What is Central Asia?
[[File:Central Asia (orthographic projection).svg|thumbnail|Central Asia]] '''Central Asia''' is a [[region]] in [[Asia]]. The [[country|countries]] in Central Asia according to the [[United Nations]] are [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Turkmenistan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of civilizations of Central Asia. 1: The dawn of civilization: earliest times to 700 B. C. / ed.: A. H. Dani|date=1996|publisher=UNESCO Publ|isbn=978-92-3-102719-2|editor-last=Dani|editor-first=Ahmad Hasan|edition=2. impr|location=Paris}}</ref> == History == People have lived in the region of Central Asia since [[Pre-history|prehistoric times]]. Most of the region was part of the [[Silk Road]]. It was a part of the [[Persian Empire]] until [[Alexander The Great]] captured it. When he died, the land was given to his [[General officer|general]] Seleucus. Seleucus slowly lost it to the [[Parthia]]ns. When the Parthians (the Parthians were [[Persia]]ns) lost power, the [[Sassanids]] added it to their own Persian empire. However, a couple years later, during about the 600's A.D, [[Arab]] [[army|armies]] spreading the faith of [[Islam]] quickly captured it. A while later, an [[Iran]]ian [[dynasty]] got [[autonomy|semi- autonomy]] under the [[Abbasid Empire|Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad]]. They were known as the [[Samanid]]s. The Samanids controlled most of Central Asia and Northwestern Iran. They had power over this area during the [[10th century]]. With them, Central Asian [[city|cities]], such as [[Bukhara]] and [[Samarkand]], grew in [[culture]]. However, [[Turkic people|Turkic]] armies from this area took the region away from them. They were known as the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk Turks]]. At the same time, [[Timur]] captured it. After his death, the Timurids (the name of the people of the [[dynasty]] Timur founded) could not hold unto their [[empire]]. They lost it to the [[Mongols]]. When the Mongols captured it, [[fire|burned]] it to the ground. A while later, some