Saudakent

Saudakent was an important medieval town on the northern side of the Karatau Mountains, beside an important caravan route crossing the surrounding steppe. Archaeologists have associated its remains with the town known in written sources as Sulkhan or Sughulkhan. Farming and livestock keeping supported its inhabitants, while trade and crafts connected the settlement with its neighbours.

Occupied from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, the town had a citadel protected by an earthen rampart and towers. An outer quarter lay beside it, also surrounded by a wall. The remains of houses and pottery within the mound offer a glimpse of the life of a town on the edge of the pastoral steppe, where settled communities occupied the foothills of Karatau.