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Markussep: region, replaced: Chuy Province → Chuy Region (2) using AWB

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region, replaced: Chuy Province → Chuy Region (2) using AWB

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{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Suyab
|native_name =
|alternate_name = Ordukent
|image =
|alt =
|caption =
|map_type = Kyrgyzstan
|map_alt =
|coordinates = {{coord|42|48|18.8|N|75|11|59.6|E|display=inline,title}}
|location = [[Chuy Region]], Kyrgyzstan
|region =
|type = Settlement
|part_of =
|length =
|width =
|area =
|height =
|builder =
|material =
|built = 5-6th century
|abandoned = 11th century
|epochs =
|cultures =
|dependency_of =
|occupants =
|event =
|excavations =
|archaeologists =
|condition = In ruins
|ownership =
|management =
|public_access =
|website = 
|notes =
}}

'''Suyab''' ({{lang-fa|سوی آب}}; {{zh|t=碎葉|s=碎叶|p=Suìyè|w=Sui4-yeh4}}), also known as ''Ordukent'' (modern-day ''Ak-Beshim''), was an ancient [[Silk Road]] city located some 50 km east from [[Bishkek]], and 8 km west southwest from [[Tokmok]], in the [[Chui River]] valley, present-day [[Kyrgyzstan]].

== History ==
The settlement of [[Sogdiana|Sogdian]] merchants sprang up along the [[Silk Road]] in the 5th or 6th centuries. The name of the city derives from that of the [[Chui River|Suyab River]],<ref name=Suyab>Xue (1998), p. 136-140, 212-215.</ref>
whose origin is Iranian (in [[Persian language|Persian]]: ''suy'' means "toward"+ ''ab'' for "water", "rivers").<ref>[http://www.talaschu.org/index.php?ID=about,en Transboundary Chu-Talas]</ref> It was first recorded by Chinese pilgrim [[Xuanzang]] who travelled in the area in 629:<ref>Ji (1985), p. 25.</ref><ref>Ye. I. Lubo-Lesnichenko. ''Svedeniya kitaiskikh pismennykh istochnikov o Suyabe (Gorodishche Ak-Beshim)''. [''Information of Chinese Written Sources about Suyab (Ak-Beshim)'']. // ''Suyab Ak-Beshim''. St. Petersburg, 2002. Pages 115-127.</ref>

<blockquote>''Traveling 500 [[Li (unit)|li]] to the north west of Great Qing Lake, we arrive at the city of the Suye River. The city is 6 or 7 [[Li (unit)|li]] in circuit; various Hu ("barbarian") merchants here came from surrounding nations congregate and dwell. The soil is favourable for red millet and for grapes; the woods are not thick, the climate is windy and cold; the people wear garments of twilled wool. Traveling from Suye westward, there are a great number of isolated towns; in each there is a chieftain; these are not dependent on one another, but all are in submission to the [[Tujue]]''.</blockquote>

During the reign of [[Tong Yabgu Qaghan]], Suyab was the principal capital of the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]].<ref>[[Great Soviet Encyclopaedia]], 3rd ed. Article "Turkic Khaganate".</ref> The [[khagan]] also had a summer capital in Navekat near the springs north of [[Tashkent]] in the [[Talas Valley]], the capitals are being noted as the westernmost capital of Western Turkic Khaganate.<ref name=Tong>Xue (1992), p. 284-285</ref> There was a sort of [[symbiosis]], with the Sogdians responsible for economical prosperity and the [[Gokturks]] in charge of the city's military security.

Following the downfall of the khaganate, Suyab was absorbed into the [[Tang Empire]], of which it was a western military outpost between 648 and 719. A Chinese fortress was built there in 679, and [[Buddhism]] flourished. According to some accounts, the great poet [[Li Bai]] (Li Po) was born in Suyab.<ref>Zhongguo fu li hui, Chung-kuo fu li hui. ''China Reconstructs''. China Welfare Institute, 1989. Page 58.</ref> The Chinese traveller [[Du Huan]], who visited Suyab after 751, found among the ruins a still-functioning Buddhist monastery, where [[Princess Jiaohe]], daughter of [[Ashina Huaidao]], used to dwell.<ref>Forte A. ''An Ancient Chinese Monastery Excavated in Kirgizia'' // Central Asiatic Journal, 1994. Volume 38. № 1. Pages 41-57.</ref><ref>Cui (2005), p. 244-246</ref>

Suyab was one of the Four Garrisons of [[Anxi Protectorate]] until 719, when it was handed over to [[Sulu khan|Sulu Khagan]] of the [[Turgesh]], appointed by the Chinese court as the "Loyal and Obedient Qaghan".<ref name=Suyab/><ref>Zongzheng, Xue (1992), p. 596-597, 669</ref> After Sulu's murder in 738, the town was promptly retaken by Chinese forces, along with [[Taraz|Talas]].<ref>Zongzheng, Xue (1992), p. 686</ref> The fort was strategically important during the wars between the [[China]] and [[Tibet]]. In 766, the city fell to a [[Karluks|Qarluq]] ruler, allied with the nascent [[Uyghur Khaganate]].

Of the subsequent history of Suyab there is little record, especially after the Chinese evacuated the Four Garrisons in 787. [[David Nicolle]] states that Suyab provided 80,000 warriors for the Qarluq army and that it was governed by a man known as "King of Heroes".<ref>Nicolle (1990), p. 32.</ref> [[Hudud al-Alam]], completed in 983, lists Suyab as a city of 20,000 inhabitants. It is believed to have been supplanted by [[Balasagun]] in the early 11th century and was abandoned soon thereafter.

== Archaeological site ==

In the 19th century the ruins at Ak-Beshim were erroneously identified with [[Balasagun]], the capital of the [[Kara-Khitan]]s. [[Wilhelm Barthold]], who visited the site in 1893-94, also lent his support to this identification.<ref>[[Vasily Bartold|Бартольд В.В.]] Отчет о поездке в Среднюю Азию с археологической целью ("report on an archaeological campaign in Central Asia"), collected writings, vol. 4</ref> Although excavations started in 1938, it was not until the 1950s that it was determined that the site had been abandoned as early as the 11th century and therefore would not be identical with Balasagun, which had flourished until the 14th century.<ref>Г.Л. Семенов. Ак-Бешим и города Семиречья. // Проблемы политогенза кыргызской государственности. ("Ak-Beshi and the cities of Semirechya - problems of politogenesis in the Kyrgyz statehood") – Бишкек: АРХИ, 2003. – с. 218-222.</ref>

The archaeological site of Suyab covers some 30 [[hectare]]s. As a testimony to Suyab's diverse and vibrant culture, the site encompasses remains of Chinese fortifications, Christian churches, Zoroastrian [[ossuary|ossuaries]], and Turkic [[bal-bal]]s. The site is particularly rich in finds of [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] statues and stelae.<ref>Горячева В.Д., Перегудова С.Я. Буддийские памятники Киргизии ("Buddhist monuments of Kyrgyzstan"), pp. 187-188.</ref> Apart from several Buddhist temples, there were a [[Nestorian Church|Nestorian]] church and cemetery from the 7th century, and probably also a 10th-century monastery with frescoes and inscriptions in [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] and [[Uyghur script]]s.<ref>Kyzlasov L.R. ''Arkheologicheskie issledovaniya na gorodishche Ak-Beshim v 1953-54 gg.'' [''Archaeological Exploration of Ak-Beshim in 1953-54.'']. // Proceedings of the Kama Archaeological Expedition. Vol. 2. Moscow, 1959. Pages 231-233. Semyonov G.I. ''Monastyrskoe vino Semirechya'' [''The Wine of [[Semirechye]] Monasteries'']. // ''Hermitage Readings in Memory of [[Boris Piotrovsky]]''. St. Petersburg, 1999. Pages 70-74.</ref>

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources ===
* Cui, Mingde (2005). ''The History of Chinese Heqin''. Beijing: People's Press. ISBN 7-01-004828-2.
* Nicolle, David (1990). ''Attila and the Nomad Hordes''. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-996-6.
* Ji, Xianlin(1985). ''Journey to the West in the Great Tang Dynasty''. Xi'an: Shaanxi People's Press.
* Xue, Zongzheng (1998). ''Anxi and Beiting Protectorates: A Research on Frontier Policy in Tang Dynasty's Western Boundary''. Harbin: Heilongjiang Education Press. ISBN 7-5316-2857-0.
* Xue, Zongzheng (1992). ''A History of Turks''. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press. ISBN 7-5004-0432-8.

==External links==
*[http://tokmok.info/980-suyab-ili-gorodische-ak-beshim.html Суяб или городище Ак-Бешим] ("Suyab, or the fortified settlement Ak-Beshim") {{ru icon}}

[[Category:Archaeological sites in Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category:History of Central Asia]]
[[Category:History of the Turkic peoples]]
[[Category:Populated places along the Silk Road]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 6th century]]
[[Category:Chuy Region]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category:History of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Sogdian cities]]

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Markussep: region, replaced: Chuy Province → Chuy Region (2) using AWB