Uzbekistan lies in Central Asia. Its earliest settlers were nomads which came out of eastern Iran. These peoples established city-kingdoms which became trading centers along the Silk Road.
The Sogdian people were prolific traders; their tongue was the lingua franca of the Silk Road. The Sogdians traveled as far west as the Byzantine Empire and they were found in China, during the time of the Tang Dynasty. Acting as middle men, the Sogdians controlled much of the Silk Road from approximately 2 BC until 900 AD.
The Sogdians were translators and could read and write. Though their language was of Persian origin, its writing system descended from Syriac, a form of Aramaic. Aramaic was applied to the Sogdian tongue around 6-4 BC. (Nicholas Sims-Williams, “Sogdian Language and Its Scripts,” National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian.)
The Sasanian Empire ruled over Sogdia from 260 AD until it fell to Islam in 651 AD. They were a Persian/Iranian empire. The Christian Sasanians belonged to the Church of the East.
Syriac was the liturgical language of the Church of the East, headquartered in Persia.
As a people, the Sogdians did not have a unified religion; some became followers of Jesus through contact with the early church in the Sasanian Empire. This point is significant. As the Sogdians moved goods and ideas from west to east, they also carried the Gospel, sharing it with others along the way. As they went, the written Gospel was translated into other native tongues.(Richard C. Foltz, PhD, “Religions of the Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century,” University of Florida, New York: St. Martins Press, 1999.)
God will prepare and use a people that travels between nations to transmit the Gospel. The written word of God is necessary to the church. For this reason, literacy is important and the Gospel must be read and shared. Jesus is called, “The Word.” (John 1:1)
Turfan, China: Sogdian liturgical texts were found at the site of a former monastery operated by the Church of the East. This included the Nicene Creed and other translations from Syriac (Aramaic). (Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage)
The Nicene Creed was utilized and taught by the Church of the East from Iran to China, and most likely also in Japan and Korea. The common creed is still the statement of faith among Catholics as well as most Protestants and the Orthodox Church.
The Church of the East recognized the need to unite the church across the continent. This was and still is a foundational desire of the Lord.
Church unity remains essential. In His prayer just before going to the cross, the Lord prayed for unity among believers. It was one of the reasons why Jesus gave up His life.
“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” (John 17:11)
Unity of the church demonstrates love and is a witness to the world.
Jesus stated, “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
The Nicene Creed is based upon the four Gospels. All believers can give this statement of faith, no matter the branch of the church to which they belong. Jesus is the common source for all. He said, “I am the Vine; you are the branches.” (John 15:5)
By the 400s, Christianity existed in Samarkand, a major city trading center along the Silk Road, located in present day Uzbekistan. Persian and Sogdian believers lived there. (Nicholas Sims-Williams, “CHRISTIANITY iii. In Central Asia And Chinese Turkestan,” Iranica Online, 2016)
Afrosiab (Samarkand), Uzbekistan: a Sogdian Christian ossuary was found dating to 300-400 AD. (Archaeological Museum of Afrosiab, Livius)
Urgut, Uzbekistan: ruins of a monastery from the Church of the East were identified approximately 30 kilometers southeast of Samarkand. Other Christian artifacts were located on the property as well. (Alexei Savchenko, “Urgut” Encyclopedia Iranica, 2016)
God leaves tangible artifacts of the history of His people for the church’s benefit.
In 499 AD, the church was split, dividing the Church of the East from the West and the Orthodox—it became separated not just from the world church, but also from the Byzantine Empire, which was Christian.
The divisions weakened the church. The Church of the East had no Western support against the encroachment of Islam.
Divisions create loss. At this crucial juncture in church time, leadership decisions created havoc. Denominational divisions altered church history for 1600 years. Whole nations which could have maintained a Christian presence fell. Believers were killed, tortured and taken as slaves. These circumstances continue today. (Jeff Eden, Department of History, St. Mary's College of Maryland, “Slavery in Islamic Central Asia,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia, 2019.)
Church leaders across all denominations must work together to promote biblical unity under the Nicene Creed instead of attempting to have unity with the world.
In 710/711 AD, Samarkand was taken over by Islam.
The Church of the East, once the missionary branch of the church to the Far East, was cut to the quick. The Sogdian language, once the tongue of the Gospel across Asia, became non-existent. (UNESCO)
In 1220 AD, Genghis Khan, a pagan, invaded Samarkand and destroyed the city. (UNESCO)
In 1510, Islamic Turks called “Uzbeks” from Central Asia, conquered the area known today as Uzbekistan. The nation became Sunni Muslim. The language became Uzbek.
About this time, the Silk Road began to die. The spread of contagion (Black Death), political changes in China and the expansion of European shipping by sea, were to blame. New sources of trade were searched out.
Beginning in the 1600s, the Uzbek Turks were slave traders, kidnapping Persians (Shia Muslim), Germans (Christian), Armenians (Christian) and Russians (Christian) for market sales. Samarkand became one human trafficking location. The sale of Christians and other peoples continued until the Russian government intervened.
Where freedom and faith once existed, chains and fear took over.
The unified church should seek to redeem people from human trafficking and slavery. It is a priority.
Just as the early church was pushed out of Jerusalem by threats and persecution, the Sogdians had fled their homeland and communities along the trade routes. They assimilated into the cultures around them.
In 1876, Russian influence held sway over Uzbekistan. Later, the country became a part of the USSR, remaining so until the Soviet Union dissolved.
In 1991, Uzbekistan declared its own independence.
Uzbek remains the common language of the land.
Today there are about 300,000 Christians in Uzbekistan. 10,000 of them belong to house churches. (Church in Chains) 5,000 of the total are Catholics. (Persecution.org) The majority are ethnic Russians, belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church. These believers are the spiritual remnant of the early church in Uzbekistan. They speak Uzbek.
Though one nation, culture, religion, and tongue has supplanted another, God prevails. Scriptures state that God has people from every language, even Sogdian, standing before Him in heaven.
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” (Revelation 7:9)
Above, see the photo from the embroidery of “That’s Me” in Uzbek, “Men shundayman!"bdeclaring that Jesus is the Great I AM in many languages.
Listen to the music in the original Uzbek: Click Here
Hear the Gospel of Luke in Uzbek:
