For decades — centuries even — much of the world has regarded Central Asia as little more than a blank on the map, synonymous with the middle of nowhere, rather than the heartland of Asia.


Central Asian republics share some extremely convoluted borders. During the Soviet era most of these existed on paper only but in recent years they have solidified into full international crossings so make sure you have the necessary visas.


Turkmenistan is the “North Korea of Central Asia” — hard to get into and a real curiosity once you are there.


Nazarbaev doesn’t hide his belief that the economy comes first and democracy second. He has certainly delivered on the economy, using international investment to help develop Kazakhstan’s vast resources of oil, gas and almost every other known valuable mineral. Economic growth averaged a very strong 8% a year in the decade up to 2012.


Kazakhstan as a single entity with defined boundaries was an invention of the Soviet regime in the 1920s. Before that, the great bulk of this territory was part of the domain of nomadic horseback animal herders that stretched right across the Eurasian steppe. At times some of its various peoples fell under the sway of regional or continental potentates; at other times they were left to sort themselves out.


The story of the Kazakhs starts with the Uzbeks, a group of Islamized Mongols named after leader Ozbeg (Uzbek), who were left in control of most of the Kazakh steppe as the Golden Horde disintegrated in the 15th century.

In 1468 an internal feud split the Uzbeks into 2 groups. Those who ended up south of the Syr-Darya ruled from Bukhara as the Shaybanid dynasty and ultimately gave their name to modern Uzbekistan. Those who stayed north remained nomadic and became the Kazakhs, taking their name from a Turkic word meaning free rider or adventurer.


The Kazakhs sought tsarist protection from the Zhungars, and the khans of all 3 hordes swore loyalty to the Russian crown between 1731 and 1742. Russia gradually extended its “protection” of the khanates to their annexation and abolition, despite repeated Kazakh uprisings.


During the Cold War the USSR decided Kazakhstan was “empty” and “remote” enough to use for its chief nuclear bomb testing ground.


Except for mountain chains along its southeastern and eastern borders, Kazakhstan is pretty flat. At 2.7M sq km, it’s about the size of Western Europe.


The region’s cradle of culture for more than 2 millennia, Uzbekistan is proud home to a spellbinding arsenal of architecture and ancient cities, all deeply infused with the bloody, fascinating history of the Silk Road. In terms of sights alone, Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s biggest draw and most impressive showstopper.


Samarkand, one of Central Asia’s oldest settlements, was probably founded in the 5th century BC. It was already the cosmopolitan, walled capital of the Sogdian empire when it was taken in 329BC by Alexander the Great, who said, “Everything I have heard about Samarkand is true, except that it’s more beautiful than I ever imagined.”

A key Silk Road city, it sat on the crossroads leading to China, India and Persia, bringing in trade and artisans. From the 6th-13th century it grew into a city more populous than it is today, changing hands every couple of centuries before being obliterated by Genghis Khan in 1220.

This might have been the end of the story, but in 1370 Timur decided to make Samarkand his capital, and over the next 35 years forged a new, almost-mythical city — Central Asia’s economic and cultural epicenter.


But the humiliated Bolsheviks had their revenge. Following an orchestrated “uprising” in Charjou by local revolutionaries calling themselves the Young Bukharans, and an equally premeditated request for help, Red Army troops from Khiva and Tashkent stormed the Ark (citadel) and captured Bukhara.


Colonel Stoddart had arrived 3 years earlier on a mission to reassure Emir Nasrullah Khan about Britain’s invasion of Afghanistan. But his superiors, underestimating the emir’s vanity and megalomania, had sent him with no gifts, and with a letter not from Queen Victoria (whom Nasrullah regarded as an equal sovereign), but from the governor-general of India. To compound matters Stoddart violated local protocol by riding, rather than walking, up to the Ark. The piqued Nasrullah had him thrown into jail.


Khiva’s name, redolent of slave caravans, barbaric cruelty, terrible desert journeys and steppes infested with wild tribesmen, struck fear into all bu the boldest 19th-century hearts.


When the Russians finally sent a properly organized expedition against Shiva, it was no contest. After some initial guerrilla resistance, the khan surrendered unconditionally. The khan became a vassal of the tsar and his silver throne was packed off to Russia.


Even into the 20th century, most Central Asians identified themselves ethnically as Turks or Persians. The connection between “Uzbek” and “Uzbekistan” is very much a Soviet matter.


For rural Uzbeks, the main impacts of Soviet rule were the forced and often bloody collectivization of the republic’s mainstay (agriculture) and the massive shift to cotton cultivation. The Uzbek intelligentsia and much of the republic’s political leadership was decimated by Stalin’s purges. This and the traditional Central Asian respect for authority meant that by the 1980s glasnost and perestroika would hardly trickle down here and few significant reforms took place.