhi (Great Yuezhi) were the ancestors of the Kushans. See also Kushans.
yurt designates the residence and social bonds of the kinship group of a ger. See ger.
Zhou Dynasty (1045–256 BC) was the second imperial dynasty of China, ruling in the early Iron Age. After 481 BC, Zhou emperors lost control over their vassals, and China lapsed into a period of Warring States.
Zoroastrianism is the monotheistic religion of the Iranians, based on the Avesta and so the teachings of Zoroaster, who might have lived in the sixth century BC. The Sassanid Shahs favored Zoroastrianism as reformed by Kartir in the third century AD.