Karluk branch
Uzbeks
A Karluk Turk people of the great oasis cities of Turkistan — Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva — and heirs to the Chagatai literary tradition.
Oʻzbeklar / Özbekler
The Uzbek name is thought to derive from Öz Beg, the 14th-century khan under whom the Golden Horde reached its height. Around 1500 Muhammad Shaybani led the Uzbeks south into Transoxiana and took Samarkand; the khanates of Bukhara, Khiva and later Kokand ruled the region until the Russian conquest.
The Uzbek language belongs to the Karluk branch and is closely related to Uyghur. Its classical form is Chagatai, brought to artistic heights by the poet Alisher Navoi (1441–1501) of Herat, whose work remains central to Uzbek literature. The oasis cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva preserve some of the finest Islamic architecture of Turkistan.
Between 1865 and 1876 Russia took Tashkent, made Bukhara and Khiva protectorates and annexed Kokand. The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was created in 1924, and Uzbekistan declared independence on 31 August 1991. Large Uzbek communities also live in northern Afghanistan and neighbouring states of Turkistan.
- Language
- Uzbek, a Karluk Turk language written in a Latin-based alphabet in Uzbekistan
- Branch
- Karluk
- Homeland
- Uzbekistan and the oases of Transoxiana and the Fergana Valley
- Also living in
- Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, China (East Turkestan), Türkiye and wider diaspora
Key dates
1312–1341
Reign of Öz Beg, khan of the Golden Horde, from whom the Uzbek name is thought to derive.
c. 1500
Muhammad Shaybani takes Samarkand; the Shaybanid dynasty establishes Uzbek rule in Transoxiana.
1865–1876
Russian conquest of Tashkent and Kokand; Bukhara (1868) and Khiva (1873) become Russian protectorates.
1924
The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic is created.
31 August 1991
Uzbekistan declares its independence.
Heritage
- Shashmaqom music, shared with Tajikistan, and Katta Ashula song (both UNESCO)
- Palov culture and tradition (UNESCO, 2016) and Khorazm dance, Lazgi (UNESCO, 2019)
- The UNESCO World Heritage cities of Samarkand – Crossroad of Cultures, the Historic Centre of Bukhara and Itchan Kala in Khiva
Sources
- E. A. Allworth, The Modern Uzbeks: From the Fourteenth Century to the Present: A Cultural History (Hoover Institution Press, 1990)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Uzbek”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Chagatai literature”