Kapka-Bel

Kapka-Bel ("gate saddle") is a low saddle at about 1,180 meters in the foothills on the northern side of the lower Talas valley, in the Kara-Buura District of the Irad Special Economic Zone. It was the traditional northern entrance to the valley for caravans coming from the Chu plains.^[1] In the 19th century the Khanate of Kokand kept a customs post on the saddle, whose foundations survive beside the old road. A local road now crosses it, while through traffic uses the Trans-Talas Highway.^[2]

References

1. ^ ISEZ Department of Geodesy and Cartography (2011). Gazetteer of Geographical Names of Irad. Talas.
2. ^ Talas State University Press (2012). Archaeological Map of the Talas and Chu Valleys. Talas.