Yangi Taraz in the 13th–14th centuries and the Discovery of Its Geographical Location on the Basis of Numismatic Data

• Main Authors: Petrov P.N., Kamishev A.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: State Institution «Sh.Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences» 2019-06-01
• Series: Zolotoordynskoe Obozrenie
• Online Access: http://goldhorde.ru/en/stati2019-2-5/

At present, all historians and archaeologists concerned with historical events of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries connected to the city of Taraz use its name only in reference to the medieval site whose occupation layers are located under buildings of the modern city of Taraz in Kazakhstan. The name of Yangi Taraz is also attributed to this medieval site. This surprising identification arose in connection to studying of monetary production and its circulation from Taraz in the period of interest. By studying the volume of coins issues in Taraz city in the last third of the thirteenth century and establishing that monetary production was very considerable even on the scale of the entire state, there arose a question – Why are these coins not found in occupation layers in the territory of Taraz studied by archaeologists at all? And in that case where was the Yangi Taraz of the Mongol period located? The purposes of the present article are: 1) To identify the locations of high concentration the Chagataid’s coins of Taraz – both copper and silver ones – that is, to determine the location of the Taraz monetary production in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; 2) To make an attempt to understand the notions of modern scholarly historians regarding the functioning of Taraz during this period. The study of numismatic finds from the territory of the Talas valley in Kyrgyzstan made it possible to locate a cluster of coins originating from the cities of Taraz, Yangi Taraz and Ordu Bazar near the medieval site of Pokrovsk II. Numismatic finds both from Pokrovsk II and Taraz in Kazakhstan are considered in detail in this article. Thus, it was established that the location of the mint of Yangi Taraz was if not for the most part located at Pokrovsk II, then it was at least somewhere nearby. Narrative sources report that there were two cities of Taraz – Ulug Taraz and Kami Taraz. Some mistakes of different authors in their historical interpretations and conclusions have been caused by the existence of two closely located cities with same name of Taraz in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.