Nilka

Nilka lies in the valley of the Kashi River, a tributary of the Ili running between the Borohoro and Awulale mountains. Grasslands, forests and rocky gorges border the river. The valley has a deep history of human settlement: Bronze Age remains have been found on terraces above the Kashi, alongside many later burial mounds. These traces reveal both farming and pastoral life in the mountain country east of the Ili basin.