Widely known across the Orient, the medieval city of Otrar stands at the point where several branches of the Great Silk Road crossed this region from 3rd century B.C. on. It became famous as a birth place of Abu Nasr al-Farabi, an outstanding encyclopedic scientist. Otrar was a large political, economical, cultural and trade centre which played an important role in the history of Central Asia. In the 6-8th centuries Otrar-Farab was the capital of a big early feudal domain in the middle confluence of the Syrdaria. In the 9th-12th centuries Otrar became the principal town of the region. In the 13th-15th centuries it was one of the biggest towns of South Kazakhstan and in the 16th-18th centuries it was the political and economical centre of the Kazakh Kaganate.