Suyab
Suyab (Chinese: 碎葉/碎叶; pinyin: Suìyè; Wade–Giles: Suiyeh, also known as Ordukent, modern-day Ak-Beshim) was an ancient Silk Road city located some 60 km north east from Bishkek, and 8 km south west from Tokmok, in the Chui River valley, present-day Kyrgyzstan.
History
The settlement sprang up along the Silk Road in the 5th or 6th centuries and owes it origin and name to the Soghdian merchants. It is believed that they called the Chui River "Suyab",[1] a distinctively Iranian derivation.[2] It was first recorded by Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang who travelled in the area in 629. He noted that the neighboring city Talas (呾邏私) has seven to eight li in diameter and that it is settled by several Hu merchants from other nations.[3]
During the reign of Tong Yabgu Qaghan, Suyab was the principal capital of the Western Turkic Khaganate,[4] but the qaghan would resided during the summer at the springs north of Taskent (near Talas), the latter being noted as the westernmost residence for the western qaghan.[5] There was a sort of symbiosis, with the Sogdians responsible for economical prosperity and the Gokturks in charge of the city's military security.
Following the downfall of the khaganate, Suyab was absorbed into the Tang Empire, of which it was a western military outpost between 648 and 719. A Chinese fortress was built there in 679, and Buddhism flourished. The Chinese traveller Du Huan, who visited Suyab ca. 750, found among the ruins the still-functioning Buddhist minastery, a Chinese princess used to dwell.
The Chinese city was one of the Four Garrisons of Anxi Protectorate, until it was handed over to Sulu Khagan of the Turgesh in 719, when the Chinese court decided to replace Sulu to the position of puppet qaghan Ashina Xian.[1][6] Following Sulu's murder in 738, the town was retaken by Chinese forces along with Talas on the next year.[7] The fort was strategically important during the wars between the China and Tibet. In 766, the city fell to a Qarluq ruler, allied with the nascent Uyghur Khaganate.
Of the subsequent history of Suyab there is little record, especially after the Chinese evacuated the Four Garrisons in 787. David Nicolle states that Suyab provided 80,000 warriors for the Qarluq army and that it was governed by a man known as "King of Heroes".[8] Hudud al-Alam, completed in 983, lists Suyab as a city of 20,000 inhabitants. It is believed to have been supplanted by Balasagun in the early 11th century and was aabandoned soon thereafter.
Archaeological site
The archaeological site of Suyab covers some 30 hectares. As a testimony to Suyab's diverse and vibrant culture, the site encompasses remains of Chinese fortifications, Christian churches, Zoroastrian ossuaries, and Turkic bal-bals. In the 19th century the ruins were erroneously identified with Balasagun, the capital of the Kara-Khitans. Wilhelm Barthold, who visited the site in 1893-94, also lent his support to this identification.[9] Although excavations started in 1938, it was not until the 1950s that it was determined that the site had been abandoned as early as the 11th century and therefore would not be identical with Balagasun, which had flourished until the 1300s.[10]
Valentina Goryacheva has noted that the archaeological site is rich in finds of Buddha statues and stelae.[11] Apart from several Buddhist temples, there were a Nestorian church and cemetery from the 7th century, and probably also a monastery with frescoes and inscriptions in Soghdian and Uyghur scripts.[12]
References
- ^ a b Zongzheng, Xue (1998). Anxi and Beiting Protectorates: A Research on Frontier Policy in Tang Dynasty's Western Boundary. Harbin: Heilongjiang Education Press. ISBN 7-5316-2857-0. Pages 136-140, 212-215.
- ^ Transboundary Chu-Talas
- ^ Лубо-Лесниченко Е.И. Сведения китайских письменных источников о Суябе (Городище Ак-Бешим) // Суяб Ак-Бешим. СПб, 2002. Pages 115-127.
- ^ Great Soviet Encyclopaedia, 3rd ed. Article "Turkic Khaganate".
- ^ Zongzheng, Xue (1992). A History of Turks. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press. ISBN 7-5004-0432-8. Pages 284-285
- ^ Zongzheng, Xue (1992). A History of Turks. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press. ISBN 7-5004-0432-8. Pages 596-597, 669
- ^ Zongzheng, Xue (1992). A History of Turks. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press. ISBN 7-5004-0432-8. Pages 686
- ^ Nicolle, David (1990). Attila and the Nomad Hordes. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0850459966. Page 32.
- ^ Бартольд В.В. Отчет о поездке в Среднюю Азию с археологической целью // Сочинения, т. IV.
- ^ Г.Л. Семенов. Ак-Бешим и города Семиречья. // Проблемы политогенза кыргызской государственности. – Бишкек: АРХИ, 2003. – с. 218-222.
- ^ Горячева В.Д., Перегудова С.Я. Буддийские памятники Киргизии, с. 187-188.
- ^ Кызласов Л.Р. Археологические исследования на городище Ак-Бешим в 1953-1954 гг. // Тр КАЭЭ. – т. II. - М., 1959. – с. 231-233; Семенов Г.А. Монастырское вино Семиречья // Эрмитажные чтения памяти Б.Б.Пиотровского: Тез. докладов. – СПб., 1999. – с. 70-74.