Archaeology · Oqqoʻrgʻon District
Kanka Ancient City
The first capital of the Tashkent oasis
Archaeology · Oqqoʻrgʻon District
Shahrukhiya (Banakat)
The ruins of ancient Banakat where the Akhangaran meets the Syr Darya: destroyed by the Mongols in 1220, rebuilt by Timur in 1392 and named after his son Shahrukh.
History
Banakat (Fanakat, Binakat) stood on the right bank of the Syr Darya at the mouth of the Akhangaran (Ilak), on a caravan road. It began in the first centuries AD as a small settlement by a river crossing and grew into a major town by the 10th–11th centuries, giving its name to one branch of the Silk Road. In 1220 Genghis Khan sent an army under Jochi against the towns of the Syr Darya, and Banakat was destroyed.
In 1392 Timur rebuilt the city, gave it walls and renamed it Shahrukhiya after his youngest son, Shahrukh. Under the Timurids and Shaybanids it was an important economic and cultural centre with its own mint. It was ruined in the internecine wars of the early 18th century, and the Syr Darya has since washed away part of the site.
Archaeology and famous sons
D. K. Zatsepin identified the ruins in 1876, E. T. Smirnov studied them in 1894–1896, and since 1973 the Shash-Ilak expedition led by Yuri Buryakov has excavated fortifications, potters’ and glassmakers’ workshops, bazaar squares and houses. Banakat’s best-known native is the poet and historian Davud Banakati, author of the Tarikh-i Banakati (1317). The site has been on UNESCO’s Tentative List since 2008.