Central Asia and the Silk Road (eBook)

Stephan Barisitz is Senior Economist in the Foreign Research Division of the Austrian Central Bank. He joined the bank in Dec 1998 and focuses on country- research and monitoring of Russia, Ukraine, CIS, South Eastern Europe, as well as on banking and financial sector analysis. In 2008, Stephan passed his habilitation exam in economic history at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien). His habilitation thesis deals with banking transformation in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union since the 1980s. From 2009 to 2013 he was lecturer at the Institute for Economic and Social History and has been carrying out research on the economic history of Central Asia and the Silk Road. Before coming back to Vienna in 1998, Stephan worked for three years as an economist at the OECD in Paris, where, together with a colleague, has was in charge of the Russia-CIS-Bulgaria Desk of the OECD Economics Department. Before that he was from 1992 to 1995 with the Austrian Institute for East and South-East European Studies (OSI), Vienna, responsible for economic research and editing of Institute publications. Stephan started out his career as an economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) in 1986. Stephan had studied economics at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and, after a research stay at Carleton University, Ottawa, passed his doctorate the same year.

Acknowledgements 6
Contents 7
About the Author 10
List of Tables and Boxes 11
List of Maps 12
Chapter 1: Central Asia (CA) and the Silk Road (SR): Definitions and Traits 13
1.1 Motivation and Structure of This Work 13
1.2 Definitions and Borders of Central Asia 14
1.3 Central Asian Natural Environment: Synopsis of Regional Geography and Resources 18
1.3.1 Geographical Zones 18
1.3.2 Resources and Economic Potential 21
1.4 Definition and Salient Traits of the Silk Road 22
References 23
Chapter 2: From the Beginnings to the Emergence of the Silk Road (SR) 24
2.1 Early Development of Eurasian Economic and Political Dualism: Toward Nomadism Versus Settled Existence (ca. 5000 BCE to 55... 24
2.1.1 Neolithic Revolution and Aeneolithic Period (Copper Age) in CA 24
2.1.2 Bronze Age 25
2.1.2.1 Southern CA: Proto-urban Oasis Cultures 25
2.1.2.2 Northern CA: Domestication of Horse (Expansive Andronovo Culture) 25
2.1.3 Iron Age 27
2.1.3.1 Southern CA: Urbanized Trade-Oriented Proto-states 27
2.1.3.2 Northern CA: Mounted Nomadism, Mobile Pastoralism, and Military Prowess 28
2.1.4 Central Asian Precursor to the Silk Road 32
2.1.5 Encounter and Division of Labor Between Ancient Greeks and Scyths 33
2.2 Central Asia (CA) Under the Sway of Major Empires of Early Antiquity: Achaemenid, Alexander, and Xiongnu (ca. 550 BCE-150 ... 34
2.2.1 Participating in a Giant Sedentary State: Central Asian Oases in the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire (550-330 BCE) 34
2.2.2 Cosmopolitism and Economic Expansion: Central Asian Oases in the Empire of Alexander and the Hellenistic States (330 BCE... 37
2.2.2.1 Empire of Alexander: First Major European Colonization Effort in CA (330-323 BCE) 37
2.2.2.2 Seleucid Empire: Sustained Colonization, Rising International Trade, Prosperity and Inflation 39
2.2.2.3 Twilight of Hellenism in CA: Early Parthian Empire and Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250-ca. 150 BCE) 40
2.2.3 East CA in the Xiongnu Empire: Initiation of Transcontinental Silk Trade by the First Major Nomadic State Ruling the Eur... 41
2.3 The Great Silk Road: Linking Roman and Chinese Empires (150 BCE-350 CE) 42
2.3.1 China, Driven Primarily by Geopolitical Goals, Establishes the Great Silk Road in CA (ca. 150 BCE-ca. 1 CE) 42
2.3.1.1 From Tributary Dependence on the Xiongnu to Ruler of the Eastern SR (105 BCE) 43
2.3.1.2 The Kushan State, Parthia, and Other C Asian Participants in Early SR Trade 47
2.3.2 Apex: A Transcontinental Economic, Cultural, and Technological Artery Linking Four Flourishing Sedentary Empires (ca. 1 ... 51
2.3.2.1 From the Pivotal Importance of Chinese Silk to the Emergence of an International ``Silk Standard´´ 51
2.3.2.2 The Kushan and Parthian Empires and Beyond: Successful SR Intermediaries 52
2.3.3 Course of the Main Routes of the SR in Antiquity 55
2.3.4 Decline Triggered by Internal Imperial Weaknesses and External Nomadic Pressure (ca. 200 CE-ca. 350 CE) 56
2.3.4.1 Economic Mismanagement, Political Instability, and Decline of the SR 56
2.3.4.2 Simultaneous Fall: Huns Conquer Northern China, most of CA, and Large Parts of Eastern Europe (Fourth-Century CE) 57
References 58
Chapter 3: From the Migration Period to the Pinnacle of Nomadic Power: The Mongol Eurasian Empire 60
3.1 From Barbarian Invasions to the Turkic Empire, the First Transcontinental Nomadic State (ca. 350-700 CE) 60
3.1.1 From Instability and Turmoil to the Hephthalite Confederation (ca. 350-550 CE) 60
3.1.2 The Turk Khaganate: Spanning from Europe to China and Reanimating Trade (ca. 550-630 CE) 63
3.1.2.1 The Turkic Empire and Its Sogdian Merchants Resume Transcontinental Tribute Trade with China 63
3.1.2.2 Following Chinese Termination of Large Tribute Payments, the Turkic Empire Splits into Eastern and Western Khaganate 67
3.1.3 Tang China and the Arab Caliphate Set the Stage for the Second Heyday of SR Trade (630-Late Seventh Century) 69
3.1.3.1 Chinese Rule Spreads Along the SR Over Most of Turkestan 69
3.1.3.2 Expansion of Caliphate into CA Opens Up Huge Integrated Economic and Trading Space 70
3.1.3.3 Emergence of the Khazar Empire: A Pivotal Intermediary at the Nexus of Europe and Asia 72
3.2 Second Apex of Great Silk Road in the Era of the Caliphate and of the Tang Dynasty (Late Seventh to Late Ninth Century) 72
3.2.1 Breakthrough to New Climax of SR Trade (Around 675-750) 73
3.2.1.1 The Two Largest Empires of the World Meet in CA in the Late Seventh Century 73
3.2.1.2 Reinserting Transcontinental Tribute Trade: From the Eastern Turkic State to the Uighur Khaganate 75
3.2.1.3 New Institutional-Economic Structures Created in Islamic CA 76
3.2.2 SR Trade Obstructed by Hostilities, but Arabs Transmit Key Chinese Know-How (Paper, Compass) Westward (ca. 750-800) 77
3.2.2.1 Battle of Talas and An Lushan Rebellion Set Stage for Chinese Withdrawal from West Turkestan and for Arab Acquisition ... 77
3.2.2.2 Tibet Conquers Part of the SR, While Khazaria and the Caliphate Are at War 78
3.2.3 Under Uighur Initiative, Eastern SR Trade Resumes, If on a More Modest Level (ca. 800-875) 79
3.2.4 Central Asian Economy Consolidates in Decentralizing Caliphate: Western SR Regains Prosperity (ca. 800-875) 81
3.2.4.1 Arab Central Asia´s Cultural, Economic, and Trade Development 81
3.2.4.2 Second Heyday of the Khazar Empire and the Western SR in the Ninth Century 84
3.2.5 Some of the Most Important SR Products Traded in the Tang-Caliphate Era 86
3.2.6 Approximate SR Network in the Tang-Caliphate Era 86
3.2.7 China Turns Inward, the Caliphate Disintegrates, and Military Pressure from the Eurasian Steppe Intensifies, Destabilizi... 86
3.3 Central Asia Passing from the Sway of Sedentary to Nomadic Dynasties (Late Ninth to Early Thirteenth Century) 87
3.3.1 Notwithstanding Weaker SR Exchange, Central Asian Intellectual and Cultural Achievements in the Early Second Millennium ... 87
3.3.2 The Post-Caliphate Era: CA Dominated by Traditional Sedentary and Sedentarized States (Late Ninth-Tenth Centuries) 89
3.3.2.1 The Samanids (819/875-999): Bureaucratic State Presides Over ``Islamic Renaissance´´ 89
``Big Government´´ Boosts Security with Turkic Military Slaves and Promotes SR Recovery 89
From Peak of Medieval Urban Civilization of the Orient to Decline and Collapse of the Empire 92
3.3.2.2 The Kingdom of Qocho and the Yellow Uighurs (from Around 840): Maintaining Trade Links with China 93
3.3.2.3 The Khazars, the Kievan Rus, and Volga Bulgaria (Late Ninth-Mid-eleventh Centuries) 95
3.3.2.4 Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Communities in the Eurasian Steppe Belt 95
3.3.3 Post-Caliphate Muslim Faith: Expansion Throughout CA and Increasing Dogmatization 97
3.3.4 Turkic and Other Dynasties from the Eurasian Steppes Take Control of CA (Mid-tenth-Mid-twelfth Centuries) 98
3.3.4.1 The Karakhanids (942-1089/1210): Continued Stability Under Hybrid of Nomadic Appanage and Islamic Iqta System 98
3.3.4.2 The Ghaznavids (977-1187): Moving Toward Oriental Despotism 100
3.3.4.3 The Khitan-Liao and the Xixia Empires (Early Tenth-Early Thirteenth Centuries): Tribute Extractors from Song China 101
3.3.4.4 The Seljukids (1038-1194): Sprawling Empire Supports SR Trade but Breaks Up Due to Domestic Structural Flaws 102
3.3.4.5 The Polovtsy/Kipchaks Vis-à-Vis the Rus (Mid-eleventh to Early Thirteenth Centuries) 103
3.3.5 Reshuffling of Power on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion (Mid-twelfth-Early Thirteenth Century) 104
3.3.5.1 The Karakhitay (Western Liao Empire, 1130-1218): Strong SR Orientation, Heavy Taxation of Settled Cultures 104
3.3.5.2 The Ghurids (ca. 1175-1206)/The Emerging Sultanate of Delhi 105
3.3.5.3 The Khorezm Shahs (1097-1221): Heyday for the Local Oasis Economy 105
3.3.6 The Subdued SR in the Period Between the Demise of the Caliphate and the Mongol Expansion 106
3.4 From Large-Scale Devastation to the Third Climax of the Great Silk Road: CA in the Mongol Empire (Early Thirteenth to Mid-... 106
3.4.1 Wide-Range Destruction and Empire Building (1206-1240s) 107
3.4.1.1 The Mongol State and Its Military Technology Under Genghis Khan 107
3.4.1.2 Mongol Conquests and Colossal Damages and Losses in Central Asia 108
3.4.1.3 Institution Building in the New Empire 111
3.4.2 From Predatory Economic Policy to Reforms, Transcontinental Trade Boom, and Centralized Imperial Heyday (1240s-1280s) 114
3.4.2.1 Division of Mongol Empire into Semi-independent Uluses (Sub-empires) 114
3.4.2.2 From In-Kind Arbitrary Exaction to More Regular but Heavy Taxation: Piecemeal Remonetization of the Economy 117
3.4.2.3 Trade-Led Economic Recovery and Pax Mongolica (from 1250s) 118
3.4.2.4 Empire of the Great Khan: Distribution of Appanages to Nomadic Conquerors-Sinicization of Regime 119
3.4.2.5 Ulus Chagatay: Ambitious, but Fragile Reconstruction, Growing Economic Disparities 120
3.4.2.6 Ulus Jöchi/Khanate of the Golden Horde: Strategic Location at the Crossroads of Europe and Asia-Exploitation of Rus Pr... 120
3.4.2.7 Ulus Hülegü/Il-Khanate: Conquest and Ravaging of Middle East, New Nomadic Mass Immigration 123
3.4.3 Internal Mongol Warfare and Interruption of Trade Boom (1280s-1300s) 124
3.4.4 Economic Reforms, New Transcontinental Trade Boom, and Decentralized Imperial Heyday (1300s-1340s) 127
3.4.4.1 Great Khanate: Further Expansion, Infrastructure Development, and Crisis of Paper Money Circulation 128
3.4.4.2 Chagatay Khanate: Partial Sedentarization of Nomads as Ruling Class-Renewed Monetary Reforms Support Trade 128
3.4.4.3 Khanate of the Golden Horde: Recovery Spreads to Russia, Heyday of SR Trade via Italian Colonies, Important Mongol Leg... 129
3.4.4.4 Il-Khanate: From Unsuccessful Introduction of Paper Money to Successful Tax and Governance Reforms 131
3.4.5 Some Characteristics, Advantages, and Shortcomings of Mongol ``Silk Road Policy´´ 134
3.4.6 The Extensive SR Network in Mongol Times 137
3.4.7 Political Instability, Disintegration, and Black Death (1330s-1368) 139
3.4.7.1 The Eurasian Steppe and Longevity of Mongol Dynasties 139
3.4.7.2 The ``Black Death´´: A Second Demographic Catastrophe and an Adverse Sign of Early Globalization 139
3.4.7.3 Mongol Disintegration: End of Pax Mongolica-Collapse or Shrinkage of SR Trade 140
References 144
Chapter 4: Brushed Aside by Outside Progress: From Relative Decline to Colonization 148
4.1 From Tamerlane to the Dzungar Empire: CA Moving from the Heart to the Periphery of the World Economy (ca. 1350-1750) 148
4.1.1 Fragile Recovery of CA and the SR (ca. 1350-Sixteenth Century) 148
4.1.1.1 Empire of Tamerlane (ca. 1380-1405): A Model of ``Oriental Despotism´´? 149
Origins, Goals, Military Technology, Cruel Conquests, and Widespread Devastation 149
Timur´s Economic Policy: Forced and Costly Centralization of Resources in Flourishing Transoxiana, Control of Trade Routes 152
Timur´s Empire as Focus of Resuscitated Transcontinental SR Trade 154
4.1.1.2 Tamerlane´s Successors: ``Timurid Renaissance´´ 155
Shah Rukh and Ulugh Beg (First Half of Fifteenth Century): Political Stability and Economic Recovery, Cultural Florescence 155
Abu Said and Husain Baikara (Second Half of Fifteenth Century): Continuing Prosperity but Rising Political Instability 156
Timurid Emirates as a Turntable of SR Trade 157
4.1.1.3 The Uzbek (Shaybanid) Khanate: Prosperity Weakened by Spreading Instability 158
The Khanate of Shaybani Khan and Successors: Replacing the Timurid State (1500-1533) 158
The Khanate of Bukhara of Ubaydullah Khan et al. (1533 to Mid-sixteenth Century) 160
From Khwarazm to the Khanate of Khiva 161
Sixteenth Century: Incipient Impact of Seaborne Competition on SR Trade 162
4.1.1.4 The Turkmens in the Fifteenth to Sixteenth Centuries: Living Under a Creative but Turbulent and Costly Anarchy 162
4.1.1.5 The Chagatay Khanate in the Fifteenth to Sixteenth Centuries: Gradual Consolidation of an East-West Trade Turntable 164
4.1.1.6 The Disintegration of the Khanate of the Golden Horde and the Rise of Muscovy: From East-West to North-South Trade 165
From Limited Revival of SR Trade to Demise of the Golden Horde (Mid-fourteenth to Mid-fifteenth Centuries) 165
The Rise of Muscovy: Moving Beyond the Mongol Legacy (Late Fourteenth to Mid-sixteenth Centuries) 166
The Tatar Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimea, and Sibir: Mostly Sedentarized Trading States 168
The Noghay Confederation (Early Fifteenth Century to Late Sixteenth Century): Muscovy´s Prime Supplier of Horses 169
The Kazakhs: Emergence of a New Extensive C Asian Steppe State 170
4.1.1.7 The Kyrgyz: Mountain Nomads Practicing Transhumance in the Tienshan 172
4.1.1.8 The Safavid Empire Until the Late Sixteenth Century 172
4.1.1.9 The Oirat Empire of the Mid-fifteenth Century: Yet Again a Vast Steppe State Exacting Tribute from China 173
4.1.2 Aspects of the C Asian Oasis and Steppe Economies from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries 174
4.1.2.1 The Oasis Economy 174
4.1.2.2 The Steppe Economy 177
4.1.3 Gradual Loss of Prominence and Move to the Sidelines of the Increasingly European-Dominated World Economy (Sixteenth Cen... 179
4.1.3.1 From Uzbek Rule to the ``C Asian Khanates´´ (Bukhara, Khiva, Later: Khoqand) 179
From Khan Abdullah II to the Astrakhanids: Economic Revival of the C Asian Hub of SR Trade 179
Khanate of Bukhara, from Mid-18th Century: Emirate of Bukhara-Gradual Decline of a Classic Muslim Polity 183
Khanate of Khiva: A Major SR Trading Post Affected by Increasing Instability 186
Khanate of Khoqand (Ferghana Basin, from 1710) 187
4.1.3.2 The Turkmens: Incessant Nongovernmental Struggle for Resources 188
4.1.3.3 The Chagatay Khanate: SR Trade Flourishes in the Sixteenth and Comes Under Pressure in the Seventeenth Century 188
4.1.3.4 Muscovy and Its ``Collection´´ of Territories of the Former Golden Horde 190
Conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Sibir (1552-1595): A Major Step Toward CA 190
Kazan, Astrakhan, and Western Siberia Under Russian Rule 193
Russia and Its Early Expansion into CA 197
The Khanate of Crimea (Under Ottoman Suzerainty Until Late Eighteenth Century) 199
4.1.3.5 The Kazakh Khanate from Overall Recovery to Trial (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century) 199
Consolidation of the State in a Period of Economic Recovery Punctuated by External Pressures 199
Kazakhs Suffer from Devastating Dzungar Blows: Beginnings of Integration with Russia (Early Until Mid-eighteenth Century) 201
4.1.3.6 The Kyrgyz (Seventeenth to Mid-eighteenth Centuries): Second Wave of Migration to Tienshan, Marginal Sedentarization 202
4.1.3.7 Safavid Empire from the Late Sixteenth Century, Nadir Shah, and Post-Nadir Shah Persia 204
From Heyday of State-Promoted Economic Development Under Shah Abbas I (Late Sixteenth to Early Seventeenth Century) to Instabi... 204
Quick Far-Flung Conquests, Concentration of Resources in Khorassan, and Collapse: Nadir Shah´s Ephemeral Empire (1732-1747) 205
4.1.3.8 Afghanistan: A Pivotal Mountain Redoubt Straddling Trade and Strategic Routes 206
4.1.3.9 The Dzungar Empire/Grand Tartary (1635-1758) and the Middle Kingdom 207
Rise of a New Powerful State on the Mongol Steppe, Emigration of Dissenters to the Volga 207
Conquest and Exploitation of Chagatay Khanate (from ca. 1680) 208
Tribute Trade and Eventual Fatal Hostilities with the Qing Empire 210
The Qing Dynasty: Incipient Colonization of Eastern CA (First Half of Eighteenth Century) 212
4.1.4 Long-Term Factors Explaining CA´s Economic and Political Decline from the Sixteenth Century 214
4.1.4.1 Legacy of Weakened Production Potential (Mongol and Tamerlane Devastations, Thirteenth to Fifteenth Centuries) 214
4.1.4.2 Impact of European Discoveries 215
Discovery and Increasing Use of Sea Route from Europe to India and China, Circumventing CA (from the Sixteenth Century) 215
Conquest of America and Immense Silver Finds Strengthen Atlantic Europe, Indirectly Weaken CA 216
4.1.4.3 Impact of European Industrial Advancement 217
4.1.4.4 Religious and Political Factors 218
4.1.5 From Dynamic Transcontinental Trade to Declining SR Due to Numerous Factors 219
4.1.5.1 SR Trade Comes Under Pressure from Maritime Competition (Early Sixteenth Century) 219
4.1.5.2 Interregional Mercantilist Renaissance of Trade (Late Sixteenth to Early Seventeenth Centuries) 220
Simultaneous Rule of Strong Political Leaders Who Carried Out Important Economic Reforms in ``Gunpowder Empires´´ 220
Interregional Trade Boosted by Spillovers of Silver Flows from America 222
``Bukharans´´ and Other Renowned C Asian Traders and Their Networks 222
4.1.5.3 Heavily Squeezed by Multiple Factors: SR Trade on the Decline (From Around Mid-seventeenth Century) 223
Political, Military, Economic, Technological, and Religious Factors Contribute to Renewed Loss of Importance 223
The Momentous Impact of Instability and Turmoil Across CA from the Seventeenth Century 224
4.1.6 The Post-Mongol SR Trade Networks (Fourteenth to Eighteenth Centuries): Where Did They Run and Until When Were They Stil... 225
4.2 From Subject to Object: Twilight and Collapse of Nomadic and Khanate Power-CA Colonized by Its Big Neighbors (1750s-1880s) 226
4.2.1 Following Chinese Conquest of Dzungar Empire: CA Witnesses Recovery and Temporary Stabilization (Mid-eighteenth to Secon... 227
4.2.1.1 West Turkestan and Russian Adjoining Areas: Some Political and Economic Developments 227
Restabilization: The Khanates En Route Toward Patrimonial States? 227
Response to Oppression and Painful Economic Change: Torgut Migration (1771) and Pugachev Uprising (1773-1775) 227
Timid Czarist Economic and Social Reforms, Continuation of Trade Recovery 228
French Revolutionary Wars and Continental Blockade (1799-1812) Indirectly Benefit C Asian Trade and Economies 229
Notwithstanding Encirclement by Big Powers: Inter-Khanate Warfare Takes Off Again (from 1820s) 229
4.2.1.2 Emirate of Bukhara: Emerging Patrimonial State and Increasing Cotton Trade with Russia 230
Hesitant Stabilization Under Early Manghits (from Mid-eighteenth Century) 230
Patrimonial Authority Under Shah Murad (1785-1800) and Successors 230
Bukhara, Still a Trade Gate to India, Becomes a Diversified Cotton Supplier to Russia 232
4.2.1.3 Khanate of Khiva and the Turkmens: Stabilization and Decline of an Important Transit Center and Prime Slave Market 233
Extended Period of Instability in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century 233
Compromise and Renewed Tensions with Turkmens (First Half of the Nineteenth Century) 233
4.2.1.4 Khanate of Khoqand and the Kyrgyz: Rising but Fragile Mini-Empire Controlling Trade and Tributes in the Heart of CA 235
Political Stabilization, Economic Recovery, and the Pax Sinica (Second Half of Eighteenth Century-Early Nineteenth Century) 235
Expansion Creates East-West Trade Turntable and Tribute Collector at the Heart of CA (Early Nineteenth Century to 1840s) 236
Increasing Focus on Cotton Production and on Trade with Russia 237
4.2.1.5 The Kazakhs: Increasingly Under Russia´s Political Sway and Economic Influence 238
Younger and Middle Hordes Adopt Russian Overlordship, Senior Horde Becomes Tributary to China (Eighteenth Century) 238
Russia Becomes the Kazakhs´ Major Trading Partner (Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century) 239
Kazakh Seasonal Migrations Increasingly Hemmed In 239
Liquidation of Hordes, Establishment of Russian Administration (First Half of Nineteenth Century) 240
4.2.1.6 Qing Xinjiang: Strong State-Initiated Agricultural Development and Relative Colonial Prosperity (1758-1830) 241
Establishment of Indirect Rule of Peripheral Strategic Territory 241
Incorporation of (Eastern) Kazakhs and Torguts into the Qing Trading, Tax, and Political System (1760s-1770s) 242
Major Government Agricultural and Infrastructure Investment, Sustained Subsidization, Peace, and Relative Prosperity (ca. 1760... 242
Overall Positive Economic Record of First Decades of Qing Rule 245
Increasing Difficulties in China Proper, Instability Spreads to Xinjiang, Decline of Subsidies, and Evaporation of Growth (182... 246
4.2.1.7 At the Borders of CA: Iran, Afghanistan (Late Eighteenth-Nineteenth Centuries) 247
Iran: Repeated Attempts at Economic Modernization Only Partly Successful 247
Afghanistan: While Still an Important Turntable of Eurasian Trade, Increasingly an Object of Imperialist Rivalry 248
4.2.1.8 Trade and Economic Recovery in CA in Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries: ``Last Glimmer´´ of the SR 249
4.2.1.9 Increasingly Dual (Sino-Russian) Orientation of Remaining SR Network During Last Precolonial Recovery (ca. 1770-1830) 250
4.2.2 West Turkestan: Russian Conquest Brings Upheavals and Incipient Inclusion into Modern Capitalist World Economy (Second Q... 251
4.2.2.1 Motives for the Russian Conquest of West Turkestan 251
4.2.2.2 The Conquest (ca. 1820-1885) 252
First Stage: Occupation of Kazakh Steppe and Zhetysu (Until About 1860) 252
Second Stage: Invasion of Southern Turkestan (from About 1860) 253
4.2.2.3 ``Civilizational´´ Effects of the Russian Conquest: ``Pax Russica,´´ Separation of Populations, Urbanization, Painful ... 255
4.2.2.4 Oasis Belt: Swift, If Selective, Transformation into European Market Colonies 256
Low-Cost Administration of the Indigenous Population: The Governorate-General of Turkestan and the Protectorates of Bukhara an... 256
Substantial Investment in C Asian Cotton Production: Toward an Export-Oriented Monoculture Dependent on Food and Industrial Im... 257
Early Expansion of the Railroad Network, Other Infrastructure, and Civic Activities 260
4.2.2.5 The Kazakh Steppe: From Pastoral Nomadism and Social Turmoil to Large-Scale Settlement of European Farmers 262
Growing Adaptation of Kazakh Livestock Economy to Russian Market, Encroachment by European Settlers 262
The Kenesary Rebellion (1837-1847) Against Czarist Oppression and Confiscation of Pasturelands 264
Establishment of the Governorate-General of the Steppe and Reorganization of Northern CA 264
Toward Large-Scale European Settlement and Drastic Expulsion of Nomads (from the 1880s) 265
4.2.3 East Turkestan: Weakening Chinese Rule and Unrest Trigger Instability and Stagnation (Second Quarter till Late Nineteent... 269
4.2.3.1 From Dwindling Resources to Unrest, ``Unequal Treaty´´ with Khoqand, and Temporary Stabilization (ca. 1830-1850) 270
4.2.3.2 Heavy Losses Through Chinese Rebellions and Regional Insurgency (Yakub Beg), Followed by Fragile Qing Reconquest (ca. ... 270
Pervasive Turmoil and Collapse of Financial Flows Trigger the Unraveling of Chinese Rule 270
Yaqub Beg´s Emirate of Kashgaria (1865-77): High Taxes, Low Trade with China, but Temporary Focus of ``Great Game´´ 271
China´s Reconquest of East Turkestan (1876-1878) 273
Beijing´s New Centralized Development Strategy for Xinjiang-Hampered by Resource Constraints 274
References 276
Chapter 5: Some Lessons and Findings of this Study 281
5.1 CA: A Unique Global Region of Historic Nomadic-Sedentary Interaction 281
5.2 The SR: A Transcontinental Trade Network for Almost 2000 Years Featuring Three Heydays 283
5.3 CA´s Political/Mercantile Centrality in Eurasia up to the Fifteenth Century, Followed by Lengthy Decline 286
5.4 From Domestic Modernization Attempts to European Colonization 288
5.5 China´s Pivotal Importance 288
Bibliography and Sources of Maps 291
Index 293