In the time of the Achaemenids, Khorezm was in the hands of the Massagetae, a nomad tribe of Scythian origin, against whom Cyrus sent a military expedition around 530 BC, subdued them, and made Khorezm the sixteenth satrapy of the Persian Empire. It is very likely that after the fall of the Achaemenids, the local ruler or rulers gained some independence, and we know that Alexander, when he arrived at Marakanda (Samarkand), after his victory over the Soghdians, was visited there by ‘a king of Khorezmians’ named Farsman who, according to Ammianus, offered him his help against ‘peoples living at the Black Sea’. This information is, of course, very vague, but at least it shows that Alexander’s power never reached as far as Khorezm. After that, for several centuries, we have no direct information at all.
However, there are legends. In one legend, al-Biruni, the famous medieval historian (972–1048) from Khorezm, tells the story of a mythical hero, Siyavush, founder of a Khorezmian dynasty that ruled the country up to the tenth century AD. This Siyavush also appears in the Avesta, a Zoroastrian religious text, where his name is Siyvarshana. He went from Iran to Turan and there married a local princess, acquired some land, and built a fortified town, Kang-i Siyavaksh; finally, he was treacherously murdered. The figure of Siyavush on horseback can be seen on Khorezmian coins from the first century BC to the eighth century AD. From this and other myths, ethnographers conclude that in Khorezm three kinds of population were migled: Indo-Iranian tribes who occupied the area between the Iranian plateau and the upper Amu Darya; some tribes from the Thracian-Kimmerian family whose territory was west of the Aral Sea and north of the Caspian as far west as the Danube; and finally the Saka or Scythians, who originally lived in the steppes north and north-east of the Syr Darya and gradually penetrated into the territory of the Thracians and Kimmerians. Al-Biruni puts the arrival of Siyavush at Khorezm in the year 1200 BC, but the first semi-historical name of this dynasty, Afrigh, appears only around AD 305. From then on, al-Biruni gives twenty-two names covering the period between AD 305 and 995.
Archaeological sites dated around 500 BC show fortified settlements of a rectangular shape, with a huge inner yard that apparently was completely empty and served most probably as a corral for cattle. The walls were very thick and within them were two or three parallel gangways used for habitation. There is a text in the Avesta that confirms this. The inhabited gangways or corridors were in fact an enormous long house where several thousand people lived. Apart from the Avesta, we find some information about Khorezm and its inhabitants in Herodotus, Strabo and Ctesias of Cnidos. It seems that both Herodotus and Strabo based their narrative on Hekataios of Miletus (around 500 BC).
Next to the sites of the ‘settlements with inhabited walls’ period are numerous sites of the so-called Kangha, or Kang-yue, period. Kang-yue, according to Chinese sources, was a vast empire, but no such name is found in other records. Some scholars are inclined to believe that it means Khorezm between the Achaemenid and Kushan periods. The expansion of towns and also of agriculture and irrigation was remarkable. As can be seen, for example on the site of Dzhanbas-Kala, the type of settlement changed considerably. Instead of inhabited walls we now find several long collective houses, each with 150 to 200 rooms. These houses themselves are not fortified, but the whole settlement is surrounded by walls. At Dzhanbas-Kala, there are only two such houses with a street between them, while at Toprak-Kala, at the height of the period, there were no fewer than ten or twelve, grouped on both sides of a main street and separated by narrow lanes. The street ran from the city gate to the temple of fire worshippers on the opposite side, next to which was a marketplace and a royal castle.
Toprak-Kala, situated 20 miles north of the Amu Darya opposite Urgench, is perhaps the most significant archaeological site in this area, or at least the best explored. It lies in a lifeless desert and can be approached only by air in small aircraft that can land on the hard surface of a takyr (dry salt lake). Dating from the third or fourth century AD, Toprak-Kala belongs to the Kushan period and seems to have been relatively short lived.1 The city walls, built of clay, form a rectangle 1,650ft by 990ft. Towers and vaulted corridors were built of sun-baked bricks of trapezoidal shape. The three-towered castle, occupying about 2.7 acres and originally on three floors, contained a range of palatial halls, among which the so-called Hall of Kings (about 3,000 square feet) had walls covered with paintings and many big statues of unburnt clay representing the Khorezmian rulers, their wives and guardian deities.2 Statues of kings and of dark-skinned, armour-plated warriors of an exotic, possibly southern Indian type were a distinctive feature of the so-called Hall of the Black Guards. This suggests that there were Indians among the Khorezmian troops at that time. The concurrence of exquisite friezes of deer and griffins, which decorated another hall, was typical of the more ancient Scythian art.3 Among the numerous documents written mostly on leather and wood in ancient Khorezmian script, which is related to Aramaic, some were apparently dated according to an Indian calendar.4 There was also a great quantity of coins, from the Kushan and other periods, dating from the third to the fifth century AD, with portraits of ancient Khorezmian rulers. Another feature of interest was the ‘armoury’ a workshop for the manufacture of bows. (See 4 and 5.)
Somewhat older, but of a different design, was Koy-Krylgan-Kala, a few miles to the south-east of Toprak-Kala. It forms two almost perfect concentric circles, of which the inner one is much better preserved than the outer. The outer circle, with a diameter of 276ft, appears to have consisted of dwellings. The inner circle, 138ft deep, was probably a burial ground for the rulers and a temple of a dynastic cult. The site was inhabited from the fourth century BC, but came to a sudden end in the first century AD, when Khorezm was incorporated into the Kushan Empire.5 Here, too, some small but colourful wall paintings were found, as well as terracotta statuettes and fine ornamental pottery. The archaeological evidence from Toprak-Kala and other Khorezm towns points to a knowledge of metalwork, of specialised handicrafts, and to a high standard of artistic production. (See Fig. 6.)
The dense population provided sufficient labour for the installation and maintenance of irrigation systems necessary for prosperous agriculture. The maintenance and extension of the complex irrigation network required an enormous amount of manpower and money. Only populous and rich communities could afford it. Prosperity and irrigation were inseparable, and whenever wars, nomad invasions, or natural catastrophes decimated the population the canals were immediately shortened and the more distant settlements were abandoned, left to be swallowed by the deserts. As one flies over the right bank of the river, the pattern of the ancient canals can clearly be seen. Every now and then there is a sandy hillock reminiscent of the tells in Syria and Iraq, which in Central Asia are called tepe or kala (castle), and within which is a dead village or town. This once fertile and populous country stretches in a vast semicircle some 600 miles to the north-west, as far as the lower Syr Darya. On the left bank of the Amu Darya the situation is a little better. Some of the huge ancient canals still exist and are still in use. They are much shorter now than a thousand years ago and whole stretches of abandoned settlements and sand-covered fields can be found on and beyond the fringes of cultivated areas. The water of the Amu Darya is thick with sand, and continuous dredging has added considerably to the dykes, so that now the canals lie several feet above ground level.
After the fall of the Kushan Empire, which collapsed under the pressure of the Hephthalites, Khorezm was on the periphery of the protracted struggle between the Hephthalites and the Sasanians. For centuries there was neither peace nor prosperity. Trade routes were cut and the oases once again almost disappeared. Most cities were abandoned and the remaining people lived in heavily fortified farmhouses on a much reduced irrigation system, their protection being provided by the scattered castles that belonged to the feudal lords who were emerging at this time.
Fig. 6 Koy-Krylgan-Kala
This happened under King Afrigh, who was one of that dynasty. And he deserved
his bad reputation, as Yezdegerd had deserved it among the Persians… And Afrigh built his castle inside al-Fir 660 years after Alexander. Al-Fir was a fortress near the town of Khorezm, with three walls of clay and unbaked bricks, one inside the other and one higher than the other, and the King’s Castle was higher than all three. And al-Fir could be seen from a distance of ten miles and more.
This is how al-Biruni describes the capital of Khorezm at the beginning of the last pre-Muslim period of its history.
In the dead oasis Berkut-Kala (seventh to eighth centuties AD) there are, in a belt 14 miles long and 1–2 miles wide, almost 100 strongly fortified castles of various sizes. They were all built on the same principle: high walls of clay (sun-baked bricks became rare and are also smaller in size), and a donjon (turret), with living quarters. Everybody seemed to live in a fortress. Open villages disappeared, clear evidence of a general decline in security. Water was scarce, and therefore those who controlled its supply became the rulers. This is why we invariably find the big castles of the lords situated where smaller canals branch off the main one. Excavations show that at the same time, craftsmanship was also deteriorating. In the fifth-century, crude, homemade pottery replaced the elegant forms of the preceding period. Even the potter’s wheel seemed to be forgotten: the firing was poor, the range of forms greatly reduced, the decoration became poorer and cruder, and glazing, polishing, and varnishing disappeared altogether. Decline in trade was reflected in the non-existence of imported goods. A little later, at the beginning of the eighth century, the Arab historian Tabari records only three towns in the whole of Khorezm. And Makdisi, writing in the tenth century, mentions 12,000 castles and forts in the vicinity of one single town. There was no unifying force, either political or cultural. The particularism of areas and regions was reflected in the crafts, in a diversity of motifs and shapes that did not exist before. Such a situation naturally invited foreign intervention, which came to Khorezm in 712 in the form of the Arab invasion.
There were two Arab expeditions against Khorezm at the end of the seventh century, but only a systematic conquest, undertaken by the Governor of Khorassan, Kutayba ben Muslim, marked the end of the independent rule of the kings, or Khorezmshahs. According to Tabari, shortly before the invasion there was a revolt in Khorezm against the legitimate Khorezmshah. The shah, hard pressed by the rebels, appealed to Kutayba for help. This was readily given, the rebels were defeated, and the shah was reinstated with an obligation to pay tribute to his rescuers. As soon as the Arabs had left, another revolt flared up, in which the shah was killed. The Arabs returned and this time they stayed. Kutayba even went so far in his persecution of the rebels as to order all Khorezmian literature to be destroyed and all educated men banished from the country. Al-Biruni writes:
And by all means Kutayba dispersed and destroyed all who knew the writings of Khorezm, who preserved the traditions of the country, all learned men who were among them, so that everything became covered in darkness and now we do not know for certain anymore, what of their history was known in times when Islam came to them.
Throughout the eighth century, Arab sources are silent about Khorezm. But from other sources we know for instance that in 751, when the Arabs were engaged in a decisive struggle with the Chinese army, the Khorezmshah Shavushafar sent his envoys to China.
The scholars and intellectuals, chased by the Arabs from Khorezm, mostly turned west – to southern Russia, which by then was the territory of the Khazars. There were many Jews among this intellectual elite, and they quickly made their impact on the primitive Khazar society. Jews occupied leading positions in the army and in the council of the khan, who was gradually reduced to a mere puppet king. Judaism, as far as we know, became the official religion.6 Even after a domestic rebellion in Khazaria forced the Jews to emigrate further west in the second half of the eighth century, the flow of refugees from Khorezm continued. The Arabs gradually established their rule over the country, and in the last decade of that century Khorezmian coins already bore the names of the Arab governors of Khorassan in Kufic characters. Economic depression is shown both by a considerable deterioration in the weight of these coins (reduced to almost one-third of their former weight) and by further shrinking of the irrigation network.
The continuously cultivated land began with a narrow strip just below Chardzhou (then Amul). It was here that the first of the major left-bank canals originated. It supplied water to the town of Hazarasp, situated, according to contemporary sources, nine days’ journey downstream (north-west). The town and the canal still exist. Lower down was the aryk (canal) of Khiva, which, according to Makdisi, was the largest and could be used by boats as far as the town. Below the heads of these canals the river passed through a mountainous gorge where it narrowed to one-third of its original width.7 The right-bank irrigation began only below this gorge, with the large Gawkhore or Cow-fodder canal, but continuous cultivation began still lower down. Between this canal and the main riverbed was the capital city of Khorezm, Kath or al-Fir. Kath was situated on the right bank of the river and, at the time of the Arab invasion, consisted of three parts, of which the most strongly fortified was the citadel, called al-Fir. This citadel was gradually undermined by the waters of the Amu Darya. At the beginning of the tenth century, the citadel and the whole of the old town had already been abandoned, the gates had been carried away by the water, and the citadel was threatened with complete destruction.
The inhabitants built themselves new quarters further east, and the last traces of Fir had disappeared by the end of the century. According to Makdisi, the palace of the emir was in the centre of the town. By then the citadel had already been destroyed by the river. There were aryks flowing through the very centre of the town.
The town is magnificent. It contains many learned men and men of letters, many wealthy persons and many fine commodities and merchandise. The architects are distinguished for their skill. On the other hand the town is constantly flooded by the river, and the inhabitants are moving away from the bank. The town is dirtier than Ardabil and contains many refuse drains which everywhere overflow the high road. The inhabitants use the streets as latrines and collect the filth in pits, whence it is subsequently carried out to the fields in sacks. Because of this enormous quantity of filth strangers can walk about the town only by daylight. The inhabitants kick the filth in heaps with their feet.8
We know from al-Biruni’s eyewitness account that in 995 the last Khorezmshah of the Afrighid dynasty was captured and killed by the Emir of Gurganj, or Urgench (not to be confused with the modern Yanghi-Urgench). The country had obviously been split for some time between the two rival states: the Afrighid in the east, with Kath as capital, and that of the usurpers of Gurganj nearer to the delta and south of the Aral Sea. Now, after the assassination, the country was reunited again in the hands of the emir, who resumed the traditional title of Khorezmshah. The importance of Kath declined and the place is last mentioned by Ibn Battuta in the early fourteenth century.
We entered the desert which is between Khorezm and Bukhara, an eighteen days’ journey through sands, with no settlements on the way except the small town of Kath which we reached after four days.9
On the other hand, Gurganj became a thriving capital and remained for four centuries to become one of the most important cities not only in Central Asia but also in the whole world of Islam. Gurganj, called Jurjaniya by the Arabs, and Urgench by the Mongols and Turks, was situated about a mile from the river, at some distance from a wooden dam, which was built in the river to deflect its course to the east; the water had formerly come up to the town itself. This was obviously a device to spare Gurganj the fate of Kath. Also, all aryks came only to the city gates, but no water flowed through the city. The first period of splendour for Gurganj was during the reign of Ma’mun II, in the early eleventh century, when scholars like al-Biruni, Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and many others formed the ‘Court Academy’ of the shah and added to the renown of the city, which was ‘second to none in the
world of Islam’. Baghdad was already past its zenith and Cairo and Cordoba had not yet reached theirs. For a short time, therefore, Gurganj was the undisputed centre of Islamic wisdom and civilisation.
The works of al-Biruni show the astonishing knowledge of their author. Al-Biruni was poet, historian, geographer, astronomer, mineralogist, and ethnographer. He was also a courageous and independent thinker, and his theories, for example on the historical and geological origins of the North Indian plain, or on the changes of the riverbed of the Amu Darya, come very close to modern opinions. Some of his papers still exist only in manuscript, and his most important work, The History of Khorezm, was lost. However, al-Biruni was not destined to live long in his own country. In 1017 Ma’mun II was faced with an ultimatum from the powerful Ghaznavid ruler to send his brilliant scholars to Ghazna. The shah was unable to resist, but the scholars showed little enthusiasm for the new despot. Some, like Avicenna, left Khorezm and escaped to Persia. What Biruni did is not quite clear. At any rate, when Shah Ma’mun died in the same year and Khorezm was subsequently subdued by Mahmud, Biruni came to Ghazna as a captive to spend the remaining thirty years of his life at his court.
The rule of the Ghaznavids over Khorezm was short lived. It was still in Biruni’s lifetime that the Turkish Seljuks infiltrated into Khorassan from the steppes and in a decisive battle in 1040 defeated the Ghaznavids. Thereafter, Khorezm once again became a faraway province of a vast and loose-knit empire. From the eleventh and twelfth centuries there is no detailed information on either Kath or Gurganj. In the thirteenth century Gurganj acquired fresh importance as the capital of the powerful dynasty of the Khorezmshahs. When this dynasty became the most powerful in the Muslim world, its capital city must have been enriched by the treasures of the conquered lands. Yakut, who lived there between 1219 and 1220, considers it perhaps the most extensive and richest of all the towns he had seen.
Treasures of the Great Silk Road Page 11