Kyzyl-Kala | |
Alternative name | Kyzyl-Kala |
---|---|
Location | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
Coordinates | 41°55′48.1″N 60°47′02.8″E / 41.930028°N 60.784111°E |
Type | Settlement |
History | |
Periods | Parthian, Sasanian |
Site notes | |
Condition | Ruined |
Kyzyl-Kala, also Qyzyl Qala ("Red fortress"), in modern Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, was an ancient fortress in Chorasmia built in the 1st-4th century AD.[1][2] The small fortress of Kyzyl-Kala is located near Toprak-Kala, about 1 km to the west, and was also built in the 1st-4th century AD, possibly as a fortified defense for the site of Toprak-Kala. Kyzyl-Kala was once restored in the 12th century. It has also been the subject of a modern renovation program, with the objective of showing what a fortress looked like originally. It is part of the "Fifty fortresses oasis" in modern-day Uzbekistan.[3] It was last occupied by Muhammad II of Khwarazm (1169, 1200-20), ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire, before it fell to the Mongol conquest of Khwarazmia.