Transoxiana (also spelled Transoxania), known in Arabic sources as Mā warāʼ an-Nahr (Arabic: ما وراء النهر‎ Arabic pronunciation:[ˈmaː waˈraːʔ anˈnahr] – 'what [is] beyond the [Oxus] river') and in Persian as Farārūd (Persian: فرارود‎, Persian pronunciation:[fæɾɒːɾuːd]—'beyond the [Amudarya] river'), is the ancient name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgyzstan, and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya (Ancient Greek: Ώξος Ốxos) and Syr Darya rivers.[1] The area had been known to the ancient Iranians as Turan, a term used in the Persian national epic Shahnameh,[2] and to the Romans as Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus). The Arabic term Mā warāʼ an-Nahr (Land Beyond the River) passed into Persian literary usage and stayed on until post-Mongol times.[3]