Aydogdy Kurbanov

Dr. Aydogdy Kurbanov is a historian and archaeologist specializing in the prehistoric and Late Antique periods of Central Asia. Born in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, he graduated with honours from the Faculty of History at Turkmen State University named after Magtymguly. He earned his Ph.D. in 2010 from the Free University of Berlin, with a dissertation titled “The Hephthalites: Archaeological and Historical Analysis” - a comprehensive study of the Late Antique period in Central Asia. Dr. Kurbanov’s research draws on a remarkable range of sources, including Chinese, Byzantine, Iranian, and Indian texts and languages, as well as material culture such as architecture, burial practices, coinage, and pottery. This multidisciplinary approach has allowed him to address and clarify complex issues in Central Asian history.

He has served as a postdoctoral researcher in archaeology at the German Archaeological Institute’s Eurasia Department in Berlin. In Turkmenistan, he held positions as a senior researcher and later Head of the Archaeology Department at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography within the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan. He has co-organized major academic conferences and conducted numerous excavations across Turkmenistan. He is the author or co-author of five books and has published numerous scholarly articles on various periods of Central Asian history.

Dr. Kurbanov has directed major archaeological excavations at Dashly-depe, with support from the National Geographic Society. This project has generated critical new data concerning the prehistoric cultural sequence of the region, particularly elucidating the transition from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic periods - one of the most elusive phases in the early chronology of Central Asia.

Before joining ISAW, Dr. Kurbanov served as a research fellow at the Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology at the Free University of Berlin and was a visiting scholar at the Oxford Nizami Ganjavi Centre, University of Oxford.

Currently, Dr. Kurbanov’s research focuses on the northeastern frontier of the Sasanian Empire (226-651 CE), a project he has pursued for several years. Recent fieldwork in southern Turkmenistan has yielded highly promising data, opening new avenues for analysis.

As a Research Scholar at ISAW, Dr. Kurbanov will investigate Sasanian imperial dynamics along their northeastern frontier, focusing on the regions of Abiverd, the Merv oasis, and Dehistan during the 3rd to 7th centuries CE. By integrating historical, archaeological, and environmental data, he will examine the mechanisms of imperial control and interaction in these frontier zones. This research will culminate in a monograph offering a comprehensive interpretation of Sasanian strategies of governance and engagement along their northeastern periphery.