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The Great Khanates of the East

Itinerary:

Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan
Duration:

17 days / 16 nights
Price:

on request

At the end of the Mongol federation, the Great Empire of Chengiz Khan disintegrated into several vassal states more popularly known as ‘ the khanates’ The Mongol ulus was divided and segregated according to the groupings or hordes of their leadership into ordas or hordes. The first divisions of such kind were marked during the life time of the Great Khan dividing his Great Empire among his sons but soon after his death, his predecessors could not maintain cohesion of tribal bondage thereby falling into small independent khanates. We see 15th century AD as the as the land supremacy era and the beginning of the warfare among these khanates. This resulted in cutting short of the smaller groups with the emergence of bigger and powerful Khanates of Central Asia.

Scythians were supplanted by the Turkic speakers from the east who spread into various tribal groupings. The invasion of Mongols had great impact on the region who held their Karaultai the grand assembly in the steppes- this must have been the great Jirga or gathering. This was happening at a time when the Mongol empire was at its zenith. The sons of Chengiz Khan inherited their land under the unity of their father who started distribution of Mongol empire resulting in the emergence Great Khanates in the whole region. Mongols had reached the Don and had threatened the European kingdoms. The timely retreat of the Mongols was infact the success story of the tribes. Then with a passage of time these khanates were involved in internal warfare resulting in the weakened federation. It was then the Kazakh groups united under the strong leadership of Abul Khair Khan who fought many successive battles against the enemies including Dzungars. It was then the beginning of the imperial Russian forces which spread their arm across the country. When the first of the Russians arrived at the shores of Caspian Sea, they saw wild Kazakh tribes hunting seals and subsisting on fishing. It was of great interest to them and they started extending their arm of friendship and assistance to these tribes thereby educating them to the new world. The downfall of Russian Empire resulted in the emergence of Bolshevik rule with the formation of Soviet Union. After the dismemberment of Soviet Union Kazakhstan declared its independence as the last of the Central Asian Republics in 1991.

The Great Khanates of the East is a well tailored tour which will give you an insight into the predecessor races of the Great Mongol Empire.

Tour program

Itinerary of «The Great Khanates of the East»

Day 01: Arrive Ashgabat
Meeting on arrival, assistance and transfer to hotel
Overnight

Day 02: Ashgabat/Mary – Flt
Morning flight to Mary and on arrival transfer to hotel
Later proceed on excursion to Merve – see the archaeological site which was once the important town of the Transoxiana. Merve was under the Achaemenid empire 5^th BC then was part of the Macedonian dominion under Alexander the Great who claimed the lost provinces of the Persian empire. It was the ransacking and depopulation of city under the Mongols that city never rose to her eminence. We see the great site of human history in detail
return in the late afternoon to Mary visit the local museum
Meals and overnight

Day 03: Mary/Ashgabat – Flt
Morning flight back to Ashgabat and on arrival transfer to hotel
Later we shall have sightseeing tour of Ashgabat visit Carpet Museum, History
Museum and Nissa archaeological site
We shall later have a visit of Nisa archaeological site – the winter capital of the
Parthians 1^st BC. Afterwards visit State Museum of History which has an excellent collection of objet d’art from various sites.
Meals and overnight

Day 04: Ashgabat
This is an interesting day as the highlight will be a visit to ‘Tolkuchka Bazaar’ the
Famous Sunday market – see the culmination of Turkmen tribes bringing in their products from the country side and the deserts. See the activity in the carpet selling section of the bazaar with various Turkmen tribes – yomud, tekke, sariks and many others whose names are reflected in the world famous carpets with their tribal designs and affinities.
Meals and overnight

Day 05: Ashgabat/Dashoguz – Flt
Dashoguz/Khiva – 78 kms
Morning flight to Dashoguz and on arrival proceed on excursion to Kunya Urgench –
Capital site of famous Khorezm State. This was ransacked during the Mongol invasion of 13^th century AD and was considered as the beginning of the Mongol expansion to the waters of Don and Volga.
We shall see pre and post Mongolid period monuments and shall return later to Dashoguz, crossing over into Uzbekistan. Later continue to Khiva and on arrival
Transfer to hotel
Meals and overnight

Day 06: Khiva
until the advent of imperial Russian forces, the Khanate of Khiva was standing as a fortified wall against the foreign invaders. Russians had their own reasons being in competition with the British Empire which had consolidated herself firmly in the northwestern of India after subduing the smaller states of the Moghul Empire. Khiva
then was considered as an important state since this will give them affirming their control over the Transoxiana territories checking any possible advance of the British which were calling shots at Kabul in 1870s. After difficult earlier attempts the Russian forces were able to capture the stronghold of Khiva with strong impact of destroying the walls of Khiva fortress in 1873 and getting the abdication of the Khan of Khiva.
Today Khiva represents as the living museum of Central Asia – we visit monuments of the past Khiva – the fortress, the administrative quarters, mausoleums and madrassahs converted into small museums during the Soviet era.
Meals and overnight

Day 07: Khiva/Kizilkum/Bukhara – 430 kms
Morning depart for Bukhara via Kizilkum(red sands) – we shall make short stop at the sight of Amudarya(Oxus river)
picnic lunch enroute
arrival in the late afternoon and transfer to hotel
evening short walk to Lyabikhauz – see the local gathering around the pool of the city
Dinner and overnight

Day 08: Bukhara
The powerful Khanate of Bukhara was the most imposing of western khanates of Central Asia. The city of Bukhara was the stronghold of the khanate and it controlled
the routes to the west with an authoritarian hand in the eastern part of the weak administration of Samarkand. The khanate of Bukhara rose to eminence during the
Sheybanid rule when they swayed across to the banks of Amudarya with neighboring tribes came in to the allegiance of the Bukharan Khans.
Bukhara still retains its intriguing character with old houses and buildings which attract the beholder with its architecture.
We shall see all the day going through the most historic parts of the city
Meals and overnight

Day 09: Bukhara/Shakre Sabz/Samarkand – 378 kms
Morning departure for Samarkand via Shakre Sabz, the birthplace of Tamerlane.
Tamerlane during his earlier days roamed around gathering followers and transformed his army into the most powerful band of soldiers who later captured
the seat of Samarkand, which became the future capital of the powerful Timurid Kingdom.
In Shakre Sabz – the green city we shall visit Timurid period monuments, with a visit to the ruins of Ak Saray Palace whose imposing pishtak reveals an impressive and imposing structure which has been testified by the visiting Spanish ambassador Don Clavijo at the court of Tamerlane
Later we shall continue to Samarkand and on arrival transfer to hotel
Meals and overnight

Day 10: Samarkand
The maracanda of the classical writers, Samarkand is like a beautiful gem of the ancient cities of the world. Alexander the Great, held his breath to the beauty of this city and supposedly here got married to his Sogdian bride, Roxane.
Samarkand was the jewel city of Tamerlane being the capital of powerful Timurid
Kingdom and whose adoration, Tamerlane took personal interest by constructing
Palaces, gardens and madrassahs on the pattern of Isfahan.
We shall visit the important monuments of the city
Meals and overnight

Day 11: Samarkand/Tashkent – 330 kms
Morning depart for Tashkent the metropolis of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
On arrival transfer to hotel
Later in the day we shall have city sightseeing tour of capital city
Meals and overnight

Day 12: Tashkent/Kokand/Ferghana – 368kms
We shall depart by road for Ferghana valley more known to the world than the yet another powerful khanate of Kokand. The Khanate of Kokand was extended upto Yarkand into present day Xingjiang province of China. This influence continued till the 19^th century. Present day Kokand was the seat of the Khan of Kokand whose influence could be seen to Tashkent. The valley of Ferghana which ran through the heart of Kokand Khanate is regarded as the home of many Central Asian rulers. This was the birthplace of Babur the Great, the founder of Moghul dynasty in India.
We shall pass through the high Kamchik pass with stop over at Kokand to see the Fort residence of the former rulers of Kokand. Also visit the pottery works in Rishton which are known for their coloration and style
On arrival at Ferghana, transfer to hotel
Meals and overnight

Day 13: Ferghana/Osh – 119 kms
Morning we shall visit the Yodgarlik Silk factories – see the traditional weaving of Silk fabric. Later proceed to the border cross over into Kyrgyzstan and continue to Osh and on arrival transfer to hotel
after lunch we shall make short excursion to Uzgend caravan city of Karakhanid period 11^th/12^th AD. Karakhanids were the powerful eastern khanate rulers who held the influence in the lower regions of Tienshan ranges
Return in the late afternoon
Meals and overnight

Day 14: Osh/Bishkek – Flt
Bishkek/Issikul – 254 kms
Early morning flight to Bishkek and on arrival immediate departure for Issikul
Kyrgyzstan is more of a pastoral culture which rose in the Chu valley with Kyrgyz
nomadic tribes forming a confederation under local ‘Chobans’ they still inhabit the
high pastoral grounds of Tienshan ranges.
Enroute we shall make a short visit to Burana to see another of the Karakhanid,
Caravan city ruins. Later continue to Issikul the pastoral home of the Kyrgyz tribes.
On arrival transfer to Royal Beach resort
Meals and overnight

Day 15: Issikul/Bishkek – 254 kms
Morning short visit of Cholpan Ata, see the rock drawings and local museum. Later
depart for Bishkek and on arrival transfer to hotel
afternoon short visit of Bishkek town see the History Museum, the bazaar and
Frunze’s house
Meals and overnight

Day 16: Bishkek/Almaty – 236 kms
Morning departure for Almaty and on arrival transfer to hotel
Afternoon we shall have the sightseeing tour of Almaty visit Panfilov Park, St.
Thomas’s Cathedral, the history museum and the Medeo
We shall have farewell dinner at Kazak Aul with local music
Overnight

Day 17: Almaty/Depart
Transfer to airport for flight to your destination
Assistance on departure
Details

Details of itinerary & map

The Great Khanates of the East
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Price available on request.
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