THE NESTORIAN PAGES

THE TARSAKAN PAGES

SYRIAC CHRISTIANITY IN CENTRAL ASIA
(formerly THE NESTORIAN PAGES)

by Mark Dickens
You are welcome to quote any material from this website in an article or research
paper, but please give the appropriate URL of the webpage you are quoting from.
Thank you!

Tarsakan
, a Middle Iranian word meaning "those who fear (God)" is the plural
, a word still used in Persian for "Christian." Sogdian texts used the word
of tarsa
when speaking of the Syriac Christians in Central Asia and so I have chosen it as the title of this
page, which is devoted to the history of the Church of the East in Central Asia.
This ancient church, called the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East in full, is often
referred to as the Nestorian Church, although this is not the term that the church uses to describe
itself and in many ways it is an inaccurate label. However, I have used it as an adjective in certain
places on these pages, in the absence of a better option.
This page contains links to a paper on the Church of the East which I have written, as well as some
other things I have put together related to this church in general and particulary to their history in
Central Asia, as well as a list of relevant websites.
If you know of any good websites on the Church of the East in general or Syriac Christianity in
Central Asia in particular that I have missed or if any of the links below have changed or are now
obsolete, please drop me a line and let me know. Thanks.
Follow this link back to the home page of Oxus Communications, if you reached this page
through some other link.

Papers I have written:

The Church of the East (PDF)

The Church of the East (HTML)
Nestorian Christianity in Central Asia (PDF)

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Lists of Rulers:

Patriarchs of the Church of the East (PDF)

Patriarchs of the Church of the East (HTML)
Bishops of Adiabene (PDF)
Bishops of Adiabene (HTML)
Kings of Edessa (PDF)
Kings of Edessa (HTML)
Sassanid Shahs of Persia (PDF)
Sassanid Shahs of Persia (HTML)
Muslim Caliphs (PDF)
Muslim Caliphs (HTML)
Mongol Khans (PDF)
Mongol Khans (HTML)

Other things I have put together:

Church of the East Timeline (PDF)

Church of the East Timeline (HTML)
Nestorian Theology (PDF)
Nestorian Theology (HTML)
Church of the East Liturgy (PDF)
Church of the East Liturgy (HTML)
Location of Nestorian Bishops & Metropolitans (PDF)
Location of Nestorian Bishops & Metropolitans (HTML)
Syriac Gravestones from Central Asia (PDF)
Syriac Gravestones from Central Asia (HTML)
Persecution under the Sassanids (PDF)
Persecution under the Sassanids (HTML)
Sogdian Creed (PDF)
Sogdian Creed (HTML)
Bibliography: Syriac Christianity in Central Asia (HTML)

Nestorians on the Web:

The Nestorian Church (General)

Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East

Is the Theology of the Church of the East Nestorian?
A short outline of the history of The Holy Apostolic-Catholic Church of the East

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By Foot to China
The Assyrian Church
Nestorian Church (Church Rodent)
NESTORIANISM (Funk & Wagnells)
NESTORIAN CHURCH (Funk & Wagnells)
Nestorian Christianity (A MELVYL Bibliography)
Nestorian Church (Infoplease)
Catholic Encyclopedia: CATHOLICOS
Eastern Church Web Sites
CIN - Nestorius and the Chaldeaeans
Chaldeans as Christians

The Nestorian Controversy

EARLY HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY: 170 to 590 CE

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VII
Early Church Documents: COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH (Ecole)
CH Issue 54 The 7 Ecumenical Councils
The Lynching of Nestorius
Saint Cyril I
Cyril of Alexandria (Ecole)
Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, Theologian
Catholic Encyclopedia: ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA
Encyclical of Pope Pius XII ON ST. CYRIL, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA
THE PAINFUL COUNCIL
LETTER XCIII. TO THE SYNOD OF CHALCEDON
A History of Christianity in Egypt - The Council of Chalcedon
EASTERN CHRISTIANITY ON THE EVE OF ISLAM
Eastern Orthodoxy, Icons, and Christology
REASONS FOR CENTURIES-OLD IMPASSE
The Syrian Orthodox Church on Nestorius

Famous Individuals in Nestorian History

Diodore of Tarsus (Ecole)

Theodore of Mopsuestia (Ecole)
Chapter 16 - Theodore of Mopsuestia and the Nestorians
JUSTINIAN: Dialogue with Paul of Nisibis
Catholic Encyclopedia: ISAAC OF NINEVEH

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Cosmas Indicopleustes (Ecole)

Bar Suma's Nestorian Pilgrimage (Thirteenth Century)

The Nestorians in Iran

The Sassanid Empire: 226-651

The Iranian: News & Views
History Of The Christians In Iran - A book by Zarin Behravesh Pakizegi

The Nestorians in India (Mar Thoma Church)

Welcome to the Home Page of the Mar Thoma Church

The history of Syro-Malabar Church
MALANKARA (Indian) ORTHODOX CHURCH (Kerala, India) - Christian Religion
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
Catholic Encyclopedia: ST. THOMAS CHRISTIANS
St. Thomas Christians
WERE THE COLONISTS SYRIAN OR PERSIAN
Indian Church History Classics (ICHC) - Volume 1
LITTLE MOUNT
WELCOME TO INDIAN CHRISTIANITY

The Nestorians in Arabia/Middle East

CHRISTIANS (in the Arab world)

ArabNet -- Bahrain, History, Pre-Islam
The Eastern Province (Saudia Arabia)
Iraqi Christians
Letter to the Editor

The Nestorians & Arab Knowledge

How Greek Science Passed to the Arabs

Arab Golden age and education
History of Islamic Origins of Western Education by Mehdi Nakosteen

The Nestorians in Central Asia

The Great Steppe Empires

Nestorian grave stone

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The Nestorians in China & The Far East

Catholic Encyclopedia: THE CHURCH IN CHINA

China_Hist_I
China: The Silk Road
The Tang Dynasty 618-907
CH Issue 52 Medieval Missionaries to China
Xi'an (Infoplease)
Xi'an Travel Highlights
The Forest of Steles In Xi'an
East Asian History Sourcebook: Ch'ing-Tsing: Nestorian Tablet
Nestorian Stone
Copy of Nestorian Stone
Nestorian Church
Christian mural
CHRISTIANITY ARRIVED IN JAPAN CENTURIES BEFORE SAINT XAVIER,
SCHOLARS SAY
46 years experiencing Japan's spiritual change
Early Christianity in Malaysia

The Nestorians Among the Mongols

Female Hero: Sorghaghtani Beki (Women in World History Curriculum)

DOKUZ (DOQUZ) KATUN
Catholic Encyclopedia: JOHN OF MONTECORVINO

Prester John

First Written Account of Prester John

Medieval Sourcebook: Otto of Freising: Legend of Prester John
Prester John - Geography - 08/10/98
Prester John: A MELVYL Bibliography
Medieval Sourcebook: Marco Polo: On the Tartars

The Syriac Language, Script & Fonts

Learn Syriac

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Learn Assyrian (Aramaic / Neo-Aramaic) OnLine

Northwest Semitic
SyrCom Home
LaserSyriac fonts from Linguist's Software
MacSemitic Coptic fonts from Linguist's Software
Syriac Page
ATZL/Laser Fonts
MT WorldType Syriac
Syriac Type Styles
Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies
Syriac Orthodox Resources

Nestorian Documents

The Nicene Creed in Syriac

Catholic Encyclopedia: LITURGY OF ADDEUS AND MARIS
Peshitta
Bible Study: Which Bible? Whose Canon?
Catholic Encyclopedia: SYRIAC HYMNODY
Khaboris Codex: Ancient Aramaic NT Manuscript
About the Khaboris Manuscript
Parchment of the Sarmoung Brotherhood
The Book of the Cave of Treasures
The Book of the Bee

Modern Day Assyrians & Chaldeans

History of the Chaldean church

A Narrative History of Assyrians
Atour - The State of Assyria
A virtual Assyria: Christians from the Middle East
The Turkish Crime of our Century - The Christians
Assyrians Frequently Asked Questions
C.A.S.A. at the University of Michigan-Dearborn
Lists of Dynasties and Rulers Relevant to the History of the Church of the East

Ayyubid Rulers

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http://www.touregypt.net/hayyubid.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayyubid_dynasty
http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/A/Ayyubid-dynasty.htm

Buwayhid Rulers

http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia%20Minor/Persia/
buwayhid_emirate.html

Byzantine Emperors

http://www.bartleby.com/67/app2.html
http://www.encyclopedia4u.com/l/list-of-byzantine-emperors.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/Byzantine_Emperors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Emperors

Chinese Dynasties & Emperors

http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/time_line.html
http://www.chinapage.com/emperor.html
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chem/hd_chem.htm
http://www.mrdowling.com/613chinesehistory.html
http://wwwtc.nhmccd.edu/people/crf01/history/china.html

The Crusades

http://crusades.boisestate.edu/contents.html
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1k.html
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04543c.htm

Ghaznavid Rulers

http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia/Central_Asia/
ghaznavid_emirate.html

Ghurid Sultans

http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia/Central_Asia/ghurid_sultanate.
html

Khwarezm-Shahs
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http://www.allempires.com/empires/khwarezm/khwarezm1.htm
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia%20Minor/Persia/
khwarazim_shahdom.html

Latin Rulers of Crusader Kingdoms

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/latinkings.html
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/County-of-Edessa
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Principality-of-Antioch
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Kingdom-of-Jerusalem
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/County-of-Tripoli
http://www.ordotempli.org/chronology_of_the_kings_of_jerusalem.htm

Mongol Khans

http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia/Central_Asia/mongol_empire.
html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Europe/Russia/golden_horde.html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Europe/Russia/white_horde.html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia/China/yuan_dynasty.html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia/Central_Asia/
chaghatai_khanate.html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia%20Minor/Persia/
ilkhan_sultanate.html
http://www.friesian.com/mongol.htm

Muslim Caliphs

http://www.allaboutturkey.com/halife.htm
http://www.bartleby.com/67/app3.html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/North%20Africa/Islamic_Caliphates/
first_caliphs.html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/North%20Africa/Islamic_Caliphates/
umayyad_caliphate1.html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/North%20Africa/Islamic_Caliphates/
abbasid_caliphate.html
http://i-cias.com/e.o/caliph.htm
http://www.tulane.edu/~august/H303/chronologies/caliphs.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ummayad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatimid

Ottoman Sultans

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ottoman_Sultans

Persian Shahs & Emirs

http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia%20Minor/Persia/
parthian_empire.html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia%20Minor/Persia/
sassanid_empire.html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia%20Minor/Persia/
tahirid_emirate.html
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia%20Minor/Persia/
saffarid_emirate.html
http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/EasternPersia.htm

Popes

http://www.bartleby.com/67/app4.html
http://www.popechart.com/Popelist.htm

Qara-Khitai Rulers

http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia/Central_Asia/qarakhitai_empire.html

Roman Emperors

http://www.bartleby.com/67/app1.html
http://myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/EMPCONT/EMPCONT.HTM
http://www.roman-emperors.org/impindex.htm

Samanid Rulers

http://www.allempires.com/empires/samanid/samanid1.htm
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia%20Minor/Persia/
samanid_emirate.html

Seljuk Rulers
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http://www.allempires.com/empires/seljuk/seljuk1.htm
http://family-of-man.com/CatalogEnglish/Asia%20Minor/Persia/seljuq_empire.
html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljuk_Turks
http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/S/Seljuk-Turks.htm

Helpful Reference Works on the Web

http://www.bartleby.com/67/
http://www.encyclopedia.com/
http://family-of-man.com/
http://www.infoplease.com/
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/

Church of the East Article

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