Sverchkov L.M.

Key words: Mawarannahr, Ustrushana, Middle Ages, ironworks, province of Mink, Afshin.
Written sources from the 10th c. indicate that in Ustrushana iron was worked in Mink province and in the city of Mirasmand. Their location is still debatable and remains a pertinent issue due to their outstanding role in the history of Central Asia and to their involvement in the global events that unfolded in the Near and Middle East at the time of the emergence and spread of Islam. Archaeological investigations in the mountains of Western Ustrushana revealed an entire system of ironworks and specialized settlements. The largest one, Myk (Mug), is a unique complex which consists of two castles and an industrial settlement. The chronology of the materials from the site, and their comparison with the data from written sources of the 9th–10th cc., allow identifying Myk mining-and-metallurgical zone with the province of Mink, and the successive castles of Myk with the Afshin’s fortress.