2019, vol. 7, no. 2. Petrov P.N., Kamishev A.M.

2019, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 266-282

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2019-7-2.266-282

   YANGI TARAZ IN THE 13TH–14TH CENTURIES
AND THE DISCOVERY OF ITS GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
ON THE BASIS OF NUMISMATIC DATA

P.N. Petrov 1, A.M. Kamishev 2
1 Central State Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan
ppn@zmail.ru
2 Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
sakamih@mail.ru

Abstract: At present, all historians and archaeologists concerned with historical events of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries connected to the city of Taraz use its name only in reference to the medieval site whose occupation layers are located under buildings of the modern city of Taraz in Kazakhstan. The name of Yangi Taraz is also attributed to this medieval site. This surprising identification arose in connection to studying of monetary production and its circulation from Taraz in the period of interest. By studying the volume of coins issues in Taraz city in the last third of the thirteenth century and establishing that monetary production was very considerable even on the scale of the entire state, there arose a question – Why are these coins not found in occupation layers in the territory of Taraz studied by archaeologists at all? And in that case where was the Yangi Taraz of the Mongol period located? The purposes of the present article are: 1) To identify the locations of high concentration the Chagataid’s coins of Taraz – both copper and silver ones – that is, to determine the location of the Taraz monetary production in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; 2) To make an attempt to understand the notions of modern scholarly historians regarding the functioning of Taraz during this period. The study of numismatic finds from the territory of the Talas valley in Kyrgyzstan made it possible to locate a cluster of coins originating from the cities of Taraz, Yangi Taraz and Ordu Bazar near the medieval site of Pokrovsk II. Numismatic finds both from Pokrovsk II and Taraz in Kazakhstan are considered in detail in this article. Thus, it was established that the location of the mint of Yangi Taraz was if not for the most part located at Pokrovsk II, then it was at least somewhere nearby. Narrative sources report that there were two cities of Taraz – Ulug Taraz and Kami Taraz. Some mistakes of different authors in their historical interpretations and conclusions have been caused by the existence of two closely located cities with same name of Taraz in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

Keywords: Chaghatayid state, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Taraz city, Talas river, mint of Yangi Taraz, Talas valley, coin finds, commodity-money relations

For citation: Petrov P.N., Kamishev A.M. Yangi Taraz in the 13th–14th centuries and the Discovery of Its Geographical Location on the Basis of Numismatic Data. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2019, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 266–282. (In Russian) DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2019-7-2.266-282

REFERENCES

  1. Baipakov K.M. Srednevekovye goroda Kazakhstana na Velikom Shelkovom puti [The Medieval Towns of Kazakstan Along the Great Silk Road]. Almaty: Gylym Publ., 1998. 216 p. (In Russian)
  2. Bartold V.V. Ocherk istorii Semirechya [Essay on the History of Semirechye]. Frunze: Kirgizgosizdat Publ., 1943. 104 p. (In Russian)
  3. Bartold V.V. Stati iz «Enciklopedii islama». Taraz. [Articles from the “Encyclopedia of Islam”. Taraz]. Bartold V.V. Raboty po istoricheskoy geografii [Bartold V.V. Works on Historical Geography]. Moscow: Vostochnaia literatura RAN, 2002, pp. 495–496. (In Russian)
  4. Bashtannik S.V., Voyakin D.A., Buranbaev R.N. Arheobotanicheskie issledo­vaniya citadeli srednevekovogo gorodischa Taraz v 2017 g. [Archaeobotanical Studies of the Citadel of the Medieval Settlement Taraz in 2017]. Vestnik arheologii, antropologii i etnografii = Bulletin of Archaeology, Anthropology and Ethnography. 2015, no. 2 (29), pp. 178–182. (In Russian)
  5. Volin S.L. Svedeniya arabskih istochnikov IX–XVI vv. o doline r. Talas i smezhnyh rayonah [Information of Arabic Sources of the 9th–16th Centuries About the Valley of the Talas River and Adjacent Areas]. Trudy Instituta istorii, arheologii i etnografii Akademii nauk Kazahskoy SSR [Proceedings of the Institute of History, Аrchaeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR]. Vol. 8. Alma-Ata: Akademiya Nauk Kazahskoy SSR Publ., 1960, pp. 72–92. (In Russian)
  6. Jamal al-Qarshi. (Al-mulhakat ba-s-surah). Istoriya Kazahstana v persidskih istochnikah [History of Kazakhstan in Persian Sources]. Vol. I. Translation from Arabic and Persian SH.H. Vohidova, B.B. Aminova. Almaty: Dayk-Press Publ., 2005, 198 p. + CCXI p. (In Russian)
  7. Kamaliddinov SH.S. «Kitab al-ansab» Abu Saʼda Abdalkarima ibn Muhammada as-Samʼani kak istochnik po istorii i istorii kul’tury Sredney Azii [«Kitab al-ansab» by Abu Saʼd Abdalkarim ibn Muhammad as-Samʼani as a historical source on the history of Central Asian culture]. Tashkent: Fan Publ., 1993, 210 p. (In Russian)
  8. Karaev O. Chagatayskiy ulus. Gosudarstvo Haydu. Mogulistan. Obrazovanie kyrgyzskogo naroda [The Chaghadaid Ulus. The Qaidu’s State. Mogulistan. Formation of the Kyrgyz People]. Bishkek: Kyrgyzstan Publ., 1995. 160 с. (In Russian)
  9. Kozhemyako P.N. Osedlye poseleniya Talasskoy doliny [Settled Settlements of the Talas Valley]. Arheologicheskie pamyatniki Talasskoy doliny [Archaeological Monuments of the Talas Valley]. Frunze: Akademiya nauk Kirgizskoy SSR , 1963, pp. 145–224. (In Russian)
  10. Mahmud al-Kashgari. (Divan Luga at-Turk). Translated by A.M. Auezova. Almaty: Dyke-Press Publ., 2005, 1288 p. (In Russian)
  11. Nurzhanov A.A. Goroda Talasskoy doliny v epohu mongol’skoy imperii [Cities of the Talas Valley in the Era of the Mongol Empire]. Forum «Idel’-Altay». Materialy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferencii «Idel’-Altay: istoki evraziyskoy civilizacii», I Mezhdu­narodnogo kongressa srednevekovoy arheologii evraziyskih stepey [Forum “Idel-Altai”. Proceedings of Research Conference “Idel-Altai: Origins of Eurasian Civilization”, I international Congress of Medieval Archaeology of Eurasian Steppes]. Kazan: December 7–11, 2009. Theses of reports. Kazan: Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Academy of Scien­ces, 2009, pp. 181–183. (In Russian)
  12. Petrov K.I. Latinoyazychnye istochniki [Latin Sources]. Istochnikovedenie Kyrgyzstana (s drevnosti do konca XIX v.) [Source Study of Kyrgyzstan (From Ancient Times to the End of the 19th Century)]. Bishkek: Ilim Publ., 2004, 180–195. (InRussian)
  13. Petrov P.N., Baipakov K.M., Voyakin D.A. Monetnoe delo i denezhnoe obraschenie v Velikoy Mongol’skoy imperii, gosudarstvah Chagataidov i Dzhuchidov. Kazahstan [Monetary Business and Monetary Circulation in the Great Mongol Empire, the States of the Chaghadaids and Jochids. Kazakhstan]. Almaty: Hikari Publ., 2014, 264 p. (InRussian)
  14. Petrov P.N. Numizmaticheskie nahodki arheologicheskogo sezona 2014 goda v Taraze [Numismatic Findings of the Archaeological Season of 2014 in Taraz]. Materialy mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-metodicheskoy konferencii «IX Orazbaevskie chteniya» – Sovremennye metody i podhody v izuchenii istoriko-kul’turnogo naslediya Kazahstana i sopredel’nyh stran [Proceedings of the International Research and Methodological Conference “IX Orazbayev Readings” – Modern Methods and Approaches in the Study of Historical and Cultural Heritage of Kazakhstan and Neighboring Countries]. 28–29 April 2017. Part I. Almaty: Kazakh University Publ., 2017, pp. 188–191. (In Russian)
  15. Svod pamyatnikov istorii i kul’tury Respubliki Kazahstan. Zhambylskaya oblast’ [The Set of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Zhambyl region]. Vol. 2. Almaty: RGP «NIPI PMK» Publ., 2002, 350 p. (In Russian)
  16. Senigova T.N. Srednevekoviy Taraz [Medieval Taraz]. Alma-Ata: Nauka Publ., 1972, 217 p. (In Russian)
  17. Smagulov E.A., Erzhigitova A.A. Issledovaniya drevnego Saurana [The Study of the Ancient Sauran]. Izvestiya nacional’noy Akademii nauk Respubliki Kazahstan. Seriya Obschestvennyh nauk [News of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Series of Social Sciences]. No. 1 (268). Almaty, 2009, pp. 236–256. (In Russian)
  18. Hinz V. Musul’manskie mery i vesa s perevodom v metricheskuyu sistemu [Muslim Weights and Measures, with a Conversion to the Metric System]. Davidovich E.A. Materialy po metrologii srednevekovoy Sredney Azii [The Materials on the Metrology of Medieval Central Asia]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1970, 148 p. (In Russian)
  19. Mayer Т. Sylloge Numorum Arabicorum. Tübingen: Nord- und ostzentralasien. XV b Mittelasien II. Berlin, 1998, 78 p. (In German)

About the authors: Pavel N. Petrov – Cand. Sci. (Histiry), Leading Researcher of the A.Kh. Margulan Institute of Archaeology of the Republic of Kazakhstan (44, Dostyk Str., Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan); ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8125-769X. E-mail: ppn@zmail.ru

Aleksandr M. Kamishev – Cand. Sci. (Histiry), independent researcher (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan). E-mail: sakamih@mail.ru

Received  February 6, 2019   Accepted for publication  May 22, 2019
Published online  June 29, 2019