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In his magisterial Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane, Frederick Starr introduces the reader to the story of Central Asia’s golden age, brings to light the cultural and scientific achievements of that time, and investigates the causes of the region’s decline. The book serves as proof that Central Asia is not only the homeland of great conquerors (such as Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, Attila, Emir Sanjar al-Jawali, the Ghaznavids, etc.), but also the birthplace of great minds who left their mark on the development of mathematics, geometry, astronomy, philosophy, epistemology, and art, paving the way for the European Renaissance. Though they wrote in Arabic and were devout Muslims, many of those innovators and freethinkers were of Iranian and Turkic origin and came from Central Asia, a distinctive region that Starr calls “the crossroads of civilizations.”
Unfortunately, in the modern Western world, the glorious names of these figures remain largely unknown. Part of the blame rests on current problems: slow economic development, poor cultural infrastructure, and political turmoil in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. Central Asia is too often relegated to the status of backwater, the outskirts of the world. But has it always been so? Starr refutes this stereotype, which still holds sway over the media and even in academic circles, inviting readers to broader their perspectives.
In light of Central Asia’s arid climate and unwelcoming landscape of steppes and huge deserts like Kyzyl Kum and Karakum, it’s hard to imagine that any highly developed sedentary civilizations could have ever emerged here. But instead of going in search of more favorable lands, native Central Asian inhabitants successfully adapted to their rough surroundings and managed to create great empires. This was made possible by impressive advances in irrigation systems that supported agriculture for thousands of years. Indeed, Starr astutely calls Central Asia a “hydraulic civilization” — one organized around the rational use of scarce resources. Starr further suggests that the need to control water usage led to the emergence of hierarchical and autocratic regimes, and also ensured the flourishing of urban culture.
The mention of Central Asia usually elicits two images: massive steppes and nomadic horsemen. While nomadism is an unalienable part of the region’s identity, it is its ancient cities that fostered its greatest minds. For example, the ancient city Merv, the scenic ruins of which are situated in modern Turkmenistan, used to be a capital of Eastern astronomy, where astronomer and polymath Abu al-Rahman Mansur al-Khazini composed The Book of the Balance of Wisdom, one of the most significant works on mechanics, hydrostatics, and physics in the Middle Ages. The great poet Omar Khayyam was a native of Nishapur, in what is now northeastern Iran. Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, known in the West as Alfarabius and honored in the Muslim world as “the second teacher” after Aristotle, was born in Otrar, in what is now Kazakhstan. Ahmad al-Farghani, a native of the Fergana Valley, created fundamental astronomical works, one of which was used by Christopher Columbus for his voyage to America. Born in Khwarazm, situated in modern-day Uzbekistan, scholar Abu Rayhan al-Biruni left behind a legacy in astronomy, geodesy, history, and social sciences, while his countryman, the scientist, philosopher, and physician Abu Ali al-Huseyn Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna, is considered the father of modern medicine. Another native of Khwarazm, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, is the founder of modern algebra. Samarkand, the capital of the Samanid and Timurid empires, was home to the grandson of Tamerlane, the ruler and astronomer Ulugh Bek, who created an accurate catalog of the stars in the sky and founded one of the most important observatories of the Middle Ages; his associates Ali Qushji and Mas’ud al-Kashi directed the Samarkand observatory and created important works in mathematics and astronomy. The Muslim theologian Muhammad al-Bukhari, the artist Kamal ud-Din Behzad, as well as the Turkic poets and linguists Mahmud al-Kashgari, Yusuf Balasuguni, and Ali-Shir Nava’i, also emerged from the cities of Central Asia.
Reading about these individuals and their outstanding achievements makes it difficult to imagine the reasons behind the subsequent cultural and scientific decline of Central Asia, but Starr points to several: the split of Islam into opposing groups of Shiites and Sunnis; the Mongol invasion and its destruction of irrigation systems and major urban centers; the opening of sea trade routes and the decline of transcontinental trade. There is no doubt that this combination of factors influenced the decline of Central Asia, but is there any point in looking for culprits?
Indeed, despite historical cataclysms, Central Asia has not disappeared from the face of world civilization. The descendants of its great empires managed to preserve their cultures, and the countries of Central Asia, which gained their independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, continue to develop, looking for a place in the modern world, albeit each at its own pace, and are at the same time responding to the challenges of the 21st century, such as radical terrorism and global economic crises. History does not tolerate speculation, but Central Asia has risen from the dust more than once to surprise the world again.
Tamerlane Salyk is a blogger with an interest in literature and history. He is a Cal State LA graduate in mass communications and creative writing.
Unfortunately, in the modern Western world, the glorious names of these figures remain largely unknown. Part of the blame rests on current problems: slow economic development, poor cultural infrastructure, and political turmoil in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. Central Asia is too often relegated to the status of backwater, the outskirts of the world. But has it always been so? Starr refutes this stereotype, which still holds sway over the media and even in academic circles, inviting readers to broader their perspectives.
In light of Central Asia’s arid climate and unwelcoming landscape of steppes and huge deserts like Kyzyl Kum and Karakum, it’s hard to imagine that any highly developed sedentary civilizations could have ever emerged here. But instead of going in search of more favorable lands, native Central Asian inhabitants successfully adapted to their rough surroundings and managed to create great empires. This was made possible by impressive advances in irrigation systems that supported agriculture for thousands of years. Indeed, Starr astutely calls Central Asia a “hydraulic civilization” — one organized around the rational use of scarce resources. Starr further suggests that the need to control water usage led to the emergence of hierarchical and autocratic regimes, and also ensured the flourishing of urban culture.
The mention of Central Asia usually elicits two images: massive steppes and nomadic horsemen. While nomadism is an unalienable part of the region’s identity, it is its ancient cities that fostered its greatest minds. For example, the ancient city Merv, the scenic ruins of which are situated in modern Turkmenistan, used to be a capital of Eastern astronomy, where astronomer and polymath Abu al-Rahman Mansur al-Khazini composed The Book of the Balance of Wisdom, one of the most significant works on mechanics, hydrostatics, and physics in the Middle Ages. The great poet Omar Khayyam was a native of Nishapur, in what is now northeastern Iran. Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, known in the West as Alfarabius and honored in the Muslim world as “the second teacher” after Aristotle, was born in Otrar, in what is now Kazakhstan. Ahmad al-Farghani, a native of the Fergana Valley, created fundamental astronomical works, one of which was used by Christopher Columbus for his voyage to America. Born in Khwarazm, situated in modern-day Uzbekistan, scholar Abu Rayhan al-Biruni left behind a legacy in astronomy, geodesy, history, and social sciences, while his countryman, the scientist, philosopher, and physician Abu Ali al-Huseyn Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna, is considered the father of modern medicine. Another native of Khwarazm, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, is the founder of modern algebra. Samarkand, the capital of the Samanid and Timurid empires, was home to the grandson of Tamerlane, the ruler and astronomer Ulugh Bek, who created an accurate catalog of the stars in the sky and founded one of the most important observatories of the Middle Ages; his associates Ali Qushji and Mas’ud al-Kashi directed the Samarkand observatory and created important works in mathematics and astronomy. The Muslim theologian Muhammad al-Bukhari, the artist Kamal ud-Din Behzad, as well as the Turkic poets and linguists Mahmud al-Kashgari, Yusuf Balasuguni, and Ali-Shir Nava’i, also emerged from the cities of Central Asia.
Reading about these individuals and their outstanding achievements makes it difficult to imagine the reasons behind the subsequent cultural and scientific decline of Central Asia, but Starr points to several: the split of Islam into opposing groups of Shiites and Sunnis; the Mongol invasion and its destruction of irrigation systems and major urban centers; the opening of sea trade routes and the decline of transcontinental trade. There is no doubt that this combination of factors influenced the decline of Central Asia, but is there any point in looking for culprits?
Indeed, despite historical cataclysms, Central Asia has not disappeared from the face of world civilization. The descendants of its great empires managed to preserve their cultures, and the countries of Central Asia, which gained their independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, continue to develop, looking for a place in the modern world, albeit each at its own pace, and are at the same time responding to the challenges of the 21st century, such as radical terrorism and global economic crises. History does not tolerate speculation, but Central Asia has risen from the dust more than once to surprise the world again.
¤
Tamerlane Salyk is a blogger with an interest in literature and history. He is a Cal State LA graduate in mass communications and creative writing.
LARB Contributor
Tamerlane Salyk is a blogger with an interest in literature and history. He is a Cal State LA graduate in mass communications and creative writing.
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