Political centers of the Oguz state in the Farab oasis

Abstract

In the early Middle Ages, urban culture flourished in the southern regions of Kazakhstan. The middle flow of the Syr Darya River, where settlement and nomadic culture were found, had become a homeland for many tribes. Many states founded in the Middle Ages planned to annex the lands of the Syrdaria, where agriculture and trade flourished. The states of Samanits, Karluks, Karakhanids asserted their dominance in these areas and focused on the development of urban culture. When the Oghuz tribes conquered the lands in the middle flows of the Syr Darya and founded a great power, they perceived the culture of the city as a great driving force behind the growth and prosperity of the state. In the X century, the Oghuz state, which subjugated the lands in the middle flows of the Syr Darya, in order to strengthen its power and improve the management of the conquered lands turned several cities of the Farab oasis into their political centers. Oghuz rulers did not begin to destroy cities with developed urban culture; on the contrary, they contributed to their development. It is necessary to note that in medieval Arab and Persian written sources there is information about the state of Oghuz. The political centers of state of Oghuz state were the cities in the lower flows of Syr Darya. There is information about the city of Zhankent (Dikh-i-nau, Shahrken), the political center of the Oguz state in the X-XI centuries. However, the lack of information in medieval written sources about the Oghuz cities located in the middle flow of the Syr Darya encouraged the authors to write this article in order to determine the political centers of the Oghuz state. The article analyzes the results of archaeological research and written sources related to the political centers of the Oghuz state. Structural analysis of the urban culture of the Oghuz state, allowed to determine their role and place in the geographical space of Farab.