Kayalyk

Kayalyk was a walled city of the eastern Seven Rivers, near the streams descending from the Dzungarian Alatau. It was known to medieval writers as the seat of the Karluk yabghus, whose Turkic domain formed part of the wider Karakhanid world. Within its walls stood prosperous estates and a congregational mosque; channels and reservoirs brought water among the buildings.

The city was home to people of several languages and faiths. When the Franciscan William of Rubruck passed through on his journey to the Mongol court in the thirteenth century, he described temples and religious communities alongside the Muslim inhabitants. The buildings uncovered at the site include a Buddhist temple, a reminder of the varied traditions that met in this trading centre. Archaeological finds place the life of the city from the late eighth to the early fourteenth century.