Ayaz-Kala Fortresses

Ayaz-Kala is the name of a group of fortresses at the edge of the Kyzylkum, built over about a thousand years to guard the farmland of ancient Khorezm against raids from the steppe. They belong to the oasis known as Elliq-Kala, “fifty fortresses”, in the north-east of the old Khorezm delta, now in Karakalpakstan.

Ayaz-Kala 1

The largest fortress crowns a hill about 100 metres high. Built at the end of the fourth or start of the third century BC, around the time Khorezm became independent of Persia, it is a rectangle of roughly 180 by 150 metres. Its walls, up to 10 metres high, were double, with a vaulted corridor between them and some forty-five semicircular towers. The gate on the south side was designed as a trap: attackers had to pass along the wall under fire before entering a small enclosed court overlooked on all sides. The interior seems never to have been densely built up, and the fort may have served as a refuge for the surrounding farms.

Ayaz-Kala 2 and 3

Below and to the south-west, Ayaz-Kala 2 sits on a conical hill about 40 metres high. Its oval main building, of the sixth to eighth centuries AD, was the fortified residence of a local lord, with halls, a fire temple and wall paintings. A long ramp led up to it. Ayaz-Kala 3, on the plain, is a large enclosure of earlier centuries AD with the ruins of farmsteads around it.

Legend

Local legend names the fortress after Ayaz, a slave who served a cruel master and was freed, or in other versions a hero who defended the land. The tale is folklore, and the true name of the fortress in antiquity is unknown.

Experiencing it

Climb Ayaz-Kala 1 in the late afternoon: it takes 20–30 minutes on a sandy path. From the walls you see the Kyzylkum, the salt lake of Ayaz-Kul, the yurt camp below and, on clear days, other fortresses on the horizon. A night in the yurt camp brings dark skies and silence.