Introduction

Abstract

From Alexander the Great, to Chingis Khan, to Tamerlane, one tends to associate the importance of Central Asia with a romantic, dramatic past. Lying at the meeting-place of East and West, Central Asia was the location of spectacular economic, cultural and political achievements attained centuries ago. Agriculture was well advanced; trade was extensive; and great centres of education, art, architecture, poetry, religion and scientific thought developed and flourished. With the sixteenth century, however — as European merchants turned their attention towards the New World, and as oceans became a more important mode of transporting goods — Central Asia’s importance greatly declined. In the eyes of many, Central Asia remained stuck in its past, and slowly lost its glory, power and relevance as the rest of the world entered the modern age. For the past century, it seemed to lie not only on the geographical fringes of Russia and the USSR, but on the fringes of Russian and Soviet society as well. It was a living relic of a long-lost glory, for the most part ignoring, and ignored by the rest of the world.