The Hephthalites, sometimes called the White Huns, were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to 8th centuries CE. They formed an empire, the Imperial Hephthalites, and were militarily important from 450 CE, when they defeated the Kidarites, to 560 CE, when combined forces from the First Turkic Khaganate and the Sasanian Empire defeated them. After 560 CE, they established "principalities" in the area of Tokharistan, under the suzerainty of the Western Turks and of the Sasanian Empire, before the Tokhara Yabghus took over in 625.
Termez is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it is a district-level city. Its population is 182,800 (2021). It is notable as the site of Alexander the Great's city Alexandria on the Oxus, as a center of early Buddhism, as a site of Muslim pilgrimage, and as a base of Soviet Union military operations in Afghanistan, accessible via the nearby Hairatan border crossing.
Tokharistan is an ancient Early Middle Ages name given to the area which was known as Bactria in Ancient Greek sources.
The Afrasiab murals, also called the Paintings of the Ambassadors, is a rare example of Sogdian art. It was discovered in 1965 when the local authorities decided to construct a road in the middle of Afrāsiāb mound, the old site of pre-Mongol Samarkand. It is now preserved in a special museum on the Afrāsiāb mound.
Dilberjin Tepe, also Dilberjin or Delbarjin, is the modern name for the remains of an ancient town in modern (northern) Afghanistan. The town was perhaps founded in the time of the Achaemenid Empire. Under the Kushan Empire it became a major local centre. After the Kushano-Sassanids the town was abandoned.
Denov is a city in Surxondaryo Region of southeast Uzbekistan, the administrative centre of Denov District. It is in the Hissar Range close to the border with Tajikistan, and is the closest major town to the Kalchayan and Dalverzin Tepe archaeological sites. Denov is believed to be the site of ancient city of Chaghaniyan.
Central Asian art is visual art created in Central Asia, in areas corresponding to modern Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of modern Mongolia, China and Russia. The art of ancient and medieval Central Asia reflects the rich history of this vast area, home to a huge variety of peoples, religions and ways of life. The artistic remains of the region show a remarkable combinations of influences that exemplify the multicultural nature of Central Asian society. The Silk Road transmission of art, Scythian art, Greco-Buddhist art, Serindian art and more recently Persianate culture, are all part of this complicated history.
Kara Tepe is a Buddhist archaeological site in the Central Asia region of Bactria, in the Termez oasis near the city of Termez in southern Uzbekistan. The foundations of the site date to the 1st century CE, with a peak of activity around the 3rd and 4th centuries during the Kushan period, before experiencing a fatal decline around the 5th century CE, probably with the invasion of the Kushano-Sassanian, whose coinage can be found on the site.
The architecture of Uzbekistan is noted for its originality. Many consider Uzbekistan’s architecture to be notable despite the changing economic conditions, technological advances, demographic fluctuations, and cultural shifts that the country has experienced.
Galina Anatolevna Pugachenkova was a Soviet archaeologist and art historian, regarded as a founder of Uzbek archaeology and central to the progression of archaeology and art history under Soviet regimes. Her work has contributed greatly to the register of surviving buildings in Central Asia and in many cases was the first register of traditional surviving buildings. G. A. Pugachenkova directed a branch of the archaeological expedition of southern Turkmenistan from 1946 to 1961, and of the Uzbek historical-artistic expedition from 1959 to 1984.
Fayaz Tepe, also Fayoz-Tepe, is a Buddhist archaeological site in the Central Asia region of Bactria, in the Termez oasis near the city of Termez in southern Uzbekistan. Located 15 km west of Termez off the main M39 highway. Bus number 15 runs past the turn-off to Fayaz Tepe, from where it is a 1 km walk without shade. The foundations of the site date to the 1st century CE, with a peak of activity around the 3rd and 4th centuries during the Kushan period, before experiencing a fatal decline around the 5th century CE, probably with the invasion of the Kushano-Sassanian, whose coinage can be found at the nearby site of Kara Tepe.
Balalyk tepe, in former Bactria, modern Uzbekistan, is a Central Asian archaeological site with many mural paintings. It was the site of a small fortified manor belonging to a princely Hephthalite clan. It is generally dated a bit later than the painting at Dilberjin, from the late 5th century to the early 7th century CE, or from the end of the 6th century to the early 7th century CE. The paintings of Balalyk Tepe are part of a "Tokharistan school", which also includes Adzhina-tepe and Kafyr-kala. They are succeeded chronologically by the Sogdian art of Penjikent.
The minaret of Jarkurgan is a minaret and architectural monument in the village Minor, Jarqoʻrgʻon District, southern Uzbekistan. It was built by Muhammad bin Ali Al-Sarkhasi in 1108-1109 AD, its current height is 21.6 meters and its diameter is 5.4 meters, its original height was 40 meters. It is located in a small village near Termez and is one of the most interesting forms of architecture, characterized by corrugated walls made of brick. Next to it was a mosque, which has not been preserved. At a height of 20 m, there are brick arches, on which there are Kufic inscriptions.
The Archaeological Museum of Termez is a museum in the city of Termez, modern Uzbekistan. The artifacts contained in the museum are mainly linked to the Graeco-Bactrian and Kushan periods. Some artifacts, such as the seated Buddha under the Bodhi tree or head of the Kushan prince are actually copies, the original of which are located in the History Museum of Tashkent and in the Hermitage Museum in Saint-Petersburg.
Kafir-kala is an ancient fortress 12 kilometers south of the city center of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, protecting the southern border of the Samarkand oasis. It consists in a central citadel built in mud-bricks and measuring 75 × 75 meters at its base has six towers and is surrounded by a moat, still visible today. Living quarters were located outside the citadel.
The State Museum of Culture History of Uzbekistan is a museum of history and culture in Samarkand.
The Tokhara Yabghus or Yabghus of Tokharistan were a dynasty of Western Turk–Hephtalite sub-kings with the title "Yabghus", who ruled from 625 CE in the area of Tokharistan north and south of the Oxus River, with some smaller remnants surviving in the area of Badakhshan until 758 CE. Their legacy extended to the southeast where it came into contact with the Turk Shahis and the Zunbils until the 9th century CE.
The Tajikistan National Museum of Antiquities is a museum in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. It is particularly famous for its murals from Penjikent.
The murals of Penjikent are among the most famous murals of the pre-Islamic period in Panjakent, ancient Sogdiana, in Tajikistan. Numerous murals were recovered from the site, and many of them are now on display in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, and in the National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan in Dushanbe. The murals reveal the cosmopolitan nature of the Penjikent society that was mainly composed of Sogdian and Turkic elites and likely other foreign merchant groups of heterogeneous origin. Significant similarities with Old Turkic clothing, weapon items, hairstyles and ritual cups are noted by comparative research.
Kampir Tepe is an archaeological site located within the Surxondaryo Region of Uzbekistan, near the village Shoʻrob, northwest of the city of Termez. It is thought to be the lost city of Alexandria on the Oxus described by Ptolemy, though the Amu Darya river has now changed its course. The Telegraph newspaper describes Kampir Tepe as “the Pompeii of Central Asia.”
Tavka Kurgan wall painting. 5th-6th century CE. Archaeological Museum of Termez
Tavka Kurgan wall painting. 5th-6th century CE. Archaeological Museum of Termez
