1. Geographic Realities
2. Peoples, Languages, Customs, and Beliefs
3. Before History
4. Zoroaster’s Cult
5. Achaemenid Centralization
6. Alexander and the Heritage of Hellenism
7. Greco-Bactrians and Parthians
8. Nomadic Interlude
9. The Forgotten Kushans
10. The Silk Route
11. The Buddhist East
12. Return of the Nomads
13. The Merchant World of the Sogdians
14. Caliphs and Kaghans
15. The Iranian-Islamic Ecumene
16. The Present is Born
Appendix 1: The Literary Sources
Appendix 2: Geographical Names
Appendix 3: Local Rulers in Bukhara and Samarkand
Appendix 4: Deities in Sogdiana
Appendix 5: The Languages of Central Asia
Appendix 6: Coinage in Transoxiana
Index