Sogdiana

Sogdiana was a state in Transoxiana and Khwarazm (Central and North Asia) that lasted from c. 545 BCE to 722 CE, about 1,266 years. Its people spoke Iranian languages (Median, Persian, Parthian, Scythian, Sogdian, Pashto, Kurdish).

A Persian satrapy and later a cluster of city-states around Samarkand and Bukhara whose merchants ran the Silk Road caravan trade as far as China. The Arab conquest ended its independence, and the last ruler of Panjikent was executed in 722.

See Sogdiana on the interactive timeline

Facts

Dates

c. 545 BCE to 722 CE

Duration

1,266 years

Type

State

Region

Transoxiana and Khwarazm, Central and North Asia

Language family

Iranian

Capital

Samarkand, Bukhara, Panjikent

Became

• Umayyad and Abbasid Transoxiana 705 to 819 CE

Events in Central and North Asia during its time

• 530 BCE Cyrus the Great killed by the Massagetae
• 327 BCE Alexander marries Roxana
• 138 BCE Zhang Qian travels west

Neighbours in Central and North Asia

• Xiongnu Empire c. 209 BCE to 93 CE
• First Turkic Khaganate 552 to 603 CE
• Kingdom of Khotan c. 200 BCE to 1006 CE
• Kushan Empire c. 30 to 375 CE
• Rouran Khaganate 330 to 555 CE
• Bactria (Achaemenid satrapy) c. 545 to 330 BCE
• Xianbei state c. 93 to 234 CE
• Western Turkic Khaganate 603 to 742 CE
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom c. 256 to 125 BCE
• Hephthalite Empire c. 450 to 560 CE

Elsewhere in the world at the same time

• Republic of Venice c. 697 to 1797 CE, Europe
• Byzantine Empire 395 to 1453 CE, Europe
• Byzantine Empire 395 to 1453 CE, Middle East
• Ghana Empire (Wagadu) c. 300 to 1200 CE, North and West Africa
• Kingdom of Aksum c. 100 to 940 CE, North and West Africa
• Srivijaya c. 650 to 1377 CE, Southeast Asia
• Moche (Mochica) c. 100 to 800 CE, South America
• Carthage c. 814 to 146 BCE, North and West Africa
• Teotihuacan c. 100 BCE to 550 CE, Mesoamerica and Caribbean
• Tiwanaku c. 400 to 1000 CE, South America

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