THE ROLE OF MEDIEVAL CITIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF STATEHOOD (BASED ON THE KHOREZM OASIS)

Аннотация

In this article, the history of medieval cities, their unique structure, architectural solution and their place in the history of our statehood is revealed on the basis of written sources andmaterial sources found in archaeological monuments. Keywords:Middle Ages, Khorezm, statehood, urban culture, Ardakhushmitan, Khiva, Sadvar andJigarband, Tuprokkalya, S.P. Tolstov, A.M.Belenitsky, O.G. Bolshakov, I.B. Bentovich. The Khorezm oasis, one of the first ancient settlements of mankind, has its own unique history and rich culture. The available written sources about the economic history of Khorezm, the history of the emergence of the first cities and trading centers allow us to draw accurate conclusions only when confirmed by material monuments and samples of spiritual culture found as a result of archaeological research. In particular, archaeological research conducted in the Khorezm oasis and its surrounding areas clearly shows that these lands were economically highly developed in the past, with numerous cities, fortresses and palaces, agricultural and irrigation facilities. The works of the famous archaeologist and ethnographer S.P. Tolstov created a solid concept of the development of ancient and medieval cities of Khorezm, in which they raised wide-ranging and problematic issues that encompassed all important aspects of development1. In these works, the cities of Khorezm were considered as a feature typical of the origin and development of all Central Asian cities. However, the large amount of material collected as a result of archaeological research conducted at the end of the 20th century made it possible to study them more deeply, taking a new approach to this problem. As a result of excavations at ancient sites such as Ardakhushmitan, Khiva, Sadvar and Jigarband, and Tuprokkal, a number of generalizing works about the trade centers of Khorezm were published (works by A.M. Belenitsky, O.G. Bolshakov, I.B. Bentovich, and others).2 monographs devoted tothehistory of and someancient cities (works byGA Pugachenkova and others))3was written. The problem of studying the history of Khorezm cities directly requires the generalization of topographical data related to the emergence of trade centers, their communication routes, and 1 Толстов С.П. Қадимги Хоразм маданиятини излаб. — Т., 1964, 102-103; 128-131; 166-172; 253-255; 300- 301-бетлар;ДревнийХорезм.— М.,1948,с. 270-275;283. 2 Беленицкий А.М., Бентович И.Б., Большаков О.Г. Средневековый город Средней Азии. — Л., 1973.; Большаков О.Г. Некоторые вопросы изучения среднеазиатского города VIII-XII вв. в свете общей проблематикиисториигородовВостока// КСИА,1970,вып.122. 3 Пугаченкова Г.А., Ремпель Л.И. Выдающиеся памятники архитектуры Узбекистана. — Т., 1958; ПугаченковаГ.А.ПутиразвитияархитектурыЮжногоТуркменистанапорырабовладенияифеодализма.— М., 1952; Мухаммеджанов А.Р., Адылов Ш.Т., Мирзаахмедов Д.К., Семенов Г.Л. Городище Пайкенд (к проблемеизучениясредневековогогородаСреднейАзии).—Т.,1988. page1396 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ISSN:2692-5206,ImpactFactor:12,23 AmericanAcademicpublishers,volume05,issue03,2025 Journal: https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai typological structure. In this case, due to the lack of complete information in written sources and the large open areas of monuments, it is necessary to take into account the approximate nature of conclusions about the socio-economic content of urban processes. As is known, even the typological classification of archaeological monuments, with the help of which one or another monumentcan be compared toa city-mound, is carried out conditionally. According to the results of archaeological research and information from written sources, there are 64 monuments in the territory of Khorezm that are considered cities and date back to the 4th - 14th centuries BC. Although incomplete information is available about only 32of them, Only 20 have been subjected to stationary archaeological research, especially. Most of the more thoroughly studied monuments are located in the areas around the oases. The remains of important cities and caravanserais on thecentral Amu Darya have been less studied, and many of them are still hidden under centuries-old layers of soil and sand. Of the 24 cities listed by medieval geographers, only 20are known from thebrief information they left behind. Most of the cities of Khorezm were located on the major caravan routes from Khorasan to Gurganj and from Mavarounnahr through the central regions on the right and left banks of the Amu Darya to Ustyurt and Russia. Some of the cities arose on the outskirts of the country, in areas where there were established contacts with the agricultural population of the region and steppe nomads. Analyzing historical data, it can be seen that there were 3 areas of urbanization inKhorezm: 1. The Central Amu Darya River region. Archaeological research conducted to study the remains of cities in these areas confirms that t