History of Bishkek

Archaeological excavations confirm that the site of present-day Bishkek was inhabited by early humans as far back as the 5th–4th centuries BC. The city’s advantageous geographic position is owed to the Great Silk Road. From ancient times, caravans traveled from China along two main routes. One of these routes, the eastern branch, passed through a convenient location in the Zailiysky Alatau Mountains (via the Korday Pass) and entered the Chui Valley, where it met another road coming from the Central Tian Shan, skirting Lake Issyk-Kul. At the intersection of these routes, a caravanserai was established, offering a place of rest for merchants. Historically, this area was long owned by the Solto tribe of the Kyrgyz people, and trade flourished along these ancient roads.

However, by the 16th century, trade and cultural ties between the East and West were severed. The legendary Silk Road ceased to exist, and many cities along its route vanished. Wars, plagues, and earthquakes turned the once-blooming Chui Valley into a deserted expanse. The settled way of life gave way to nomadism, and the grand palaces, fortresses, and bustling trade caravans faded into oblivion. For centuries, the Chui Valley between the Ala-Archa and Alamedin rivers became a winter pasture for the Solto tribe, one of the forty Kyrgyz tribes. Only rare caravans passing from Central Asia to China through the Kyrgyz and Kazakh nomadic lands brought occasional life to this otherwise desolate region.

In 1825, the Kokand Khanate seized control of the region, and by order of Khan Madali, the Pishpek Fortress was built on this strategic site. The Kokand rulers needed to monitor the movement of traders and nomads. The fortress stood at a crossroads—where nomads traveled between their winter and summer pastures, and along the road to Issyk-Kul and the Seven Rivers region. The Kokand authorities also collected customs taxes from all caravans passing through. The freedom-loving Solto people, led by their chieftain Baytik Baatyr, made numerous attempts to capture and destroy the fortress, but they lacked the necessary artillery. The Kokand rulers were not only strong but also cunning—holding relatives of Kyrgyz nobility, including Baytik’s son, hostage in the fortress.

In September 1862, Baytik Kanyayev, the supreme leader of the Solto tribe, led an uprising against the Kokand forces, killing the fortress commander Rahmatullah and his 60-man garrison. Baytik then sent a messenger to the nearby city of Verniy (modern-day Almaty) to request artillery support from Russian forces. On October 13, 1862, Colonel G. A. Kolpakovsky, the head of the Alatau district, led a detachment of 1,400 soldiers with artillery to lay siege to the fortress. By October 24, the Kokand forces surrendered. On November 2, the Russian detachment withdrew from the ruins of the fortress, returning to Verniy. In retribution, Baytik ordered the Kyrgyz to raze the remnants of the fortress to the ground. Today, one of the main streets in Bishkek (formerly part of Sovetskaya Street) is named in Baytik’s honor.

In 1863, the Kyrgyz people, from the Chui Valley to the Alay Mountains, joined the Russian Empire. A treaty was signed in Omsk, integrating the region into Russia. Local self-governance was established, and several agricultural and urban settlements arose under the supervision of the Russian administration in the Chui Valley, near the ruins of the Pishpek fortress.

It is hard to believe now, but the city was once founded in a semi-desert. A traveler from that time, F. Poyarkov, wrote, «There were only a few scattered houses… and beyond them, stretching into the distance, was a barren, lifeless steppe of scorching sands and stones.» The city’s administration, along with its citizens, worked tirelessly to transform Pishpek into a garden city. Each resident was required to plant at least 25 trees along the street next to their home, and visiting merchants were obligated to contribute a portion of their profits to greening the city.

In 1926, Pishpek was renamed Frunze, in honor of the military leader Mikhail Frunze, who was born in the city. Ten years later, Frunze became the capital of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the city was renamed Bishkek, a name that closely resembles the original «Pishpek» and refers to the traditional tool used to churn kumis, fermented mare’s milk.