Katta-Kurgan
Encyclopedia
Kattakurgan is a town in the Samarqand Province
of Uzbekistan
. It is located on the road and railway between Bukhara
and Samarkand
. The name is Turkic
and means "large town or kurgan
". The town does not appear to be of any great antiquity, although after Alexander the Great's sack of Marakanda (Samarkand) the centre of cultural life in that part of the Zeravshan
valley may briefly have shifted west to the region around Katta-Kurgan. According to F.F. Pospelov a fortress was built on the current site by the local saint Sufi Allahyar and his two brothers, Farhat-Atalyk and Allah-Nazar-bii, in 1095 AH/1684 AD, and the town subsequently grew up around it. It was the seat of a Bek (local Governor) under the rule of the Bukharan Manghit
dynasty. In 1868, following the fall of Samarkand to the Russians and the annexation of the Upper Zeravshan Valley from Bukhara, it became the border town between Russian Turkestan
and the Bukharan Emirate, and the centre of a district. In 1924 both entities were dissolved by the Soviet regime, and Katta-Kurgan was incorporated in the new Uzbek SSR
.It is currently the second largest city in Samarkand Province. Population of Kattakurgan is of Uzbek nationality, there used to be quite a big Russian minority, which is not the case anymore.
Samarqand Province
Samarqand Province is a viloyat of Uzbekistan located in the center of the country in the basin of Zarafshan River. It borders with Tajikstan, Navoiy Province, Jizzakh Province and Qashqadaryo Province. It covers an area of 16,400 km²...
of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
. It is located on the road and railway between Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
and Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
. The name is Turkic
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
and means "large town or kurgan
Kurgan
Kurgan is the Turkic term for a tumulus; mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves, originating with its use in Soviet archaeology, now widely used for tumuli in the context of Eastern European and Central Asian archaeology....
". The town does not appear to be of any great antiquity, although after Alexander the Great's sack of Marakanda (Samarkand) the centre of cultural life in that part of the Zeravshan
Zeravshan
Zeravshan River is a river in Central Asia. Its name, "sprayer of gold" in Persian, refers to the presence of gold-bearing sands in the upper reaches of the river. To the ancient Greeks it was known as the Polytimetus...
valley may briefly have shifted west to the region around Katta-Kurgan. According to F.F. Pospelov a fortress was built on the current site by the local saint Sufi Allahyar and his two brothers, Farhat-Atalyk and Allah-Nazar-bii, in 1095 AH/1684 AD, and the town subsequently grew up around it. It was the seat of a Bek (local Governor) under the rule of the Bukharan Manghit
Manghit
The Manġhud or Mangudai were a Mongol tribe of the Urud-Manghud federation. They established the Nogai Horde in the 14th c. and the Manghit Dynasty to rule the Emirate of Bukhara in 1785. The clan name was used for Mongol vanguards as well...
dynasty. In 1868, following the fall of Samarkand to the Russians and the annexation of the Upper Zeravshan Valley from Bukhara, it became the border town between Russian Turkestan
Russian Turkestan
Russian Turkestan was the western part of Turkestan within the Russian Empire , comprising the oasis region to the south of the Kazakh steppes, but not the protectorates of the Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanate of Khiva.-History:-Establishment:Although Russia had been pushing south into the...
and the Bukharan Emirate, and the centre of a district. In 1924 both entities were dissolved by the Soviet regime, and Katta-Kurgan was incorporated in the new Uzbek SSR
Uzbek SSR
The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Uzbek SSR for short, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union since its creation in 1924...
.It is currently the second largest city in Samarkand Province. Population of Kattakurgan is of Uzbek nationality, there used to be quite a big Russian minority, which is not the case anymore.
Sources and further reading
- Ф.Ф. Поспелов "Материалы к Истории Самаркандской Области" Справочная Книга Самаркандской Области Выпуск X (Самарканд) (1912), pp 108–111
- В.В. Бартольд Работы по Исторической Географии (Москва) (2002) pp 197–8, pp 287–8