Kyzyl-Kala, also Qyzyl Qala ("Red fortress"), in modern

Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan, officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, is an autonomous republic and part of Uzbekistan. It spans the northwestern portion of Uzbekistan. Its capital is Nukus (' / ). Karakalpakstan has an area of , and has a population of a ...

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

, was an ancient fortress in

Chorasmia Khwarazm (; ; , ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the east by the Kyzylkum Desert, on the south by ...

built in the 1st-4th century CE. The small fortress of Kyzyl-Kala is located near

Toprak-Kala Toprak-Kala, in modern Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, was an ancient palace city and the capital of in Chorasmia in the 2nd/3rd century CE, where wall paintings, coins and archives were discovered. Its history covers a period from the 1st to the 5th ...

, about 1 km to the west, and was also built in the 1st-4th century CE, possibly as a fortified defense for the site of Toprak-Kala. Kyzyl-Kala was once restored in the 12th century. It has also been the subject of a modern renovation program, with the objective of showing what a fortress looked like originally. It is part of the "Fifty fortresses oasis" in modern-day

. It was last occupied by

Muhammad II of Khwarazm 'Alā' al-Din Muhammad II (Persian language, Persian: علاءالدین محمد خوارزمشاه; full name: ''Ala ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Abul-Fath Muhammad Sanjar ibn Tekish'') was the Shah of the Khwarazmian Empire from 3 August 1200 to 11 Janu ...

(1169, 1200-20), ruler of the

Khwarazmian Empire The Khwarazmian Empire (), or simply Khwarazm, was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate, Sunni Muslim empire of Turkic peoples, Turkic ''mamluk'' origin. Khwarazmians ruled large parts of present-day Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran ...

, before it fell to the Mongol conquest of Khwarazmia. Kyzyl-Kala under restoration (cropped).jpg, Kyzyl-Kala under restoration (2018) File:Karakalpakstan Kyzyl Qala (Red Fortress) Fortified Residence 1st-2nd cent CE - 4th cent CE & restored 12th cent CE (4).jpg, Old and new walls File:Karakalpakstan Kyzyl Qala (Red Fortress) Fortified Residence 1st-2nd cent CE - 4th cent CE & restored 12th cent CE (5).jpg, Kyzyk-Kala, details of new walls File:Chorasmian oasis main fortresses.jpg, Location of the Kyzyl-Kala fortress, next to

in the

n oasis, in relation to other main fortresses File:Karakalpakstan Kyzyl Qala Cotton Picking.jpg, Cotton picking near Kyzyl-Kala. File:Mina'i bowl fortress under siege, circa 1200 CE, Iran.jpg,

Mina'i bowl ware is a type of Persian pottery, or Islamic pottery, developed in Kashan in the decades leading up to the Mongol invasion of Persia and Mesopotamia in 1219, after which production ceased. It has been described as "probably the most luxuriou ...

depiction of a fortress under siege, circa 1200, Iran

References

{{Tourist attractions in Uzbekistan Central Asia Archaeology of Uzbekistan Desert castles of ancient Khorezm Former populated places in Uzbekistan Kushan Empire