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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 southwest from Tokmok, in the Chui River valley, present-day Kyrgyzstan.

History

The settlement of Sogdian merchants sprang up along the Silk Road in the 5th or 6th centuries. The name of the city derives from that of the Suyab River, whose origin is Iranian (suy + Persian ab for "water, rivers"). It was first recorded by Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang who travelled in the area in 629. He noted that the city had seven to eight li in diameter and was settled by Hu ("barbarian") merchants from various nations.

During the reign of Tong Yabgu Qaghan and his father, Suyab was the principal capital of the Western Turkic Khaganate. The khagan also had a summer capital near the springs north of Taskent in the Talas Valley; it was being noted as the westernmost capital of all Western Turkic Khaganate's capitals. 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. According to some accounts, the great poet Li Bai was born in Suyab. The Chinese traveller Du Huan, who visited Suyab after 751, found among the ruins a still-functioning Buddhist monastery, where Princess Jiaohe, daughter of Ashina Huaidao, used to dwell.

Suyab was one of the Four Garrisons of Anxi Protectorate until 719, when it was handed over to Sulu Khagan of the Turgesh, when the Chinese court appointed him as the "Loyal and Obedient Qaghan" After Sulu's murder in 738, the town was promptly retaken by Chinese forces, along with Talas. 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". 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 abandoned 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. 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 13th century.

The site of Suyab is particularly rich in finds of Buddha statues and stelae. Apart from several Buddhist temples, there were a Nestorian church and cemetery from the 7th century, and probably also a 10th-century monastery with frescoes and inscriptions in Sogdian and Uyghur scripts.

Notes

1. ^ Xue 1998, p. 136-140, 212-215.
2. Transboundary Chu-Talas
3. Ji 1985, p. 25.
4. Great Soviet Encyclopaedia, 3rd ed. Article "Turkic Khaganate".
5. Xue 1992, p. 284-285
6. Zhongguo fu li hui, Chung-kuo fu li hui. China Reconstructs. China Welfare Institute, 1989. Page 58.
7. Forte A. An Ancient Chiness Monastery Excavated in Kirgizia // Central Asian Journal, 1994. Volume 38. № 1. Pages 41-57.
8. Cui 2005, p. 244-246
9. Xue 1992, p. 596-597, 669
10. Xue 1992, p. 686
11. Nicolle 1990, p. 32.

References

• Cui Mingde (2005). The History of Chinese Heqin. Beijing: People's Press. ISBN 7-01-004828-2.
• Nicolle, David (1990). Attila and the Nomad Hordes. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0850459966.
• Xianlin, Ji (1985). Journey to the West in the Great Tang Dynasty. Xi'an: Shaanxi People's Press.
• 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.
• Zongzheng, Xue (1992). A History of Turks. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press. ISBN 7-5004-0432-8.

• Archaeological sites in Kyrgyzstan
• History of Central Asia
• Cities along the Silk Road
• 6th century establishments