Russian Empire

Russian conquest of Central Asia

1864 Jan 1 Central Asia
Russian conquest of Central Asia
Russian Forces Crossing the Amu Darya River, Khiva Campaign, 1873, Nikolay Karazin, 1889. © Nikolay Karazin

The Russian conquest of Central Asia took place in the second half of the nineteenth century. The land that became Russian Turkestan and later Soviet Central Asia is now divided between Kazakhstan in the north, Uzbekistan across the center, Kyrgyzstan in the east, Tajikistan in the southeast and Turkmenistan in the southwest. The area was called Turkestan because most of its inhabitants spoke Turkic languages with the exception of Tajikistan, which speaks an Iranian language.

Emancipation reform of 1861
Alaska Purchase
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Russian Empire