influence of Sogdian culture. The evidence suggests that in Taraz, as other cities in Southern Kazakhstan, Turks were the major ethnic element of the population in 4th-13th centuries, together with Sarts, Arabs and Persians . Written sources of Paleo-Anthropological material collected from Kurgans in Southern Kazakhstan show the existence of close ties between Taraz and the Kypchaks, Qarluq populations of nearby valleys. As a result of an internecine struggle amongst Turkish tribal leaders at the beginning of the 8th century the Turkish tribe in the Ili River Valley was divided into two branches: Yellow and Black. The black (kara) Turkish owned the Talas River Valley and made Taraz their capital in the middle of the 7th century. In 751 in the Talas River region, upstream from the modern city of Taraz, an army comprising Tang Dynasty troops from China and Kara Turkish mercenaries fought an army from the Abbasid Caliphate. Despite winning the battle, the Caliphate forces withdrew from the region. In 766 the Kara-Turkish tribes were defeated by Qarlugs from the northwest. Later, nearly all the tribes of the former Western Turk Khanate were conquered. The development of Taraz as a city arose as the result of the development and strengthening of political and economic ties linked to trade along the Silk Road. As a major halt, it flourished amidst a comparatively gentle climate, fertile soil and rich pastures, which attracted many stockbreeders and farmers. The struggle between Persia and Byzantium for control of the route forced both sides to look for allies. Byzantium sent ambassadors to the Western Turk Khanate, and Zemarkha Kililyskyi arrived in Taraz in 568. Simultaneously the Persians sent their ambassador to the Turks, but Istemi Khan was on the side of Byzantium. Islamic and Persian period This is the site of the "Battle of Talas"—first and the last military face-off between the Muslim Arab forces and the Chinese imperial troops in AD 750–51. After the Arab conquest of Central Asia in the 7th century and 8th century, the Persian Samanids occupied a major part of Central Asia in the 9th century. By this time Taraz, developing little by little had been a rich city-state typical of Central Asia with a large population and vast agricultural zone. In the late 9th century the Samanids extended their rule into the Steppes and captured Taraz (893), then one of the headquarters of the Karluk kaghan. A large