Shahrisabz (Uzb. Shahrisabz, Shahrisabz, Kesh – Kesh) is a city in the Kashkadarya region of Uzbekistan, located between the tributaries of the Kashkadarya river Oksuv in the north and Tankhazdarya in the south.
The population as of January 1, 2014 is 100.3 thousand inhabitants, in 1991 – 53 thousand inhabitants. There is a railway station (Kitab) and an airport.
It is located in the north-east of the region, 80 km south of Samarkand. Height above sea level 622 meters.

History
Shakhrisabz was founded over 2700 years ago. The ancient inhabitants of the city – the Sogdians were known for their crafts, trade and high culture. The city was called Kesh in ancient times.
BC Kesh was captured and included in the Achaemenid Empire.
In 329 BC, the city was captured by the troops of Alexander the Great. Since that time, Kesh has been influenced by Hellenistic culture. Ancient Greek cults and beliefs have gained some distribution here. The most famous were the cults of Hercules, Dionysus and Athena.
In the I-III centuries AD, the city was in the orbit of influence of the Kushan Empire.
In the 4th-5th centuries AD, Kesh was part of the Chionite and Kidarite states.
The rulers of Kesh from the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD issued a large number of coins. The names of the rulers of ancient and early medieval Kesh are known – Akhurpat and Shishpir. It was a large ancient and early medieval city center, and for a long time the capital of Central Sogd.
In the 6th century, it became part of the Ephthalites state. In 567-658, the Sogdian rulers of the city submitted to the Turks.

In the 8th century it was conquered by the Arabs. During the Arab invasion, the valley of Kashkadarya and especially Kesh were the epicenter of the anti-Arab and anti-Islamic liberation movement led by Muqanna, known in history as the “Rebellion of the people in white clothes.” The resistance eventually led to the decline of the capital city. One of the last rulers of Shakhrisabz was Bobo-Bek.
During the reign of the Samanid dynasty, urban life gradually moved southwest of the old Kesh to a new territory – to the location of the large village of Barknon. During the reign of the Karakhanids, the new capital of medieval Kesh, known as Shakhrisabz, finally takes shape.
During the hegemony of the Khorezmshahs (beginning of the 13th century), Kesh-Shakhrisabz was fenced for the first time defensive walls.
Shakhrisabz is known as the birthplace of Tamerlane (Timur). Tamerlane was born in the village (kishlak) of Khoja-Ilgar on the outskirts of Shakhrisabz. In the XIV – early XV centuries was his residence. By order of Timur, the Ak-Saray palace was built in Shakhrisabz.
Some representatives of the Timurid dynasty are buried in the city: Timur’s father Muhammad Taragai, Timur’s two eldest sons Jahangir and Umar Sheikh.
The modern name comes from the Persian. شهر سبز‎ – “green city”, known since the 14th century.
In the XVI-XVIII centuries, Shakhrisabz was part of the Bukhara Khanate.
In the middle of the 18th century, the Uzbek family of kenagas founded a semi-independent possession here, which retained its relative autonomy until the Russian conquest in 1869.

Archaeological sites
To the north of the small village of Kumyrtepa, Kitab district, Kashkadarya region of Uzbekistan, along the left bank of the small, low-water river Shurabsay, originating from the Zarafshan mountains, three tepas of various configurations alternate from north to south, which together make up three parts of the ancient capital city of Nautaka: Padayataktepa, Uzunkyr and Sangirtepa. In the mid-80s of the XX century, the archaeological sites of the Shurabsai microoasis, dispersed within about 5 km from each other, were first examined by N. I. Krasheninnikova, an employee of the KATE (Kesh Archaeological and Topographic Expedition). Then these three hills are defined as the citadel, the city itself and the temple of Nautaki.

Padayataktepa is the citadel of the city, with an area of ​​270 × 74 m. It is located in the northern part of the city, on the high steep bank of Shurabsay. As a result of archaeological work, four building horizons were traced on the settlement. The oldest cultural layers of the settlement date back to the 9th-8th centuries. BC e. In one of the excavations in the western part of Padayataktepa, a section of the bypass fortress wall of the Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods was traced. These walls show that the city of Nautaka had (as well as the settlement of Afrasiab in Samarkand) an aristocratic part surrounded by a separate wall – the acropolis. With the end of the reign of Alexander the Great, the city was abandoned, only the acropolis of Padayataktepa continues to settle down. A new city arises on the high right bank of the Aksu River, on the site of the Kalandartepa settlement, within the boundaries of the modern city Kitaba.

Uzunkyr – the remains of the fortress wall of the city. At present, near the village of Kumyrtepa, it can be traced in the form of a low rampart more than 650 m long and 20 m wide. At one time, the wall surrounded the territory of the entire city with an area of ​​more than 70 hectares. The original wall of the settlement was built of bun-shaped raw bricks of the 10th-9th centuries. BC e., характерных для таких древних городов Согда как, Коктепа и Афрасиаб. Later, during the reign of the Achaemenid, Seleucid and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms, large-scale repair work was carried out on the fortress walls of the city.

Sangirtepa is a separate hill, located outside the city walls, at a distance of 650 m southwest of Uzunkyr. It consists of a central hill with an area of ​​84 × 62 m, about 8 meters high. The bypass wall covers an area within 3 hectares. Since 1983, archaeological work has been carried out on the settlement by the staff of the Department of Archeology of the Tashkent State University (now the National University of Uzbekistan). As a result of archaeological excavations at Sangirtepa, a unique Zoroastrian temple with a hall in the middle, with an altar and auxiliary premises was unearthed. The temple is one of the oldest places of worship in Central Asia.