Where the Silk Road passed, that is still named Great today
August 28, 2017 | 14:25 |635
The centuries passed by. The caravans traveled. Camels walked slowly, leaving behind dust of the roads. From distant China, through Central Asia to the Mediterranean lay their road. Silk Road, called Great by contemporaries. In heavy bales, merchants from the East to the West carried what was so highly valued then in Europe. Silk. After all, silk had the ability to withstand the universal calamity of that time - insect parasites. The road was difficult and dangerous, but the price of silk was high, and this moved the caravans forward. But silk was not the only thing that traveled in the bags of merchants. Porcelain and spices, tea and rice, ivory and rhinoceros horns drove them to the West. In short, it was always something that was highly valued and expensive to sell. The Great Silk Road ran through many territories, crossed rivers and climbed mountain ridges. Here, on the left bank of the Oks River (present Amu Darya), it passed through a green oasis called Amul. People have since ancient times inhabited this fertile valley of the middle course of the river. The waters of the river, born in the peaks of Pamir, are full of silt particles, rich in mineral fertilizers, and the irrigated lands were fertile. The oasis itself, including Amul, occupied over 50 hectares of land. Here there was not only a convenient crossing point across the stormy river, but also crossed roads leading to India, Iran and Europe. Favorable location allowed Amul to trade with Merv, Bactria, Sogd and Khorezm. On the streets of Amul one could hear many languages; in its markets one could meet merchants from different countries. Crafts flourished here, and agriculture developed.Svetlana KULIYEVA
Amul has survived several milestones in his historical development. Numerous coins, discovered during excavations on its territory, indicate that in the I-VIII century it was an important trading point of the powerful Kushan Empire. Later, Amul will gain independence until it becomes part of the Arab Caliphate. In time, Amul becomes known as a universally recognized center where science and art flourished. According to the Arab chroniclers of the time, "many scientists came from Amul". However, it is still trade that mostly contributes to the prosperity of the city, since it is not called the "engine of progress" for nothing.
Due to trade Amul grows to an incredible size. By tenth century it had several bazaars and a cathedral mosque. In the center of the city there was a powerful fortress with a high citadel. The walls of the fortress were adobe, several meters thick, which made it almost unassailable for storming. A ditch filled with water was dug around the fortress. The fortress was the residence of the governor. On the territory of the fortress there were warehouses, the palace of the ruler, the houses of his entourage, a large garden, as well as barracks for the troops. Houses of commoners, craftsmen and merchants, numerous caravan-sarays and other structures were located outside the walls of the fortress.
In eleventh century, under the rule of the great Seljuks, Amul blossomed, according to contemporaries, becoming a pearl in the crown of the Turkmen ruler Chagry beg. During the invasion of the Mongols, in the thirteenth century, the city was wiped off the face of the earth by Genghisides, for the fact that the population of the Amul has shown worthy resistance to the conquerors. The Mongols left, leaving behind only debris and ashes. But life took its toll. And people again came to the places where the unconquered Amul once stood. Life began to boil again, houses started to be erected, fields were planted and fruit in the gardens ripened. In the sixteenth century, this place was visited by the poet and commander Babur, a descendant of the violent conqueror Tamerlane. He gave this place the name "Chardjui" - four streams, or four canals. This is how Amul will be mentioned in the book "Baburnama." And this name will be worn by it subsequently for several centuries.
In the eighteenth century, Chardjui, being a part of the Khiva Khanate, will blossom again, like a flower. In the XIX century, with the beginning of the development of navigation, Chardjui became an important river dock. At the same time, on the site of the old crossing, a railway bridge was built across the Amu Darya, which became the third longest in the world.
In our time we know this city as Turkmenabat. The second largest settlement in independent neutral Turkmenistan. Multinational, remembering its history and rapidly developing. Fragments of the old fortress, once towering its territory, have survived to this day, being a valuable historical and archaeological site. The Great Silk Road, which once passed through these lands, for the first time in the history of our civilization, connected the two ends of the same continent with strong trade and cultural relations, bringing the East and the West closer together.
Centuries passed. But even today the Silk Road is reviving in its new hypostasis and in all its greatness.
In recent years, a number of new bridges have been built across the Amu Darya, where Amul had once flourished: the railway line - Atamurat-Kerkichi, the automobile bridges - Atamurat-Kerkichi and Seidi-Eljik, the interstate railroad Atamurat-Imamnazar-Akina. And at the beginning of this year, two more auto and railway bridges across the Amu-Darya-Turkmenabat-Farab were commissioned.
Our region, as in times distant from us, but in a new formation becomes one of the key logistics centers of international importance. It is here, where the Great Silk Road once ran, the most important knot in the developed network of the transport infrastructure of the continent is being formed. Today, as well as many centuries ago, the Central Asian region is called upon to play the connecting link of the transcontinental corridor along the lines "East-West" and "North-South".
