NORTH-SOUTH: THE ARAL-CASPIAN CORRIDOR OF INTERETHNIC CONNECTIONS

This article provides information on the role, history, significance, and development of the North-South corridor connecting the Aral and Caspian Seas. The purpose of the article is to examine the history of Islamization and political and cultural development, as well as interethnic relations between the Aral-Caspian corridor. It highlights the continuous political and cultural importance of this corridor, especially its various influences on ethnocultural processes and the exchange of goods and ideas. Special attention is given to the role of Islam as a unifying force among diverse ethnic groups. The inclusion of the Aral Sea region, particularly Khorezm, into the Golden Horde strengthened Islamization. It gave new impetus to the spread and development of Hanafi theology across a vast, ethnically diverse area. The article discusses the spread of spiritual culture and Islam in Khorezm, Ustyurt, and the regions along the Volga and Ural rivers. It also presents a scholarly analysis of representatives of Sufi teachings, their teachers and students, and their contribution to the development of Islamic scholarship. For instance, the life and work of scholars such as Muhammad ibn Shihab al-Kerderi (8th/14th centuries), a disciple of the Khorezmian legal scholar Sayyid Jalal al-Din ibn Shams al-Din al-Gurlani, are described. The article concludes that Islam, which spread through the North–South corridor via the Aral and Caspian Seas, became the common spiritual religion of the peoples inhabiting the territories of Khorezm and the Golden Horde during the medieval period.

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