A City's End, Written and Unearthed
In 1620 CE, a powerful earthquake erased the city of Akhsiket from the map. Once a thriving capital of the Fergana Valley on the Silk Road, the city was completely destroyed, and its inhabitants relocated to what is now Namangan. For centuries, the primary record of this event came from a chronicle titled "Ajoyib at-tabaqat" ("Wonders of the Regions"), written in 1640 by Sayyid Muhammad Tahir ibn Abdul Qasim. He described the event firsthand, noting that buildings were destroyed, trees were uprooted, and many people were trapped under the collapsed structures. The earthquake was so localized and intense that the fortress of Akhsiket experienced the strongest shaking, while villages just 8 kilometers away felt much weaker tremors.
The city of Akhsiket was an important center long before its destruction. Established as early as the 3rd century BCE, it grew into a major fortified city covering 30 hectares. By the 10th century, it was the capital of the Fergana Valley, containing a palace, a prison, mosques, and a large caravanserai, all protected by extensive defensive walls. The father of the Mughal Emperor Babur, Umar Shaikh Mirza II, ruled from Akhsiket in the 15th century. The city was also a known production center for high-quality Damascus steel, with archaeologists discovering fire-resistant crucibles capable of withstanding the 1,300 degrees Celsius temperatures needed for the process.