Balasagun & Burana tower

Kyrgyzstan, a land of nomads, stands in contrast to its neighboring Uzbekistan, where ancient architectural monuments have survived in greater numbers. Yet, the Chuy Valley in the north of Kyrgyzstan is nothing short of an archaeological sanctuary.

Here lie the remnants of once-thriving cities that flourished along the Silk Road, where Turkic, Sogdian-Iranian, and Chinese cultures mingled, and where Tengriism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Islam, and even Nestorian Christianity converged, brought by missionaries from Syria in the early medieval period. It’s worth mentioning that the roots of the legendary medieval European tale of Prester John’s kingdom, a mighty Christian state lost somewhere in Asia, might just be traced back to this region.

One of the most famous sites here is Burana, undoubtedly Kyrgyzstan’s «number one» historical landmark, not least because of its accessibility—just an hour’s ride from Bishkek to Tokmok, and another 12 km from there. According to some researchers, though not without some doubt, this site is believed to be the remnants of Balasagun, one of the major centers of pre-Mongol Central Asia and the capital of the powerful Karakhanid state in the 10th to 12th centuries.

Balasagun, which existed from the 9th to the 14th century (and possibly even from the mid-8th century), was an ancient city of the Eastern Turks, nestled along the Silk Road. This city witnessed the ebb and flow of religions, cultural traditions, and languages, an amalgamation vividly captured in numerous archaeological finds displayed in the local museum. The city reached its zenith during the reign of the Karakhanids (955-1130). Contemporaries described it as a highly developed and prosperous city, boasting over 200 mosques, madrasahs, and khanakas. Known also as «Coos Horde,» it served as the capital and one of the key cities of the Karakhanid State until the arrival of the Kara-Khitai.

Balasagun is also the birthplace of the celebrated medieval poet Yusuf Balasaguni, author of the poem «Kutadgu Bilig» («Blessed Knowledge»), the first literary masterpiece in the Turkic language. The original manuscript of this book still resides in Cairo. In 1219, the Mongols captured Balasagun, renaming it Gobalyk, meaning «Good City.» By the 14th century, however, after a devastating outbreak of plague in 1338-1339, the city ceased to exist, according to some scholars.

Today, only a few fragments remain of what was once a sophisticated and civilized city with a well-developed infrastructure and water supply system. The most prominent relic is the 11th-century minaret, known as the Burana Tower, adorned with distinctive Karakhanid brick patterns. Alongside it are the ruins of a couple of mausoleums and a small archaeological site.

The Burana Tower, along with burial markers, scattered earthworks, remnants of a castle, and three mausoleums, are all that stand as the last vestiges of the ancient city of Balasagun. An external staircase and a narrow, winding path inside the tower allow visitors to climb to the top, offering a glimpse into one of Central Asia’s oldest architectural treasures.

Originally, the Burana Tower stood 45 meters (148 ft) tall. However, centuries of earthquakes inflicted considerable damage, with the most severe in the 15th century reducing the tower to its present height of 25 meters (82 ft). In the early 20th century, Russian settlers used some of the bricks from the tower for construction projects, further diminishing its structure. Restoration efforts in the 1970s aimed to strengthen the tower’s foundation and repair the western side, which was on the brink of collapse.

Nearby, archaeologists unearthed an intriguing site—a Nestorian Christian cemetery, where artifacts such as intricately carved crosses with inscriptions in Estrangelo script (a form of Syriac writing) can be seen in the local museum. The museum also boasts an archaeological «stone garden,» featuring various Turkic memorial statues (balbals), stones inscribed with petroglyphs, and giant millstones. Although these monuments have been uprooted from their original sites where they stood for centuries, the place still evokes a profound sense of history and wonder.

Approximately 10 km from Burana site lies another ancient settlement—Ak-Beshim, known locally as «Balasagyn», instead of the previous site. In the 19th century, the researcher Vasily Bartold identified these ruins as the Karakhanid capital. However, current scholarship leans towards identifying this site as the city of Suyab, a major center of the early medieval Western Turkic Khaganate.

To understand the vastness of this khaganate, it stretched from Kashgaria in modern-day China to the Don River basin in the west, with the enormous Khazar state being just a fragment of its far-western expanse. In its prime, Suyab (if indeed this is Suyab) served as a true crossroads of cultures. In the 6th and 7th centuries, the city’s population primarily comprised Sogdians who practiced Zoroastrianism. The Nestorians also played a significant role, as evidenced by the remains of a large Christian church uncovered by archaeologists in the Shahristan (urban area).

However, in the 8th century, after the dissolution of the Western Turkic Khaganate and Suyab’s incorporation into the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism gained prominence in the city. An early medieval Buddhist monastery still stands as a testament to this era. Many structures of Suyab-Balasagun remain unearthed, holding secrets of the city’s storied past.