International Journal Of History And Political Sciences
21
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijhps
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue01 2025
PAGE NO.
21-23
10.37547/ijhps/Volume05Issue01-06
Specifically, the situation of urban processes in the
archaic period in the khorezm oasis
Bakhtiyarov Sirojbek Ilkhombek ogli
Researcher of Urgench State University, Uzbekistan
Received:
26 October 2024;
Accepted:
28 December 2024;
Published:
30 January 2025
Abstract:
The article discusses the beginning of the urbanization process of the first cities in the territory of
Ancient Khorezm. In the Archaic period, the issues of development of cities were thoroughly discussed.
Information about the opinions of researchers is given in this regard.
Keywords:
Kozalikir, Khumbuztepa, Dingilja, Okchadarya, Adamlikal'a, corridor, “long houses”
.
Introduction:
The Khorezm oasis, located in the lower
reaches of the Amu Darya River, possesses a unique
civilizational development. In this region, the initial
urbanization processes began even before the
dominance of the Achaemenids. In the archaic period,
the Khorezm oasis was home to the citadels of
Khumbuztepa and Khazarasp in the south, and the
Kozaliqir fortress in the northwest. The formation of
these cities, as well as their construction styles, differ
from one another and also exhibit distinct
characteristics when compared to cities from the
antique era. This indicates that the urbanistic processes
in the Khorezm oasis unfolded in their own distinctive
manner.
METHODS
The article provides information about the state of
urbanization processes in the ancient Khorezm region
during the archaic period. The article uses generally
accepted historical, scientific, comparative analysis,
sequence methods.
RESULTS
Although the construction of the monuments of
Kozaliqir, Khazorasp and Khumbuztepa, the first cities
in the Khorezm oasis, started the first stage of the
urbanization process in the area, the time of the initial
construction
of
these
monuments
remains
controversial.
V.N.Yagodin,
M.Mambetullaev,
O.A.Vishnevskaya, S.B.Bolelov, S.R.Baratov in their
research on the Kozalikir and Khumbuztepa
monuments. They say that it was founded at the end of
the 7th century and the beginning of the 6th century.
In other studies, its date is BC [1] [8] [9]. They associate
it with the 6th century, that is, the period of
Achaemenid rule. N.A. Egamberdieva, who researched
these controversial issues, concludes that these cities
were built before the Achaemenid rule [2].
Many villages and fortresses of the archaic period have
been found in the Khorezm oasis. They were found
around Jingilji, Koykirilgankala, Bazarkala, Ayozkala and
other monuments of eastern Khorezm oasis. Kozalikir
was found in many places in the Western Khorezm
oasis. M.G. Vorobeva, in her research work in the
Khorezm oasis, showed that cities and villages were
built in different ways in the archaic period, and found
out that three main types were widespread [3].
He introduced a convenient, well-planned city to the
first type. An example of this is the cities of Kozalikir,
Bozorkala, Khazorasp. The second type is large (15-21
hectares) and small (up to 5 hectares) settlements with
a straight line layout. They are one or two rows of
houses and fortifications of different sizes and are
located along the canals. Their length is often related
to the length of the canals. The third type includes
separately built large houses and fortresses.
Pottery workshops were found near settlements. The
workshop was built at the same time as the villages. It
was determined that they were built in the first phase
of Kozalikir, depending on the method of processing of
International Journal Of History And Political Sciences
22
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International Journal Of History And Political Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2222)
pottery. At the same time, Scythian-type double-
bladed and pointed arrowheads found in the
monuments date back to the second half of the 7th
century BC - BC. It belongs to the VI centuries.
In the archaic period, the walls of the houses of the
inhabitants were thick, and the interior of the house
was small. The houses were mostly one-room, two-
room and more houses were observed in fortresses and
palaces. At the end of the Archaic period, the number
of separately built large houses and fortresses
increased.
Many villages belonging to the archaic period have also
been identified around the Kaltaminor canal. The
Dingilja oasis is located in the southern Okchadarya
basin, and there are 53 places where the ruins of
houses and fortresses belonging to the archaic period
have been recorded. This situation shows that this area
is densely occupied by the population. mil. avv from
this area. Jingilji fortress of the 5th century was found
[4]. The fortress is rectangular in shape, 60.9x48.3
meters in size, surrounded by a 2-2.4 meter thick wall.
The entrance gate was in the south. The material
resources found there were similar to the material
items of the upper stage of Kozalikir. M.G. Vorobeva
conducted the research in it. There is a multi-room
house in the eastern part of the fortress. The western
part is an open area, and no traces of construction have
been identified. It may have served as a yard. There was
a rectangular pond in the yard. He found a large multi-
room house measuring 43x25 meters in Kurgan. It was
found that repairs were carried out. Before the first
renovation, the house consisted of 7 rooms, with a
central corridor passing through them [3]. This corridor
divides the house into two parts: western and eastern.
The houses were entered through the doors on this
corridor. The corridor was 20.8 meters long and 2.55
meters wide [5]. Two rooms facing each other at the
end of the corridor were separated from the others. In
one of the rooms, pillars made of clay were found, and
there was a separate entrance from the room to the
north. It was built for living in the rooms in the western
part of the house. The room in the northwest corner
served as a storeroom. A room on the south side was a
grain storage room, and a cellar was discovered under
this room. The cellar was built long, its exit door was
outside the fortress. When the fortress was renovated
for the second time, its territory was expanded and
changes were made to the construction of some parts
of it. The view of the house stretches from east to west
and is located in the northeast corner of the fortress.
The building is entered from the south side. Even now,
the houses of Khorezm residents are similar to the
construction style of the house in the fortress. The long
corridor in the middle is called "dolon" in Khorezm
language. The rooms of the house in the Kurgan were
built in a square or rectangular shape and had hearths.
Square or rectangular bricks were used in the
construction of the house. The basement of the house
was also identified. Researcher M.G. Vorobeva
suggests that this fortress may have been a house
belonging to the satrap of the Achaemenid Empire. A
seal-ring with an image of an archer made of bronze
belonging to the Achaemenids, a chalcedony bead with
a lion with an open mouth were found in a grave near
Kurgan. M.G. Vorobeva gave this opinion because such
a seal-ring was also found in a place near Susa and the
bead was made in the Achaemenian style [3].
A large fortress was also found in the vicinity of
Odamlikala. It is built on a hill 0.7 meters high. The
layout is trapezoidal, 600 sq.m. built in the area.
Although its size is smaller than Dingilji fortress, its
construction is similar. Two rooms were built on each
side of the long corridor. Traces of a hearth were found
in the southern part. An additional device was detected
on the north side.
By the end of the archaic period, the number of large
fortresses decreased, they became smaller in size. The
number of two- and three-room houses in residential
areas has increased. They are built of right corner and
square bricks. Houses built of straw are rare. All the
houses had platforms, farms and granaries.
In the Khorezm oasis, during the transition from the
Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, large "long houses"
(Jonbos-7) were built for the clan community, together
with separate residences of the population. We can
consider that this was an intermediate stage in the
construction of large cities in the Khorezm oasis.
In the plan of the houses built in the early archaic
period, the traditional features of the houses built in
earlier periods have been preserved. The distances
between the houses built in the archaic period were
large. The distance between the big houses and
fortresses and people's residences was longer.
Sometimes small houses are also built very far apart.
The researchers suggested that this may have belonged
to the farmers, who may have controlled the irrigation
system. The discovery of material resources of the
Archaic period in 285 places of the Archaic period
proves that the territory was widely exploited and
sparsely populated during this period [6] [7] [8].
CONCLUSION
In the Archaic period, the process of urbanization of the
Khorezm oasis started from the Okchadarya river basin
and moved to the Dovdon and Chermonyob regions of
the Sarikamish river basin. The archaic material objects
found in the Akchadarya basin were similar to the
material objects found in the Dovdon and Chermonyob
International Journal Of History And Political Sciences
23
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijhps
International Journal Of History And Political Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2222)
basins. Vessels similar to the pottery found in Kozalikir
were found near the defense wall and arch of the
ancient city of Bozharkala. This is the basis for saying
that the villages founded in the archaic period turned
into cities at the next stage.
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