The Syr Darya: Lost Cities Along Central Asia’s Secret River

The Hugh Leach Memorial Lecture 2026

Nick Fiedling, 18 November 2026 14.00 GMT
At the Royal Astronomical Society and Online

For centuries, the only way to cross the vast steppes and deserts of Central Asia was by following the course of the Syr Darya River, from its source in the Pamir Mountains to the northern coast of the Aral Sea. From there, traders could continue on to Sarai on the Volga or to the trading ports of Crimea. It was the only route that could reliably guarantee water and protection from marauding bands of bandits and slavers. A vast network of interconnected cities and caravan trails grew up along the river’s banks, supported by the Mongols, for whom this route was used to maintain and resupply the Golden Horde in southern Russia.

But by the end of the 14th century, Tamerlane had turned on his erstwhile allies and brought devastation to much of Central Asia. As European sailors opened up maritime trade routes to the east, the once-great cities fell into decline. Today, their names – Otrar, Sauran, Sygynak, and Chirik Rabat – are known only to a few specialists.

In this talk, Nick Fielding, who has travelled extensively along the river, brings these and other cities back to life and explains what led to their decline.

Nick Fielding is a British journalist and author who has focused in recent years on Central Asia, a region he first visited over 40 years ago. His work includes Travellers in the Great Steppe: From the Papal Envoys to the Russian Revolution and South to the Great Steppe: The Travels of Thomas and Lucy Atkinson in Eastern Kazakhstan, 1847–1852, as well as edited editions of writings by Chokan Valikhanov and Lucy Atkinson.

Earlier in his career, he was a senior reporter at the The Sunday Times and chief investigative reporter at the Mail on Sunday, also working for The Independent.