Bishbalyk

Bishbalyk (also Beshbalyk , Beytin , occasionally Besbalyk ) is a medieval ancient Turkic city. Modern ruins are located in the north of the Jimasar Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the PRC . According to Chinese sources, it was founded in the Hunno - Usun period. For the first time, the name Bishbalyk is found in the monuments of Kul-tegin . Until the VIII century, the city was the headquarters of the Basmyls , then Karluks . In 720, the Bilge Kagan subjugated the city to the Eastern Turks . After 840, the city became part of the Uyghur Idikut possessions and for several centuries was a large and developed city. The remains of the settlement were investigated at the beginning of the 20th century by the Japanese expedition of Otani , the English archaeologist A. Stein and in 1928, 1979-1987 - by Chinese archaeologists. The outer circumference is 4596 m, the inner is 3003 m, and the height is 2–5 m. A defensive ditch is dug around the wall and fortress. During excavations, fragments of clay and porcelain dishes, copper coins, bronze mirrors and other numerous household items, jewelry and objects of labor were found. Inside the fortress are the ruins of palace buildings and a Buddhist temple. 2 km west of Bishbalyk is a Buddhist sanctuary measuring 70.5 × 43.8 m, built by Uyghur idikuts. Various sculptures were found in the central palace and grotto-sanctuary, religious figures and inscriptions in Uyghur and Chinese were engraved on the walls. Bishbalik existed for a long time after the invasion of Genghis Khan during the reign of the Chagataids . Destroyed at the end of the XIV century during the campaigns of Emir Timur to the East. In the XV-XVI centuries, it is often mentioned as one of the regions of Mogulistan . Bishbalik, being on the northern segment of the Great Silk Road , played an important role in the history and culture of the Turkic peoples.