Central Asia under the Umayyads and the Early Abbasids

From the mid-seventh century, Central Asia was faced with Muslim Arab armies from Saudi Arabia, who, having conquered the lands of the Sasanian Empire, turned to invade the countries to its east. It was under the first Umayyad caliph, Mu’awiya I, that the Oxus was traversed in 674, and by the early ninth century, Islamic government was secure. A slow process of acculturation began to take place, but this was not without challenges, and discontent amongst various sectors of society resulted in the overthrow of the Umayyads and the establishment of the Abbasid caliphate in 750