Hakloot

South Kazakhstan

From May 13 through May 16 I traveled through South Kazakhstan with my wife and youngest son. We spent 3 days discovering the little known treasures of South Kazakhstan between Almaty and Turkestan. It was a trip I had been planning to do for the past two years. As the ideal timing is Spring, I jumped on the occasion of going off that weekend as the outlook for the weather was positive. We were lucky indeed to have clear sunny, albeit very windy weather. The entire trip turned out to be a drive of over 2’000km. But it beat my expectations and I would encourage anyone who visits Kazakhstan not to leave without having discovered the various sites of South Kazakhstan.

Akyrtas

Our first stop was a site called Akyrtas about 35 km east of Taraz between the main road to Almaty and the mountains. I first learned about early after arriving in Kazakhstan from reading an article in the always excellent Air Astana Tengri in-flight magazine. The site consists of a large floor plan made up of foundations for a building that was never completed beyond its foundations. It’s a large rectangular bas of about 170m by 140m with a large courtyard in the middle. It’s surrounded by mystery because there are only hypotheses about the purpose of the building. Was it supposed to by a palace, or a Nestorian church and monastery or a caravanserai on the silk road. It’s clear that the building project was abandoned suddenly and early in the construction. Archeologist have not been able to find any evidence of human inhabitation in or around the site.

Excavations at one of the round corners show that the foundations of large cut red sandstone bricks are several meter deep suggesting the intent was to support a large and high building. From what I’ve seen in the region my personal guess is that the hard stone foundation was intended to support a mud brick structure as is common in the region. The solid base may have been intended to protect from the water that could have been in an intended moot around the structure to protect it? That’s the fun part of this site. So little is known about it that everyone can come up with his own theory to try to solve the mystery.

Aisha Bibi

The Aisha Bibi Mausoleum is located about 15 km south east of Taraz on the road to Chimkent. While heavily restored the building has stunning terracotta design wall decoration. It dates from the 11th or 12 century Karakhanid period. The legend goes that the mausoleum was built for Aisha who went to Shahmakhmud, her lover and governor of Taraz to marry him against the will of her step-father. On the way she got bitten by a snake and died. Shahmakhmud built the mausoleum at her place of death.

The smaller building next to the one of Aisha-Bib dates from the same period and reputedly was built for her friend or nanny, Babazhi Khatun, who tended Aisha’s grave till she died herself.

Sayram

Sayram is only a few kilometers to the east of Chimkent. It’s the birthplace of Khodja Ahmed Yassawi, the sufic mystic, who has his mausoleum in Turkestan. Pilgrims typically visit the mausoleum of his mother and father in Sayram on their way to Turkestan. This usually is followed by a stop in Otrar at the Arystan Bab Mausoleum, who is Ahmed Yassawi’s teacher. The mausoleum of Karashash Ana, Khodja Ahmed Yassawi’s mother, probably dates to the 13th or 14th century but has been heavily restored in a more recent past.

The Ibragim Ata Mausoleum is located at the northern edge of the town on a hill overlooking the valley. It’s built for Ahmed Yassaw’s father and dates from the 16th or 17th century. When I visited heavy restoration was under way.

In the center of the town, in a small garden hidden behind the school, is the small 15 meter high 10th century Hisr Paygambar minaret which remains standing in solitude as a remnant of the 10th century Kyzyr mosque.

A few kilometers to the east outside Sayram are the ruins of the 12th century town of Mertobe. Not much remains. The significance of the place lies in the fact that here, Tauke Khan managed to achieve unity among the three Kazakh zhuses, Tole Bi, Kazybek Bi and Aiteke Bi.

Otrar

Otrar started as a settlement over 2’000 years ago. Its height came in the 10th to 12th centuries when it was a key trading centre on the Syr Darya river, even minting its own coins. Destruction came at the hand of Genghis Khan who in his campaign to conquer Central Asia with 150’000 warriors laid siege to Otrar. He left 35’000 soldiers under the command of his sons Chagatai and Ogedei. The Mongols were seeking revenge for the killing of a Mongol trade mission by the governor of Otrar 2 years earlier. Otrar eventually fell in March 1220 and the Governor was captured but not until the entire city had been razed to the ground. The city did eventually recover and resurrect and became an important outpost in Tamerlane’s empire. He died here on his way to conquer China in 1405. Today the site is probably worse off as a result of neglect. There is no infrastructure, no guides, no protection. One can just wander around. Plenty of pottery pieces lie around left behind by archeologists. A lot of archeological digging has happened and helps the visitor to understand how the structure of the buildings and the lay out of the town must have been. Yet as a result rain and wind now have a free play to cause further destruction to the sensitive old mud brick structures which are literally “melting” away.

The excavations at the outer wall reveal that the foundations go deep and were built from sold brick. It’s not clear though whether this was to protect the structure from water if there was a moot around the walls or just to provide for a stronger base to build the mud brick outer defense wall of the city on.

Outside of the walls a former bath house has been excavated with an attempt protect it with a roof. Some restoration or rather reconstruction seems to have taken place to give a better perspective of the structure of the building and its foundations.

On the top of the citadel the foundations of the mosque have been excavated. The foundations have again been reconstructed to give the visitor a better idea of the size and structure of the building. It was located at the southern edge of the ark.

The excavations clearly show the interior lay out of the dwellings with what can appear as rooms, inner court yards or kitchens and rooms with large vases dug into the floor, possibly with the intent of storing and keeping cool of water or wine.

Arystan Bab

The Arystan Bab mausoleum was erected for the teacher of Khodja Ahmed Yassawi. Tradition requires that pilgrims stop here before heading to Turkestan and after visiting the mausoleums of Ahmed Yassawi’s parents in Sayram. He reputedly carried the Prophet Mohamed’s rosary and wandered for hundreds of years until one day he met the young Khodja Ahmed Yassawi who asked him for the prayer chain. After this he became the young boy’s teacher.

Visitors tend to came in large groups as part of the pilgrimage to the mausoleum o f Khodja Ahmed Yassawi in Turkestan. They will kneel several times on their way to the mausoleum to listen to the prayer of an Imam.

Sauran

Sauran is located about 50km outside Turkestan on the road to Kyzylorda. It was reputedly the largest city in the area. Indeed today from the remnant protective wall one can see that it was much larger even than Otrar. It became the capital of the White Horde and Tamerlane had it turned into a military stronghold. The walls hold an area over over 40 hectare, about three times the size of Otrar. But just like Otrar there is no organized structure in place to guide tourists, protect the site and organize the excavations. A sad reminder that Kazakhstan citizens and their government really have little or no interest in understanding their history and protecting it for future generations.

Excavations reveal an elaborate structure in support of the gate into Sauran. The base is build of fired brick as a protection for the moot defensive moot filled with water. there also seems to have been fired brick support for the bridge over the moot. A paved road was leading through the gate into the city. Unfortunately the work on the excavations has meant that the mud brick arch over the gate has been removed, even though it can be seen on some recent photographs. So it seems that to reveal certain aspects of the structure excavations also result in the destruction of other aspects of the same structure.

The excavations reveal lay outs of dwellings very similar to Otrar with rooms having jars in the floor to keep liquids cool, or what appears like ovens and little inner courtyards. It’s clear that a lot still needs to be revealed but probably never will due to the sheer size of the site and the amount of earth that would need to be removed.

Sadly, here, as in Otrar, it seems archeologists finished their season of excavations some time back and left without taking some of the treasures with them. Here and there next to a dig one can see shards of pottery piled up as if someone just finished the work a minute ago and never took their finds away.

Remarkable is that outside the citadel there are remnants of houses which must have been part of the larger city of Sauran. Several of these dot the landscape around Sauran.

Turkestan

The mausoleum for Khodja Ahmed Yassawi is an architectural beauty. It is rightfully recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It truly fits in the league of Samarkand and Bukhara along with the other Timurid architectural heritage. Construction was started by Tamerlane in 1399 but abruptly broken off in 1405 with Tamerlane’s death. Therefore the front of the building nor the interior were ever finished with the grandeur that could be predicted from what was already completed.

The dome is 37 meter in diameter and the largest in Central Asia. Not surprising since this was the last project that Tamerlane had started and he was known to looking to exceed the grandeur of his previous construction projects with each new building.

The north side of the building is the most beautiful with the ribbed dome above the mausoleum. The rest of the building was designed to not only house the mausoleum for Khodja Ahmed Yassawi, but also a hanaka or guest house with a kitchen to feed the guest, a mosque, a library and many other rooms.

Today the mausoleum is a destination for worship and pilgrimage. Families make the trip from afar to come and pray near the grave of Khodja Ahmed Yassawi, completing their pilgrimage with a counter clockwise tour of the mausoleum praying and touching the walls hoping it will help make their wishes come true.

It’s also a favorite destination for newly weds who also come to pray and receive blessings for good luck and happiness in the marriage.