Central Asia - West
Transoxania and the Khazakh Steppe Something of a misnomer, since parts of Khazakhstan border the edge of Europe between the Caspian and the Urals, this region is nevertheless very central to Eurasia as a whole. A vast semi-arid land, in part steppe or desert and in part some of the highest mountains in the world, Central Asia has been the crossroads between the Far East and Far West for as long as there have been humans. This was the central portion of the Silk Road, here are the famous caravan cities of Samarkand and Tashkent, and here saw the "Great Game" between Russia and Great Britain in the 19th century. Currently I have: Aryani and Aryanam-Baydjo Astrakhan Bokhara Chorasmia , the Dahae , the Haraiva , the Karluks Khazakhstan Khiva Khokand ... Usrushana , and Uzbekistan ARYANI (Irani) and ARYANAM-BAYDJO Aryani and Aryanam-Baydjo are legendary Kingdoms inhabiting the far fringes of semi-historicity. Their location - if they existed in any real sense at all - is unknown, but likely to have been near the watershed of the Amu Darya and the Aral Sea; ancient Chorasmia , in other words. The people referenced here would have been early Aryans from central Eurasia, just before and during the migrations southward through Bactria and over the Khyber Pass into India in one direction, and across the Karakumy desert and over the Koppeh Dagh into Khorasan and ancient Persia in the other direction. It is difficult to reconcile these lists with the Chorasmian ones of approximately the same era and, I suspect, to the extent that these represent any real groups, they may identify nomadic tribes dwelling on the edge of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins. | |
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