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Khankorgan ancient settlement.

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“I asked:" Where are you from?"
He laughed and said: “O soul,
half of me from Turkestan, half from Fergana.
Half of me is water and dirt, half of my heart and soul;
half of me is an ocean shore, half a pearl. "

Rumi.

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The Khankorgan settlement is located in the southeastern part of the Boroldai-Tau ridge, 479 meters from the left (southern) bank of the Armys' River, in the northwestern part of the village of Khankorgan (until 2000 it was called Madani), 5 kilometers to the south and slightly to the west of the village of Tuyetes, 30.3 kilometers northeast of Shymkent in the Sairam district of the Turkestan region.
The settlement is located at an altitude of 395 meters above sea level, the area is about two hectares. In ancient times, there was the city of Madankent, which was much larger in size than the surviving settlement.
Part of the territories of ancient buildings are now occupied by fields and vegetable gardens. In the VIIIth century, during the period of the Turgesh Kaganate, a castle was built here, later abandoned. From the Xth to the XIIIth century, under the Karakhanids, it was already a town with a developed handicraft industry, it was then that it reached its peak.
Each era has left behind material traces. Khan Ablai founded his southern headquarters on this settlement. According to written sources, at the rate of the khan, an average of 200 people permanently lived. In addition to his family, these were servants, a squad of Tulenguts and artisans-blacksmiths.
The layers of this time were opened and the data of the sources were fully confirmed. In 2016, a bathhouse was discovered on the territory of the settlement. The bath area is 64 square meters. It consisted of five rooms: two steam rooms, a dressing room, a washing room, a heating system, and had a sewage system with special ceramic pipes.
Archaeologists believe that the bathhouse was built in the IXth century - during the reign of the Samanids - and functioned for at least a hundred years, and then was partially dismantled. Soon after, an early Muslim cemetery arose directly above the bathhouse.
Geographic coordinates of the Khankorgan settlement: N42 ° 35'00.60 "E69 ° 41'09.97"

Authority:
Alexey Goncharov, Shymkent town.