Turkestan or Turkestan is a historical region of Central Asia that was located between the Caspian Sea and the Gobi Desert , and was populated mostly by Turkic peoples.
It is traditionally divided into two zones, separated by the mountain ranges of the Tian Shan (Tengri Tagh) and the Pamir. To the east of these is East Turkestan (or Chinese Turkestan), which corresponds to the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang, while to the west is West Turkestan, divided into the former Soviet republics and now independent states of Kyrgyzstan , Turkmenistan , Tajikistan , Uzbekistan , southern Kazakhstan , and northern Afghanistan .
The majority of the peoples of Turkestan, who are now called Turkic, have a common origin and are characterized by speaking languages with the same linguistic root and predominantly professing the Islamic religion. These peoples came from the Altai region and expanded throughout the described area, mixing with Indo-European and East Asian peoples. Some Turkic tribes went beyond the Turkestan area at various historical periods, some of them, such as the Huns, the Bulgarians and the Ottomans, reaching Europe. Some sources relate them to the Mongols, since they went with the Mongols during the invasions.
The city of Turkestan (Kazakhstan)
Turkestan was one of the most prosperous cities on the Silk Road . Today it forms the most important archaeological complex in Kazakhstan and a famous place of pilgrimage for Muslims from Central Asia .
Turkestan has archaeological remains dating back to the 4th century. In ancient Chinese chronicles it appears as Beitian. Later it was known as Yasi or Shavgar. Until the 16th century it was an important commercial centre.
According to local tradition, three pilgrimages to Turkestan are equivalent to one hajj to Mecca, although this comparison is not accepted elsewhere in the Muslim world. Such is the reverence accorded to the Saint that the city has come to be known as “the Second Mecca of the East”, and is of enormous importance to the Muslims of Kazakhstan. Other important historical sites include a medieval bathhouse and four other mausoleums, one of them of one of Timur’s granddaughters and the remaining three of Kazakh khans.
Throughout its history, Turkestan has been a border town, due to its location on the boundary between the Perso-Islamic culture of Transoxiana to the south and the nomadic Turkic-Mongol world of the steppe to the north. Thus, it has been at times an important Kazakh political centre, and at other times a border town under the control of the Uzbek khans.
Upon its conquest by the Russian Empire in 1863, it belonged to the Kokand Khanate. Turkistan was first placed in the Turkestan Oblast and then in the Syr Darya Oblast of the Russian Turkestan General Governorate. After the fall of the Tsarist regime in 1917–1918, it briefly formed part of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, before being incorporated into the new Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924.
Modern Turkestan has a population of 85,600 (1999 census), the majority of whom are ethnic Kazakhs. The population grew by 10% between 1989 and 1999, making it the second fastest growing city in Kazakhstan after the new capital, Astana .
The city can be reached by train from Almaty , a journey time of about 20 hours. The road trip from the nearest airport (in Shymkent) takes about two hours.
Climate
In Turkestan, the summers are very hot, arid and clear; the winters are freezing, dry and partly cloudy. It is windy all year round.
Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from –9 °C to 35 °C and is rarely below –18 °C or above 39 °C.