apital and later Kangui collapsed into several independent states mainly situated in the Syr Darya valley and its inflows of Keles and Atysi. According to the coins, in the 6th to 8th centuries, Kangu Tarban was ruled by a local dynasty of the Kangar Turks, and their capital became a Tarban town named Turarband that was later to be called Otrar. Since the times of the golden hordes, the ruins of Otrar have been attractive because of rumours about the treasures of the ancient rulers, and about buried piles of gold coins and jewelry. The source of such legends was perhaps confirmed by the archaeological finds of various coins and jewelry.
The prosperity of Otrar was interrupted by the Mongol invasion of Central Asia. In 1218 Genghis Khan sent to Otrar, and the Khoresmshakh Mohammed II's court, a trade caravan. The caravan was robbed upon arrival in accordance with orders by Mohammed to Inalchik Kair-khan, the governor of the town. He thought spies were secreted in the caravan. Through his envoy, Genghis Khan ordered that the guilty men be punished and that they give him Kair-khan. However, the khoresmshakh ordered his people to execute the Mongol.
In autumn 1219, Genghis Khan‘s troops approached Otrar walls. Shortly before, the Mongols appeared in Köneürgenç, the capital of the Khwarezmian Empire, where a war council had taken place and where one of the commanders proposed to open the battle against the Mongols. But Mohammed II chose another way. He dispersed his troops by garrisons throughout the towns, allowing the commanders to fight singly. The sources describe the defense of Otrar as follows:
...Before the Mongols came to Otrar town they had put marquees around the town. Sultan gave Kair-Khan fifty thousand people from the frontier troops and sent Karach Khodzhib to help him with more than ten thousand people. The citadel was fortified and a lot of weapons were collected for the troops. Kair-Khan made all the preparations to fight
