Turkestan, 'the country of the Turks,' called by the Persians Turan (see TURANIAN), is an extensive region of central Asia, stretching from the Caspian Sea eastward to beyond Lob-nor (110° E. long.), and from Siberia and Dzungaria southward to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet. Until recently it was supposed that the Bolor Tagh, a mountain-chain of the first magnitude, running north and south, divided it into two parts. English explorers entering Turkestan from the south, and Russians from the north, have shown that no such range exists. Its place is taken so far, however, by a lofty tableland, the Pamir (q.v.), which separates the rivers running eastward to the desert of Gobi from those which run to the Sea of Aral, and divides Turkestan into a western and an eastern portion.
WESTERN TURKESTAN, or simply Turkestan, consists of the great hollow plain of the Caspian and Aral Seas, which occupies its west and centre, and of the lilly and well-watered districts formed by the ramifications of the Tian-shan Mountains and Hindu Kush. The plain is composed of deserts of loose shifting sand, interspersed with oases where a subsoil of clay renders the formation of lakelets of rain possible; strips of fertile land along the banks of rivers, and occasional tracts clad with coarse thin grass; the eastern districts abound in valleys of remarkable fertility. The climate varies on the plains from extreme cold to burning heat; in the eastern highlands, although the cold is almost as intense in winter, the heat of summer is much less. The rivers of Turkestan are the Syr-Daria (see JAXARTES) and Amu-Daria (see OXUS); the Zarafshan, which rises on the south of the Asfera-tagh, and flows westward for 400 miles, terminating in a small salt lake or marsh near Bokhara; and the Murghab, which rises in the mountains of Ghur, and, after a west-north-west course of 450 miles, loses itself in a marsh beyond Merv. The vegetable products of the country are fruits, grain, cotton, flax, hemp, and tobacco. Silk is also produced in considerable amount. Coal has been recently discovered in Ferghana, and salt is abundant, large tracts of desert being strongly impregnated and even crusted over with it; and sal ammoniac is common. Agriculture and the breeding of the domestic animals are the occupations of the great mass of the population; but manufacturing industry is also considerable, the produce consisting of cotton, silk, linen, and woollen goods, shagreen (superior to that manufactured in Europe) and other kinds of leather, paper made of raw silk, carpets, and a few sabres, knives, and rifles.
Western Turkestan is divided into Russian Turkestan, including Khokand, now Ferghana, in the north and north-east, and the Tekke Turkoman country, with Merv, in the south-west; Khiva, under Russian influence, in the west; Bokhara, in the east and centre; and Afghan Turkestan, including Badakhshan and Kunduz, Balkh, Maimaneh, Andkhui, and Sir-i-pul. The population comprises Uzbegs, the dominant race, Turkomans, Karakalpaks, Kirghiz, Sarts, Tajiks, Persians, Kipchaks, and a few Arabs, Hindus, and Jews. Of these the Sarts and Tajiks, the original inhabitants of the cities, are of ancient Persian stock, and along with the Uzbegs, Hindus, and Jews form the settled population; the Persians are mostly descendants of slaves; the other races are largely nomad and predatory. For the ethnographic relations of the Turkomans, see TURKS. The prevalent religion is Mohammedanism, and most of the tribes are Sunnites; a few Shiites, Sâfis, and Buddhists are also found. The number of inhabitants in Russian Turkestan amounts to 3,750,000, those of Khiva to 260,000, and of Bokhara to about 1,800,000. The area of Russian Turkestan is estimated at 410,000 sq. m., that of Khiva at 25,000 sq. m., and that of Bokhara at 90,000 sq. m. There are separate articles on the various countries and races.
Turkestan has played an important part in Asiatic history from the very earliest times. The contests between the Iranian and Turanian races occupy a prominent place in Firdausi's sketch of the semi-mythical traditions of Persia; and the earliest light of history shows us Bactriana (Balkh) and Sogdiana (Bokhara) as well cultivated and populous countries, generally attached to the Persian empire, and inhabited by Persians, to whom most of the prominent cities of Turkestan owe their origin. With Persia Turkestan passed into the hands of the Macedonians, who made Bactria an independent Greek kingdom, while the rest was in possession of the Parthians. Under the Sassanides the Persian boundary was again advanced to the Jaxartes; but the gradual gathering of Turkish tribes from the north-east on the right bank of that river led to a constant state of warfare on the frontier, which ultimately resulted in the occupation of Mavera-ul-neher ('the country between the rivers'—i.e. the Oxus and Jaxartes) and of Kharasm (Khiva) by the invaders. In the 8th century of the Christian era the Arabs possessed themselves of Turkestan, and during the decline of the califate it became the seat of various minor dynasties, as the Samani in Mavera-ul-neher, and the shahs of Kharasm. After a brief union with the Seljuk empire in Persia it was mostly united to Kharasm, and along with it overrun by the Mongol hordes under Genghis Khan (q.v.), on whose death it became one of the four divisions of his vast empire, and was allotted to his son Jagatai—after whom was named the Turkish dialect formerly spoken in Persia and all over the East. On the decline of Jagatai's dynasty Timûr (see TAMERLANE) rose to supreme authority in Turkestan, and in the course of a thirty-five years' reign made it the centre of an immense empire, which stretched from the Hellespont to the frontiers of China, and from Moscow to the Ganges. This period was the golden age of Turkestan; its powerful monarch was never weary of adorning its cities with the spoils of victory; colonies of learned men, skilled artisans, and all whose knowledge or abilities could be of service to his subjects, were either transferred to Turkestan from the countries he had conquered or induced by the most munificent offers to settle there; till under him and his more immediate successors Samarkand became a focus of enlightenment and learning. But after the death of Shah Rokh, Timûr's youngest son, the empire was split up into numerous fragments; and after a time a new dynasty snatched Persia from Timûr's family, while the Uzbegs, under Sheibanî Khan, drove them (1500) from the country north of the Amu-Daria; one of the expelled princes, Bâber Mirza, who had ruled in Ferghana (the south half of Khokand), subsequently founding the 'Great Mogul' empire in India. The Uzbeg empire generally included Badakhshan, Herat, and Meshed; but these were lost on its division, in 1658, into various independent khanates. Khiva was conquered by Nadir Shah in 1740, and Bokhara limited to the north bank of the Amu-Daria; but the Kirghiz of the Little Horde restored the independence of Khiva, which they ruled till 1792, when the
