Editing Tashkent (section)

===Early history===
Tashkent was first settled between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC as an [[oasis]] on the [[Chirchik River]], near the foothills of the West [[Tian Shan]] Mountains. In ancient times, this area contained Beitian, probably the summer "capital" of the [[Kangju]] confederacy.<ref>Pulleyblank, Edwin G. "The Consonantal System of Old Chinese," ''Asia Major 9'' (1963), p. 94.</ref> Some scholars believe that a "[[Stone Tower (Ptolemy)|Stone Tower]]" mentioned by [[Ptolemy]] in his famous treatise [[Geography (Ptolemy)|''Geography'']], and by other early accounts of travel on the old [[Silk Road]], referred to this settlement (due to its etymology). This tower is said to have marked the midway point between [[Europe]] and [[China]]. Other scholars, however, disagree with this identification, though it remains one of four most probable sites for the Stone Tower.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dean |first=Riaz |title=The Stone Tower: Ptolemy, the Silk Road, and a 2,000-Year-Old Riddle |publisher=Penguin Viking |year=2022 |isbn=978-0670093625 |location=Delhi |pages=134 (Map 4), 170 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dean |first=Riaz |date=2015 |title=The Location of Ptolemy's Stone Tower: the Case for Sulaiman-Too in Osh |journal=The Silk Road |volume=13 |pages=76}}</ref>