Serdar (city)

Serdar Kyzyl-Arvat (1881-1992) Кызыл-Арват (in Russian) Gyzylarbat (1992-1999)
Serdar Location in Turkmenistan
Coordinates: 38°59′N 56°17′E / 38.983°N 56.283°E / 38.983; 56.283
Country	Turkmenistan
Province	Balkan Province
Population  (1989 census)[3]
• Total	over 80 000[1]/89 600[2]
Area code(s)	+993 246

Serdar (formerly Kyzyl-Arvat or Gyzylarbat)^[4] is a city with district status in Turkmenistan, located north-west of the capital, Ashkhabad on the M37 highway to the Caspian Sea. The population of Serdar is 50,000 people, mainly Turkmen. The main language spoken in the region is Turkmen. It is near the northwest end of the line of oases on the north slope of the Kopet Dag that extends southeast to Ashkhabad.^[5]

Name[]

"Kyzyl-Rabat" and later evolution[]

The 8th-9th-century fortification in this place was called Kyzyl-Rabat, "red fortress". In the 16th-17th centuries this name was corrupted in the vernacular to Kyzyl-Arbat. In 1925, during Soviet rule, a district called Kizyl-Arvat^[6] (Russian: Кызыл-Арбат) was established.

Serdar[]

On 29 December 1999 the town was renamed from Kizyl-Arvat to Serdar.^[6] The word serdar is a loan word from Persian meaning "leader" and is a reference to the first President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov.^{[citation needed]}

Location[]

The city is located on the edge of the Karakum Desert at the foot of the Kopet-Dag ridge.^[7]

History[]

In ancient times, the region was inhabited by the Dahae,^{[citation needed]} an Iranian people.

Serdar is at the site of the old Persian city of (Parau).^[7]

During the Russian conquest several exploring expeditions reached here, but the main fighting was at Geok Tepe. The modern city was established in 1881 with a station on the Trans-Caspian Railway.^[8]

In July 1918, following his declaration of martial law in Ashgabat, Commissar V. Frolov, head of the Tashkent Cheka, came to Kyzyl-Arvat to impose the authority of the Tashkent Soviet. However the railway workers had heard of his execution of strike leaders in Ashgabat and organised an armed response. He was shot with some of his followers and the rest were disarmed. This action opened the way to the formation of the Transcaspian Government.^[9]

On 25 June 1957, the Soviet 58th Motor Rifle Division was established in Kyzyl-Arvat, from the 58th Rifle Division which had arrived years earlier.^[10]

After independence[]

During the reign of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the city has expanded to the north-west: a house of culture, a carpet factory, a secondary school, a kindergarten, an art school, a shopping center, a sports complex with a stadium, a swimming pool and playgrounds for various sports have been erected. In addition, the infrastructure of the city was updated. In particular, a new railway and bus station, a flyover bridge and a collector for absorbing mudflows, sewage treatment plants, and a number of other engineering facilities were built here.

Private construction of the northern outskirts of the city is planned. Urban road infrastructure has been upgraded in recent years.

Transportation[]

Serdar station is on the Trans-Caspian railway. Construction began in 1879 of a narrow-gauge railway to Gyzylarbat in connection with the Russian conquest of Transcaspia under General Mikhail Skobelev.

Road transport includes bus, there are 2 bus routes. ^[11] Small PAZ buses serve the local population.

Climate[]

Serdar has a cool desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk), with cool winters and very hot summers. Rainfall is generally light and erratic, and occurs mainly in the winter and autumn months.

Coordinates: 38°59′N 56°17′E / 38.983°N 56.283°E / 38.983; 56.283

References[]