Sogdia or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Empire, and listed on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great.

We invite you to dive deeper, explore Sogdian objects, travel the Silk Roads on the interactive map, watch leading scholars discuss their latest research, and discover the most important people you had (maybe) never heard of.

Feb 13, 2025 · Renowned for their sense of commerce and diplomacy along the Silk Road from antiquity to the High Middle Ages, the Sogdians became the most successful merchants of the era. They fostered relations...

Jan 19, 2025 · In a recent study on the historical and genetic legacy of the Sogdians, some of the major components in the lives of these ancient merchants, who were part of the crucial East-West nexus on the Silk Road, have been stitched together.

Sogdiana, ancient 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.

Sogdian Discoveries in the Age of Empire The key to the rediscovery of the Sogdians in the 19th century was the convergence of Western imperialism in Central Asia with the growth of archaeology as a discipline.

Jan 8, 2012 · Sogdiana (or Sogdia) is a region in Central Asia between the mighty rivers Iaxartes in the north and Oxus in the south. Its eastern and western limits are more difficult to determine, especially since the toponym Sogdiana covered different areas at different times.

Conquered in the mid-sixth century BC by Cyrus the Great, the region of Sogdiana (sometimes referred to as Huvarazmish) was added to the Persian empire. Before that it was populated largely by Indo-Iranian tribal groups, the most numerous of which in this particular area were the Sogdians themselves.

The Sogdians were an Iranian people whose homeland Sogdiana was comprised of oasis towns strategically located at the centre of several Silk Road routes in present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. In the 5th century CE this part of the world was included in the greater Persian Empire, which was later conquered by Alexander the Great.

The Sogdian city-states refers to a number of independent or autonomous city-states in the Iranian region of Sogdia in late antiquity and the medieval period. [1] Most of the city-states were ruled by a king or queen, who was called "first among equals". [2]