Travel & Tours in Turkmenistan - A Briefly Stated History of Turkmenistan

The territory of Turkmenistan has been populated since ancient times, as armies from one empire to another decamped on their way to more prosperous territories. Tribes of horse-breeding Turkmen drifted into the territory of Turkmenistan from ancient times, possibly from the Altay Mountains, and grazed along the outskirts of the Karakum Desert into Persia, Syria, and Anatolia.

As early societies learned to make pottery and metal tools, they began to trade with other peoples of Central Asia. This profitable trade however, also attracted foreign invaders. By the 6^th century BC, the powerful Persian Empire had established its provinces in what is now Turkmenistan. From their base south of the Kopet-Dag Range, the Persians controlled trade through Central Asia and subdued the many nomadic peoples who lived on Turkmenistan's arid plains.

Alexander the Great conquered the territory in the 4^th century BC on his way to India. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, his generals fought for control of his empire, which quickly fell apart. The Scythians - nomadic warriors from the north - then established the kingdom of Parthia, which covered the territory of present-day Turkmenistan and Iran. The Parthian kings ruled their domain from the ancient city of Nisa and Parthia extended south and west as far as the Indus River in modern India. Parthia fell in 224 AD to the Sassanian rulers of Persia. At the same time several groups, including the Alans and the Huns, were moving into Turkmenistan from the east and north. A branch of the Huns wrested control of southern Turkmenistan from the Sassanian Empire in the 5^th century.

In the 7^th century AD the Arabs conquered this region, bringing with them the Islamic religion.

Sedentary Oghuz tribes from Mongolia moved into present-day Central Asia around the 8^th century. Within a few centuries, some of these tribes had become the ethnic basis of the Turkmen population. Like the Kazakhs and the Kyrgyz, the Turkmen peoples were nomadic herders until the second half of the 19^th century.

In the middle of the 11^th century a clan leader named Seljuk founded a dynasty and the empire that bore his name on the basis of those Oghuz elements that had migrated southward into present-day Turkmenistan and Iran.
In the 12^th century the Seljuk Empire collapsed. The leaders of Khiva took control of Turkmenistan, but their reign was brief.
During the Mongol conquest of Central Asia in the 13^th century, the Turkmen-Oghuz of the steppe were pushed from the Syr-Darya farther into the Karakum Desert and along the Caspian Sea.
After Genghis Khan's death in 1227, the Mongols lost control of Turkmenistan. Small, semi-independent states arose under the rule of the region's landowners.

In the 14^th century Tamerlane conquered these states and established the Timurid Empire. But after his death in 1405, the realm weakened and soon disintegrated.
From the 14^th till 17^th century Turkmenistan was in decline. To escape conflicts most Turkmen moved to the remote deserts along the borders of Persia and Afghanistan.
In the 18^th century the Russian Empire was expanding into Central Asia. By 1885, all of the Turkmen clans had submitted to Russian control. The Russians annexed Mary and pushed across Turkmenistan to the borders of Persia and Afghanistan. The building of the Trans-Caspian Railroad opened up the region for economic development.

The Bolshevik revolution of 1917 in Russia and subsequent political unrest led to the declaration of the Turkmen Republic as one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union in 1924. At this time the modern borders of Turkmenistan were formed.
On October 27, 1991 Turkmenistan proclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union (USSR).

CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
Period	Description
5th century BC	The territory of present-day Turkmenistan became part of the Persian Empire.
4th century BC	Alexander the Great conquered Central Asia on his way to India.
3rd century BC	Parthian Kingdom took control of the territory of present-day Turkmenistan; several groups including the Alans and the Huns were moving into Turkmenistan from the east and north. Later Parthia fell to the Sassanian rulers of Persia.
5th AD	A branch of the Huns wrested control of southern Turkmenistan from the Sassanian Empire.
7th century	The Arabs conquered the territory of present-day Turkmenistan. Islamic religion was introduced.
Late 8th -9th centuries	Turkic Oghuz tribes migrated into Central Asia from Mongolia and southern Siberia.
9th century	Islam became dominant religion of all Central Asia.
10th century	Term "Turkmen" first applied to southern Islamic Oghuz tribes.
Late 10th century	The Seljuk Empire was founded, based on Oghuz tribes, including Turkmen.
11th century	Seljuks and Karakhanids ended dominance of the Ghaznavid Empire in the south of Central Asia, dominating west and east, respectively. Persian replaced Arabic as standard written language in most of Central Asia, remained in official use through the 15th century.
Mid-12th century	Revolts by Turkmen hastened disintegration of the Seljuk Empire; Turkmen began settling in the present-day Turkmenistan, notably Merv on Silk Route.
1200	Khorezm, split from Seljuk Empire, consolidated empire including Movaraunnahr and most of Central Asia.
1219-25	Mongols conquered Central Asia, pushing Turkmen westward toward Caspian Sea.
1227	After Genghis Khan's death the Mongols lost control of Turkmenistan.
1380-1405	Timur (Tamerlane) unified Mongol holdings in Central Asia, fostered last cultural flowering of Movaraunnahr; Turkish first rivaled Persian as literary language.
14th -16th centuries	Turkmen tribes reorganised and consolidated.
16th -19th centuries	Migration east and southeast of large nomadic Turkmen tribal groups descending from Salor group.
Mid-18th century	Turkmen Yomud tribes invaded Khorezm.
18th-19th centuries	British and Russians begin rivalry for Central Asia.
1855-67	Yomud tribes rebelled against Uzbek authority, which dispersed the eastern Yomud.
1867	Guberniya (Governor General) of Turkestan was established as central Russian administration, eventually including (1899) present-day Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and southeastern Kazakhstan.
1869	Russians established foothold in Turkmen territory at Krasnovodsk.
1870s	Russian cotton cultivation significantly expanded; Russians carried out punitive raids against Turkmen in Khorezm.
1881	Russians crushed Turkmen resistance at Geokdepe fortress; Turkmen territory was annexed into Guberniya of Turkestan.
1916	Turkmens, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Uzbeks rebelled against Russian land confiscation and conscription.
May 1917	Russian provisional government abolished Guberniya of Turkestan; power was divided among various groups, including Tashkent Soviet.
November 1917	Bolshevik Revolution began the establishment of Soviet state.
1918	Bolsheviks declared Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, including most of present-day Central Asia in Russia.
1920	Soviet General Frunze captured Ashgabat, ending anti-Communist government there.
1921-27	New Economic Policy (NEP) expanded cotton cultivation in Central Asia.
1924	Soviet Socialist Republics of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were formed, with Tajikistan as an autonomous republic.
Late 1930s	Nomadic lifestyle ends for most Turkmen.
1941-43	Many European Soviet factories were moved to Central Asia because of World War II.
August 1990	Republic of Turkmenistan declared sovereignty within Soviet Union.
October 1990	Saparmyrat Niyazov was elected president of Turkmenistan, running unopposed.
October 1991	Turkmenistan declared independence from the Soviet Union.
December 1991	Five Central Asian states signed the Alma-Ata Declaration formally establishing Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); Communist Party of Turkmenistan was renamed Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, retaining political domination.
1992	Five Central Asian states joined Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). Niyazov introduced "Ten Years of Prosperity" economic reform program for Turkmenistan.
May 1992	Turkmenistan adopted new constitution.
June 1992	Niyazov was re-elected president of Turkmenistan, running unopposed.
1993	City of Krasnovodsk was renamed Turkmenbashy and streets in several cities renamed in honor of President Niyazov.
January 1994	Referendum approved extension of Niyazov's term as president of Turkmenistan to 2002.
December 1994	New Majlis (assembly) was elected in Turkmenistan, dominated by Democratic Party.
1999	Niyazov was made president for life.