It takes roughly an hour to drive from Khiva to Biruniy and a further hour to get to Ayaz

The early medieval feudal fort of Ayaz qala 2 as seen from the edge of Ayaz qala 1.

The site is best viewed from the top of Ayaz qala 1. 

Satellite image of Ayaz qala 2. Image courtesy of Google Earth.



Schematic plan of Ayaz qala 2.
Image courtesy of Associate Professor Alison Betts, University of Sydney Central Asian Programme.

In the absence of any serious excavations, archaeologists suspect that the fort was built at some time between the 6th to the 8th centuries AD, a period when Khorezm was ruled by the Afrigid dynasty of Khorezmshahs. As Khorezm had expanded and grown prosperous, a new class of feudal landowners had emerged. They were the offspring of the ancient nobility, senior courtiers, or those who had been rewarded for loyal military service. They were known as dihqans and their agricultural estates were called rustaq. Most lived in small square-shaped forts (called donjons) surrounded by a defensive wall, generally located at the head of the canal that watered their agricultural lands. From there they ruled over their individual fiefdoms, composed of the families of feudal serfs who worked and managed their lands and the craftsmen who produced their necessities. Most of these feudal donjons have disappeared during the past seventy years as a result of widescale agricultural development, but an important example known as Yakke Parsan still stands only 10km due south of Ayaz qala.