Khwarazm (; Old Persian: Hwârazmiya; , Xwârazm or Xârazm) or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the east by the Kyzylkum Desert, on the south by the Karakum Desert, and on the west by the Ustyurt Plateau. It was the center of the Iranian Khwarezmian civilization, and a series of kingdoms such as the Afrighid dynasty and the Anushtegin dynasty, whose capitals were (among others) Kath, Gurganj (now Konye-Urgench) and – from the 16th century on – Khiva. Today Khwarazm belongs partly to Uzbekistan and partly to Turkmenistan. Names and etymology Names Khwarazm has been known also as Chorasmia, Khaurism, Khwarezm, Khwarezmia, Khwarizm, Khwarazm, Khorezm, Khoresm, Khorasam, Kharazm, Harezm, Horezm, and Chorezm. In Avestan the name is ; in Old Persian 𐎢𐎺𐎠𐎼𐏀𐎷𐎡𐏁 or 𐎢𐎺𐎠𐎼𐏀𐎷𐎡𐎹 (/hUvārazmī-/); in Modern ; in ; in Old Chinese * (); in Modern Chinese ( / Xiao'erjing: خُوَلاذِمُوْ); in , Xorazm, خوارَزم; in (), حورەزم; in , Хоразм, خورەزم; in , Хорезм, خوْرِزم; in , Харәзм; in ; in Greek language () and () by Herodotus. Etymology The Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi in his Muʿǧam al-buldan wrote that the name was a Persian compound of (), and (), referring to the abundance of cooked fish as a main diet of the peoples of this area. C.E. Bosworth, however, believed the Persian name to be made up of ( 'the sun') and ( 'earth, land'), designating 'the land from which the sun rises', although a similar etymology is also given for Khurasan. Another view is that the Iranian compound stands for 'lowland' from 'low' and 'land'. Khwarazm is indeed the lowest region in Central Asia (except for the Caspian Sea to the far west), located on the delta of the Amu Darya on the southern shores of the Aral Sea. Various forms of are commonly used also in the Persian Gulf to stand for tidal flats, marshland, or tidal bays (e.g., Khor Musa, Khor Abdallah, Hor al-Azim, Hor al-Himar, etc.) The name also appears in Achaemenid inscriptions as Huvarazmish, which is declared to be part of the Persian Empire. Some of the early scholars believed Khwarazm to be what ancient Avestic texts refer to as (; later Middle Persian ). These sources claim that Old Urgench, which was the capital of ancient Khwarazm for many years,