Taraz
Taraz is a city and the administrative center of Jambyl Region in Kazakhstan, located on the Talas River in the south of the country near the border with Kyrgyzstan. It had a population of 330,100 as of the 1999 census, up 9% from 1989, making it one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, after Astana and Turkistan. The current population of Taraz is 428,000.
One of the oldest cities in Kazakhstan and in Transoxania, built and populated by the ancient Sogdians, Taraz celebrated its official 2,000th anniversary in 2001, dating from a fortress built in the area by a Xiongnu Chanyu named Zhizhi, and was a site of the Battle of Zhizhi in 36 BCE. The city was first recorded under the name "Talas" in 568 CE by Menander Protector. The medieval city of Talas was a major trade center along the Silk Road. It was later described by the Buddhist monk and traveler Xuanzang, who passed Talas in 629 and later wrote: "Traveling westward from the Thousand Springs 140 or 150 li, we come to the city of Daluosi. The city is 8 or 9 li in diameter; and was settled by Hu merchants from various nations. The products and the climate are about the same as Suyab." The Talas alphabet, a variant of the Turkic "runiform" Orkhon script, is named for the town.
Talas secured a place in history by virtue of the Battle of Talas, which was fought between forces of the Chinese Tang dynasty and those of the Arab Abbasid Caliphate. The battle took place somewhere along the Talas River in the Talas valley. One of its indirect outcomes was the introduction of paper to the West, via the Arab capture of Chinese papermakers.
History
Overview
Numerous archaeological finds and monuments in the foothills of Karatau and in Talas-Assin oasis show the antiquity of settlements in the Talas River valley, supporting Taraz's claim to being the most ancient city in Kazakhstan. The history of the city is composed of several historical periods, interrupted by destruction and depopulation. The first reference historically recorded city linked with Taraz and the basis for the claim of 2000-year-old history is the fortress of Zhizhi that briefly existed at the site of modern-day Taraz in the 1st century BCE. A city known as "Taraz" is then recorded in the 6th century CE and is known to have existed until its decline in the 13th century. The third historical period begins with the establishment of a Kokand fortress at the end of the 18th century, which in 1864 was named Auliye-Ata. In 1936, the city was renamed Mirzoyan, after Levon Mirzoyan. After Mirzoyan's arrest in 1938, the city was renamed to Dzhambul, after the Kazakh traditional folksinger Zhambyl Zhabayuly. In 1993, the spelling of the name of the city was officially changed to Jambyl/'Dzhambyl', and in 1997 the city was renamed Taraz.The city started to assume its present form when Colonel Chernyev's detachment took over the Aulie Ata fortress and annexed it to the Russian Empire, starting in 1864. Taraz was greatly improved by the Semirechensky railway that passed through the town in 1917.
Antiquity
The discovery of chest ornaments, bronze statues of kings and remnants of ceramic products in separate parts of the Talas river valley are the evidence of the existence of the life in Taraz region in the bronze epoch. According to the archaeological excavation and available written sources, tribal unions of Saka Scythians had been formed in this territory by the 7th–8th centuries B.C.Hanshu, 70 from 1st-century, talk about the fortress constructed on Talas River by Zhizhi Chanyu, a prince of Hun. The fortress is believed to have been at the site of modern Taraz.
Medieval Taraz
Early references
However, scarcity of information, inaccuracy of descriptions, and weakness of geography made it impossible to know the location until 1936. Professor Wilhelm Barthold's research established that the location of ancient Taraz was under the Green Bazaar. Further research and archaeological excavations, which were made by an expedition of The USSR Academy of Science in 1938 under the supervision of A. Bernshtam and G. Patsevich to the depth 2–6 meters, made it possible to reconstruct the appearance and cultural–economic importance of ancient Taraz. The latest archaeological data have considerably expanded ideas about Taraz.At that time the Great Silk Road ran across Southern Kazakhstan. It played a major role in trade and cultural exchange between China, India, Byzantium, and Persia. Taraz developed as a fortified tradecraft city on this massive transcontinental artery. Comparatively gentle climate, fertile soil and rich pastures attracted many stock-breeders and farmers. In the 60-s of the 6th century, the territory of the First Turkic Kaganate section included Taraz. The Sogdian merchants, who controlled the Central Asian section of the caravan route, were interested in easier access to Byzantium and initiated trade negotiations first with the persians, and then with Byzantium. In response, Byzantium sent ambassadors to the Turkic Kaganate, and in the 568 the embassy led by Zemarchus and Maniach to the Muhan Khan arrived in Taraz at the court of Istemi Yabgu. The Persian ambassador also appeared at the court of the Turkic Kagan at the same time, but Istemi Yabgu allied with Byzantium.
Unfortunately, it is not illustrated in the written sources of that time what Taraz looked like but it is said to have been a big city. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, who passed through Taraz in 630 came to the Ta-lo-se and noticed that the perimeter of the wall is 8 to 9 li in this city alternately. Due to written sources and archaeological investigation, it is known from the 1st BC to 5th AD Kangui tribes lived in the Talas River Valley. Similarity between the excavated materials of Taraz and the Kurgans of the Gynskyi and Usunskyi-Kanguiskyi tribes show the introduction of Turkic language. Taraz was joined to the Western Turk Khanate. It felt, like other cities of the region, the influence of Sogdian culture.
Written sources of Paleo-Anthropological material collected from Kurgans in Southern Kazakhstan show the existence of close ties between Taraz and the Kypchaks, Qarluq populations of nearby valleys. As a result of an internecine struggle among Turkish tribal leaders at the beginning of the 8th century the Turkish tribe in the Ili River Valley was divided into two branches: Yellow and Black. The black Turkish owned the Talas River Valley and made Taraz their capital in the middle of the 7th century. In 751 in the Talas River region, upstream from the modern city of Taraz, an army comprising Tang Dynasty troops from China and Kara Turkish mercenaries fought an army from the Abbasid Caliphate. Despite winning the battle, the Caliphate forces withdrew from the region. In 766 the Kara-Turkish tribes were defeated by Qarlugs from the northwest. Later, nearly all the tribes of the former Western Turk Khanate were conquered.
The development of Taraz as a city arose as the result of the development and strengthening of political and economic ties linked to trade along the Silk Road. As a major halt, it flourished amidst a comparatively gentle climate, fertile soil and rich pastures, which attracted many stockbreeders and farmers. The struggle between Persia and Byzantium for control of the route forced both sides to look for allies. Byzantium sent ambassadors to the Western Turk Khanate, and Zemarkha Kililyskyi arrived in Taraz in 568. Simultaneously the Persians sent their ambassador to the Turks, but Istemi Khan was on the side of Byzantium.