ARAB INVASION & OTHERS (600s-1157)
The Arabs arrived in the region in the 600s, shortly after their conquest of the Arabian peninsula was complete, the Arabs wanted to find more territory to spread their religion to. The Arab conquest of this region was discussed in the Uzbekistan post previously. Religion was a powerful motivator, that caused thousands of Arab troops to arrive in a distant and strange land that was unlike anything they'd ever seen. It was persian in culture and most people were Zoro-Astrian, the religion of the Ancient Persians (one of the earliest Monotheistic religions). They first occupied the city of Merv (named for noted Turkmen Merv Griffin). Merv was the Arab's home base for their missionary efforts.
The Arabs went as far east as China and as far west as Turkey. To this day the Western part of China has a large ethnically Central Asian Muslim population.
The Turkmen people weren't huge fans of the occupying Arabs. They took to their religion pretty well, but they weren't big on the military force itself. There's a story of a Goldsmith in Merv who told the Abbasid named Abu Muslim (who was so Muslim he was literally named Muslim) to not fight fellow muslims (meaning the people of Turkmenistan). Abu Muslim said "fuck that" and killed the Goldsmith and his entire family, as well as forty innocents because he felt like it.
The Arabs were overthrown by the Seljuks. The Seljuk occupation was a bit better for the average Turkmen person. Architecture was built (too bad most of it is dusty ruins at this point), paintings were painted and pottery was made. Pottery is usually a sign a culture is doing well. If they can designate hours a day painting ornate symbols on some ceramic it means they're doing pretty good.
At this time though, the Turkmen ethnic group which is how most people from Turkmenistan identify didn't really exist.
The Turkmen originated from a loose group of nine tribes around Lake Baikal in Russia, just north of Mongolia. These tribes were nomadic and eventually found their way to modern-day Turkmenistan and felt like settling down. There was some conflict between them and the other tribes and civilizations in the region, but it's mostly pretty boring and not important to the history of Turkmenistan as some tribes one and some tribes lost, etc.
MONGOLS SHOW UP (1157-1700s)
In 1157 the Mongols invaded! The Mongols arriving in your country is usually a bad sign and when I say usually I mean always. The Mongols tore shit up! They burned Merv to the ground (which is why it's not a city anymore, and is more of a dirt pile with some ruins on it).
The Mongols did with Turkmenistan what they did with everywhere else they invaded. Genghis Khan just pawned the land off on one of his generals or kids that he liked or something like that. He was like:
"Hey Chagatai, son. You've been doing pretty well. I figured you're ready for the responsibility that comes with managing a vast expanse of land. All you have to do is supply your warriors with enough money so they can terrorize the villages and towns in the land and it'll basically take care of itself. Alright, bye now. I'm off to go cross the Great Wall of China like it's nothing."
After the Mongols fell, a couple more empires captured the land like Timur who died a bit afterward and his Empire went with him and some smaller Tribes that governed the land for a bit.
RUSSIAN COLONIZATION (1800s-1917)
Russia and its ever expanding empire eventually reached the arid steppe of Turkmenistan. In 1869 the Russian government built a city designed as a port-town on the Caspian Sea called Krasnovodsk. Russia expanded its influence in the region by cracking down on the Slave trade in the region, mostly commited by Turkmen steppe residents. Russia outlawed slavery in 1723 and used this as a reason for their involvement in the region, even though they really wanted the land and natural resources.
Russians began settling the barren swathes of land in Turkmenistan founding cities like Ashgabat (the nation's capital) and this pissed off the Turkmen people who lived there already. They didn't want outsiders to come and ruin their land.
If you want more information on why Russia was claiming so much land check out the section of the Uzbekistan post where I talk about "The Great Game". I won't talk about it here because I'd be mostly repeating myself.
USSR (1917-1991)
Turkmenistan in 1917, became something of a problem for the newly formed USSR. It was filled with people that hated Moscow and Russia in general, but not for the reasons that the Bolsheviks did. They hated everything Russian and wanted out of the Russian Empire and the USSR. Most Turkmen people either didn't care the outcome of the Russian Revolution or were actively rooting against the Bolsheviks.
Turkmenistan was kept out of the spotlight for most of the 20th century as a satellite country of the USSR, that wasn't super important on the world stage. It still is pretty forgotten. It's the 7th least visited country in the world being beaten out by Tuvalu (which I talked about last week) and Somalia for obvious reasons, among others.
The country wasn't talked about much and the USSR almost seemed to forget it existed.
INDEPENDENCE (1991-PRESENT)
Turkmenistan, along with the other Soviet States became independent in 1991-1992. Saparmurad Niyazov, who was the head of the communists was elected (in a less than fair election). Niyazov seems to be trying to beat out Idi Amin for craziest dictator discussed on this blog however.
Niyazov's official title is "President of the Republic of Turkmenistan, Leader of ALL Turkmen". He wrote a new-age spirituality book called the Ruhnama which honestly sounds awful and made it mandatory in school. He changed the names of months, cities and other places to names of his family members and other things he deems worthy.
He also took term limits out of the constitution and declared himself President for Life which isn't good. That's dictator red-flag number one right there.
He then mysteriously died in 2006, leaving his illegitimate son Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (the leader with the longest name EVER) in charge. He won with 89% of the vote which seems fishy at best. He did some things to help Turkmenistan step into the 21st century like removing the internet firewall and allowing some criticism of the government. He also used some of Turkmenistan's new oil-money to refurbish the capital city and infrastructure around the country.
Even though some things are getting better life in Turkmenistan is still rough and without many political freedoms. It seems like things are improving though thanks in part to leadership that's crazy, but not AS crazy as Niyazov and the new oil money.
FUN FACTS
-Turkmenistan is home to the Gate to Hell (a.k.a. the Crater of Fire or the Door to Hell) a crater that is eternally on fire because of natural gas under the surface of the desert. It is known to be the most Metal tourist attraction in the world.
-Turkmenistan is exposed to "extreme seasons" with temperatures going from 15 degrees in the winter to 120 degrees in the summer.
-Turkmenistan has half the population of New York City, but 13 times as many airports.
-There is a carpet museum with the Guinness world record for largest hand-woven carpet.
-Even though firewalls have been lifted only 1.5% percent of Turkmenistan residents use the internet, so they're probably not reading this.
The Arabs arrived in the region in the 600s, shortly after their conquest of the Arabian peninsula was complete, the Arabs wanted to find more territory to spread their religion to. The Arab conquest of this region was discussed in the Uzbekistan post previously. Religion was a powerful motivator, that caused thousands of Arab troops to arrive in a distant and strange land that was unlike anything they'd ever seen. It was persian in culture and most people were Zoro-Astrian, the religion of the Ancient Persians (one of the earliest Monotheistic religions). They first occupied the city of Merv (named for noted Turkmen Merv Griffin). Merv was the Arab's home base for their missionary efforts.
The Arabs went as far east as China and as far west as Turkey. To this day the Western part of China has a large ethnically Central Asian Muslim population.
The Turkmen people weren't huge fans of the occupying Arabs. They took to their religion pretty well, but they weren't big on the military force itself. There's a story of a Goldsmith in Merv who told the Abbasid named Abu Muslim (who was so Muslim he was literally named Muslim) to not fight fellow muslims (meaning the people of Turkmenistan). Abu Muslim said "fuck that" and killed the Goldsmith and his entire family, as well as forty innocents because he felt like it.
The Arabs were overthrown by the Seljuks. The Seljuk occupation was a bit better for the average Turkmen person. Architecture was built (too bad most of it is dusty ruins at this point), paintings were painted and pottery was made. Pottery is usually a sign a culture is doing well. If they can designate hours a day painting ornate symbols on some ceramic it means they're doing pretty good.
At this time though, the Turkmen ethnic group which is how most people from Turkmenistan identify didn't really exist.
The Turkmen originated from a loose group of nine tribes around Lake Baikal in Russia, just north of Mongolia. These tribes were nomadic and eventually found their way to modern-day Turkmenistan and felt like settling down. There was some conflict between them and the other tribes and civilizations in the region, but it's mostly pretty boring and not important to the history of Turkmenistan as some tribes one and some tribes lost, etc.
MONGOLS SHOW UP (1157-1700s)
In 1157 the Mongols invaded! The Mongols arriving in your country is usually a bad sign and when I say usually I mean always. The Mongols tore shit up! They burned Merv to the ground (which is why it's not a city anymore, and is more of a dirt pile with some ruins on it).
The Mongols did with Turkmenistan what they did with everywhere else they invaded. Genghis Khan just pawned the land off on one of his generals or kids that he liked or something like that. He was like:
"Hey Chagatai, son. You've been doing pretty well. I figured you're ready for the responsibility that comes with managing a vast expanse of land. All you have to do is supply your warriors with enough money so they can terrorize the villages and towns in the land and it'll basically take care of itself. Alright, bye now. I'm off to go cross the Great Wall of China like it's nothing."
After the Mongols fell, a couple more empires captured the land like Timur who died a bit afterward and his Empire went with him and some smaller Tribes that governed the land for a bit.
RUSSIAN COLONIZATION (1800s-1917)
Russia and its ever expanding empire eventually reached the arid steppe of Turkmenistan. In 1869 the Russian government built a city designed as a port-town on the Caspian Sea called Krasnovodsk. Russia expanded its influence in the region by cracking down on the Slave trade in the region, mostly commited by Turkmen steppe residents. Russia outlawed slavery in 1723 and used this as a reason for their involvement in the region, even though they really wanted the land and natural resources.
Russians began settling the barren swathes of land in Turkmenistan founding cities like Ashgabat (the nation's capital) and this pissed off the Turkmen people who lived there already. They didn't want outsiders to come and ruin their land.
If you want more information on why Russia was claiming so much land check out the section of the Uzbekistan post where I talk about "The Great Game". I won't talk about it here because I'd be mostly repeating myself.
USSR (1917-1991)
Turkmenistan in 1917, became something of a problem for the newly formed USSR. It was filled with people that hated Moscow and Russia in general, but not for the reasons that the Bolsheviks did. They hated everything Russian and wanted out of the Russian Empire and the USSR. Most Turkmen people either didn't care the outcome of the Russian Revolution or were actively rooting against the Bolsheviks.
Turkmenistan was kept out of the spotlight for most of the 20th century as a satellite country of the USSR, that wasn't super important on the world stage. It still is pretty forgotten. It's the 7th least visited country in the world being beaten out by Tuvalu (which I talked about last week) and Somalia for obvious reasons, among others.
The country wasn't talked about much and the USSR almost seemed to forget it existed.
INDEPENDENCE (1991-PRESENT)
Turkmenistan, along with the other Soviet States became independent in 1991-1992. Saparmurad Niyazov, who was the head of the communists was elected (in a less than fair election). Niyazov seems to be trying to beat out Idi Amin for craziest dictator discussed on this blog however.
Niyazov's official title is "President of the Republic of Turkmenistan, Leader of ALL Turkmen". He wrote a new-age spirituality book called the Ruhnama which honestly sounds awful and made it mandatory in school. He changed the names of months, cities and other places to names of his family members and other things he deems worthy.
He also took term limits out of the constitution and declared himself President for Life which isn't good. That's dictator red-flag number one right there.
He then mysteriously died in 2006, leaving his illegitimate son Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (the leader with the longest name EVER) in charge. He won with 89% of the vote which seems fishy at best. He did some things to help Turkmenistan step into the 21st century like removing the internet firewall and allowing some criticism of the government. He also used some of Turkmenistan's new oil-money to refurbish the capital city and infrastructure around the country.
Even though some things are getting better life in Turkmenistan is still rough and without many political freedoms. It seems like things are improving though thanks in part to leadership that's crazy, but not AS crazy as Niyazov and the new oil money.
FUN FACTS
-Turkmenistan is home to the Gate to Hell (a.k.a. the Crater of Fire or the Door to Hell) a crater that is eternally on fire because of natural gas under the surface of the desert. It is known to be the most Metal tourist attraction in the world.
-Turkmenistan is exposed to "extreme seasons" with temperatures going from 15 degrees in the winter to 120 degrees in the summer.
-Turkmenistan has half the population of New York City, but 13 times as many airports.
-There is a carpet museum with the Guinness world record for largest hand-woven carpet.
-Even though firewalls have been lifted only 1.5% percent of Turkmenistan residents use the internet, so they're probably not reading this.
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