By: Mir M.Hosseini
Chinese forces leaded by Banchao completed their conquest of Transoxiana and became Iran's new neighbor. This area used to be a part of Sogdiana, an Achaemenid Satrapy. Transoxiana's major cultural centers are historical Samarkand and Bukhara which preserved Iranian culture and civilization after the Caliphate conquest of Iran, and played a significant role in the revival of the ancient culture during the Samanid dynasty. Chengiz Khan invaded Transoxiana in 1219 and in 1369 Teimur became the effective ruler.
The Soviet Union tried a policy of assimilation by dividing the region into awkward political pieces and enforced migrations so as to prevent the people from feeling ties with the mainland. On top of that, extreme and hardliner policies of current Iranian administration with a zero tolerance policy towards different thinking is leading to further disintegration of this once mosaic of cultures, religions and races called Iran.