- Sogdiana
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/sog'dee ay"neuh, -an"euh/, n.a province of the ancient Persian Empire between the Oxus and Jaxartes rivers: now in Uzbekistan. Cap.: Samarkand.
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Province of ancient Persia.It was centred in the fertile valley of the Zeravshan River, in modern Uzbekistan. It became a satrapy of the Achaemenian dynasty under Darius I in the 6th century BC and was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century. It asserted its independence from the Seleucid dynasty с 250 BC as part of the Bactrian kingdom (see Bactria) and fell to invading northern tribes in the 2nd century BC. It prospered as a centre of Islamic civilization, especially under the Sāmānid dynasty (9th–10th centuries AD), until the Mongol invasion of the 13th century. See also Bukhara.* * *
▪ ancient country, Central Asiaancient country of Central Asia centring on the fertile valley of the Zeravshan River, in modern Uzbekistan. Excavations have shown that Sogdiana was probably settled between 1000 and 500 BC and that it then passed under Achaemenian rule. It was later attacked by Alexander the Great and may have been included in the Bactrian Greek kingdom until the invasions of Saka and Yuezhi peoples in the 2nd century BC. Sogdiana remained a prosperous centre until the Mongol invasions. Under the Sāmānid dynasty (9th–10th century AD) it was an eastern focal point of Islamic civilization.* * *
Universalium. 2010.