Ilaq () was a medieval region in

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (, now called the Amu Darya) is the Latin name for the region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

which was located in modern northeastern

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 ...

, to the east of the

Syr Darya The Syr Darya ( ),; ; ; ; ; /. historically known as the Jaxartes ( , ), is a river in Central Asia. The name, which is Persian language, Persian, literally means ''Syr Sea'' or ''Syr River''. It originates in the Tian Shan, Tian Shan Mountain ...

and south of

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

. The capital of the district was Tunkath.

Geography

In the medieval period, Ilaq lay along the valley of the Angren River, to the north of the large bend of the

near Khujand. The district, which was composed of a mixed terrain of plains and mountains, was bounded on the west by the Syr Darya and on the north by the region of Shash (modern Tashkent), and it extended to the western edge of the

Tian Shan The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

in the east. Due to the proximity of Shash and Ilaq, the two districts were sometimes linked by Muslim geographers, who either treated them as one united area or characterized Ilaq as a dependency of Shash. As a combined unit, Shash-Ilaq constituted one of the five primary sedentary regions of pre-modern

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, along with Sughd,

Khwarazm 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 th ...

, Farghana, and the area of Balkh. Ilaq was known to feature a large number of settlements, with al-Istakhri listing fourteen towns that belonged to it. The largest town of the district, at half the size of Binkath in Shash, was Tunkath, which also served as the residence of a local ''dihqan''. Relatively little is known about the other towns of Ilaq, with both their specific locations and the spelling of their names remaining uncertain.

History

Ilaq is known to have existed prior to the

Muslim conquest of Transoxiana The Muslim conquest of Transoxiana, also called the Arab conquest of Transoxiana, was part of the early Muslim conquests. It began shortly after the Muslim conquest of Persia enabled the Arabs to enter Central Asia. Relatively small-scale incur ...

, with archeological and numismatic evidence demonstrating that it was extant as far back as the sixth or seventh centuries. Bronze coins dating to this period contain Soghdian inscriptions which include the name Tunakand, an earlier form of Tunkath, and depict the image of a local ruler. Modern excavation projects have also revealed the site of a possible fire temple in Tunkath, suggesting that

fire worship Worship or deification of fire (also pyrodulia, pyrolatry or pyrolatria), or fire rituals, religious rituals centred on a fire, are known from various religions. Fire has been an important part of homo, human culture since the Lower Paleolithic. ...

was practiced by the inhabitants of the region during the pre-Islamic era. Ilaq presumably fell into Islamic hands during the conquest of Transoxiana in the eighth century, but no mention of it is made in accounts of the Muslim campaigns, possibly indicating that it was considered a part of Shash at the time. In the decades following the conquest it remained a border district, as it lay along the frontier separating the lands of Islam from those of the pagan Turks. More is known about Ilaq in the ninth and tenth centuries, as relatively extensive information was provided about the region by geographers of that era. It was described as a large and prosperous province situated between the mountains and the steppe, with numerous towns and districts. A large number of mines were in operation in the region, which produced a significant quantity of silver, gold, and other minerals, and local coins were minted bearing the names Ilaq or Tunkath. The chief of the province, known as the ''dihqan-i Ilaq'', resided in Tunkath and was considered to be a powerful individual. Religiously, the ''dihqan'' was known to be sympathetic to

Isma'ili Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (Imamate in Nizari doctrine, imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the ...

doctrines propagated by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Nasafi during the reign of the

Samanid The Samanid Empire () was a Persianate society, Persianate Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, ruled by a dynasty of Iranian peoples, Iranian ''dehqan'' origin. The empire was centred in Greater Khorasan, Khorasan and Transoxiana, at its greatest ...

ruler Nasr ibn Ahmad (r. 914–943), while the people of the district largely adhered to the creed of those "in white raiment," presumably in reference to the eighth century rebel al-Muqanna'. With the ascension of the Samanids in Transoxiana in the ninth century, Ilaq became subject to the amirs in

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

, and remained so until the last years of Samanid rule. In 992, in the same year as a major Qarakhanid raid into Transoxiana, the Ilaq mint began producing coins bearing the name of the Qarakhanid leader Harun or Hasan Bughra Khan, and the region became subject to the Turks, although the ''dihqan''s continued to hold power in Tunkath. Coins featuring the names Ilaq or Tunkath continued to be produced until the mid-eleventh century; after that, however, no further numismatic evidence exists, and the district likely became a part of Shash around this time.; .

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{cite book , title=The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions , others=Trans. Basil Collins , last=Al-Muqaddasi , first=Muhammad ibn Ahmad , author-link=Al-Muqaddasi , year=2001 , publisher=Garner Publishing Limited , location=Reading , isbn=1-85964-136-9 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LBO1PijX1qsC Historical geography of Uzbekistan