Toprak-Kala, in modern

Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan, / officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, / is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern part of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus (' / ). The Republic of Karakalpakstan has an area of , and ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

, was an ancient palace city and the capital of in

Chorasmia Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ea ...

in the 2nd/3rd century CE, where wall paintings, coins and archives were discovered. Its history covers a period from the 1st to the 5th century CE. It is part of the "Fifty fortresses oasis" in modern-day

Toprak-Kala palace city

Toprak-Kala appears to have been built by Artav (Artabanos), ruler of

Khwarezm Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ...

, in the 1st or 2nd century CE. The establishment of Toprak-Kala probably followed the abandonment of Akchakhan-Kala, 14 km to the southwest. KHWARAZMIA

The ruins of the city were explored by the

Chorasmian Expedition The Chorasmian Archaeological-Ethnographic Expedition of the Academy of Sciences (also known as Choresmian Expedition, Khorezmian Expedition) of the USSR explored a large area of Central Asia, where between 1937 and 1991, its members found and reco ...

under the guidance of

Sergey Tolstov Sergey Pavlovich Tolstov (russian: Сергей Павлович Толстов; 7 February 1907 – 28 December 1976) was a Russian and Soviet archaeologist and ethnographer. Tolstov was the organizer and the first director (between 1937 and 1969 ...

in 1938. The date of the palace has been determined by the discovery of coins of the

Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...

rulers Vima Kadphises and

Kanishka Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क, '; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε ''Kanēške''; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 '; Brahmi: '), or Kanishka, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire ...

, as well as coins of the Khwarazmian king Artav (Artabanus). Wall paintings representing

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...

deities were discovered in the Palace. Toprak-kala and the whole of Chorasmia seem to have been under the control of the

for some time during the 2nd century CE, as coins of Vima Kadphises and

were found, interrupting a series of coins of Chorasmian rulers before and after them. Others have analysed the coinage evidence as indicating that the Kushan did not control Khwarezm. Several

high-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s of standing figures drapped in robes of Hellenistic style, which are thought to derive from the style of the

Greco-Buddhist art The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art of the north Indian subcontinent is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara. The s ...

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

, reflecting the influence of the

, were discovered in the ruins of Toprak-Kala. This abundant sculptural work may also have been accomplished by artisans from nearby

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

, where a Hellenistic tradition remained active since the time of the

Greco-Bactria The Bactrian Kingdom, known to historians as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria, was a Hellenistic-era Greek state, and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world in Central Asia and the India ...

n kingdom. The statues are now located in the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...

Saint-Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Sergey Tolstov drew a reconstruction of the ancient city. Toprak Kala (Khorezm, Uzbekistan) banner

File:UZ Toprak Kale t2.jpg, Toprak Kala ruins File:2nd cent-6th cent CE Palace & Magazines (2).jpg, Toprak Kala ruins (palace and magazines area) In the ruins of Toprak Kale.jpg, Toprak Kala ruins File:2nd cent-6th cent CE Wall Painting Woman 2nd-3rd cent CE (3).jpg, Wall painting found in Toprak-Kala (2nd-3rd century CE)

Nearby Kyzyl-Kala fortress

The small fortress of Kyzyl-Kala, also "Qyzyl Qala" ("Red fortress") is located nearby, 1 km to the west, and was also built in the 1st-4th century CE, possibly as a fortified defense for the site of Toprak-Kala (). Kyzyl-Kala was once restored in the 12th century CE. It has also been the subject of a modern renovation program, with the objective of showing what a fortress looked like originally.

Related sites

Toprak-Kala is somewhat related to another archaeological site 30 km to the southeast,

Koi Krylgan Kala Koi Krylgan Kala ( Uzbek: ''Qoʻyqirilgan qalʼa''; Russian: ''Кой-Крылган-Кала'') is an archaeological site located outside the village of Taza-Kel'timinar in the Ellikqal'a District ( Uzbek: ''Ellikqalʼa tumani''; Russian: ' ...

, another major component of the "Fifty fortresses oasis". Another related site is Ayaz-Kala. The location of the Chorasmian capital was changed to Kyat (modern

Beruniy Beruniy ( uz, Beruniy/Беруний; kaa, Biruniy/Бируний; russian: Беруни) is a city in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan. It is located on the northern bank of the Amu Darya near Uzbekistan's border with Turkmen ...

), at the time of the

Afrighid dynasty The Afrighids ( Khwarazmian: ''ʾfryḡ'') were a native Khwarezmian IranianClifford Edmund Bosworth, The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual, Columbia University, 1996. dynasty who ruled over the ancient kingdom of Kh ...

sometime after 305 CE, but the town of Toprak-Kala continued to prosper until the 6th century CE."Toprak - Kala was for a long time its capital . Later the seat of authority was changed to the city of Kyat ( afterwards called Shabbaz and now known as Biruni ) . This transfer took place during the reign of Afrig , a Chorasmian King ."

References

External links

Excavations at Toprak-Kala
{{Tourist attractions in Uzbekistan Central Asia Archaeology of Iran Archaeological sites in Uzbekistan Former populated places in Uzbekistan Kushan Empire