Sighnaq

Sighnaq stood near the Syr Darya at the edge of the Kipchak steppe. Its irrigated fields and fortified town formed a meeting place between pastoral peoples and the settled cities of Transoxiana. Merchants exchanged the products of the steppe and oasis within its walls, while mosques and madrasas made it a centre of Islamic learning. Medieval writers knew it as an important city of the lower Syr Darya, commanding a route toward the Aral country.

In 1220 Jochi's Mongol army took Sighnaq after resistance and destroyed the city. It recovered under the Jochid rulers, and in the later fourteenth century became a capital of the White Horde. Khans including Urus and Tokhtamysh ruled here, coins were struck, and new buildings rose within its walls. Archaeological remains include decorated brickwork and coloured tiles from the buildings of this prosperous period. Its location made it a coveted prize in struggles between the powers of the steppe and Transoxiana.

In the fifteenth century Sighnaq served the Uzbek ruler Abu'l-Khayr, whose burial is associated with the city. It later passed to Kazakh khans and remained a political and commercial centre in the sixteenth century. The remains of walls, religious buildings and mausoleums recall a city whose fortunes were tied to both the river oasis and the open grasslands beyond.