Kayalık: Bi?r Karluk Yabgu Devleti? başkenti?

Abstract

Kayalik is one of the Medieval cities on Silk Road. It is located within administrative borders of Sarkand District of Almaty Province, Kazakhstan. The city is of great importance both for being a center of Zhetisu Province as well as capital of Karluk Yabghu State. Archaeological excavations conducted in Kayalik revealed the architectural texture of the city. The city obtained appearance of a medieval Islamic city starting from the second half of the 10th century with buildings such as caravanserai, bath (hamam), Great mosque, dervish lodge or khankah, palace, tomb, and mansion. Archaeological excavations which started in 1998 and continue nowadays enabled to achieve significant results specifically regarding the medieval urbanization and Islamization of Southeastern Kazakhstan. Previously the Islamization of the region was dated to the middle of the 14th century, however, discovery of the great mosque, khankah and tomb in Kayalik resulted in review of the dating. It was revealed that Islamization, which gained pace since the second half of the 10th century, established in Kayalik in the 12th century. Kayalık is one of the most important centers of Yeseviye Sufi Order according to the manuscript “Tarihname”, which is considered written in Kayalik in 1281 and contains the genealogy of the prominent Yesevî sheikhs. Khankah and two tombs dating to the 12th century which revealed during excavations confirms the supposition.