Monuments of Central Asia : a guide to the archaeology, art and architecture of Turkestan

In this comprehensive account of the culture and history of Central Asia, Edgar Knobloch describes the main centers of the age-old civilization. Throughout the book he spices the text with quotations from the works of contemporary travelers, while providing an expert’s commentary on the archaeological, architectural, and decorative features of the sites he describes. His original photographs are supplemented by numerous line drawings, plans of the main cities, and sketches of principal monuments and their ornamental features. CONTENTS......Page 4 LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS......Page 5 PREFACE......Page 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 8 INTRODUCTION......Page 9 I THE COUNTRIES......Page 11 1 - LAND AND PEOPLE......Page 13 2 - OUTLINE OF HISTORY......Page 21 3 - CIVILISATION......Page 42 4 - ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHITECTURAL DECORATION......Page 61 5 - THE SOURCES......Page 88 II CENTRAL ASIA......Page 103 6 - KHOREZM......Page 105 7 - THE ZARAFSHAN VALLEY......Page 133 8 - TURKMENISTAN......Page 199 9 - THE AMU DARYA VALLEY AND SOUTHERN TAJIKISTAN......Page 209 10 - THE SYR DARYA AND FERGHANA VALLEYS......Page 227 11 - KAZAKHSTAN AND KIRGHIZSTAN......Page 235 III XINJIANG, OR EASTERN TURKESTAN......Page 246 12 - HISTORY......Page 248 13 - URUMCHI, TURFAN AND KUCHA......Page 253 14 - TUN-HUANG TO KASHGAR......Page 258 IV AFGHANISTAN......Page 271 15 - HISTORY......Page 273 16 - THE CENTRE AND THE EAST......Page 276 17 - THE WEST......Page 286 18 - THE NORTH......Page 297 19 - THE SOUTH......Page 306 APPENDIX: AFTERMATH OF DESTRUCTION......Page 313 HISTORY......Page 315 ART......Page 316 TRAVEL......Page 318 ZARAFSHAN......Page 319 TURKMENISTAN......Page 320 THE SYR DARYA AND FERGHANA VALLEYS......Page 321 XINJIANG......Page 322 AFGHANISTAN......Page 323 INDEX......Page 325 This account of the culture and history of Turkestan describes the major centres of civilization, from the Caspian Sea in the west to the fringes of the Tibetan plateau in the east. It provides information on the archaeological, architectural and historical features of the region.