TOPRAKKALA

also spelled Topraq-qal'ah, or Toprak Kale, site of a Khwarezmian walled city near modern Dashhowuz in Uzbekistan. The city was inhabited from about the 1st century BC until the 6th century AD, a period during which Khwarezm was an independent feudal state. A palace at Toprakkala, which may have been the capital of that state, contained lifelike paintings and sculptures executed in a style reflecting the influence of the cultures of India, Central Asia, and Asia Minor.