The Tortoise in Asia (40 page)

They were an ancient Iranian people inhabiting Central Asian lands roughly where Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan are today (known in literature as Transoxiana). Sogdiana lay between the Oxus (Amu Darya) and Jaxartes (Syr Darya) rivers. Samarkand and Bukhara were its major cities. A province of Achaemid Persia, it was conquered by Alexander the Great and subsequently incorporated into the Hellenistic Graeco-Bactrian kingdom. The Fergana valley lies in it east of Samarkand.

The Sogdian language, of eastern Iranian origin, was the linga franca of the Silk Road. Sogdian merchants played a key role in the movement of culture – philosophy and religion, as well as goods. Their religion was Zoroastrian, based on the teachings of Zoroaster (born in either North Eastern Iran or South Western Afghanistan in the 5
^th
century BCE) which essentially postulated a single god and the eternal battle between Good and Evil. Archaeologists have uncovered impressive examples of Sogdian architecture and painting, suggesting a thriving cosmopolitan civilization of high sophistication.

Surena, of a noble family, was considered the second most prominent figure in Parthia, after the King. He was a courageous and gifted military commander who conquered Seleucia and defeated Crassus in the battle of Carrhae. Plutarch says “for bodily stature and beauty no man like him.” Orodes, the Parthian King, had him executed out of envy. The King himself was ultimately assassinated by his son, Phraates.

The Xiung nu, of Turkic origin, were nomadic people who ranged across the steppes of Central Asia, including Xinjiang and Mongolia. They are known in the West as Huns. Constantly raiding China from the north, it was to defend against them that the Chinese built the Great Wall (beginning near Jiayuguan in the western province of Gansu). While of the same race as the Han, their language is entirely separate. Their encounters with the Han over the centuries exemplify the classic clashes between nomadic and sedentary peoples. In 54 BCE the Xiung nu empire split in two. The western part migrated to Sogdiana and established a new empire at the Talass River.