TURKISTAN – As geopolitical insanity zooms off the charts at the end of 2023, let us seek solace in a brief Silk Road magic carpet ride.
This comes to you from a northern strand of the Ancient Silk Roads in Kazakhstan, from the Ili valley in Western China through the Dzungarian Gate all the way to the gorgeous Zailiysky Alatau mountains, spurs of the great Tian Shan range so close to Almaty.
This Silk Road strand then followed the Chu valley and branched out southwest to Samarkand (in today’s Uzbekistan), via Shymkent and Otrar (both in Kazakhstan).
The first settlers of all these vast latitudes were essentially nomadic Scythians. Their kurgans (circular burial mounds) are still dotting the countryside of southeast Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan.
The Scythians were followed by assorted, migrating Turkic tribes. By the end of the early 10th century, cities such as Otrar (the ancient Farab) and Turkistan (the ancient Yasy, a key trade center in the Great Silk Road) were blossoming.
This comes to you from a northern strand of the Ancient Silk Roads in Kazakhstan, from the Ili valley in Western China through the Dzungarian Gate all the way to the gorgeous Zailiysky Alatau mountains, spurs of the great Tian Shan range so close to Almaty.
This Silk Road strand then followed the Chu valley and branched out southwest to Samarkand (in today’s Uzbekistan), via Shymkent and Otrar (both in Kazakhstan).
The first settlers of all these vast latitudes were essentially nomadic Scythians. Their kurgans (circular burial mounds) are still dotting the countryside of southeast Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan.
The Scythians were followed by assorted, migrating Turkic tribes. By the end of the early 10th century, cities such as Otrar (the ancient Farab) and Turkistan (the ancient Yasy, a key trade center in the Great Silk Road) were blossoming.
