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diffusion of the religion of Islam among Turks started firstly in the Turkish Communities
that were dominated by the Islam State. The leading region was the Transoxania that had
been conquered by Kuteybe b. Müslim. Kuteybe had taken some precautions in the regions
that he had conquered in order to establish the military dominion in the region properly.
On the other hand, he endeavoured great efforts for the diffusion of the religion of
Islam. As a matter of fact, a mosque was built in the year of 713 pursuant to the definite
invasion of Bokhara and the establishment of a Muslim garrison within this city. On the
other hand, it was stipulated that any objection would not be claimed against the building
of a mosque in Samarkand, the second big city of the Transoxania in the course of the
resolution of the conditions for the surrender of the city. Kuteybe had personally
supervised the construction of the mosque and he had taken strict measures in order to
prevent any impetuosity and rebellion of the native people in the region.
Despite all these efforts, Islam was not in demand among people in that period. This
situation is understood due to the fact that a prize of money was promised in order to
attract the people to the mosque on Fridays. Kuteybe B. Muslim had not been successful in
the diffusion of the religion of Islam in the regions that he had conquered through his
military victories. This mostly resulted from the effects of the policy followed by Emevi
caliphate in favour of Arabian people rather than the stance of Kuteybe. The people in the
region who had converted into the religion of Islam but who were not Arabians were obliged
to pay all sorts of taxes with the purpose of increasing the incomes of the state. They
would join into the military expeditions as infantrymen and they would take less salary
than the Arabian cavalrymen would and fewer shares from the spoils at the same time. This
stance prevented the diffusion of the religion of Islam.
In the period of
Suleyman (715-717) that became the caliph pursuant to the death of the Caliph Velid I
(715), Yezit b. Mühelleb who was the governor of Khorasan advanced towards Curcan and
conquered this place. Afterwards, Sul-tegin who was the ruler of the region was taken as
prisoner. Then, Sul-tegin became a Muslim person and he was assigned in the service of
Yezit together with his fellows. However, this only incident would not prove that the
entire region of Cürcan adopted the religion of Islam.
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