The settlement of Zhalpaktobe is located in the village of Zhalpaktobe of Zhambyl district, located in the suburb of Taraz. According to A. N. Bernshtam, the settlement of Jikil got its name from the name of the Turkic tribe of Gikil. According to G. I. Patsevich, the settlement of Jalpaktobe can be identified with the city of Jigil, which was reported by the Arab geographer of the X century al-Maqdisi. He describes it as a «small village» at a distance of a human voice from Taraz. Opinion about the identity of Zhalpaktobe and Gikil share T.N. Senigova and K. M. Baipakov.

From the medieval settlement Shahristan remained in the form of a rectangular hill.The monument was studied in 1939-40 by the expedition of the Dzhambul archaeological point under the leadership Of G. I. Patsevich, in 1956 the excavations of the Semirechensk archaeological expedition under the leadership of T. N. Senigova were carried out on the settlement.  In 1983-86 it was surveyed by archaeological expedition of the Arch of monuments of history and culture under the leadership Of K. M. Baypakov, and in 2010 by expedition of the Arch of monuments of LLP «Archaeological examination» under the leadership of S. Akylbek and CH. Kudabayev.

The settlement is occupied by an old Muslim cemetery. The Western edge of the settlement is destroyed . The area around is occupied by gardens and buildings of the village of Jalpaktobe. Archaeological research, as well as the decoding of aerial photographs revealed the presence of a defensive wall around the central ruins, at a distance of 1-1. 5 km. Excavations on the territory of the settlement determined the nature of the building on the level of VI-IX centuries. It was solid, all the rooms were attached to one another. In the living quarters there were open hearths on the floors. Sufis lined the walls. The walls of the buildings are made of mud brick, and placed on a stone foundation. In the rooms-storerooms arranged grain pits. Ceramics is represented by mugs decorated with carved floral ornaments, pots with arched handles, clay and alabaster round tables-dastarkhan, lamps. The found Turgesh coins allow to carry a complex of constructions on Zhalpaktobe to VII-IX centuries. The top building horizon of the city, judging by presence of fragments of irrigated ceramics, belongs to X-XII centuries.

The excavations revealed the nature of the fortification and topography of the city, in which the citadel and Shahristan are distinguished, as well as the defensive walls surrounding rabad and the agricultural district. Currently, due to the dense construction of the size of the settlement is 70x70 m  in places noticeable raw masonry walls. The height of the preserved walls is 1 m.