Arguments in Favor of Identifying the Settlement of Sarybulun with Chigu
“The City of the Red Valley”
In connection with the discovery of a large settlement from the 1st millennium BC, only partially freed from the underwater captivity of Lake Issyk-Kul, we are entitled to raise a quite reasonable question: could the settlement of Sarybulun be the ruins of the long-sought city of Chigu?
In favor of the legitimacy of our proposed identification, the following arguments can be put forward:
1. The settlement of Sarybulun is located on the southeastern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, where, according to written sources, the historical Chigu was supposed to be. Previous searches by scholars for the ruins of this city did not go beyond the triangle of Tyup — Karakol — Tosor.
2. The large area of distribution and the dense saturation of its remains of material culture indicate that this was not an ordinary wintering site, but a significant settlement for its time, among which there were substantial structures. Written sources, as mentioned above, only refer to one relatively large settlement in the land of the Usuns — Chigu.
3. An indirect confirmation of the Sarybulun - Chigu hypothesis may be the etymology of the term Chigu — “Red Valley.” A. N. Bernshatam once attached decisive importance to this etymology. He suggested looking for Chigu in areas where red-colored rocks are found — from Jety-Oguz to the Juu-Ky valley. The flat valley where the previously submerged settlement of Sarybulun is located is also red. The red color is given to it by the abundantly growing low variety of wormwood (camel's desert) which is not green or gray, but truly red. The reasons for the unusual metamorphosis of the color of plants at the former bottom of the lake will be discussed by specialists. For us, it is important that the valley, both in our time and in ancient times, can quite rightly be called red.
Therefore, it can be assumed that the settlement located on it could be named “The City of the Red Valley.” In fact, the modern Kyrgyz toponym Sarybulun (yellow corner) also belongs to the category of color toponymy, according to the laws of which the color “sary” (yellow) is in the same row as “kızıl” (red). Both terms are equivalent, and there are known variants of toponyms with their interchangeability.
The attachment of the historical Chigu to a specific settlement has important scientific significance. If further research confirms our assumption, then the sparse written history of the city — the residence of the Usun kunbags will not only receive an accurate localization on the ground but also a solid factual basis resting on impartial and numerous archaeological materials. The identification of the settlement of Sarybulun with Chigu already now, at the preliminary stage of summarizing archaeological materials, allows for the establishment of many previously unknown facts that have not only historical and cognitive significance but also political importance.
The most important of them:
1. Chigu was not founded by any foreigners in the 2nd century BC, as presented in some contemporary works by foreign scholars. It already existed and was only first mentioned in Chinese chronicles in connection with the events of that time. Life at the settlement is documented by archaeological finds at least 500 years earlier than this first mention, which allows for the assumption of the location of the residence of early Saka leaders here.
2. Chigu was not only a city-residence of a nomadic ruler but also a city of craftsmen and farmers.
3. The culture of the sedentary population of the Pre-Issyk-Kul region in the 1st millennium BC was closely linked to the culture of Central Asian settlements, primarily Fergana.
A find indicating the construction of a palace-type structure at the Issyk-Kul settlement of Sarybulun
