Suyab

Suyab (Persian: سوی آب‎‎; simplified Chinese: 碎叶; traditional Chinese: 碎葉; pinyin: Suìyè; Wade–Giles: 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 Sogdian merchants sprang up along the Silk Road in the 5th or 6th centuries. The name of the city derives from that of the Suyab River, whose origin is Iranian (in Persian: suy means "toward"+ ab for "water", "rivers"). It was first recorded by Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang who travelled in the area in 629:

During the reign of Tong Yabgu Qaghan, Suyab was the principal capital of the Western Turkic Khaganate. 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. There was a sort of symbiosis, with the Sogdians responsible for economical prosperity and the Gokturks in charge of the city's military security.