Otrar

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Aerial view

Otrar (also known as Utrar , Farab , Turar , Tarban, or Tutarband ) is a ghost town in Central Asia, located on the Silk Road near Qaratau in Kazakhstan . Otrar had been of great importance in the history of Central Asia because it was on the border with sedentary and agricultural civilization. It was the center of a great oasis and political district that created the connection between China , Europe , the Near and Middle East , Siberia and the Urals .

history

The nearby river Syrdarya played for Otrar an important role, because its water was used for irrigation.

Otrar has been mentioned in numerous writings by Arabic, Persian and Turkish authors. These writings give it back as one of the cities of the Seven Rivers Land . The city was at the confluence of two major rivers and roads led to Taras , Balasagun and on to East Turkestan . Along the Syr Darya roads led to Tashkent , Sogdia , Merw and Nishapur . Further roads led to the Aral and Urals.

The Otrar oasis is not a single place, but rather a large oasis with a number of villages. Each hill that represents the site of an ancient settlement has its own name: Altyntobe, Dzhalpak-tobe, Kuyuk-Mardan-tobe and Pchakchi-tobe. In the past, the hills had other names, which have now been forgotten, only the names of three places are known from scriptures and can be assigned in the present ruins.

Various writings from the 9th and 10th centuries depict Otrar as one of the Ispidjab localities. This is related to the fact that Otrar was first subjugated by the caliph , then by the Samanids . As before, Otrar remained the center of the district. It is also known that Otrar minted its own coins. When al-Farabi was born and Aristan-Bab, a teacher of Ahmed Yesevi , preached his sermons, Otrar was considered a cultural center.

Otrar's prosperity was interrupted by the Mongol invasion of Asia. In 1218 Genghis Khan sent a caravan to Otrar and to Muhammad II of Khorezm Shahs . The caravan was ambushed on arrival on the orders of Muhammad II and Inalchik Kair-khan, the governor. He suspected spies among the caravan escorts. Through his envoy, Genghis Khan ordered that the guilty be punished and demanded Kair-khan. In return, the Khorezm Shah ordered his people to kill the Mongols.

In the fall of 1219, Genghis Khan's troops reached the walls of Otrar. Shortly before, the Mongols appeared in Köneürgenç , the capital of the Khorezm Shahs, where a council of war was meeting and one of the commanders advised the open battle against the Mongols to begin. Muhammad II, however, chose a different path. He distributed his troops through the garrisons of the cities so that the commanders can fight individually. The sources describe the defense of Otrar as follows:

“… Before the Mongols came to the city of Otrar, they had to pitch tents around the city. The Sultan gave Kair-Khan 50,000 people from the front and sent Karach Khodzhib with more than 10,000 people to help. The citadel was fortified and many weapons were collected for the troops. Kair-Khan made preparations to fight within the city, placing the infantry and cavalry near the gates. He climbed the wall and looked around, then bit his tongue because he was surprised at what he saw. As far as he could see the plain was full of a seething crowd and splendid troops, while in the air was the din of roar and crash of neighing armored horses and howling mules . The troops settled around the fortress ... "

Despite the defense, the city was destroyed and its people massacred and enslaved. Many of the villages in the oasis were never rebuilt and abandoned. Otrar, however, grew again during the troubled years after Genghis Khan's death. The city again became an important political and economic center. In the middle of the 13th century it grew into a large trading center between East and West. During the second half of the 14th century, southern Kazakhstan was brought under the influence of Timur's power. In February 1405 Timur caught a cold while visiting his troops and died in Otrar.

The death of Tarmerlan led to more fighting, due to Abul Khayir's drive for power to position himself as Khan of the Uzbek Khanate . Other successors of Genghis Khan had laid claim to the area and so in the 16th and 17th centuries there was a constant dispute between different parties, especially between the Kazakh khanates and the Djungars , over power in the Kazakh steppe and the Syrdarya area. Thus a degree of stability was achieved until the arrival of the Djungar in Kazakhstan. This was followed by a long period of revolt, which resulted in the economic decline of the region and its cities. As the Eurasian part of the Silk Road gradually lost its importance, the city also lost its importance. During the 17th and 18th centuries the irrigation system failed and the lower part of Temir-aryk dried up.

At the end of the 18th century, only 40 families remained in Otrar from around 5000 to 700 in the 14th to 17th centuries. The irrigated area shrank to about 5 square kilometers.

Archaeological finds

The settlement area is about 2 square kilometers. The deepest layers of settlement were dated to the first century and the first monuments to the 12th century AD. Otrar was developed as a fortress. The Ark (middle fortress) and Shahristan (fortified city) formed a pentagonal hill about 18 meters high. The area of ​​the hills is 200,000 m².

The city was densely populated, so the houses stood together and formed groups or blocks. Two bathhouses from the 9th to 12th centuries were found on the outskirts outside the city wall. The baths had central halls for bathing and massages, changing rooms, toilets and a prayer room. They had a hot water supply system.

With the help of excavated crockery, two kilns were found nearby, which showed that Otrar was the center of ceramic production in Central Asia. The ceramics were decorated.

swell

Coordinates: 42 ° 54 ′ 39 ″  N , 68 ° 20 ′ 25 ″  E