Samarkand

city in southeastern Uzbekistan

15 dated entries naming Samarkand, drawn from 13 separate years between 328 BCE and 1409 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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4th century BC

328 BCEAt Maracanda, Alexander murders Cleitus, one of his most trusted commanders, friend and foster-brother, in a drunken quarrel; but his excessive display of remorse leads the army to pass a decree convicting Cleitus posthumously of treason.source

8th century

705Arab forces gain power in Central Asia, as Qutayba ibn Muslim becomes governor of Khorasan. The region has grown rich from trade with China and Eastern Europe, its merchants dealing in silk, furs, amber, honey, and walrus ivory. During his rule, Qutayba subjugates the mercantile cities of Bukhara and Samarkand (modern Uzbekistan), as well as the Oxus delta area of Khwarezm, south of the Aral Sea.source
712Arab forces under Qutayba ibn Muslim conquer Khwarezm and Samarkand (modern Uzbekistan).source
720Umayyad conquest of Transoxiana: The first Turgesh attack on Muslim-Arabs in Transoxiana leads to the siege and relief of the Umayyad garrison at the fortress of Qasr al-Bahili, near Samarkand (or 721).source
729Siege of Kamarja: A small Arab garrison defends the fortress of Kamarja against the Turgesh for 58 days, ending with a negotiated withdrawal to Samarkand.source
731Battle of the Defile: An Umayyad relief army (28,000 men) is sent to Samarkand (modern Uzbekistan), which is besieged by the Turgesh. The Muslims are ambushed near the Zarafshan Range, at the Tashtakaracha Pass. The battle results in a Pyrrhic victory, with heavy casualties for the Umayyad army, halting Muslim expansion in Central Asia for almost two decades.source

9th century

806Rafi ibn al-Layth, an Arab nobleman, leads a large-scale rebellion against oppressive taxation by the Abbasid governor Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan. He launches a revolt in Samarkand, which spreads quickly across Khorasan.source
819Ghassan ibn Abbad, the Abbasid governor of Khorasan rewards the Samanid brothers, Nuh, Ahmad, Yahya and ilyas for their aid against the rebel Rafi ibn al-Layth, rewarding them each important cities and territories, respectively Samarkand, Farghana, Tashkent and Herat, to govern under Abbasid suzerainty. This becomes the basis for the formation of the Samanid dynasty which will rule Khorasan for a century.source

14th century

1368Timur ascends the throne of Samarkand (in modern-day Uzbekistan).source
1369Timur names the city of Samarkand as the capital of his empire.source

15th century

1403The Gur-e Amir Mausoleum is built in Samarkand by Timur, after the death of his grandson Muhammad Sultan, and eventually becomes the family mausoleum of the Timurid dynasty.source
1403May 21 – Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, an ambassador from the king of Castile to Timur, leaves Cadiz; he arrives in Samarkand over a year later.source
1405March 18 – News reaches the Timurid Empire that Timur has died, and a period of mourning begins as he is interred at the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum in Samarkand, now in the Republic of Uzbekistan.source
1409Ulugh Beg becomes governor of Samarkand.source
1409May 13 – The Timurid War of Succession comes to an end as Khalil Sultan surrenders Samarkand to Shah Rukh, ruler of the Timurid Empire since 1405. Shah Rukh installs his son Ulugh Beg as Governor of Transoxiana. Shah Rukh then appoints Khalil as Governor of Shahr-e Rey in modern-day Iran.source