Transoxiana

Transoxiana (also spelled Transoxania), known in Arabic sources as Maa waraa' an-nahr (Arabic: ماوراء النهر‎ "what (is) beyond the (Oxus) river") and in Persian as "Fœrɑ:ru:dɑ:n" (فرارودان), is the ancient name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgyzstan and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya (Ancient Greek: Ώξος Ōxos) and Syr Darya rivers. The area had been known to the Romans as Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus), to the Arabs as Mawarannahr (Land Beyond the River), and to the Iranians as Turan, a term used in the Persian national epic Shahnameh.

The region was one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia under the name Sogdiana.

This region was named as "Bilad-al Turk" or "Turkestan" which means "the lands of Turks" by early Arabian geographers.

History

The name Transoxiana stuck in Western consciousness because of the exploits of Alexander the Great, who extended Greek culture into the region with his conquests of the 4th century BCE; Transoxiana was the most north-eastern point of the Hellenistic culture until the Arabic invasion. During the Sassanid Empire, it was often called Sogdiana, a provincial name taken from the Achaemenid Empire, and used to distinguish it from nearby Bactria.