#karakorum

[whencyclopedia]

Mongol Empire's Rise and Reach

The Mongol Empire, founded by Genghis Khan in 1206, grew into the largest contiguous land empire in history. Known for its unstoppable cavalry and strategic warfare, it stretched from the Black Sea deep into Asia, reshaping the connections between East and West. Although it eventually fragmented and faded by 1368, its influence on trade, culture, and diplomacy was profound.

Power of a United Nomadic Force

Genghis Khan united the nomadic tribes of the Asian steppe, forging a fearsome army prized for its speed, archery, and coordination. This army conquered vast territories including Iran, Russia, Eastern Europe, and China. His successors split the empire into four khanates, with the Yuan Dynasty in China, founded by Kublai Khan, being the most dominant.

Cultural Transformation and Decline

Over time, the Mongols adapted to the societies they ruled, converting to religions like Tibetan Buddhism and Islam. This cultural shift corresponded with a loss of their military edge. Internal conflicts weakened the empire, leading to its fall in the late 14th century.

Key Facts

Founded: 1206 by Genghis Khan

Peak: Controlled territory from the Black Sea to Korea

Military: Fast cavalry, expert horse archers, coordinated tactics

Division: Empire split into four khanates, including the Yuan Dynasty in China

Religion: Converted from shamanism to Buddhism or Islam over time

Legacy: Connected East and West through expanded trade routes and diplomacy

Historical Context

The Mongol Empire emerged from Mongolia’s fragmented nomadic tribes into a unified force under Genghis Khan in the early 13th century. This period was marked by declining powers in the Middle East, Europe, and China, enabling the Mongols’ rapid expansion.

Historical Significance

While the Mongols did not leave behind grand monuments or lasting political institutions, they revolutionized global interaction. Their empire connected Eurasia, stimulating trade, cultural exchanges, and travel between distant lands for the first time on such a scale. This set the stage for future global connectivity and exchange of ideas.

Learn More: Mongol Empire

[scottfischer]

This picture of Camp V and K2 behind it was taken by Vincenzo Sella on the 1909 Karakorum expedition led by Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi.

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Stone Turtle of Karakorum, Mongolia, c. 1235-1260 CE: this statue is one of the only surviving features of Karakorum, which was once the capital city of the Mongol Empire

The statue is decorated with a ceremonial scarf known as a khadag (or khata), which is part of a Buddhist custom that is also found in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. The scarves are often left atop shrines and sacred artifacts as a way to express respect and/or reverence. In Mongolia, this tradition also contains elements of Tengrism/shamanism.

The city of Karakorum was originally established by Genghis Khan in 1220 CE, when it was used as a base for the Mongol invasion of China. It then became the capital of the Mongol Empire in 1235 CE, and quickly developed into a thriving center for trade/cultural exchange between the Eastern and Western worlds.

The city attracted merchants of many different nationalities and faiths, and Medieval sources note that the city displayed an unusual degree of diversity and religious tolerance. It contained 12 different temples devoted to pagan and/or shamanistic traditions, two mosques, one church, and at least one Buddhist temple.

As this article explains:

The city might have been compact, but it was cosmopolitan, with residents including Mongols, Steppe tribes, Han Chinese, Persians, Armenians, and captives from Europe who included a master goldsmith from Paris named William Buchier, a woman from Metz, one Paquette, and an Englishman known only as Basil. There were, too, scribes and translators from diverse Asian nations to work in the bureaucracy, and official representatives from various foreign courts such as the Sultanates of Rum and India.

This diversity was reflected in the various religions practised there and, in time, the construction of many fine stone buildings by followers of Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.

The prosperous days of Karakorum were very short-lived, however. The Mongol capital was moved to Xanadu in 1263, and then to Khanbaliq (modern-day Beijing) in 1267, under the leadership of Kublai Khan; Karakorum lost most of its power, authority, and leadership in the process. Without the resources and support that it had previously received from the leaders of the Mongol Empire, the city was left in a very vulnerable position. The residents of Karakorum began leaving the site in large numbers, until the city had eventually become almost entirely abandoned.

There were a few scattered attempts to revive the city in the years that followed, but any hope of restoring Karakorum to its former glory was then finally shattered in 1380, when the entire city was razed to the ground by Ming Dynasty troops.

The Erdene Zuu Monastery was later built near the site where Karakorum once stood, and pieces of the ruins were taken to be used as building materials during the construction of the monastery. The Erdene Zuu Monastery is also believed to be the oldest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia.

There is very little left of the ruined city today, and this statue is one of the few remaining features that can still be seen at the site. It originally formed the base of an inscribed stele, but the pillar section was somehow lost/destroyed, leaving nothing but the base (which may be a depiction of the mythological dragon-turtle, Bixi, from Chinese mythology).

This statue and the site in general always kinda remind me of the Ozymandias poem (the version by Horace Smith, not the one by Percy Bysshe Shelley):

In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,

stands a gigantic leg

which far off throws the only shadow

that the desert knows.

"I am great OZYMANDIAS," saith the stone,

"the King of Kings; this mighty city shows

the wonders of my hand."

The city's gone —

naught but the leg remaining

to disclose the site

of this forgotten Babylon.

We wonder —

and some Hunter may express wonder like ours,

when thro' the wilderness where London stood,

holding the wolf in chace,

he meets some fragment huge

and stops to guess

what powerful but unrecorded race

once dwelt in that annihilated place

Sources & More Info:

University of Washington: Karakorum, Capital of the Mongol Empire

Encyclopedia Britannica: Entry for Karakorum

World History: Karakorum

[negreabsolut]

Mapa de l'Himalaia dibuixat per Antoni de Montserrat, missioner català nascut a Vic el 1536. El mapa, publicat a Mongolicae Legationis Commentarius "Memòries de l'Ambaixador als Mongols" (1589–1600), és la primera representació cartogràfica de l'Himalaia feta mai per un europeu. Considerat de gran vàlua i exactitud molt acurada, el mapa fou emprat per les potències i expedicionaris europeus a l'Himalaia, l'Índia i el Tibet fins ben entrat el segle XIX.

[pursuitofrichness]

🎥 Insta @ themountaiinboy / Sunset's golden embrace on Gasherbrum IV, as seen from the majestic Baltoro Glacier.

[thejackmeister-mongolhistory]

QARAQORUM STREET VIEW, 1250s

Qaraqorum (Karakorum, Khara Khorum) is famous as the capital of the Mongol Empire and housing the court of the Great Khans, but the textual sources and archaeological study also demonstrate its important as a regional production centre.

The dense settlement layer, particular along the central street and main intersection within the city, shows extensive evidence for wide ranging crafts production, such as glass working, gem and precious stone working, bone carving, processing of birch bark, with furnaces for metal working and kilns for ceramics located in the immediate vicinity of the city. Gold bracelets and the moulds for them and other items have been found in the workshops; remains of iron fragments (bars, wheels caps, even a plough) testify to other activities produced in the city, and for local agriculture. In the written record, we see Khans from Ögedei to Töghön-Temür sending craftsmen and labourers from China to Qaraqorum to expand agriculture, construct palaces and temples, repair existing structures or otherwise support the local economy. This is reflected archaeologically, as the city shows possibly six phases of building and rebuilding from the 13th century until late in the 14th.

In this image you can see a smith's shop, with various Chinese, nomads and even an Alan taking part in activities here. In the background you can see the city's large Buddhist temple complex, the “Pavilion of the Rising Yuan." Begun under Ögedei (but not completed until Möngke's reign, and extensively rebuilt under Töghön-Temür), this huge structure was as high as 90 metres, according to an inscription found on site! Though estimates based on its foundation suggest a slightly more modest structure up to 38 metres high.

You can learn more about Qaraqorum's role in Mongolia's production networks in my latest video on nomadic blacksmithing:

[evictedfromdreamland]

Scenes from Mongolia – Ulaanbaatar, Khustai National Park, Karakorum, 2022

[ancientstuff]

Archaeologists have mapped the capital of the Mongolian Empire - HeritageDaily - Archaeology News

Archaeologists have mapped Karakorum, the capital of the Mongolian Empire using advanced geophysical methods. - HeritageDaily - Archaeology

Interesting work. I thought the Mongolian Empire was largely nomadic, but this would seem to be not true, or only partly true.