A city hidden in the sands

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A city hidden in the sands
A city hidden in the sands
Anonim

Balasagun was once considered one of the largest political, commercial and cultural centers on the Great Silk Road.

Through the pages of history

It is known that this famous medieval city, included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, was for a long time the capital of the western wing of the Karakhanid state of the X-XII centuries. As Kazakh archaeologist Karl Baypakov wrote, he was first mentioned in the story of the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk in the 11th century about the conquest of Balasagun by the Turks shortly before 943. Having captured it, the steppe people adopted Islam and made it their main policy. Already at the end of the 10th century, according to the writings of the Arab historian and chronicler al-Maqdisi, Balasagun was "a large settlement, abundant in benefits." At the same time, the outstanding Turkic philologist Mahmud Kashgari reported that local residents spoke both Sogdian and Turkic languages, and they themselves were called Sugdag. They were originally from Sogd, but they looked like Turks and followed their customs. The author of the dictionary-reference book "Collection of Turkic languages" gave other names of the ancient city, including Kuz-Ulush and Kuz-Urdu.

Karl Baipakov's book “Ancient cities of Kazakhstan” describes further historical events. So, in about 1130, Balasagun was conquered by the Karakitai, who came to Central Asia from the east and established their power here. In 1210, their army was defeated by the forces of Khorezmshah Muhammad, which was used by the local residents. The townspeople did not open the gates of the defeated army of the Karakitais. But that didn't stop them. After the assault, the city was still taken again and, moreover, plundered. The number of those killed, according to written sources, was about 47 thousand people. After 8 years, Balasagun was occupied by the Mongols. Moreover, it was surrendered without a fight, because there were no more capable of holding weapons in their hands, after which it was named Gobalyk, which means "good city". Under the Mongols, written sources about Balasagun do not mention anything. There is no information in the descriptions of Timur's campaigns in Mogolistan.

After the invasion of the Mongols, until the moment when their customs did not harm him, the city was comfortable and prosperous. Some chronicles indicate that it had a fairly wide fortress wall, as well as 40 cathedral and 200 everyday mosques, 20 khanaka and 10 madrasahs. And this bears witness to a lot. Firstly, a considerable number of religious buildings speaks of the large scale of the city, the large population and wealth of Balasagun. Secondly, it is clear that religion played a huge role in the lives of local residents.

In the end, like many other cities of that distant era, it remained devastated and was not rebuilt. Sometimes, travelers still met the roofs of minarets, palaces, arches, madrasahs, took an interest in them … And after a while they were gradually absorbed by the sands, and they completely forgot about the once rich city. Even its name has been erased from human memory.

Looking for answers

Many years later, archaeologists decided to find the capital of the Karakhanids. The corresponding work began in the XIV century, however, then they were not crowned with success. Some assumptions were made, but over time they were refuted. A long search nevertheless bore fruit. But at the same time, another problem arose, because 2 places at once came up to the description.

Where exactly was the ancient polis, which had close ties with many of its neighbors? This question was difficult to answer unequivocally, since the opinions of scientists differed. Some identify it with the city of Burana, the remains of which have been found on the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan, not far from today's Tokmak. Others argue that it could have been the Aktobe Stepninskoye settlement located in the Zhambyl region. This hypothesis appeared relatively recently. It was put forward by the famous archaeologist and ethnographer Uahit Shalekenov. In his monograph "The City of Balasagun in the V-XIII centuries" he cited evidence that the settlement of Aktobe is inextricably linked with Balasagun. The significance of this discovery can hardly be overestimated, since the city was one of the most important urbanization centers in the history of medieval Kazakhstan.

“The disputes between Kazakh and Kyrgyz historians, archaeologists and orientalists over the location of the once famous medieval capital city of Balasagun have been going on for many years,” said Iskanderbek Torbekov, archaeologist and ethnographer of Zhambyl. - Our neighbors associate it with the Burana settlement on the border with Kazakhstan, famous for its many-meter tower-minaret. Many domestic scientists believe that it could be Aktobe Stepninskoe, located in the Shusky district. In my opinion, it is unlikely that it was Burana who was the very Balasagun, since this settlement is small in size. In contrast, Aktobe Stepninskoe is more suitable, because in terms of area it surpasses even Taraz.

In 1894, orientalist and Turkologist Vasily Bartold gave a description of the settlement he saw, however, he called it a little differently: “… This area, even geographically, has been little explored, although there is now a Russian village (Stepnoye) not far from there … Somewhat south of the confluence of the Sukuluk and Aksu there is a hill Aktepe, apparently built entirely of baked bricks, pieces of which can be seen everywhere in large numbers."

The outstanding Turkic philologist and lexicologist Mahmud Kashgari believed that the name of the city came from two words: "bala" and "sagun". If the first means "young", then the second denotes the honorary title of a person of high rank, a title given by the Karluks to people who had great power. According to the scientist, "balasagun" can be translated as "young ruler", "young khan".

Adhering to the generally accepted version, Balasagun is located 3 km southeast of the village of Aktobe, in the steppe zone of Semirechye, on both banks of the Aksu river in the Shu region.

The famous Zhambyl writer Sherkhan Murtaza, who once visited the site of its excavation, later attracted attention to the historical monument and proved its great value, wrote in his article “The Mystery of Balasagun”: “By old standards, the city with a circumference of 50 km probably inspired respect. The citadel was located in the center, it was surrounded by a shakhristan. And around the shakhristan - rabad … The hill, on the top of which we are standing, turns black with haze, as if covered with an invisible blanket, and below lies an ancient city - the same age and contemporary of Suyab, Aspara, Merke, Kulan and Talas (Taraz) - cities located in the river basin Chu and Talas.

Over the decades, the site has been surveyed several times, and by different specialists. In 1941, it was studied by the expedition of the Dzhambul archaeological point, headed by Geronim Patsevich, during this period only exploration work and measurements were carried out.

“After 13 years, the ruins were examined by a detachment of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR, which found that this is the place of a large medieval city surrounded by fortification lines,” said Kuanysh Daurembekov, head of the regional directorate for the protection and restoration of historical and cultural monuments. - A schematic map of the area was drawn up, on which the fortress walls were drawn, located in several rows; the boundaries of the area of accumulation of buildings are shown, the locations of the pits are marked. Three cuts were made along the fortification lines, which are also shown on the schematic map. As a result, it was assumed that the original height of the walls was 5–6 meters.

Stationary excavations, which lasted several years, began in 1974. They were conducted by an expedition of KazSU under the leadership of archaeologist Uakhit Shalekenov. There were other researchers who studied the site in different parts of it.

Thanks to the excavations made on the territory of the citadel, scientists have established that its cultural layer more than 9 m thick belongs to three chronological periods: VI - the first half of the VIII century, the second half of the VIII - X century and XI - the beginning of the XIII century.

From time immemorial

Scientists have established that initially, on a natural hill 7–8 m high from the level of the Aksu River, a platform was erected by combined masonry, and on it a fortress wall. Then a castle was built on the facing of the platform, which had a comb layout typical of the early Middle Ages, which was subsequently destroyed by fire. At the beginning of the 8th century, the first fortress wall with a passage was erected on the southwestern side of the hill. In the second chronological period, the territory of the citadel continued to grow and the elements of its defense were improved. The castle was restored, at the same time the repair masonry of the first and second south-western fortress walls was carried out. Even later, the fortification and reconstruction of the fortress walls were carried out, all the structures of the second period were laid and blocked up. In the 9th - early 11th centuries, numerous reconstructions were carried out, as a result of which a kind of platform with a height of 4 to 8 m from the surface of the shakhristan appeared. In its northwestern part, scientists discovered what was left of the once palace complex, which consisted of 13 ceremonial, residential and economic premises. The northern corner of the citadel was once occupied by a courtyard with utility rooms. Three periods of existence are marked in them: the first is connected with the well, the second and third - with the eastern bath.

According to Kuanysh Daurembekov, the settlement consisted of two shakhristans, a citadel and a city district. The first shahristan, like the second, had a rectangular shape, its height was about 6-7 m. In its middle part there was a citadel 10 m high, which in the plan was a square with a side of 100 m. The second shahristan was slightly smaller, its height varied from 3 to 6 m. The urban district was surrounded by long ramparts: the length of the first is 17 km, the second - 25 km. Their height was different, in some areas it reached 5–6 m. 4 more half-rings of embankments adjoined the second embankment from the western and southern sides. In general, the fortification was complex and varied. Its system included not only ramparts, but also guard mounds, ditches, gate fortifications, castles.

In the ring of the inner shaft, scientists managed to fix 4 breaks through which ancient roads passed. The southern and northern gates were connected by a highway, to which two roads approached at an angle, having access to the south-west and north-west. The central street went to the gates of the shakhristan.

Despite the seemingly chaotic internal development, it had a clear layout. Residential estates dating from

VII-XII centuries, stretched in the direction of the river flow and arranged in rows so that the rear walls of the houses standing in adjacent rows close up. The area of the plots is different: from a quarter of a hectare to one and one and a half hectares. The former are much more numerous than the latter.

From the number of artisan buildings, 3 wineries were found, which were small one-room houses built of adobe bricks. In the largest of them, there is a pressure platform and a place fenced off from it with a hum of about 180 liters dug into the floor of burnt bricks to the upper level.

“At one time Balasagun was a large economic, political and cultural medieval center on the Great Silk Road,” said Zhazira Shildebaeva, head of the department of the State Historical and Cultural Reserve-Museum “Monuments of Ancient Taraz”. - Archaeological excavations of the settlement have been going on for more than one decade. During this time, a number of objects were discovered and studied, including a palace complex with a square and an oriental bath, water supply and sewerage systems, residential and outbuildings, and artisan workshops.

Among the few finds, archaeologists have discovered irrigated and non-irrigated ceramic dishes. The latter includes cauldrons, jugs, pots, mugs, dishes, hums … Among the irrigation bowls and kese are found. All of them are made on a circle of dense, pure dough. The walls are painted with black and red-brown paint, which is covered with a transparent and shiny glaze. Unique bronze lamps, stands, weapons, scales and 2 iron cauldrons were found in some of the city's premises. A treasure of Karakhanid coins was also found here, and a rich collection of copper items was collected.

Besides, as Karl Baipakov wrote in the book “Treasures of Ancient and Medieval Taraz and Zhambyl Region”, a copper coin with a square hole in the center is of interest. It has not survived very well. According to the scientist, it could be Sogdian. A part of a bronze earring was also found. Archaeologists raised several fragments of jugs with an egg-shaped body to the surface of the earth. Attention is drawn to two fragments of mug handles. On one of them there was a stamped image of a cross, on the other - a combination of indented dots. A cup with a diameter of 8 cm and a height of 6 cm was also found. It has a depressed stamped ornament. Among the prints, an imprint in the form of a figure eight is notable. A sign in the form of a bird's paw is scratched on one of the fragments.

It is believed that Balasagun was also the scientific and spiritual center of the Eurasian continent. Outstanding personalities such as Yusuf Balasaguni, Mahmud Kashgari and others lived and worked here. The encyclopedic work of Yusuf Balasaguni "Kutadgu bilik", which is of great importance in world culture, was also written here.

According to the head of the regional directorate for the protection and restoration of historical and cultural monuments, Kuanysh Daurembekov, after Balasagun was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014, interest in the historical and archeological monument has increased significantly. Recently, a protected zone has been defined on its territory and research work has been resumed. Based on their results, it is planned to create an open-air museum in the future. In addition, in the future, it is planned to build cottages and access roads, as well as landscaping on the territory of the settlement.

I am sure that in the future this historical monument, once the capital of several medieval states, may become one of the most visited tourist sites in the region. The city has not yet been fully explored, it keeps secrets under the thickness of the sand and is waiting in the wings.

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