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140-607: One of the oldest cities in Kazakhstan and in Transoxania , built and populated by the ancient Sogdians , Taraz celebrated its official 2,000th anniversary (recognized by UNESCO ) 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

280-539: A "complex network of trade routes" that gave people the chance to exchange goods and culture. A maritime Silk Route opened up between Chinese-controlled Giao Chỉ (centred in modern Vietnam , near Hanoi ), probably by the 1st century. It extended, via ports on the coasts of India and Sri Lanka , all the way to Roman -controlled ports in Roman Egypt and the Nabataean territories on the northeastern coast of

420-755: A Chinese tomb of Shanxi province dated to the Sui dynasty (581–618). Both the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang , covering the history of the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907), record that a new state called Fu-lin (拂菻; i.e. Byzantine Empire) was virtually identical to the previous Daqin (大秦; i.e. Roman Empire). Several Fu-lin embassies were recorded for the Tang period, starting in 643 with an alleged embassy by Constans II (transliterated as Bo duo li , 波多力, from his nickname "Kōnstantinos Pogonatos") to

560-580: A central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds . The name "Silk Road" was first coined in the late 19th century, but some 20th- and 21st-century historians instead prefer the term Silk Routes , on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting Central , East , South , Southeast , and West Asia as well as East Africa and Southern Europe . The Silk Road derives its name from

700-477: 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

840-631: A contingent of Roman legionaries. The Romans may have been part of Antony 's army invading Parthia . Sogdiana (modern Bukhara ), east of the Oxus River, on the Polytimetus River, was apparently the most easterly penetration ever made by Roman forces in Asia. The margin of Chinese victory appears to have been their crossbows, whose bolts and darts seem easily to have penetrated Roman shields and armour. The Han dynasty army regularly policed

980-591: A fortified tradecraft city on this massive transcontinental artery. Comparatively gentle climate , fertile soil and rich pastures attracted many stock-breeder 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

1120-408: A great role in the livestock trade and in breeding. There appeared some small industrial undertakings, including wine-making. In 1876 the first school of a European type was opened by a Russian priest. At that time there were 11,700 inhabitants in the town – besides Russians and Ukrainians there were a lot of Uzbeks ; Kazakhs were nearly absent, as they led a nomadic way of life. A full description of

1260-611: A jihadist" killed at least eight people, including five police officers and himself, in Taraz. Taraz has a cold semi-arid climate ( Köppen climate classification BSk ) with strong continental influences. It has a mean January temperature of −3 °C (27 °F) and a mean July temperature of 25.5 °C (77.9 °F). Taraz is hosting the football team FC Taraz that plays in the Kazakhstan Premier League .Woman Grand Master in chess Bibisara Assaubayeva ,

1400-737: A leading astronomer and physician in Khanbaliq , at the court of Kublai Khan , Mongol founder of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and was even granted the noble title 'Prince of Fu lin' ( Chinese : 拂菻王; Fú lǐn wáng). The Uyghur Nestorian Christian diplomat Rabban Bar Sauma , who set out from his Chinese home in Khanbaliq (Beijing) and acted as a representative for Arghun (a grandnephew of Kublai Khan), traveled throughout Europe and attempted to secure military alliances with Edward I of England , Philip IV of France , Pope Nicholas IV , as well as

1540-405: A means of currency, just as valuable as silk yarn and textiles. Under its strong integrating dynamics on the one hand and the impacts of change it transmitted on the other, tribal societies previously living in isolation along the Silk Road, and pastoralists who were of barbarian cultural development, were drawn to the riches and opportunities of the civilisations connected by the routes, taking on

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1680-598: A mosque, and according to one source, the "Amir of Taraz" embraced Islam. The Islamization of Central Asia was due in significant part to the activities of the Samanids, and in Taraz, other pre-existing religions such as Mazdaism , Christianity , Buddhism , and Tengrism were gradually replaced. The Persian Samanids however were defeated by the Turkic Karakhanids who were a confederation of Karluks , Chigils , Yaghmas and other tribes. The Karakhanids were

1820-485: A much larger territory . The territories of Khwarazm , Sogdiana, Chaghaniyan , and Khuttal were located in the southern part of Transoxiana; Chach , Osrushana , and Farghana were located in the northern part. Historically known in Persian as Farā-rūd ( Persian : فرارود , [fæɾɒːˈɾuːd̪] – 'beyond the [Amu] river'), Faro-rüd ( Tajik : Фарорӯд ), and Varaz-rüd ( Tajik : Варазрӯд ),

1960-486: A number of important technologies, and in addition to raiding vulnerable settlements for these commodities, they also encouraged long-distance merchants as a source of income through the enforced payment of tariffs. Sogdians played a major role in facilitating trade between China and Central Asia along the Silk Roads as late as the 10th century, their language serving as a lingua franca for Asian trade as far back as

2100-571: Is a modern name, acquired from its similarity to the overland Silk Road. Like the overland routes, the ancient maritime routes through Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean had no particular name for the majority of its very long history. Despite the modern name, the Maritime Silk Road involved exchanges in a wide variety of goods over a very wide region, not just silk or Asian exports. It differed significantly in several aspects from

2240-428: Is also used occasionally. Although the term was coined in the 19th century, it did not gain widespread acceptance in academia or popularity among the public until the 20th century. The first book entitled The Silk Road was by Swedish geographer Sven Hedin in 1938. The use of the term 'Silk Road' is not without its detractors. For instance, Warwick Ball contends that the maritime spice trade with India and Arabia

2380-497: Is believed to have been at the site of modern Taraz. 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

2520-518: Is mentioned again in 1513 with the coming of the Kazakh tribes. The once famous medieval city and former capital had become a simple settlement, then it was forgotten, as well as its ancient name. By the 16th century the city's territory had been absorbed into the Kazakh Khanate . The archaeological excavation shows Kazakh nomads were involved in the rebirth of Taraz with cultural links connecting

2660-793: The Alans ], Lijian [Syria under the Greek Seleucids], Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia), and Tianzhu [northwestern India] ... As a rule, rather more than ten such missions went forward in the course of a year, and at the least five or six. ( Hou Hanshu , Later Han History). These connections marked the beginning of the Silk Road trade network that extended to the Roman Empire. The Chinese campaigned in Central Asia on several occasions, and direct encounters between Han troops and Roman legionaries (probably captured or recruited as mercenaries by

2800-656: The Berel burial ground in Kazakhstan , confirmed that the nomadic Arimaspians were not only breeding horses for trade but also produced great craftsmen able to propagate exquisite art pieces along the Silk Road. From the 2nd millennium BCE, nephrite jade was being traded from mines in the region of Yarkand and Khotan to China. Significantly, these mines were not very far from the lapis lazuli and spinel ("Balas Ruby") mines in Badakhshan , and, although separated by

2940-594: The Dzungars were eliminated by Qing China in 1755, their entire territory, including Talas area, was annexed by the Qing, Qing soldiers patrolled the area once a year. Kazakh people were expelled from the area if they were captured pasturing inside the area. As a result of the Dzungars' destruction the area became a No man's land , Qing China had to deal with consistent cross-border immigration of Kazakh people. In 1766,

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3080-632: The Great Wall of China to ensure the protection of the trade route. By the first century CE, Chinese silk was widely sought-after in Rome, Egypt, and Greece. Other lucrative commodities from the East included tea, dyes, perfumes, and porcelain ; among Western exports were horses, camels, honey, wine, and gold. Aside from generating substantial wealth for emerging mercantile classes, the proliferation of goods such as paper and gunpowder greatly affected

3220-849: The Hungarian plain and the Carpathian Mountains to the Chinese Gansu Corridor, and linking the Middle East with Northern India and the Punjab , undoubtedly played an important role in the development of the Silk Road. Scythians accompanied the Assyrian Esarhaddon on his invasion of Egypt, and their distinctive triangular arrowheads have been found as far south as Aswan . These nomadic peoples were dependent upon neighbouring settled populations for

3360-779: The Karakum Desert . Both routes joined the main southern route before reaching ancient Merv , Turkmenistan. Another branch of the northern route turned northwest past the Aral Sea and north of the Caspian Sea , then and on to the Black Sea. A route for caravans, the northern Silk Road brought to China many goods such as "dates, saffron powder and pistachio nuts from Persia; frankincense , aloes and myrrh from Somalia ; sandalwood from India; glass bottles from Egypt, and other expensive and desirable goods from other parts of

3500-564: The Kushan Empire between the first and third centuries reinforced the role of the powerful merchants from Bactria and Taxila . They fostered multi-cultural interaction as indicated by their 2nd century treasure hoards filled with products from the Greco-Roman world, China, and India, such as in the archeological site of Begram . The Silk Road trade did not sell only textiles, jewels, metal and cosmetic, but also slaves, connecting

3640-991: The Magyars , Armenians , and Chinese. The Silk Road reached its peak in the west during the time of the Byzantine Empire ; in the Nile- Oxus section, from the Sassanid Empire period to the Il Khanate period; and in the sinitic zone from the Three Kingdoms period to the Yuan dynasty period. Trade between East and West also developed across the Indian Ocean , between Alexandria in Egypt and Guangzhou in China. Persian Sassanid coins emerged as

3780-758: The Malay Peninsula , and the Mekong Delta ; through which passed the main routes of the Austronesian trade ships to Giao Chỉ (in the Tonkin Gulf ) and Guangzhou (southern China ), the endpoints (later also including Quanzhou by the 10th century CE). Secondary routes also passed through the coastlines of the Gulf of Thailand ; as well as through the Java Sea , Celebes Sea , Banda Sea , and

3920-862: The Maldives . It branches from here into routes through the Arabian Sea entering the Gulf of Oman (into the Persian Gulf ), and the Gulf of Aden (into the Red Sea ). Secondary routes also pass through the coastlines of the Bay of Bengal , the Arabian Sea, and southwards along the coast of East Africa to Zanzibar , the Comoros , Madagascar , and the Seychelles . The term "Maritime Silk Road"

4060-589: The Mongol Empire , invaded Transoxiana in 1219 during his conquest of Khwarezm . Before his death in 1227, he assigned the lands of Western Central Asia to his second son Chagatai , and this region became known as the Chagatai Khanate . In 1369, Timur , of the Barlas tribe, became the effective ruler and made Samarkand the capital of his future empire . Transoxiana was known to be flourishing in

4200-634: The Muslim conquest of Persia . It was also ruled by Göktürks until the Arab conquest between 705 and 715, the area became known by the Arabic phrase Mā warāʼ al-Nahr "what is beyond the river", sometimes rendered as "Mavarannahr". Transoxiana's major cities and cultural centers are Samarkand and Bukhara . Both are in the southern portion of Transoxiana (though still to the north of the Amu Darya itself, on

4340-520: The Persian Gulf and Red Sea into Persia , Mesopotamia (sailing up the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq ), Arabia , Egypt , Aksum (Ethiopia), and Somalia in the Horn of Africa . The Silk Road represents an early phenomenon of political and cultural integration due to inter-regional trade. In its heyday, it sustained an international culture that strung together groups as diverse as

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4480-643: 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

4620-600: The Qianlong Emperor ordered to accommodate Kazakh people in Talas area within the border and settled them properly. The area was promptly populated by Kazakhs. In fact, all of Xinjiang was populated by Kazakhs during the period as the aboriginal western Mongols of Dzungars  were eliminated by the Qing in earlier years. In the beginning of the 19th century, the upper part of the Talas River Valley

4760-884: The Red Sea . The earliest Roman glassware bowl found in China was unearthed from a Western Han tomb in Guangzhou , dated to the early 1st century BCE, indicating that Roman commercial items were being imported through the South China Sea . According to Chinese dynastic histories , it is from this region that the Roman embassies arrived in China, beginning in 166 CE during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Emperor Huan of Han . Other Roman glasswares have been found in Eastern-Han-era tombs (25–220 CE) further inland in Luoyang , Nanyang , and Nanjing . Soon after

4900-624: The Sasanian (Sassanid) Empire , it was often called Sogdia, a provincial name taken from the Achaemenid Empire , and used to distinguish it from nearby Bactria . The Chinese explorer Zhang Qian , who visited the neighbouring countries of Bactria and Parthia along with Transoxiana in 126 BCE, made the first known Chinese report on this region. Zhang Qian clearly identifies Parthia as an advanced urban civilisation that farmed grain and grapes, and made silver coins and leather goods. It

5040-411: The Sasanian Empire that allowed the Byzantines to bypass the Sasanian merchants and trade directly with the Sogdians for purchasing Chinese silk. Although the Byzantines had already procured silkworm eggs from China by this point, the quality of Chinese silk was still far greater than anything produced in the West, a fact that is perhaps emphasized by the discovery of coins minted by Justin II found in

5180-458: The Silla Kingdom in Gyeongju , Korea. Chinese wealth grew as they delivered silk and other luxury goods to the Roman Empire, whose wealthy women admired their beauty. The Roman Senate issued, in vain, several edicts to prohibit the wearing of silk, on economic and moral grounds: the import of Chinese silk caused a huge outflow of gold, and silk clothes were considered decadent and immoral. I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide

5320-432: The Sulu Sea , reconnecting with the main route through the northern Philippines and Taiwan . The secondary routes also continue onward to the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea for a limited extent. The main route of the western regions of the Maritime Silk Road directly crosses the Indian Ocean from the northern tip of Sumatra (or through the Sunda Strait ) to Sri Lanka , southern India and Bangladesh , and

5460-506: The Umayyads from 715 to 738. The conquest was consolidated by Nasr ibn Sayyar between 738 and 740, and continued under the control of the Umayyads until 750, when it was replaced by the Abbasid Caliphate . The Tang dynasty of China also controlled the eastern part of the region until the An Lushan Rebellion broke out. In the early Islamic period, the people of Transoxania spoke Sogdian (an Iranian language) and were divided among several principalities . The Arab conquest resulted in

5600-435: The Wusun . Zhang Qian's report suggested the economic reason for Chinese expansion and wall-building westward, and trail-blazed the Silk Road, making it one of the most famous trade routes in history and in the world. After winning the War of the Heavenly Horses and the Han–Xiongnu War , Chinese armies established themselves in Central Asia, initiating the Silk Route as a major avenue of international trade. Some say that

5740-558: The mausoleums of Aisha-Bibi and Karakhan were built. Taraz had an underground water system made of terracotta pipes, paved streets, and sewage collection. Of great interest is the Taraz Banya, which was multiple-domed building built from fired brick. In due course under the influence of internecine wars the Karakhanids lost their power and in the end of the 12th century the city was taken by the Kara-Khitans. In 1210 Kara-Khitans were defeated by Khwarazmshah Mohammed. Karakhanid rule did not last long because in 1220 nearly all Central Asia and

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5880-410: The satrapies (provinces) of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia under the name Sogdia . It was defined within the classical world of Persia to distinguish it from Iran proper , especially its northeastern province of Khorasan , a term originating with the Sasanians , although early Arab historians and geographers tended to subsume the region within the loosely defined term "Khorasan" designating

6020-428: The 12th century, the route was used to ship bullion from Yunnan (gold and silver are among the minerals in which Yunnan is rich), through northern Burma, into modern Bangladesh , making use of the ancient route, known as the 'Ledo' route. The emerging evidence of the ancient cities of Bangladesh, in particular Wari-Bateshwar ruins, Mahasthangarh , Bhitagarh , Bikrampur , Egarasindhur, and Sonargaon , are believed to be

6160-412: The 18th century, which in 1864 was named Auliye-Ata (from the Uzbek words meaning saint and father ). In 1936, the city was renamed Mirzoyan (Russian: Мирзоя́н ), after Levon Mirzoyan . After Mirzoyan's arrest in 1938, the city was renamed to Dzhambul (Russian: Джамбу́л ), after the Kazakh traditional folksinger Jambyl Jabayev ( Dzhambul Dzhabayev ). In 1993, the spelling of the city's name

6300-465: The 1st BC to 5th AD Kangui (Kanglu) 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

6440-432: The 2021 World Champion in Women's Blitz Chess, is a native of Taraz. Transoxania Transoxiana or Transoxania ( lit.   ' Land beyond the Oxus ' ) is the Latin name for the region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan , western Tajikistan , parts of southern Kazakhstan , parts of Turkmenistan and southern Kyrgyzstan . The name

6580-460: The 21st century, the name "New Silk Road" is used to describe several large infrastructure projects along many of the historic trade routes; among the best known include the Eurasian Land Bridge and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In June 2014, UNESCO designated the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Road as a World Heritage Site , while the Indian portion remains on the tentative site list. The Silk Road derives its name from

6720-407: The 4th century. The Silk Road was initiated and spread by China's Han dynasty through exploration and conquests in Central Asia . With the Mediterranean linked to the Fergana Valley , the next step was to open a route across the Tarim Basin and the Hexi Corridor to China Proper . This extension came around 130 BCE, with the embassies of the Han dynasty to Central Asia following the reports of

6860-417: The 640s and 650s. During Emperor Taizong's reign alone, large campaigns were launched against not only the Göktürks , but also separate campaigns against the Tuyuhun , the oasis states , and the Xueyantuo . Under Emperor Taizong , Tang general Li Jing conquered the Eastern Turkic Khaganate . Under Emperor Gaozong , Tang general Su Dingfang conquered the Western Turkic Khaganate , an important ally of

7000-406: The 7-8th century. There were multiple figures in the Muslim world who had conquered these lands. Some include the Umayyad and Abbasid Arabs that took over lands that are now Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Apart from a presence in Kushan Bactria , Hinduism unlike Buddhism, seems to have made little inroad into Central Asia north of Bactria. Even when Brahmins are depicted in

7140-439: The Byzantine empire. After these conquests, the Tang dynasty fully controlled the Xiyu , which was the strategic location astride the Silk Road. This led the Tang dynasty to reopen the Silk Road, with this portion named the Tang-Tubo Road ("Tang-Tibet Road") in many historical texts. The Tang dynasty established a second Pax Sinica , and the Silk Road reached its golden age, whereby Persian and Sogdian merchants benefited from

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7280-437: The Byzantine ruler Andronikos II Palaiologos . Andronikos II had two half-sisters who were married to great-grandsons of Genghis Khan , which made him an in-law with the Yuan-dynasty Mongol ruler in Beijing, Kublai Khan. The History of Ming preserves an account where the Hongwu Emperor , after founding the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), had a supposed Byzantine merchant named Nieh-ku-lun (捏古倫) deliver his proclamation about

7420-414: The Central Asian Silk Road through their ports in Barygaza (known today as Bharuch ) and Barbaricum (known today as the city of Karachi , Sindh , Pakistan ) and continued along the western coast of India. An ancient "travel guide" to this Indian Ocean trade route was the Greek Periplus of the Erythraean Sea written in 60 CE. The travelling party of Maës Titianus penetrated farthest east along

7560-478: The Chinese Emperor Wu became interested in developing commercial relationships with the sophisticated urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria, and the Parthian Empire : "The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Ferghana (Dayuan "Great Ionians " ) and the possessions of Bactria ( Ta-Hsia ) and Parthian Empire ( Anxi ) are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of

7700-412: The Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China" ( Hou Hanshu , Later Han History ). Others say that Emperor Wu was mainly interested in fighting the Xiongnu and that major trade began only after the Chinese pacified the Hexi Corridor . The Chinese were also strongly attracted by the tall and powerful horses (named " heavenly horses ") in the possession of

7840-431: The Communists of Kazakhstan . In 1938, after Mirzoyan was executed during Stalin ’s Great Purge for opposing the mass deportation of Koreans to northern Kazakhstan from the south, the city was renamed Dzhambul (Russian: "Джамбул", Kazakh: "Жамбыл") after Zhambyl Zhabayev , a Kazakh akyn (folk singer). Starting in the 1930s, Dzhambul, along with other places in Kazakhstan, became the destination for large numbers of

7980-407: The Dayuan (literally the "Great Ionians," the Greek kingdoms of Central Asia ), which were of capital importance in fighting the nomadic Xiongnu. They defeated the Dayuan in the Han-Dayuan war . The Chinese subsequently sent numerous embassies, around ten every year, to these countries and as far as Seleucid Syria. Thus more embassies were dispatched to Anxi [Parthia], Yancai [who later joined

8120-510: The Empire as a whole. The Roman-style glassware discovered in the archeological sites of Gyeongju , the capital of the Silla kingdom (Korea) showed that Roman artifacts were traded as far as the Korean peninsula. The Greco- Roman trade with India started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BCE continued to increase, and according to Strabo (II.5.12), by the time of Augustus , up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from Myos Hormos in Roman Egypt to India. The Roman Empire connected with

8260-407: The Ganges, they are only private citizens." His comments are interesting as Roman beads and other materials are being found at Wari-Bateshwar ruins , the ancient city with roots from much earlier, before the Bronze Age , presently being slowly excavated beside the Old Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. Ptolemy's map of the Ganges Delta , a remarkably accurate effort, showed that his informants knew all about

8400-400: The Han general dispatched envoy Gan Ying to Daqin (Rome). The Silk Road essentially came into being from the 1st century BCE, following these efforts by China to consolidate a road to the Western world and India , both through direct settlements in the area of the Tarim Basin and diplomatic relations with the countries of the Dayuan, Parthians and Bactrians further west. The Silk Roads were

8540-418: The Persian Samanids occupied a major part of Central Asia in the 9th century. By this time Taraz, developing little by little had been a rich city-state typical of Central Asia with a large population and vast agricultural zone. In the late 9th century the Samanids extended their rule into the Steppes and captured Taraz (893), then one of the headquarters of the Karluk kaghan. A large church was transformed into

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8680-432: The Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE, regular communications and trade between China, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe blossomed on an unprecedented scale. The Roman Empire inherited eastern trade routes that were part of the Silk Road from the earlier Hellenistic powers and the Arabs. With control of these trade routes, citizens of the Roman Empire received new luxuries and greater prosperity for

8820-587: The Roman craze for Chinese silk (supplied through the Parthians), even though the Romans thought silk was obtained from trees. This belief was affirmed by Seneca the Younger in his Phaedra and by Virgil in his Georgics . Notably, Pliny the Elder knew better. Speaking of the bombyx or silk moth, he wrote in his Natural Histories "They weave webs, like spiders, that become a luxurious clothing material for women, called silk." The Romans traded spices, glassware, perfumes, and silk. Roman artisans began to replace yarn with valuable plain silk cloths from China and

8960-419: The Shahristan and Arg, did not grow beyond their sizes in the previous Qarluq-Samanid Era. The Arg lost its main significance in the city's life. The Shahristan became the heart of economic and cultural life of the city. It was there that all the military, administrative, cultural and other establishments that governed life in the medieval feudal city-state took place. At this time in the city and its countryside

9100-421: The Silk Road from the Mediterranean world, probably with the aim of regularising contacts and reducing the role of middlemen, during one of the lulls in Rome's intermittent wars with Parthia, which repeatedly obstructed movement along the Silk Road. Intercontinental trade and communication became regular, organised, and protected by the "Great Powers." Intense trade with the Roman Empire soon followed, confirmed by

9240-419: The Silk Road slave trade to the Bukhara slave trade as well as the Black Sea slave trade , particularly slave girls. Byzantine Greek historian Procopius stated that two Nestorian Christian monks eventually uncovered the way silk was made. From this revelation, monks were sent by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (ruled 527–565) as spies on the Silk Road from Constantinople to China and back to steal

9380-410: The Silk Road trade. The originating source seems sufficiently reliable, but silk degrades very rapidly, so it cannot be verified whether it was cultivated silk (which almost certainly came from China) or a type of wild silk , which might have come from the Mediterranean or Middle East. Following contacts between Metropolitan China and nomadic western border territories in the 8th century BCE, gold

9520-432: The Silk Road, from Khotan ( Xinjiang ) to Eastern China, were first used for jade and not silk, as long as 5000 BCE , and are still in use for this purpose. The term "Jade Road" would have been more appropriate than "Silk Road" had it not been for the far larger and geographically wider nature of the silk trade; the term is in current use in China. The Silk Road consisted of several routes. As it extended westwards from

9660-440: The Silk Road, possibly contributing to the Black Death. From 1453 onwards, the Ottoman Empire began competing with other gunpowder empires for greater control over the overland routes, which prompted European polities to seek alternatives while themselves gaining leverage over their trade partners. This marked the beginning of the Age of Discovery , European colonialism , and the further intensification of globalization . In

9800-446: 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

9940-446: 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 (Ch. Xiongnu , Hsiung-nu , etc.). The fortress

10080-601: The Tarim Basin, in the modern day Xinjiang region, until replaced by Turkic influences from the Xiongnu culture to the north and by Chinese influences from the eastern Han dynasty , who spoke a Sino-Tibetan language . Some remnants of what was probably Chinese silk dating from 1070 BCE have been found in Ancient Egypt . The Great Oasis cities of Central Asia played a crucial role in the effective functioning of

10220-514: The West until the period of the Mongol Empire . He notes that traditional authors discussing east–west trade such as Marco Polo and Edward Gibbon never labelled any route a "silk" one in particular. William Dalrymple points out that in pre-modern times, maritime travel cost only a fifth of overland transport, and argues for the pre-13th century primacy of an India-dominated " Golden Road " extending from Rome to Japan. The southern stretches of

10360-779: The West for land-based trade. The Tang captured the vital route through the Gilgit Valley from Tibet in 722, lost it to the Tibetans in 737, and regained it under the command of the Goguryeo General Gao Xianzhi . While the Turks were settled in the Ordos region (former territory of the Xiongnu ), the Tang government took on the military policy of dominating the central steppe. The Tang dynasty (along with Turkic allies) conquered and subdued Central Asia during

10500-713: 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. This is the site of the " Battle of Talas "—first and the last military face-off between the Muslim Arab forces and the Chinese imperial troops in AD 750–51. After the Arab conquest of Central Asia in the 7th century and 8th century,

10640-601: The Xiong Nu) are recorded, particularly in the 36 BCE battle of Sogdiana (Joseph Needham, Sidney Shapiro). It has been suggested that the Chinese crossbow was transmitted to the Roman world on such occasions, although the Greek gastraphetes provides an alternative origin. R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy suggest that in 36 BCE, [A] Han expedition into Central Asia, west of Jaxartes River , apparently encountered and defeated

10780-410: The age of one and whose first word was "Allah." He rebelled against his father, eventually slaying him, before embarking on a series of conquests that brought Islam to all of "Transoxiana and Turkestan." Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 km (4,000 mi), it played

10920-754: The ambassador Zhang Qian (who was originally sent to obtain an alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu ). Zhang Qian visited directly the kingdom of Dayuan in Ferghana , the territories of the Yuezhi in Transoxiana , the Bactrian country of Daxia with its remnants of Greco-Bactrian rule, and Kangju . He also made reports on neighbouring countries that he did not visit, such as Anxi ( Parthia ), Tiaozhi ( Mesopotamia ), Shendu ( Indian subcontinent ) and

11060-484: The ancient commercial centres of China, the overland, intercontinental Silk Road divided into northern and southern routes bypassing the Taklamakan Desert and Lop Nur . Merchants along these routes were involved in "relay trade" in which goods changed "hands many times before reaching their final destinations". The northern route started at Chang'an (now called Xi'an ), an ancient capital of China that

11200-566: The ancient medieval city with the culture of Kazakh people. The confirmation of it is the names of artificial channels stretched from the city. Under the Kazakh Khans in ancient Taraz there was just a small settlement, the inhabitants of which were engaged in craft, agriculture and cattle breeding. In 1723 the Talas Valley, as well as the major part of southern Kazakhstan were invaded by Dzungars who owned it nearly until 1755. After

11340-597: The area had been known to the ancient Iranians as Turan , a term used in the Persian national epic Shahnameh . The corresponding Chinese term for the region is Hezhong ( Chinese : 河中地区 - land between rivers (Amu and Syr) ). The Arabic term Mā Warāʾ an-Nahr ( Arabic : ما وراء النهر , [ˈmaː waˈraːʔ anˈnahr] , which means "what is beyond the [Jayhūn] river") passed into Persian literary usage and stayed on until post-Mongol times. The name Transoxiana stuck in Western consciousness because of

11480-570: The areas that were, or were feared to come, under German occupation. The city's population continued to grow throughout the 1960s and 1970s in spite of the end of exiles, due to an industrial spurt the city received during that time. As a result, Dzhambul had a highly diverse population composed of multiple ethnic groups, the largest being the Russians, followed by the Kazakhs. Fast-paced industrialization brought many amenities of modern urban living to

11620-600: The art of Central Asia, this is within the setting of Buddhist art, where we can even observe a tendency to present such figures as caricatures, quite in line with the criticism of them in the Buddhist scriptures. Transoxania was a great center of Muslim civilization; it was the centre of the Timurid Empire and saw influential Muslim leaders like Oghuz Khan . An excerpt from a dynastic history commissioned by Eltüzer Khan of Khwarazm: "Oghuz Khan, who could speak at

11760-401: 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" (or "Talas") is then recorded in the 6th century CE (568 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

11900-431: The body, nor even one's decency, can be called clothes. ... Wretched flocks of maids labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife's body. The Western Roman Empire , and its demand for sophisticated Asian products, collapsed in the fifth century . The unification of Central Asia and Northern India within

12040-478: The circle promoted their development. The power of the city under one of the rulers, Tugan-Khan, was so great that he independently waged a military campaign against Samarkand and temporarily captured it. Kashgar was invaded and it was under the Taraz's power during 15 months. Certainly, this political power was the result of the economic importance of the city. In the Karakhanid Era the main part of Taraz,

12180-614: The city at the beginning of the 20th century is given in Russian. The population consisted of Russians, Uzbeks and Kazakhs. Ethnic composition of the city according to 1897 census: During the first two decades following the Russian Revolution and the Civil War, Aulie-Ata remained a small town. It was renamed Mirzoyan (Russian: "Мирзоян") in 1936, after Levon Mirzoyan ( Левон Исаевич Мирзоян ), an ethnic Armenian head of

12320-526: The city have changed drastically as well. The city lost a significant portion of its population with the exodus of the various nationalities that once made up its diversity, notably the Volga Germans and the Jews, as well as many Russians and Ukrainians. This trend was partially off-set by the migration of Kazakhs from rural areas into the city. The city's name was changed to its Kazakh spelling (Zhambyl) in

12460-440: The city, previously largely unknown, such as typical Soviet apartment blocks as well as condo-style houses, now all supplied with electricity and running water; roads and public transport; several higher education institution; large public parks, department stores, etc. Although chemical and construction industries made up the core of the city's economy, Dzhambul continued to function as an unofficial trade post with its proximity to

12600-437: The commerce between East and West. At the same time, the Chinese empire welcomed foreign cultures, making it very cosmopolitan in its urban centres. In addition to the land route, the Tang dynasty also developed the maritime Silk Route. Chinese envoys had been sailing through the Indian Ocean to India since perhaps the 2nd century BCE, yet, it was during the Tang dynasty that a strong Chinese maritime presence could be found in

12740-884: The course of the Brahmaputra River, crossing through the Himalayas then bending westward to its source in Tibet . It is doubtless that this delta was a major international trading center, almost certainly from much earlier than the Common Era. Gemstones and other merchandise from Thailand and Java were traded in the delta and through it. Chinese archaeological writer Bin Yang and some earlier writers and archaeologists, such as Janice Stargardt, strongly suggest this route of international trade as Sichuan – Yunnan – Burma – Bangladesh route. According to Bin Yang, especially from

12880-510: The court of Emperor Taizong of Tang . The History of Song describes the final embassy and its arrival in 1081, apparently sent by Michael VII Doukas (transliterated as Mie li yi ling kai sa , 滅力伊靈改撒, from his name and title Michael VII Parapinakēs Caesar) to the court of Emperor Shenzong of the Song dynasty (960–1279). However, the History of Yuan claims that a Byzantine man became

13020-482: The deported peoples who were subject to internal exile . Millions of Volga Germans, Chechens, Ukrainians, Koreans and other ethnic minorities, along with other marginalized subjects (former kulaks , members of the aristocracy, families of convicted "enemies of the people," etc.) were forced to relocate to Kazakhstan, many of whom settled in Dzhambul. Some were evacuated to Kazakhstan, and to Dzhambul, during WWII from

13160-429: The early 1992 and to Taraz (Тараз) in 1997. The city's economy has experienced a partial revival in the early 2000s. The city established a sister city relationship with Fresno, California , United States according to Sister Cities International , but this relationship is inactive. In 2001, Taraz also entered into a sister city relationship with Muncie, Indiana . On November 12, 2011, a gunman "described by officials as

13300-434: The entire length of the Silk Road, instead relying on a succession of middlemen based at various stopping points along the way. In addition to goods, the network facilitated an unprecedented exchange of religious ( especially Buddhist ), philosophical, and scientific thought, much of which was syncretised by societies along the way. Likewise, a wide variety of people used the routes. Diseases such as plague also spread along

13440-523: The establishment of a new dynasty to the Byzantine court of John V Palaiologos in September 1371. Friedrich Hirth (1885), Emil Bretschneider (1888), and more recently Edward Luttwak (2009) presumed that this was none other than Nicolaus de Bentra, a Roman Catholic bishop of Khanbilaq chosen by Pope John XXII to replace the previous archbishop John of Montecorvino . Although the Silk Road

13580-602: The existence of close ties between Taraz and the Kypchaks , Qarluq populations of nearby valleys. As a result of an internecine struggle amongst 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 (kara) Turkish owned the Talas River Valley and made Taraz their capital in the middle of the 7th century. In 751 in

13720-707: The exploits of Alexander the Great , who extended Greek culture into the region with his invasion in the 4th century BCE. Alexander's successors would go on to found the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom , ushering in a distinct Greek cultural presence within Transoxiana that existed for over two hundred years. The city of Ai-Khanoum , situated on the Oxus in northern Afghanistan, remains the only Graeco Bactrian city to have been found and extensively excavated. During

13860-608: The first Turkic groups to have converted to Islam en masse, and from the 10th to 12th century Taraz was ruled by the Kara-Khanid Khanate as a Muslim state. Ancient Taraz reached the climax of its development in 11th-12th century under the Karakhanids. Instead of more or less centralized state like the Samanids, Karakhanid Central Asia was divided into many small fiefdoms or appanages . Taraz became an important centre. The political independence of Taraz and autonomy of

14000-499: The first settlements were from the Persian populated city Namangan , now in Uzbekistan and uzbekified. In 1856 it was renamed Aulie-Ata, in the honor of Karakhan the founder of Karakhanid dynasty. Mullahs , using a legend about the mausoleum of Karakhan in 12th built a new mausoleum with minarets, which had nothing in common with the older one. This new mausoleum preserved the ancient name, "Aulie-Ata" ("holy father"). The town took

14140-568: The formidable Pamir Mountains , routes across them were apparently in use from very early times. Genetic study of the Tarim mummies , found in the Tarim Basin , in the area of Loulan located along the Silk Road 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of Yingpan, dating to as early as 1600 BCE, suggest very ancient contacts between East and West. These mummified remains may have been of people who spoke Indo-European languages , which remained in use in

14280-498: The head of the Persian Gulf and across to Petra and on to Alexandria and other eastern Mediterranean ports from where ships carried the cargoes to Rome . The southwestern route is believed to be the Ganges / Brahmaputra Delta, which has been the subject of international interest for over two millennia. Strabo, the 1st-century Roman writer, mentions the deltaic lands: "Regarding merchants who now sail from Egypt ... as far as

14420-495: The highly lucrative trade of silk textiles that were primarily produced in China. The network began with the expansion of the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) into Central Asia around 114 BCE, through the missions and explorations of the Chinese imperial envoy Zhang Qian , which brought the region under unified control . The Chinese took great interest in the security of their trade products, and extended

14560-744: The international trade centers in this route. The Maritime Silk Road or Maritime Silk Route is the maritime section of the historic Silk Road that connected Southeast Asia , East Asia , the Indian subcontinent , the Arabian Peninsula , eastern Africa , and Europe . It began by the 2nd century BCE and flourished until the 15th century CE. The Maritime Silk Road was primarily established and operated by Austronesian sailors in Southeast Asia who sailed large long-distance ocean-going sewn-plank and lashed-lug trade ships . The route

14700-789: The journey by sea from various points. Crossing the high mountains, it passed through northern Pakistan , over the Hindu Kush mountains, and into Afghanistan , rejoining the northern route near Merv, Turkmenistan . From Merv, it followed a nearly straight line west through mountainous northern Iran , Mesopotamia , and the northern tip of the Syrian Desert to the Levant , where Mediterranean trading ships plied regular routes to Italy , while land routes went either north through Anatolia or south to North Africa . Another branch road travelled from Herat through Susa to Charax Spasinu at

14840-519: The lucrative trade in silk , first developed in China , and a major reason for the connection of trade routes into an extensive transcontinental network. It derives from the German term Seidenstraße (literally "Silk Road") and was first popularized in 1877 by Ferdinand von Richthofen , who made seven expeditions to China from 1868 to 1872. However, the term itself had been in use in decades prior to that. The alternative translation "Silk Route"

14980-460: The maritime spice networks between Southeast Asia and South Asia , and the West Asian maritime networks in the Arabian Sea and beyond, coinciding with these ancient maritime trade roads by the current era. Austronesian thalassocracies controlled the flow of trade in the eastern regions of the Maritime Silk Road, especially the polities around the straits of Malacca and Bangka ,

15120-425: The maritime route faced different perils like weather and piracy , but they were not affected by political instability and could simply avoid areas in conflict. Central Eurasia has been known from ancient times for its horse riding and horse breeding communities, and the overland Steppe Route across the northern steppes of Central Eurasia was in use long before that of the Silk Road. Archeological sites, such as

15260-462: The mid-14th century. The historian Mark Dickens notes: Transoxiana's principal pre-Islamic religion was Zoroastrianism , albeit in local manifestations. However, Buddhism , [Nestorian] Christianity , Manichaeism , and Mazdakism also had many adherents, especially in urban areas. This initial religious diversity was gradually eroded after the Arab conquest . Muslims had conquered Transoxiana by

15400-460: The north-through Akmolinsk (Astana) and Petropavlovsk (Petropavl), to Omsk . In 1864, Aulie-Ata surrendered after a short siege by Russian forces led by General Mikhail Grigorievich Cherniaev . Soon the line of Russian fortifications across the steppe was connected through Chimkent with the Syr-Darya line. The whole part of this land was included in the Russian state. A new Russian quarter

15540-615: The once-lively city under the Mongolian yoke lost its previous significance and independence. The blooming of settled life in Taraz ended and decline began. Under the Chagatayids (descendants of Chagatai Khan) coins were minted in Taraz until 1334. The Tsareviches, who, as Vasa of 14th century states, "burnt the Golden Horde, destroyed Taraz and other cities, and killed the population. They took everything they could take, and burnt

15680-465: The other Central Asian republics and a relatively mobile population. The city was known in the area for its large bazaars with farmers selling agricultural produce from throughout the region. Dzhambul, along with much of Kazakhstan, suffered a severe economic crisis in the early 1990s after the break-up of the Soviet Union, with many industries coming to an almost complete halt. The demographics of

15820-592: The other going north of the Tian Shan mountains through Turpan , Talgar , and Almaty (in what is now southeast Kazakhstan ). The routes split again west of Kashgar, with a southern branch heading down the Alai Valley towards Termez (in modern Uzbekistan) and Balkh (Afghanistan), while the other travelled through Kokand in the Fergana Valley (in present-day eastern Uzbekistan) and then west across

15960-431: The overland Silk Road, and thus should not be viewed as a mere extension of it. Traders traveling through the Maritime Silk Road could span the entire distance of the maritime routes, instead of through regional relays as with the overland route. Ships could carry far larger amounts of goods, creating greater economic impact with each exchange. Goods carried by the ships also differed from goods carried by caravans. Traders on

16100-481: The rest. There was a mention of the city again in 1345 in the road guide book as a city laid on the trade route from Transoxiana to Almalyk." Steady internecine war in Central Asia interfered with the trade with distant countries, and the opening of the sea route from the Western European countries to India stopped the trade on the ancient silk road and led to the decline of the cities on this road. Taraz

16240-523: The river Zarafshan ) and Uzbekistan, and the majority of the region was dry but fertile plains. Both cities remained centres of Persian culture and civilisation after the Islamic conquest of Iran , and played a crucial role in the revival of Persian culture with establishment of the Samanid Empire . Part of this region was conquered by Qutayba ibn Muslim between 706 and 715 and loosely held by

16380-596: 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 (751 CE), 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

16520-522: The same name. By this time the city had become a considerable trade craft center. Annually, a large spring fair was held there. The products of craftsman and agriculture were changed for the things of cattle-breeders. Large consignments of livestock bought at the fair were sent to Tashkent and Fergana through the Karrabul Pass in the Talas-Alatau. The caravan way passed through the city to

16660-699: The silkworm eggs , resulting in silk production in the Mediterranean, particularly in Thrace in northern Greece, and giving the Byzantine Empire a monopoly on silk production in medieval Europe. In 568, the Byzantine ruler Justin II was greeted by a Sogdian embassy representing Istämi , ruler of the First Turkic Khaganate , who formed an alliance with the Byzantines against Khosrow I of

16800-606: The spread of Arabic elite culture, and, more paradoxically, of Persian "as a spoken and eventually written language" in the region. The Arab conquest also resulted in contacts with Tang China, where fragments of the Sasanian ruling elite, including Peroz III , had taken shelter after Iran's conquest by the Arabs. However, it did not result in Transoxania having major interactions with Chinese culture. Genghis Khan , founder of

16940-506: 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

17080-478: The territory of modern Kazakhstan were invaded by Mongols. There were no written documents about Taraz's growth under the Mongols after they razed it to the ground. Remnants of fire found during the excavation show that the city was burnt. Probably the town was renamed as Yany ('New'); while mentioning it, European and Arabic sources write "The city Yany, named Taraz before the conquest." Archaeological finds show that

17220-453: The trade route against nomadic bandit forces generally identified as Xiongnu . Han general Ban Chao led an army of 70,000 mounted infantry and light cavalry troops in the 1st century CE to secure the trade routes, reaching far west to the Tarim Basin. Ban Chao expanded his conquests across the Pamirs to the shores of the Caspian Sea and the borders of Parthia . It was from here that

17360-506: The trades of marauders or mercenaries. "Many barbarian tribes became skilled warriors able to conquer rich cities and fertile lands and to forge strong military empires." The Sogdians dominated the east–west trade after the 4th century up to the 8th century. They were the main caravan merchants of Central Asia. A.V. Dybo noted that "according to historians, the main driving force of the Great Silk Road were not just Sogdians, but

17500-625: The trajectory of political history in several theatres in Eurasia and beyond. The Silk Road was utilized over a period that saw immense political variation across the continent, exemplified by major events such as the Black Death and the Mongol conquests . The network was highly decentralized, and security was sparse: travelers faced constant threats of banditry and nomadic raiders, and long expanses of inhospitable terrain. Few individuals traveled

17640-414: The world." In exchange, the caravans sent back bolts of silk brocade , lacquer-ware , and porcelain . The southern route or Karakoram route was mainly a single route from China through the Karakoram mountains, where it persists in modern times as the Karakoram Highway , a paved road that connects Pakistan and China . It then set off westwards, but with southward spurs so travelers could complete

17780-402: 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 (according to the Chinese measures one tang li is about 453 meters) in this city alternately. Due to written sources and archaeological investigation it is known from

17920-420: Was a major trade centre along the Silk Road . Talas was later described by Buddhist monk and traveller 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 ("foreign, barbarian, non-Chinese") merchants from various nations. The products and the climate are about

18060-473: Was added to old Aulie-Ata. Its streets were lined with pyramidal poplars, and new houses were built with brick. By that time there were 2,000-3,000 families with houses, shops, mansions, and small adobe houses of the poor. At first it was ruled by a military administration, later in 1867 it became the center of an Uyezd occupying nearly all of the territory of the modern Jambyl Region of Kazakhstan and Talas Region of Kyrgyzstan . The city continued to play

18200-432: Was again invaded by newcomers. This time it was the Qipchaq soldiers of the Khanate of Kokand . They built a few small fortresses for guarding the border and the caravan route mainly on the ancient cities ruins. Due to the comparatively advantageous position of the fortress which was built on the ruins of ancient Taraz a new town began quickly to grow around it. At first it was named Namangan-i Kochek ("little Namangan"), as

18340-417: Was also utilized by the dhows of the Persian and Arab traders in the Arabian Sea and beyond, and the Tamil merchants in South Asia . China also started building their own trade ships ( chuán ) and followed the routes in the later period, from the 10th to the 15th centuries CE. The network followed the footsteps of older Austronesian jade maritime networks in Southeast Asia, as well as

18480-443: Was excavated and found to have not only Greek bronzes but also Chinese silks. Similar animal-shaped pieces of art and wrestler motifs on belts have been found in Scythian grave sites stretching from the Black Sea region all the way to Warring States era archaeological sites in Inner Mongolia (at Aluchaideng) and Shaanxi (at Keshengzhuang  [ de ] ) in China. The expansion of Scythian cultures, stretching from

18620-403: Was far more consequential for the economy of the Roman Empire than the silk trade with China , which at sea was conducted mostly through India and on land was handled by numerous intermediaries such as the Sogdians . Going as far as to call the whole thing a "myth" of modern academia, Ball argues that there was no coherent overland trade system and no free movement of goods from East Asia to

18760-401: Was first coined by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC when Alexander's troops were able to conquer the region. The region may have had a similar Greek name in the days of Alexander the Great, but the earlier Greek name is no longer known. Geographically, it is the region between the rivers Amu Darya to its south and the Syr Darya to its north. The region of Transoxiana was one of

18900-458: Was initially formulated during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141–87 BCE), it was reopened by the Tang Empire in 639 when Hou Junji conquered the Western Regions , and remained open for almost four decades. It was closed after the Tibetans captured it in 678, but in 699, during Empress Wu 's period, the Silk Road reopened when the Tang reconquered the Four Garrisons of Anxi originally installed in 640, once again connecting China directly to

19040-418: Was introduced from Central Asia, and Chinese jade carvers began to make imitation designs of the steppes, adopting the Scythian -style animal art of the steppes (depictions of animals locked in combat). This style is particularly reflected in the rectangular belt plaques made of gold and bronze, with other versions in jade and steatite . An elite burial near Stuttgart , Germany, dated to the 6th century BCE,

19180-431: Was moved further east during the Later Han to Luoyang . The route was defined around the 1st century BCE when Han Wudi put an end to harassment by nomadic tribes. The northern route travelled northwest through the Chinese province of Gansu from Shaanxi Province and split into three further routes, two of them following the mountain ranges to the north and south of the Taklamakan Desert to rejoin at Kashgar , and

19320-500: Was officially changed to Jambyl / Dzhambyl (Kazakh: Жамбыл , Jambyl ), 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. The discovery of chest ornaments, bronze statues of kings and remnants of ceramic products in separate parts of

19460-457: Was ruled successively by Seleucids , the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom , the Parthian Empire and the Kushan Empire before Sassanid rule. In Sasanian times, the region became a major cultural center due to the wealth derived from the Northern Silk Road . Sassanid rule was interrupted by the Hephthalite invasion at the end of the 5th century and didn't return to the Sassanids until 565. Many Persian nobles and landlords escaped to this region after

19600-504: Was the introduction of paper to the West, via the Arab capture of Chinese paper makers. 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

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