Arslanbob ( ky, Арстанбап) is a village, sub district, valley,

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

, and a large wild

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a tru ...

('' Juglans regia'') forest in the

Jalal-Abad Region Jalal-Abad Region ( ky, Жалал-Абад облусу, Jalal-Abad oblusu; russian: Джалал-Абадская область, Dzhalal-Abadskaya oblast) is a region (''oblast'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is the city of the same name, Jala ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

. Kyrgyzstan's first known export to Europe was the Arslanbob walnut. Two waterfalls are located in the area which attract tourists, pilgrims and other visitors during the spring and summer months. The population of Arslanbob was 15,196 in 2021. Most of the population are Uzbek, and less than 5% is Kyrgyz, Russian,

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

Tajik Tajik, Tadjik, Tadzhik or Tajikistani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Tajikistan * Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan * Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan * Tajik (surname) * Tajik cu ...

, or Chechen.

Etymology

Arslanbob is named after an 11th-century figure, Arslanbob-Ata (alternate: Arstanbap-Ata). He may have been of

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

descent as in that language, ''Aslan'' translates to "lion" and ''bab'' to "gate", while in

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic l ...

, ''ata'' means "father of". ergo "father of the lion gate". 'Bob', used as a suffix, is a traditional practice used in the Arslanbob which denotes "a traveler and explorer".

History

According to legend,

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

took the walnuts from the forest of Arslanbob, and these formed the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

an plantations. For this reason, the walnut is known as the Greek nut in Russian. Scientific research however shows that the walnut forests around Arslanbob are probably around 1000 years old, and were planted. This corresponds with another local story, that says the forest was planted under the leadership of Arystanbop, who founded the village in his name, and died around 1120 CE.

Geography

Arslanbob is reached from Jalal-Abad via Bazar-Korgon. Kyzyl-Üngkür is away, reachable via Oogon-Talaa, which is situated in the Kara-Üngkür valley. The walnut forest is within the forest situated between the

Fergana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km ...

and

Chatkal Mountains Chatkal Range is a range in the Western Tian Shan that borders Ferghana Valley from northwest. The length of the range is 225 km, and it is up to 30 km wide. The highest peak is Avletim (4503 m elevation). Northern slopes are steep and sh ...

. The walnut forest is located at altitudes varying between and

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

on the Fergana range's south-facing slopes. At , the Arslanbob woodland is the largest walnut

grove Grove may refer to: * Grove (nature), a small group of trees Places England *Grove, Buckinghamshire, a village * Grove, Dorset * Grove, Herefordshire * Grove, Kent * Grove, Nottinghamshire, a village * Grove, Oxfordshire, a village and civil ...

on Earth. Behind the town of Arslanbob are the Babash-Ata Mountains. There are two waterfalls nearby. One measures high and has a slippery

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ha ...

slope; it is situated in a cliff face north of the village. Another, to the east, is in height and has two prayer caves, one of which is known as the Cave of the 40 Angels. Within walking distance is the Dashman Forest Reserve, another walnut forest.

Flora and fauna

;Flora The main issues threatening the forest are cattle grazing and haymaking, but collecting nuts, hunting, gathering firewood and timber, as well as climate change all reduce the ability of the forest to regenerate.

World Conservation Union The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...

( IUCN) held a workshop in September 1995 at Arslanbob to specifically discuss "an exceptional botanical garden" of walnut fruit trees found in Kyrgyzstan distributed over the two large forest ranges of Arslanbob Kugart and Khoja Ata running east west, which in the past covered an area of . However, over the decades of exploitation, the area under walnut trees was reduced. These forests are dense and large with particular species composition that have high economic value. Subsequent to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, in 1945, an experimental forest research station was reorganized at Arslanbob under the jurisdiction of the Forest Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the then USSR. The research was aimed at the establishment of commercial walnut plantations and maximizing production of fruit, valuable timber and other forest plantations. Reports indicated good results of walnut-fruit cultivation as a result of the joint research efforts.BlaserCarter1998,p.15BlaserCarter1998,p.88 Various wild forms of other fruit-bearing species including apple (''Malus siversiana''), pear (''Pyrus korshinsky''), and plum (''Prunus sogdiana''). ;Fauna

Raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight o ...

s were introduced into the Arslanbob forest, now inhabiting an area of about in the western part of

Achinsk district Achinsk (russian: А́чинск) is a city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the right bank of the Chulym River near its intersection with the Trans-Siberian Railway, west of Krasnoyarsk. It has a population of 109,155 as of the 2010 C ...

Culture

A shrine (tomb) to

Ibn Abbas ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās ( ar, عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن عَبَّاس; c. 619 – 687 CE), also known as Ibn ʿAbbās, was one of the cousins of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is considered to be the greatest mufassir of the Qur'a ...

, now in ruins, is near the forest. The 16th century '' mazar'' (shrine or tomb) to Arslanbob-Ata is near the center of the village. A new brick building, painted white, surrounds it and was built in the 20th century. The entrance to this tomb is made of a walnut wood door frame and decorated with ram’s horns. There is also a new mosque adjoining the tomb which has an impressive ceiling. The center of the ''

tariqa A tariqa (or ''tariqah''; ar, طريقة ') is a school or order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking '' haqiqa'', which translates as "ultimate truth". ...

t'' of the indigenous Sufi order of the

Hairy Ishans Hairy may refer to: * people or animals covered in hairs or fur * plants covered in trichomes * insects covered in setae * people nicknamed "the Hairy" * Hairy (gene) See also * Hairies, a fictional people * Haerye, a Korean text * Hary (disam ...

, and offshoot of Yasawiya is in the city of Arslanbob. ;Legends A legend has it that a disciple of

Prophet Mohamed Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

, on a voyage in search of a heavenly place on earth, found such a place in a scenic valley in Kyrgyzstan. However, as the place lacked any kind of vegetation, he appraised Prophet Mohamed of the situation. The Prophet Mohamed then sent him seeds of many trees to plant there which included walnut. The disciple, Arslanbob, then went up a mountain and scattered the seeds which grew into a garden of trees which he tended. Because of this association with the Prophet Mohamed,

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abra ...

consider this place as sacred. According to local legend, it is said that Arslanbob-Ata's wife "betrayed" him to his enemies which resulted in his death. It is also stated that his footprints, hand prints and bloodstains are also seen here. Other legends include that Alexander the Great planted the first walnut trees in Arslanbob; and that he carried several sacks of walnuts with him which he had used to pay boatmen to ferry his troops. Another legend attributes walnut distribution to the Silk Road.

Economy

The economic activity of the town centers around the walnut. In the walnut season, which lasts for one month during September, the villagers of Arslanbob and other neighboring villages engage themselves in collecting the nut. For this purpose, they hire a small plot of land for a fee on a five-year lease from the Forest Department. They collect the nuts, fruits and the wood. It is also an occasion of social rejoicing. Walnuts are priced high as they are a source of "oil, protein, anti-oxidants and omega 3 fatty acids." The walnut has served as barter trade in exchange for essential services. The barter practice is still observed in some cases in the villages here to pay fees to the teacher or to travel by bus. Other crops include maize, potatoes and sunflowers.

Tourism

Tourism is being developed in and around the Arslanbob city. While trekking is a fairly well established activity to the nearby hills and valleys, skiing as an adventure sport is under initial stages of development near the Jailoos mountains. Visiting the walnut wood land by walking through the village up to the red cliffs is also a popular tourist attraction during the season. There are two water falls which are frequented by visitors seeking holy blessings, magical and spiritual powers. The area around the falls is adorned with prayer flags and wish rags; one was frequented by a holy woman.

References

{{Bazar-Korgon places Populated places in Jalal-Abad Region Forests of Kyrgyzstan