The Russia and Cental Asia Connection

When villages in Asia became important trading posts on the Silk Road about 2,500 years ago, they made a huge connection with another continent--Europe.  As the Silk Road was

being used to transfer goods between Asia and Europe, Central Asia became ruled by an empire that extended from northern India to Syria.  Like all empires, this one declined and fell apart.  As that happened, nomads restructured the old empire into small kingdoms called khanates that were ruled by khans.  Beginning in the 19th century, these khanate kingdoms also fell apart due to an invasion by Russian troops in Asia.

Reference: http://wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com/2009/03/buddhist-russia-kalmykia.html

This invasion by Russia greatly expanded Russian territory.  For example, Muscovy, a principality that existed where Moscow exists today, grew from 2,235 square miles in the 15th century to more than 22 million square miles in the 20th century.  Russian expansion continued to the 19th century as Muslim khanates fell.  However, in 1904 their expansion ended with a Japanese victory in Manchuria.

Reference: http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch2en/conc2en/silkroad.html

 Works Cited: 
Marston, Sallie A., Paul L. Knox, Diana M. Liverman, Vincent J. Del Casino, Jr., and PaulF.                Robbins. "The Russian Federation, Central Asia, and the Transcaucasus." World Regions in Global Context. Fifth ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. 86-127. Print.