, in mediaeval Turkish “[the land of] the seven rivers”, rendered in recent times by Russian scholars as Semirečʾe, a region of Central Asia.
It comprised essentially the lands north of Transoxania [see mā warāʾ al-nahr ] which stretched from the basin of the I̊ssi̊k-Kol [q.v.] lake northwards to Lake Balk̲h̲as̲h̲ [q.v.], and it derived its name from the numerous rivers draining it, such as the Ču [q.v.], which peters out in the desert to the northeast of the middle Si̊r Daryā [q.v.], and several rivers flowing into Lake Balk̲h̲as̲h̲ such as the Ili [q.v.], which rises in Dzungaria and f…