Ala-Buka


Ala-Buka a village which is the capital of Ala-Buka District of Jalal-Abad Region, Kyrgyzstan. Its population was 10,813 in 2009.
It is about 25 km southwest of Kerben, Kyrgyzstan on the main highway. Kassan-Say reservoir is located to the southwest. 8 km away is the 12th century Mausoleum of Safed-Bulan and Shah Fasil, a place of pilgrimage. Shah Fasil is reputed to have first brought Islam to the area. Safed Bulan was a pious woman who is said to have buried the heads of Muslim soldiers who were beheaded after a battle.
Western Jalal-Abad Region: The road continues west past Terek-Say and over the west end of the Chatkal Range, then north and northeast up the Chatkal Valley. To the west of the bend is the Besh-Aral State Reserve at the far west end of Jalal-Abad Region. Chatkal National Park in Uzbekistan is somewhere across the border. To the northeast of the bend is Yangi-Bazar with the mausoleum of Idris Paygambar, an Arab mystic. The road goes up the Chatkal Valley over the 3302m Kara-Bura pass to Kyzyl-Adyr in Talas Region. There is no public transport. Formerly the valley was a trade route from the Ferghana Valley northward and had a fairly dense population, but trade declined after the 12th century. There are burial mounds from the first and second millennia BC.