Almost 2, years ago there was a group of influencers who, while relatively few in number and limited in political power, helped to change the world around them. We call these people the Sogdians. Their site of influence: the Silk Road. Limestone relief. The Sogdians were an Iranian people whose homeland, Sogdiana, was located at the center of several of those routes, in present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
During this time, Sogdiana was made up of a patchwork of oasis towns and rich agricultural land, uniquely placed between the great empires of the Asian continent; Fig. Perhaps more than any other people, the Sogdians capitalized on the opportunities of the Silk Roads, developing a merchant society that made great profit out of the trade between China and other parts of Asia. Mobile, multilingual, and highly skilled, the Sogdians were able to connect disparate regions, transfer goods and ideas across long distances, and oil the wheels of global trade and exchange.
Through their travels, trade, and translations, the Sogdians helped shape a diverse range of arts, fashions, lifestyles, technologies, and religious ideas that transformed parts of the world far from their homeland; Figs. This digital exhibition explores different dimensions of Sogdian art, culture, and influence through the material culture that survives to this day. It focuses on the time between the 4th and 8th centuries CE, which was the golden age of the Sogdians.
It was a period, too, in which their homeland of Sogdiana flourished, as Sogdian towns grew rich from the profits of the trade they fostered and the well-irrigated agricultural lands they cultivated.
During this time, a highly sophisticated and distinct urban culture developed, epitomized by the grand houses of the elites, decorated with elaborate, richly colored wall paintings; Figs. These have been found at various archaeological sites in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan during the 20th century and up to the present Fig. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Courtesy of Pavel Lurje.
They had no empire, and their political organization at home in Sogdiana was a series of small principalities, each with its own leader Fig. Branching out from these oasis towns, the Sogdians set up merchant communities as they traveled, living under the aegis of various imperial powers.
Rather, the Sogdians made a virtue of their mobility, flexibility, and individuality. This mobility meant that they could connect distant regions, doing business in goods that could find ready markets in faraway places. Their flexibility meant that they could adapt to foreign cultures, languages, and make profit of new opportunities as they emerged. There the Sogdians and what they traded found much favor; Fig. In terms of trade, the Sogdians dealt in silk, of course, but also in other prized goods.
The Sogdians were also skilled artisans, making and selling luxurious objects—particularly metalwork Sogdian Metalworking Learn more about Sogdian metalwork and textiles—across the Asian steppe and into China; Figs. It was not just goods that the Sogdians exported, but also fashions Sogdian Fashion Learn more about Sogdian fashion and forms of entertainment Banqueting in Sogdiana Learn more about banqueting in Sogdiana ; Fig.
Their apparel became all the rage in Tang China. Ladies of the Tang court dressed in kaftans and open-front jackets with long narrow sleeves, tapered trousers, and boots. Actually, they cross-dressed, since these were the garments of Sogdian and other Central Asian men. Juliano and Judith A. Abrams and Asia Society Museum, , p. Such fascination with foreign dress was linked to the popularity—from courtly circles to neighborhood gathering places—of foreign food, music and musical instruments, and dance.
The Sogdian language Sogdian Language and Its Scripts Learn more about the Sogdian language served as the lingua franca of the Silk Road, and many Sogdians were able to speak multiple languages due to the necessities of trade and the profitability of translations.
Today most of it is in Uzbekistan , but parts of the historical region extend into what are now Kazakhstan , Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The main language of much of the region is Uzbek in the Turkic language family but Tajik a dialect of Persian is also fairly widely spoken.
The region was part of the Soviet Union so Russian is also common. Cities [ edit ] Map of Sogdia. This region article is an extra-hierarchical region , describing a region that does not fit into the hierarchy Wikivoyage uses to organise most articles. Sogdiana was located in Western Turkestan, a geographical region that also included Ferghana and Khorezm. Today, the area is divided between Uzbekistan and Tadjikistan.
In older texts, it is sometimes referred to as Transoxiana, which means across the river Oxus, the Latin name for the Amu Darya. The Silk Road passed through Western Turkestan and the inhabitants were very much involved in commercial activities along this part of the route.
It was an area where several cultures intermingled, including those of the Greco-Roman world, Iran and India. To a lesser extent, China also influence the region, through its connection to the Silk Road. Large tracts of Wester Turkestan were unsuitable for agriculture, including the very arid deserts Kara Kum and Kyzyl Kum, but there were also notable rivers which could be used for irrigation.
To north and east of Western Turkestan, across the Syr Dary, lived nomadic tribes engaged in cattle herding, and their raids were a constant threat to the sedentary populations. After the Achaemid Empire followed various other overlords, such as the Seleucids, the Bactrian Greeks, the Parthians, the Kushans, the Hephthalites, the Sasanians, and finally the Arabs.
The Silk Road was very important for Sogdiana, and its two major cities — Samarkand and Bukhara — were both located along this trading route. Even before Samarkand and Bukhara turned into cities, the Sogdians were heavily involved in commercial activities along the Silk Road. The Sogdian language became somewhat of a lingua franca across the Silk Road even outside Sogdiana, and the Sogdian alphabet inspired alphabets created by cultures living to the east of Sogdiana.
The Sogdians did not limit themselves to trading in Sogdia; many Sogdians traveled extensively along the Silk Road and some even formed colonies abroad. Sogdian merchants was not an uncommon sight at major markets in China. In antiquity, several Sogdian principalities formed. Many were subject to Samarkand but still fairly autonomous, and some even minted their own coinage. Each time a new dominating force drew in, the principalities had to adapt to the new situation, managing the new power while striving to remain reasonable independent.
A number of city-states developed, and there was also knightly landowners that lorded over large irrigated agricultural lands. Rich merchants and rich landowners seems to have been on basically the same status level in this society. Some historians have likened this to a feudal society, but that is actually quite a stretch for something so dynamic as Sogdiana. The succession of rule was not stable, and it community — or at least a certain part of the community — could influence who would become the new ruler.
Sogdiana had a highly developed economic life, but no strong and centralized state power. This lack of central authority is probably one of the reasons why Sogdiana found it difficult to resist the 7th and 8th century Arabian invasion. Initially, the 7th century was marked by rapid developments in Samarkand and a quickly expanding trade sector. Progress was made in silk weaving and the production of other desirable handicrafts, including the making of silver vessels and gilded vessels.
Samarkand had also tapped into the lucrative fur trade with the lands of the north. Instead of just benefiting from the East — West trade along he Silk Road, they were now purchasing and reselling valuable pelts obtained in places such as Russia. Before the 7th century was over, however, Samarkand was attacked by the Arabs, and in the early 8th century the Arab conquest of Transoxiana was well on its way. In , General Outayba ben Muslim, who was already the governor-general of Khurasan, took over Sogdiana, and the local rulers became vassals of the Arabs.
The various military campaigns caused destruction, Sogdian uprisings were met with violence, and some towns were destroyed or abandoned.
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