…Xuanzang crosses the desert further west to Samarkand.

In Samarkand, which is under Persian influence, the party comes across some abandoned Buddhist temples and Xuanzang impresses the local king with his preaching.

Setting out again to the south, …

The conquest of Central Asia by Islamic Arabs brings to the region a new religion and culture that continue to be dominant.

The Arabs first invade Mawarannahr in the middle of the seventh century through sporadic raids during their conquest of Persia.

Available sources on the Arab conquest suggest that the Sogdians and other Iranian peoples of Central Asia were unable to defend their land against the Arabs because of internal divisions and the lack of strong indigenous leadership.

The Arabs, on the other hand, are led by a brilliant general, Qutayba ibn Muslim, and they also are highly motivated by the desire to spread their new faith (the official beginning of which was in CE 622).

Because of these factors, the population of Mawarannahr is easily conquered.

The new religion brought by the Arabs spreads gradually in the region.

The native cultures, which in some respects already were being displaced by Persian influences before the Arabs arrived, will be displaced further in the ensuing centuries.

The destiny of Central Asia as an Islamic region is nevertheless firmly established by the Arab victory over the Chinese armies in 750 in a battle at the Talas River.

Central Asia retains much of its Iranian character under Arab rule, remaining an important center of culture and trade for centuries after the Arab conquest.

The language of government, literature, and commerce will be Arabic, however, until the tenth century.

Mawarannahr continuesd to be an important political player in regional affairs, as it had been under various Persian dynasties.

In fact, the Abbasid Caliphate, which will rule the Arab world for five centuries, beginning in 750, is established thanks in great part to assistance from Central Asian supporters in their struggle against the then-ruling Umayyad Caliphate.

…Samarkand, …

Qutayba initially turns towards Merv after leaving Khwarezm, for his army had grown weary and demanded an end to the campaign.

During the march, however, Qutayba suddenly turns the army around towards Samarkand.

The Sogdians have disbanded most of their forces, and the Arabs, reinforced with levies from Bukhara and Khwarezm, are able to brush aside the local resistance and advance straight to the city itself and lay siege to it.

Ghurak and the inhabitants of the city resist the Arabs with determination, and call upon the rulers of Shash (Tashkent) and the Ferghana Valley for aid.

The ruler of Shash indeed sends a strong army to aid them, but it is ambushed and destroyed by the Arabs.

The news of this arrives at the time where the Arab siege weapons had effected a breach in the city walls, forcing Ghurak to sue for peace.

Qutayba initially grants surprisingly lenient terms: the payment of an annual tribute and the provision of an auxiliary corps as with Bukhara and Khwarezm, as well as the construction of a mosque inside the city and the celebration of prayers there by the Arab army.

Once inside the city however, Qutayba proceeds to occupy and garrison it.

One of his brothers (accounts differ between Abd al-Rahman and Abdallah) is left as governor, and orders are given prohibiting any non-Muslim access to the city citadel.

Ghurak and his retinue leave the city and founded a new town, Farankath, further to the north.

Qutayba’s treachery has enabled him to bring most of Transoxiana under his tentative control, but it also considerably tarnishes his prestige among the Sogdians.

Many of the territories Qutayba had conquered are incorporated into the province of Transoxiana, “which lies beyond the Oxus”.

Though Qutayba himself had primarily been concerned with the military administration of the conquered territories, his successors will ultimately achieve the Islamization of the heretofore primarily Buddhist peoples of those regions.

The conquered cities of Samarkand and …

The Türgesh name first appears in Chinese sources in 651, by which time the Turgesh dwelt in Ili Valley, and disappears after 766.

The Turgesh Kaganate seems to have come into existence towards the end of the seventh century, after a massive revolt against the Western Turkic khan, a Chinese puppet.

The Turgesh leader was Ushyly (Wushile), who titled himself Baga Tarkhan and led a strong army to victory, putting the puppet khan to full speed flight.

His power soon spanned from the present-day Zhetysu area to Turpan and Kucha.

Ushyly Kaghan had then decided to ally with Tang China and the Kyrgyz people to stem the rise of the Second Göktürk Empire, ruled by Khapghan Kaghan.

Turgesh and Göktürks/Türküts had clashed in 698 in a battle fought at Bolchu (in modern Dzungaria) where the latter side, led by Bilge Tonyukuk, prevailed: the Yabgu (Ruler of West) and Shad (Ruler of East) of the Turgesh were killed and Ushyly Kaghan himself had been taken prisoner and had to concede vassalage.

Eight years after this burning defeat, Ushyly died and was replaced by his son, Soko, who fought to retain independence from the Göktürks/Türküts.

He had been defeated in 701 in Transoxiana, southeast of Samarkand, again by Tonyukuk, and finally in 711, when he was killed at Bolchu against Kül Tigin and Bilge Shad as he was trying to strike an alliance with Tang China.

The Turgesh had been put under the rule of Bars Bek; as we know from the Orkhon Inscriptions, in those years the main subdivision in Kara (Black) and Sary (Yellow) Turgesh was established.

Soko's brother Chenu, perhaps sensing the impending disaster, had revolted even before the battle and fled to the court of Kapagan Kaghan.

Suluk's aim is to reconquer all of Transoxiana from the Arab invaders—his war is paralleled, much more westwards, by the Khazar empire.

In 721, Turgesh forces, led by Kül Chor, defeat the Caliphal army commanded by Sa'id ibn Abdu'l-Aziz near Samarkand.

The Turgesh, following the series of battles around Baykand, retire north to Samarkand, where they assault the fortress of Kamarja, while ...

The Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, in the hope of reversing the situation, had in early 730 appointed a new governor in Khurasan, the experienced Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri, who had been recently engaged in the pacification of Sindh.

The difficult security situation at the time is illustrated by the fact that Junayd needed an escort of seven thousand cavalry after crossing the Oxus, and that he was attacked by the Turgesh khagan while riding to link up with the army of his predecessor, Ashras al-Sulami, who was besieging Bukhara.

Junayd had been able to repel the attack and assume command of al-Sulami's forces.

Bukhara and most of Sogdiana are recovered soon after, as the Turgesh army withdraws north towards Samarkand.

The Muslim army follows, and scores a victory in a battle fought near the city.

Junayd then retires with his troops to winter in Merv.

Junayd remains in Samarkand for about four months, until October 731, allowing his army to recover.

Junayd returns to Merv, leaving a token garrison of eight hundred men behind in Samarkand, and, once the Turgesh had withdrawn north for the winter, he evacuates the city of its Muslim inhabitants.

The Battle of the Defile had shattered the tenuous Arab control over what remains of their possessions in Transoxiana.

The Arabs will not able to recover their position until the governorship of Nasr ibn Sayyar, who in 739–741 will manage to re-establish the Caliphate's authority up to Samarkand.