The Legend of the City of Barskhan
BARSKHAN - THE CITY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
The medieval historian of the Persian and Arab world, Abu Said ibn Mahmud Gardizi, in his work "Zayn al-Akhbar" ("The Beauty of Narratives"), provides a description of several cities on the southern shore of Issyk-Kul, some of which later sank underwater. These are the cities of Yar, Ton, and Barskhan, where the great linguist Mahmud Kashgari was born, the author of the famous dictionary of ancient Turkic dialects ("Divan lugat at-turk") with a map of the world, in the center of which he placed his homeland - Issyk-Kul.
Gardizi also recounts the legend of the founding of the city of Barskhan (modern-day Barskoon) on the shores of Issyk-Kul.
...Alexander the Great, having conquered the Persian Empire in 329-324 BC, took hostages from noble families to prevent potential rebellions. On his campaign to China and India, he, in order not to be burdened by noble Persians on the way, left them on the shores of Issyk-Kul. The sons of Persian nobles, losing hope of returning home, built a small town here in their own style, which they named Barskhan. Painters decorated the houses with polychrome multi-tiered panels, similar to those used in their homeland in Sogdiana and Ustrushana.
Their study is yet to be undertaken by scholars. However, it seems that, as with Darhan, part of the city soon sank underwater, while the other part remained on the elevated plateau of the coast and was later plowed.
You can walk along the sandy wild shore north of the modern village of Darhan and see nothing, understand nothing...
But the coastal "wildness" is deceptive. From time to time, waves wash ashore archaeological items of various purposes. Thus, among the finds from the bottom of the lake in this area, one can find items from the Saka culture and the Usun period, but most of all, items from the early Middle Ages. In the lakeside area, the Torkul has been preserved - the citadel of a medieval city, from what was once a large group of similar monuments, plowed in the last century.
The settlement of Darhan occupied an exceptionally important geographical position - it controlled the gorge and the Juu-Ka pass, the most convenient crossing through the Terskey Ala-Tuu along the route of the Great Silk Road.
Legends
