Массон, Михаил Евгеньевич. Столичные Города в Области Низовьев Кашкадарьи с Древнейших Времен: из Работ Кешской Археолого-Топографической Экспедиции Ташгу 1965-1966 гг. Ташкент: Фан Узбекской ССР, 1973, 97c.
Masson, Mikhail Evgenlevich. Stolichnye Goroda v Oblasti Nizovʹev Kashkadarʹi s Drevneishikh Vremen: Iz Rabot Keshskoi Arkheologo-Topograficheskoi Ekspeditsii Tashgu 1965-1966 gg. Tashkent: Fan Uzbekskoi SSR, 1973, 97pp.
ABSTRACT
The History of Capital Cities in the Areas of the Lower Part of the Kashka-Darya River Basin from the Ancient Times: Analysis of the Kesh Archaeological-Topographic Expedition of the Tashkent State University (1965-1966)
Столичные Города в Области Низовьев Кашкадарьи с Древнейших Времен: из Работ Кешской Археолого-Топографической Экспедиции Ташгу 1965-1966 гг.
The book informs readers about the past history of capital cities in the lower part of the Kashka-Darya River basin, in light of the findings of Kesh archaeological-topographic expedition conducted by Tashkent State University.
In the Foreword, the author presents general facts about the Kesh expedition and its team of participants.
He begins by analysing ancient Roman and Greek sources on the ancient city of Nautaka in the area of Soghdiana, largely associated with the large urban settlement of Erkurgan located 10 kilometres away from the town of Karshi. According to the archaeological findings, Nautaka emerged in the middle of the first millennium BC and existed until the fifth to sixth centuries CE.
Thereafter, he refers to the Chinese sources about the city of Nashebo (Nakhshab), which was the principal city in the lower part of the Kashka-Darya river basin during the early medieval times (fifth to eighth centuries CE). This city was associated with the large urban settlement of Kala-yi Zahak-i Maran, located seven kilometres to the south-west of the city of Karshi. According to the archaeological findings, the urban settlement reached its peak of development during the early medieval period, after the decline of an antique city at the site of the Erkurgan urban settlement.
After the Arab Conquest, Nasaf became the main administrative centre of the region in the lower part of the Kashka-Darya river basin. Mediaeval Arabic and Persian sources confirm many facts about this capital city, which replaced Nakhshab, the capital city of the pre-Islamic period. The urban settlement of Shullyuk-tepe is often associated with Nasaf, and it is located on the left bank of the Kashka-Darya river, near the south-east of the urban settlement of Erkurgan, and 8 kilometres from the present-day town of Karshi. Archaeological findings prove that the urban settlement emerged in the sixth century CE and continued to exist until the Mongol conquest.
The book ends with a discussion about Kashka after the Mongol conquest until present times, and mentions that the city is not far from the modern town of Karshi in Uzbekistan.
Shamsiddin Kamoliddin
Translated by Ivan Leonidov
