Suyab

Sogdians bring gifts to the Buddha. 8th century fresco

Suyab or Ordukent is an early medieval city ​​of the Chui valley , located on the Great Silk Road . The ruins are near the village of Ak-Beshim, 6 kilometers southwest of Tokmak ( Kyrgyzstan ).

Arose in the V — VI centuries. as one of the easternmost settlements of Sogdian merchants on the Silk Road. Suyab is the Iranian name for the Chu River. In 629, Xuanzang visited and described him. He noted the fertility of the soil, especially favorable for the cultivation of millet and grapes. At that time, Sogdian merchants paid tribute to the Kagan of the Turks.

With the separation of the West Turkic Khanate, Suyab becomes its capital. For the summer, the kagan retired to his headquarters in Navaket in the Talas Valley. The Türks ensured the security of the state, and the Sogdians ensured its economic well-being.

In the years 648-719. Suyab served as one of the westernmost fortresses of the Tang Empire . Thanks to the Chinese, Buddhism is becoming the main religion, coexisting with Nestorianism and Zoroastrianism . It is possible that the great poet Lee Bo was born here.

Traces of the most ancient Christian monument on the territory of Kyrgyzstan were discovered in Suyab - this is a small Nestorian church of the 7th-8th centuries ^[1] .

After 719, Suyab was transferred by the Chinese to the possession of the Turgeshs allied to them. During the Sino-Tibetan wars of the mid-century, the Tang garrison was again established here. After 766, he moved to the Karluks , who joined the Uigur Kaganate .

Chinese traveler Du Huan , passing through Suyab in Ser. VIII century, found it in ruins, although a Buddhist monastery continued to operate. After the Chinese departed east in 787, written news about the city was scarce. In the treatise “ Khudud al-Alam ” it is named as a city with a population of 20,000.

Suyab was finally abandoned in connection with the construction of Balasagun in the XI century. At the end of the 19th century, Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold mistakenly took his ruins from Ak Beshim for the ruins of Balasagun. The archaeological area of ​​ancient Suyab occupies 30 hectares. Excavations indicate the presence in Suyab of numerous religious buildings, both Christian and Buddhist.