Kharakhorum

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• published: 20 Feb 2016
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The Orkhon valley is the cradle of nomadic civilization, the seat of the imperial power of the steppes. Before the Mongol Empire, various Turkic empires had their capital at various locations in the valley. The Göktürks is the first Turkic empire here in the 6th century and its second installation in the 8th century produces a stone stelle that commemorates a pair of brothers: Bilge Khan and Kul Tegin. The stele has inscriptions in the old Turkic runic script and Chinese. It was clear that empire had many relationships with the Tang dynasty of China; the stelle praises Chinese technology as well as lamenting on its negative influences on cultural assimilation. The Uyghur revolted the Göktürks, forming the Uyghur Empire at Khar Bagas. The fall of the Uyghur empire led to the migration of Uyghur west and south west to their current location in the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, China. The Khitan was a Mongolic tribe who had dominated the valley before their formation of the Liao Dynasty in northern China. When defeated by the Jurchen, they retreated west to establish the Kara-Khitai khanate, which was eventually absorbed into the Mongol empire in the 13th century. It is very interesting to know that the term Cathay was phonetically derived from Khitai, and the Russian word for Chinese is Khitai. The Mongols was the last to dominate the valley. Genghis Khan built his supply base at Kharakhorum while Ogedei turned it into the capital of the Mongol Empire. People from all over the world came to pay tribute to the empire at Kharakhorum. Kublai eventually shifted the capital to Xanudu in inner Mongolia, then to Khanbaliq, current site of the Forbidden Palace in Beijing, China. When the Mongols were banished from China, subsequent rulers administer from Central Mongolia with proximity to the Orkhon Valley. Our journey started from the northern end of the Orkhon Valley close to Ogii Nuur; visiting Kul-Tengi moment, then Khar Balgas, before arriving at Kharakhorum. Karakorum is located in the modern town of Kharkhorin, and Erdene Zuu (Hundred Treasures) monastry was built using the ruins of Karakorum in the 16th century. At its peak, Erdene Zuu houses thousands of monks, but much were destroyed in the 1937 communist purge. Today, the restored monastery was converted into a museum, and beside it is a small but functional monastery. It has no living quarters and the small pool of Buddhist monks lives in Kharkhorin.