Choresmies

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Khorezmia and the neighboring regions of Khorasan and Transoxania in Central Asia
The large oasis of Choresm south of the Aral Sea (satellite image from 2009)

Choruses or Khoresms ( Persian / Arabic خوارزم; DMG Ḫ v ārazm or Ḫwārizm; Uzbek xorazm; in English texts transcribed as Khwãrezm) is a (historical) landscape in western Central Asia , south of the Aral Sea .

From the 17th century the name Khanat Khiva became established for the empire existing in Khoresmia .

Geography and population

Today it is a large oasis , partly belonging to Uzbekistan , partly to Turkmenistan, on the lower reaches and the mouth of the Amudarja (the ancient Oxus ), which borders the Aral Sea in the north and the Karakum deserts in the south and Kyzylkum in the east as well as the Ustyurt plateau is bounded in the west. Historical neighboring provinces in Islamic times were Khorasan in the south and Transoxania in the east.

For a long time the capital (after Kath and before Khiva ) was Gurganj, today's Köneürgenç ("Old Urganch") in the far north of Turkmenistan. The city is not to be confused with the city of Urganch, which emerged in the second half of the 19th century in what is now Uzbekistan.

Until the (complete) ethnic and linguistic Turkishization of Choresm, which was completed in the late Middle Ages, the Iranian Choresmians formed the main population group in the region.

history

prehistory

Finds from the Neolithic , Bronze Age, and Early Iron Ages show activity in the area.

antiquity

The extremely fertile and intensively cultivated large oasis of Choresm with the help of irrigation canals belonged to the centers of high human culture early on and formed no later than the 6th century BC. The nucleus of an independent Khorezmian kingdom, whose rulers carried the title of Khorezm Shah . The remote country, which is also regarded as the early center of the Zoroastrian religion (mentioned in the Avesta ; Zoroaster is said to have evangelized the Choresmian king Vishtaspa in 588 BC), was probably already incorporated into the Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus II and then formed (according to Herodotus ) under Dareios I. together with Parthia , Sogdia and Aria the XVI. Satrapy . However, the rule of the Persians did not last long: Khorezm soon regained its independence and was able to assert it against Alexander the Great , to whom (according to Arrian ) the Khorezmian king Pharasmanes (Farasman) in 328 BC. BC even confidently offered an alliance. Since the fourth century BC, the choresm language has also been written with its own script , which is related to Aramaic .

A typical fortress of the Afrighiden period: Ayaz-Qala

In the second century BC The country had to struggle with invading nomads, but was able to recover around the birth of Christ, which can be seen, among other things, at the beginning of its own coinage, which is initially still strongly influenced by Parthian and Bactrian models and shows corrupt Greek legends. A little later, however, there were also inscriptions in the Chorzmic language from which the names of some rulers were known. In the first and second centuries AD, Khorezm seems to have belonged to the Kushan empire , although this is controversial. It is believed that King Vasamar from the (according to al-Biruni ) ruling Afrighid dynasty since 305 finally liberated the country from Cushan rule. The heyday of the pre-Islamic chorus began in the third century, which apparently could not be subjugated by the Sassanids , the Hephthalites or the Gök Turks . Excavations by Soviet archaeologists (such as SP Tolstow ) have provided evidence of a highly developed choresmic culture, with the performing arts (monumental buildings, painting) in particular showing the craftsmanship and originality. Irrigated agriculture was the basis for the prosperity of the Choresmians. Mainly vegetables, fruit, grain, wine and cotton were grown.

middle Ages

The 14th century Tura Beg Chanum mausoleum in Gurganj (2009)

In 712 Khorezm fell to the Arabs , whereupon it was gradually Islamized as the fringe province of the caliphate empire . From the 10th century the country was then ruled successively by the Samanids , Mamunids (independent Khorezm Shahs ), Ghaznavids , Altuntaschids (independent Khorezm Shahs), Oghuz and Great Seljuks until it regained its independence during the 12th century and under the Khorezm Shahs from the Anushteginid dynasty even became the prosperous center of a powerful empire, which under Shah Ala ad-Din Muhammad II (1200–1220) encompassed all of Iran , Transoxania and today's Afghanistan . At the same time, the Persian culture experienced a new high point, which lasted only a short time, since in 1220 the Mongols under Genghis Khan devastated Khorezm and its flourishing capital and incorporated it into their empire .

At the end of the 14th century, Timur Lenk began his conquests with a war against Khorezm. It took five campaigns before he could finally conquer the country in 1388. The meanwhile rebuilt capital Gurganj was completely destroyed again, from which it should never fully recover (in favor of Chiwas).

After his election as Khan of the Uzbeks in 1429, Abu'l-Chair conquered Khorezm and the city of Gurganj.

Modern times: The Khiva Khanate

1511 a new dynasty came to power: The Arabšāhiden who were also called Yādgāriden and who - like Muhammad Shaybani - on Jochi appealed. In addition to the oasis area on the Amur Darya, Khorezmia also included the north of the Kopet-Dag and Marw . In 1538 Ubaidullah , the Abulkharid ruler of Bukhara / Transoxania, conquered the country, but soon had to withdraw again. From 1595–98 the Uzbek Khan Abdullah occupied the area. In the period that followed, there were reciprocal attempts at conquest between the Khiva / Khorezmia Khanate and the Uzbek Khanate Bukhara ; In 1681 the Choresmians were able to occupy Bukhara for a short time.

In 1592 - according to other sources at the beginning of the 17th century - the capital of the empire was moved to Khiva , which had existed since the 6th century. The old capital, Alt-Urgench, had to be abandoned because the Amu Darya had changed its course. Now the name Khanat Khiva established itself for this state - first in Russia .

The population consisted of Uzbeks , Turkmens , Karakalpaks and other peoples and lived mainly from cattle breeding, agriculture and trade. Since the end of the 16th century, the old tribal nobility, which owned extensive estates, developed into great feudal lords. Weakened by internal feudal feuds and raids by the Turkmen, Kazakhs and Kalmyks , the state gradually fell into disrepair.

Early 18th century the Khans had very little power, which were important Mangit - and Qongrat- Amire that important in the Khanate position of Inaq occupied. There was tension between the agricultural south, the area of ​​the Five Cities - including Khiva - and the north, which was inhabited by nomads - Uzbek Mangit and Qongrat as well as Karakalpaks and Kazakhs . In the north and south-west the Turkmen gained influence. As a result of the attacks by the Djungars on the cities on the central Syr-Darya, Khorezmia profited from the now evasive trade flows. After the Khan Ilbars in (1727-1740) Khorasan had interfered, the Persians subjected Nader Shah against Choresmien - Ilbars was defeated and beheaded.

At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, the Khiva Khanate experienced an upswing, especially under Khan Muhammad Rehim (1804–1826), and subjugated some neighboring peoples.

After Russian troops took the city of Khiva in 1873, the Khiva Khanate submitted to Russian sovereignty in the Peace of Gendemian on August 24, 1873 .

Location of today's Xorazm province in Uzbekistan (red)

In 1918, the last Khan Asfendiar was overthrown by a palace revolt by his general Junaid Khan who declared war on Soviet Russia.

Soviet Union and after

Junaid was again overthrown in 1920 with the help of the Bolsheviks and the People's Republic of Khorezmia was proclaimed in Khiva on February 2, 1920 . On October 27, 1924, the Khorezmian People's Republic as well as the neighboring People's Republic of Bukhara and the Turkestan ASSR were dissolved and divided into the newly established republics of the Turkmen SSR and Uzbek SSR , which became members of the Soviet Union in 1925 . Today the north and east of the large oasis of Khorezm belong to the Uzbek provinces of Xorazm and Karakalpakistan , while the south-west (with Köneürgenç) is part of the Turkmen province of Daşoguz .

Personalities from Khorezm (apart from rulers)

Major cities of Khorezm

literature

See also

Commons : Choruses  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jürgen Paul: Central Asia. 2012, p. 274
  2. ^ Jürgen Paul: Central Asia. 2012, p. 280
  3. ^ Jürgen Paul: Central Asia. 2012, p. 280
  4. ↑ Marion Linska, Andrea Handl and Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek, p. 70
  5. ^ Jürgen Paul: Central Asia. 2012, p. 280
  6. ^ Jürgen Paul: Central Asia. 2012, p. 360