Sawran or Sauran ( kk, Сауран, translit=Sauran, ) is an ancient city located north-west of the city of
Turkistan in
Southern Kazakhstan, near the river
Syr Darya
The Syr Darya (, ),, , ; rus, Сырдарья́, Syrdarjja, p=sɨrdɐˈrʲja; fa, سيردريا, Sirdaryâ; tg, Сирдарё, Sirdaryo; tr, Seyhun, Siri Derya; ar, سيحون, Seyḥūn; uz, Sirdaryo, script-Latn/. historically known ...
.
One of the earliest mentions of the city comes from the Arab geographer
Al-Muqaddasi
Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Maqdisī ( ar, شَمْس ٱلدِّيْن أَبُو عَبْد ٱلله مُحَمَّد ابْن أَحْمَد ابْن أَبِي بَكْر ٱلْمَقْدِسِي), ...
, who described it in the 10th century as "a large city surrounded by seven walls, mosque located in the inner city."
In 1065, the city submitted to the
Seljuq dynasty
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
, which was part of the transformation of the
Kara-Khanid Khanate into a vassal of the Seljuqs.
Around the 1370s, when the region was under the control of
Urus Khan
Urus Khan ( fa, ; also known as Muḥammad-Urūs, Orys, Arys, Yrys, Orys Khan) was the eighth Khan of the White Horde and a disputed Khan of the Blue Horde; he was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. Urus himself was the direct ancestor of the ...
,
Tokhtamysh of the blue horde, heavily supported by
Amir Timur, tried to conquer the region, aiming to rule the cities of Sawran,
Otrar, Saganac,
Seiram, Serai, and others. The city provided the brick and tile for the construction of
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, which was commissioned by
Amir Timur in 1389; the mausoleum is 25 miles from the city.
By the 15th century, the city had established diplomatic relations with the
Ming dynasty, which recorded the name of the city in the
Ming Shilu as 掃蘭 (saolan).
The poet Zayn al-Din Mahmud Vasifi visited the city from 1514 to 1515, and described the city's
karez water infrastructure.
Like
Otrar, the city suffered with the decline of
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
, and struggles for power in the region.
References
Ancient cities
Archaeological sites in Kazakhstan
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