Knowra Ferghana Valley Ferghana Valley A fertile intermontane valley in Central Asia, split today among Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, long a hub of trade, irrigation and urban life.
Dayuan : The ancient polity of the Ferghana Valley recorded by Han Chinese chroniclers in the 2nd century BCE. The name Han writers gave to the valley's settlements after Zhang Qian's reports.
Syr Darya : A major river of Central Asia, rising in the Tian Shan and flowing northwest through the Ferghana Valley. The river whose water and silt sustain the valley's dense agricultural settlements.
Kokand : A city in the western Ferghana Valley, capital of the Kokand Khanate from the 18th century. The valley's political center in its last independent period.
Great Game : The 19th-century strategic rivalry between the British and Russian empires over Central Asia. Russian absorption of the valley in the 1860s–70s followed this imperial contest.
Silk Road : The network of Eurasian trade routes linking China with Central Asia, India, Persia and the Mediterranean from roughly the 2nd century BCE. The trade network the valley anchored at its eastern half.
Zhang Qian : Han diplomat whose missions to Central Asia around 138–119 BCE opened sustained contact between China and the western regions. His reports of Dayuan's horses and cities drew Han expeditions to the valley.
Tian Shan : A mountain range of Central Asia whose snowmelt feeds the rivers and oases of the region. The mountains ringing the valley, supplying the meltwater its irrigation depends on.
Margilan : An ancient city in the Ferghana Valley, a center of silk weaving for over two thousand years. Its silk trade ties the valley's name to the commodity that named the routes.
Soviet Central Asia : The organization of Central Asia into Soviet republics between 1924 and 1991, with new national borders. Soviet boundary drawing split the valley among Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Tajik republics.
Pamir Mountains : A high mountain knot in Central Asia, meeting the Tian Shan, Hindu Kush and Kunlun ranges. The southern barrier and gateway through which caravans crossed toward Kashgar.
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