ABSTRACT
Central Asia is a vast landmass of diverse topography, culture, and ethnicity that stretches from the Caspian Sea to the heartland of China, and extends between southern Russia and the north of India. Its history has been intimately connected to the Silk Road, the world’s oldest and most historically important trade route connecting the West and China. Its political landscape still bears the stamp of the reign of legendary warriors and emperors such as Genghiz Khan and Tamerlane. Two hundred years ago, these vast swaths of steppe territory were a bone of contention between the Russian Tsars and the British Queen before being incorporated into the Russian Empire, which was seeking to secure its trade routes to and from the Far East and to expand its real estate. In the twentieth century, these territories moved from Russian Imperial domination to Soviet control, becoming administrative units of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet era, they served as the source of supply of raw materials, and a destination of exile for political opponents of the Soviet rule.
