Early history The town of Kokand is one of the oldest towns in Uzbekistan and is situated in the western part of Fergana Valley. In the chronicles of the 10th century, the first written documents concerning town of Hukande, Havokande (old names of the town). In the 13th century, like most of Central Asian towns, the Mongols ruined the city. The town is a significant hub for trading on the Silk Route. Kokand has existed since at least the 10th century, under the name of
Khavakand, and was frequently mentioned in traveler's accounts of the caravan route between
South Asia and
East Asia. The
Han dynasty of China conquered the entire city in the 1st century BC. Later, the Arabs conquered the region from
Tang Empire. The
Mongols destroyed Kokand in the 13th century. The present city began as a fort in 1732 on the site of another older fortress called
Eski-Kurgan. In 1740, it became the capital of an Uzbek kingdom, the
Khanate of Kokand, which reached as far as
Kyzylorda to the west and
Bishkek to the northeast. Kokand was also the major religious center of the Fergana Valley, boasting more than 300
mosques.
Russian colonial period Imperial forces of
Russian Empire under
Mikhail Skobelev captured the city in 1883 which then became part of
Russian Turkistan. During World War I, two revolutions happened in the Russian Empire. it was the capital of the short-lived (72 days) (1917–18) anti-
Bolshevik Provisional Government of Autonomous Turkistan (also known as
Kokand Autonomy). They sought co-operation from
Ataman Dutov and
Alash Orda. However, their emissary to the
Amir of
Bukhara achieved little. In September 1918,
Bolsheviks burned down the city and massacred over ten thousand citizens during their campaign against the
Basmachi movement.
In the state of Dayuan Archaeological research of Muyi Mubarak, Tepakurgan, Eski Kurgan and other
monuments located in the city of Kokand revealed traces of earlier civilizations. In Muyi Mubarak were found several
clay shards of the 5th to 6th centuries; a clay platform, which in the 5th to 7th centuries served as the base of a monumental
building; the remains of a
fortress wall, built in the 1st to 2nd centuries of pahsa and
mudbricks, which functioned for more than 400 years. At a depth of 5 meters, a lower
cultural layer with materials dating back 2,000 years was discovered. In Tepakurgan, located in the center of the city, a platform from the
Early Middle Ages, which served as the base of a monumental
castle with semicircular towers, was discovered, as in Muyi Mubarak. The obtained artifacts give grounds to say that not later than the 7th century BC a certain part of the
territory of the present city was developed for
irrigated agriculture. And the city appeared not later than the 2nd half of the 2nd century BC and was the center of the
Sokh oasis, that is, the
capital of the regional possession, which was part of the confederal state of
Fergana ("Dayuan" of Chinese annals).
Havokand or Hokand Arab geographers and travelers of the 10th century,
Al-Istakhri and
Ibn Haukal mention the city of Khovakand or Khokand, which in distance corresponds to the present Kokand. According to written sources and local legends, there were ancient cities of
Akhsikath, Kubo (
Quva),
Rishton,
Osh, Bab (Pop),
Koson (Kashan), Mo-ar-gilon (
Margilan), Andigan (
Andijan),
Uzgen,
Isfara, Varukh,
Sokh,
Konibodom and
Khujand in Fergana already at the time of its conquest by
Arabs who established
Islam here (in the beginning of the 8th century). Arab travelers of the 10th century mention many other towns and generally notice that, besides towns, there were many large villages in Fergana. Havokand or Hokand, located on the
Silk Road between
India and
China on one side and
Persia and the
Near East on the other, may have been a major
trade center of its time. It was destroyed by the
mongolic peoples in the 13th century. == Main sights ==