Banknotes of Kyrgyzstan

The modern nation of Kyrgyzstan is based on a civilization of nomadic tribes who moved across eastern and northern sections of present-day Central Asia.  First written records of Kyrgyz civilization appeared in Chinese chronicles about 2000 BC.   In the 4th. and 3rd. century BC,  Kyrgyz bands were among the raiders who persistently invaded Chinese territories and stimulated the building of the Great Wall of China in the 3rd. century BC.  Then the Mongols invaded Kyrgyzstan and for 200 years the land remained under the Golden Horde's rule.  Freedom was regained in 1510, but Kyrgyz tribes were again overrun in the 17th.century by the Kalmyks, in the mid-18th.century by the Manchus, and early 19th. century by the Usbeks.   In 1881, Kyrgyzstan became part of the Russian Empire. In the late 1980s, democratic activism stirred in Kyrgyzstan's cities and events in Moscow pushed the republic towards unavoidable independence.