Turkistan (city)
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Turkistan Түркістан |
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Mausoleum of Khwaja Ahmad Yasavi
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 Turkistan
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| Coordinates: 43°17′N 68°16′E / 43.283°N 68.267°E | |
| Country | Kazakhstan |
| Region | South Kazakhstan Region |
| Government | |
| • Akim (mayor) | Ashirbekov Bakitzhan Aydarhanovich |
| Population (2009) | |
| • City | 227,098 |
| • Urban | 142,899 |
Coordinates: 43°17′51.75″N 68°16′15.80″E / 43.2977083°N 68.2710556°E
Turkistan (Kazakh: Түркістан, Türkistan, تٷركئستان), formerly known as Turkestan (Russian: Туркестан; Uzbek: Turkiston, Туркистон, توركىستان), is a city in the South Kazakhstan Region of Kazakhstan, near the Syr Darya river. It is situated 160 km (100 mi) north-west of Shymkent on the Trans-Aral Railway between Kyzylorda to the north and Tashkent to the south. Its population has increased within ten years from 102,505 (1999 Census results) to 142,899 (2009 Census results).
Turkistan is one of Kazakhstan's historic cities with an archaeological record dating back to the 4th century.
During the Han dynasty it may even have been Beitan, the summer capital of ancient Kangju (康居), which is mentioned in the Hanshu.
It became a commercial centre after the final demise of Otrar, the medieval city whose ruins lie near the Syr Darya to the southeast. Throughout most of the medieval and early-modern period it was known as Yasi or Shavgar and after the 16th-17th centuries as Turkistan or Hazrat, both of which names derive from the title 'Hazrat-i Turkistan', which literally means "the Saint (or Blessed One) of Turkistan" and refers to Khoja Akhmet Yassawi, the Sufi Sheikh of Turkistan, who lived here during the 11th century CE and is buried in the town.
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