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Jetisu (Kazakh:Жетісу,IPA:[(d)ʑetʰɪ̥sʊ́w]),[1][2] also known asSemirechye (Russian:Семиречье,IPA:[sʲɪmʲɪˈrʲetɕje]) andHeptopotamia, is a historical region inCentral Asia corresponding to the southeastern part of modernKazakhstan.
Jetisu[a] is also transcribedJeti-Suu (Kyrgyz:Жети-Суу,romanized: Jeti-Suu,pronounced[dʑetɪˈsuː]),Zhetisu,[5][6]Jetisuw,[7][8]Jetysu,[9][10]Jeti-su[11][12] orJity-su,[13]
The name comes from "seven rivers" inKazakh but meant "abounding in water", in contrast to the dry steppes of the eastern Balkhash area. It owes its name to the rivers that flow from the southeast intoLake Balkhash. Jetisu primarily falls into today'sJetisu Region andAlmaty Region and other South-Eastern parts of Kazakhstan and some parts of Northern Kyrgyzstan.
The lands of the 19th-centurySemirechye Oblast included thesteppes south ofLake Balkhash and parts of theTian Shan Mountains around LakeIssyk Kul. The province had an area of 147,300 km², and was bounded by the province ofSemipalatinsk on the north, byChina (Xinjiang) on the east and south, and by the former Russian provinces ofFergana,Syr-darya, andAkmolinsk on the west.
TheDzungarian Alatau Mountains, which separated it from the Chinese region ofKulja, extend south-west towards the riverIli, with an average height of 2,700 m (9,000 ft) above the sea, several isolated snow-clad peaks reaching 3,400 to 4,300 m (11,000 to 14,000 ft). In the south, the region embraces the intricate systems of theAla-Tau and the Tian Shan. Two ranges of the former, the Trans-Ili Ala-tau and the Terskey Ala-tau, stretch along the north shore of Lake Issyk Kul, both ranging from 3,000 to 4,600 m (10,000 to 15,000 ft) and both partially snow-clad. South of the lake, two ranges of the Tian Shan, separated by the valley of theNaryn, stretch in the same direction, lifting up their icy peaks to 1,800 and 2,400 m (6,000 and 8,000 ft); while westwards from the lake the precipitous slopes of the Alexander chain, 2,700 to 3,000 m (9,000 to 10,000 ft) high, with peaks rising 900 to 1,200 m (3,000 to 4,000 ft) higher, extend into the former province of Syr-darya (containing the southern Kazakh cities ofChimkent,Auliye-ata andTurkestan). Another mountain complex of much lower elevation runs north-westwards from the Trans-Ili Ala-tau towards the southern extremity of Lake Balkhash. In the north, where the province bordered Semipalatinsk, it included the western parts of the Tarbagatai range, the summits of which (3,000 m or 10,000 ft) do not reach the limit of perpetual snow. The remainder of the province consisted of a fertile steppe in the north-east (Sergiopol), and vast uninhabitable sand-steppes on the south of Lake Balkhash. Southwards from these at the foot of the mountains and at the entrance to the valleys, there are rich areas of fertile land.
The climate in Jetisu is thoroughly continental. In the Balkhash steppes the winter is very cold. The lake freezes every year, with temperatures falling to −11 °C (13 °F). In the Ala-kul steppes the winds blow away the snow. The passage from winter to spring is very abrupt, and the steppes are rapidly clothed with vegetation, which, however, is soon scorched by the sun. Average temperatures atAlmaty (733 m, 2,405 ft high) are: for the year 8 °C (46 °F), for January −8 °C (17 °F), for July 23 °C (74 °F). AtPrzhevalsk (1,660 m, 5,450 ft): for the year 2.5 °C (36.5 °F), for January −5 °C (23 °F), for July 17 °C (63 °F); still higher in the mountains, atNaryn (2,100 m, 6,900 ft), the average temperature for the year is only 6.5 °C (43.7 °F), for January −17 °C (1.4 °F), for July 18 °C (64.4 °F).
The most important river is theIli, which enters Jetisu from the Tian Shan mountains of China'sIli Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in northernXinjiang, and drains it for 250 km before it enters Lake Balkhash. TheChu River also rises in the Tian Shan mountains and flows north-westwards through the former Akmolinsk province of theGovernor-Generalship of the Steppes. TheNaryn River flows south-westwards along alongitudinal valley of the Tian Shan, and enters theFergana Valley to join theSyr Darya. The major lakes of the area include Lake Balkhas (or Denghiz) and Lake Ala Kul, which was connected with Balkash in the post-Pliocene period but now stands some hundred feet higher, connected by a chain of smaller lakes with Sissyk Kul, LakeIssyk-Kul, and the alpine lakes ofSon-Kul andChatyr-Kul.
The population was estimated in 1906 as 1,080,700.Kazakhs formed 76% of the population,Russians formed 14%, andTaranchi (Uyghurs) formed 5.7%.
History of the central steppe has an outline history with links to the many peoples who lived in this area.
In the sixth through third centuries BC, theIranianSakas (Scythians) established their first state, whose center was in Jetisu.[14] In the mid 6th century, the Turkic nomads subordinated Jetisu, Central Kazakhstan, andKhorezm.[15]
The area belonged toDzungar Khanate in the 17th century. WhenDzungar Khanate was conquered by theQing dynasty in 1755, the area formed part of the Qing dynasty and was under the direct rule of thegeneral of Ili (Chinese:伊犁將軍,Yīlí jiāngjūn [zh]), headquartered at the fort ofHuiyuan (then more often known as Ili or New Kuldja)[16] about 30 km (19 mi) west ofGhulja (Yining). Most of Jetisu was annexed by theRussian Empire from Qing China in 1854,[17] before the outbreak of theCrimean War, which delayed the southern advance. The territorial change was confirmed by theTreaty of Tarbagatai, where Russia gained about 350,000 square miles of territory at the expense ofChinese Xinjiang.[18] The two major Russian fortresses and garrisons in the region,Verny andPishpek, were founded in 1854 on the sites of former Kokandian fortresses on the Steppe frontier.
From 1867 to 1884 this province was made part ofRussian Turkestan, and from then until 1899 it was incorporated in theGovernor-Generalship of the Steppes before reverting to Russian Turkestan that year. The province was divided into six districts, the chief towns of which wereVerny (the capital),Jarkent,Kopal,Pishpek,Przhevalsk andSergiopol.
Before theRussian Revolution of 1917 the chief occupation of the Russians, the Taranchis and the Dzungars, and partly also of the Kazakhs of the region, wasagriculture. The most important crops were wheat, barley, oats, millet, rice and potatoes. A variety of oil-bearing plants and green fodder, as also cotton, hemp, flax and poppies, were grown. Livestock breeding was very extensively carried on by the Kazakhs, namely, horses, cattle, sheep, camels, goats and pigs.Orchards and fruit gardens were well-developed; and the Russian Imperial crown maintained two model gardens.Bee-keeping was widely spread. The factories consisted of flour-mills, distilleries, tanneries and tobacco works; but a great many domestic trades, including carpet-weaving and the making of felt goods, saddlery and iron goods, were carried on, among both the settled inhabitants and the nomadic Kazakhs. There was also trade withChina, valued at less than half a million sterling annually in 1911. From 1905, after theRussian-Japanese war and the construction of theTrans-Aral Railway, the settlement of Russian people in the area increased greatly under the guidance of the new Migration Department inSt. Petersburg (Переселенческое Управление). The province was administered byVasile Balabanov under GeneralAlexander Dutov until the Bolshevik take-over in 1921, when both Dutov and Balabanov escaped to China.
After theCentral Asian Revolt of 1916 and theRussian Revolution of 1917 theProvisional Government's authority in the region collapsed. Approximately 2,500 Russian settlers are thought to have been killed by the Kazakhs in the violence that followed in Jetisu, and this was followed by equally bloody reprisals against the nomadic population, led by the (all-Russian) workers' & soldiers'Soviets inTashkent and Verny. Bolshevik control was reimposed in 1918-21 in a series of campaigns led byMikhail Frunze, after whom the town ofPishpek in Jetisu was renamed. In 1924, Jetisu was incorporated in the southern portion of the newKazakh ASSR by the newSoviet Union, and, in 1931, this was made a fullSoviet Republic and nominally independent of Russia. In 1936 theKyrgyz ASSR, which incorporated the southern portion of Jetisu, also became a Soviet Republic. In late 1991, both republics declared their independence from the Soviet Union, forming the new nations ofKazakhstan andKyrgyzstan respectively.
The name ofOnsu County (Wensu) in nearbyAksu Prefecture,Xinjiang, China similarly means "ten water" in Uyghur and other Turkic languages- both names consist of a number followed by 'su' (river; water).[19] The name 'Aksu' in nearbyAksu Prefecture is Turkic for 'white water'.[20]Kizilsu, name of a river and of a nearby prefecture in Xinjiang, means "red water" (克孜勒苏河).[21]
Jeti-suu
Jeti Suu{...}Seven Waters
The Qarluqs conquered the entire province of Yedi-Su
Participated in the 1916 uprising in Yedi Su.
Tourism in Zhetisu, one of the most picturesque regions in Kazakhstan, is on the rise.
"Sedmorechie" today (in Russian), meaning "Seven rivers" (Kazakh- Zhetisu, Jetisuw, Jetysu)
Rebellious eastern clans founded the Kazak Horde in the Jeti-suw region (to the south of Balkash Lake).{...}The Kazak Horde was established in the Jeti-suw region (1456) as a vassal state to Moghulistan
Jetysu («Seven Rivers» from Kazakh «jety» — «seven», «su» — «water») is a vast region in the historical and cultural aspect, located in the southeast of Kazakhstan. Jetysu is surrounded by steppes and foothills of Saryarka, Kazakh Altay, Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan.
Performed in the sanctuaries for many centuries, numerous sacrificial rites testify to the stability of religious rites on the territory of Jeti-Su.
Jeti-Su the Jeti-su has been a key region of Central Asia for at least a millennium.
Jity-su (Kazakhstan)
温宿，维吾尔语意为"十股水"
阿克苏市，维吾尔语意为"白水城"，
The Kizilsu Surkhab (Kizilsu being Turkish forRed Water, and Surkhab the Persian forRed Water) has its source near the psas of Ton Murum in Transalai, and, with it broad fertile valley, forms the boundary between the Alai mountains and Transalai, the most northerly range of Pamir.
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