Karakalpakstan: Uzbekistan’s Forgotten Civilization

Nestled within the post-apocalyptic landscapes of the Karakum, Kyzylkum, and Aralkum deserts, as well as the Ustyurt Plateau, Karakalpakstan is entirely situated in the zone of one of the greatest ecological disasters of our time—the demise of the Aral Sea. This republic remains an enigma, even to the residents of Uzbekistan, of which it has been a part since 1936. The defining characteristic of this region is its peripheral nature. This, combined with its unique indigenous ethnic groups, a struggling ecosystem, and majestic monuments of ancient history, transforms this land into an absolute edge of the known world.

However, the territory of present-day Karakalpakstan has not always been on the periphery. Since the beginning of the first millennium BC, these lands were part of ancient Khorezm—one of the earliest centers of civilization in Central Asia. The “Father of History,” Herodotus, referred to Khorezm as the “land of a thousand fortresses” in the 5th century BC. It is believed that by the time Alexander the Great led his iron phalanxes to the banks of the Amu Darya, a fully formed statehood had already emerged at its mouth and along the southern shores of the Aral Sea. Numerous findings from the Khorezm archaeological and ethnographic expedition led by Sergey Pavlovich Tolstov in 1937 confirmed the high level of culture and social organization of the local inhabitants during those ancient times.

Today, as one travels along the semi-paved roads through the sun-scorched earth—where deserts occupy more than 80% of Karakalpakstan’s territory—moving from the ruins of one awe-inspiring fortress to another, it is hard to imagine that life once thrived across the entire expanse between the stark, otherworldly ridges of the Karatau mountains and the sparse floodplain forests of the Amu Darya. In the dusty district center of Beruni, where the only architectural “attractions” are the newly constructed bank buildings, once stood Kiat—the capital of ancient Khorezm during the Afrigid dynasty. This city, described by contemporaries as “immensely wealthy,” was a hub for merchants and a gateway to the east.

In reality, life in the Aral Sea region has never been easy for its inhabitants. Summers bring unbearable heat, while winters are marked by severe cold. “And we saw a land that we thought was nothing other than the gates of az-Zamharir (a part of hell where cold prevails), opened upon us,” wrote the Arab diplomat and traveler Ibn Fadlan in the 10th century after visiting the lower reaches of the Amu Darya. Yet, the people did not merely inhabit these harsh lands; by the end of the 12th century, Khorezm and its surrounding territories became the core of the Khwarezmian state—a power that overshadowed the Abbasids, Seljuks, Fatimids, and other lesser dynasties.

“The people of Khorezm multiplied and became renowned, and Khorezm became a beautiful, prosperous region. I visited in 616 (1219-20 AD) and saw nowhere more populated and flourishing. The land was fully cultivated, with settlements lined up one after another, and numerous standalone houses and fortresses scattered across the steppe. Rarely did you find an unbuilt or uncultivated spot in the rural areas of this region,” wrote the traveler Yakut al-Hamawi in his “Mu’jam al-Buldan” (“Dictionary of Countries”).

The grand capital of the Khwarezmian state, Gurganj, now exists as the district center of Köneürgenç, but it lies within the borders of Turkmenistan. In the 13th century, Genghis Khan’s army swept through Central Asia, wreaking havoc and destruction on a scale far surpassing the Mongol invasion of Rus. This campaign culminated in the complete destruction of the Khwarezm oasis.

The centuries-old irrigation systems collapsed, and the cultural and spiritual traditions were crushed—this was a blow from which the Aral region never recovered. During the later Khivan Khanate period, which united the lands of Uzbeks, Turkmen, and Karakalpaks, the region took on a peripheral position relative to the center, which had shifted further upstream along the Amu Darya. Interestingly, the first capital of the Karakalpak ASSR—Turtkul, formerly known as Petro-Alexandrovsk—served as the starting point for the Russian Empire’s influence over the Khivan Khanate and its surrounding territories.

Spanning an impressive 166,000 square kilometers, Karakalpakstan is larger than Tajikistan, Bulgaria, or Greece, including all its islands. It even exceeds the area of Bangladesh, which is home to 170 million people. In stark contrast, Karakalpakstan’s population, which includes Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Turkmen, Russians, and Koreans, is nearly 100 times smaller, totaling just 1.8 million. The majority of the population resides in the capital, Nukus, and the surrounding towns along the banks of the Amu Darya. In the Kungrad district, comparable in size to Ireland and including the Ustyurt Plateau, there are only about 50,000 residents, excluding Kungrad itself. The population density here is a mere 0.6 people per square kilometer—lower than in the Namib Desert. In the Muynak district, which encompasses much of the former seabed of the Aral Sea, the density plummets to an astonishing 0.2 people per square kilometer, reminiscent of the most inhospitable corners of the Sahara.

If we were to divide Karakalpakstan into three regions—the Ustyurt Plateau, the lands along the Amu Darya historically part of the Khwarezm oasis, and the Aral Sea region from the former mouth of the Amu Darya to the border with Kazakhstan—we would find that the last region rightfully belongs to the titular nation of the republic. It is here, along the shores of what was once a thriving sea—an area that a young Taras Shevchenko would later depict a century later—that the nomadic Karakalpaks, pressured first by the Dzungars and later by Kazakh khans, migrated from the Syr Darya by the end of the 18th century.

There is a perspective that one of the many groups of Turkic tribes, known as the “black cloaks” in Kievan Rus (reflecting the name Karakalpak, which means “black hats”), has a direct connection to the Karakalpaks. Nevertheless, the people who entered history under this name formed later, after the final disintegration of the Golden Horde and the emergence of the Nogai Horde from its remnants. This period also marked the formation of the main ethnic characteristics of most other titular nations in the region.

However, the Karakalpaks have not achieved their own statehood. Unlike the Turkmen, who lacked a central authority yet partially controlled matters within the Khivan Khanate, the Karakalpaks, except for a brief period in the mid-18th century, not only failed to unite into an independent state but also found themselves constantly oppressed by more aggressive neighbors.

Alongside the Kazakh clans of the Junior Zhuz, the Karakalpaks were among the first peoples in the region to seek protection from the Russian Empire. However, by the second half of the 18th century, the Empire had somewhat lost interest in the Asian direction, which ultimately meant that the southern Aral region, where the Karakalpaks were at odds with the Khivan rulers, only became part of the Empire a century later.

Despite the rapid growth of external and particularly internal tourism in Uzbekistan over the past two years, the excursion routes primarily connect various sacred sites and the ruins of ancient fortresses in Karakalpakstan. Entrepreneurs have set up yurts near these sites, offering visitors the chance to stay overnight in authentic conditions, as if they were intruding conquerors themselves.

Some travelers venture to Muynak to wander among the rusting ships, now adorned with inscriptions in every language imaginable. Yet, only the most adventurous reach Karakalpakstan’s main attraction, this mirage of Central Asia—the Aral Sea. Gazing upon its still vast but lifeless surface, surrounded by the otherworldly formations of the Ustyurt Plateau, is as astonishing as the myriad wonders that this land has to offer.