Taraz
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (Retd.) |
Taraz is a city and a center of the Jambyl Province in Kazakhstan. It is located in the south of Kazakhstan, near the border with Kyrgyzstan, on the Talas River (Taraz River).
Variants of name
Taraz was formerly known as Jambyl or Zhambyl (until 1997), Dzhambul (until 1993), Mirzoyan (until 1938), Aulie-Ata (until 1936) and Talas (until 1856).
History
One of the oldest cities in Kazakhstan and in Transoxania, Taraz celebrated its official 2000 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.[1] The city was first recorded under the name "Talas" in 568 CE by Menander Protector, the medieval city of Talas was a major trade centre along the Silk Road. Talas was later described by 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, non-Oriental") merchants from various nations. The products and the climate are about the same as Suyab.[2]
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 was the introduction of paper to the west, via the Arab capture of Chinese paper makers.
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 (Ch. Xiongnu, Hsiung-nu, etc.). The fortress is believed to have been at the site of modern Taraz.
Notable persons
External links
References
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