No kingdom or empire lasts for eternity. Some break up into different territories. Some are overruled by others. And some melt down. Literally. At least that’s the impression that the kingdom of Khwarazm leaves after visiting the clay remains of its kalas or castles in the fertile delta of the Amu Darya in Uzbekistan.
Living in the so-called Low Countries, I feel a certain affinity with the region: in the old Persian language Khwarazm probably means lowlands. The area more or less coincides with the lowest terrain in all of Central-Asia — if you don’t take into account the Caspian sea.
View on the Amu Darya delta
According to legend, the history of Khwarazm dates back to the 13th century BCE, although very little is known about this period. It seems that even before classical Antiquity the region was a kingdom where people lived in or near castles, surrounded by the vast plains of the Karakum and Kyzylkum deserts and the Ustyurt plateau. In the earliest times of their history the Khwarasmians appeared to be partly sedentary and partly nomadic.
Not all kala’s were castles. The 2,100 year old Chilpyk Kala, for instance, was originally built as a dakhma or Zoroastrian ‘Tower of Silence’. It was a spot inhabited by the dead, whose bodies were left to the vultures, their remaining bones bleached by the scorching sun. On top of the building were three circles: an inner one for deceased children, a second for women and an outer circle for men. In a way, the tradition reminds me of the funeral rituals we learnt about in Catalhöyuk (Turkey, 10,000 years BCE) much earlier on our Silk Road expedition. It’s clear that cultures and habits can be quite assiduous.
The 2,100 yo Chilpyk Kala, originally built as a dakhma or ‘Zoroastrian Tower of Silence’ near Nukus (Uzbekistan)
Shortly after the invasion of the hordes of Genghis Khan, who ruled over Central Asia in the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century CE, a Turkic dynasty took power which resulted in a shift from the original Iranian to a Turkic language in the region. Genghis Khan had built the biggest empire in the history of humanity stretching from China to the Donau river.
In the 14th century Khwarazm became part of Timur’s dominion. Born in the region south of Samarkand, Timur was a descendant of the hordes of Genghis Khan. His empire wasn’t that big, but became famous because of another record. Historians estimate that during his ongoing conquests a whopping 17 million people died, representing no less than an estimated 5% of the world population at that time. No wonder that even in Europe Timur’s name was enough to make people’s blood run cold.
In the 16th century, Khiva became the capital of Khwarazm, and a centre of slave trade till the end of the 19th century (!), when the Khanate became part of the Russian empire.
Even Timur’s empire featured a meltdown soon after his death. Traveling the Silk Road and learning about the region’s complex history makes one aware once more: no state or empire lasts for eternity.
Overlander’s tip: Nukus Museum of Art
Don’t miss out on the Savitsky Museum in Nukus, an oasis of Soviet avant-garde art forms that had been assigned the term ‘degenerate’ by Stalin. Because Nukus was such a remote place at that time, the authorities turned a blind eye to Igor Savitsky’s work as a curator.