Ordu-Baliq
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Ordu-Baliq (Kharabalghasun, Karabalgasun, Kara Balgasun, Khar Balgas, Mubalik, Ordu Balykh, Ordu Balik, Ordu-Baliq, Ordu Balig, Ordu Baligh, and of course Ördu-Baliğ ) was the capital of the first Uyghur Empire. The name in fact means "city of the court". It was built on the site of the former Göktürk imperial capital. The ruins called Khar Balgas "Black Wall" are at .
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[edit] Geographical Context
Ordu-Baliq is situated in a grassy plain called the Talal-khain-dala teppe, to the south-east of Ughei-nor on the western bank of the Orkhon River in Arkhangai Province Mongolia. The Orkhon emerges from the gorges of the Khangai Mountains and flows northward to meet the Tuul River (on whose upper reaches the current capital of Mongolia, Ulan Bator, is located). A favorable micro-climate makes the location ideal for pasturage, and it lies along the most important east-west route across Mongolia. As a result, this region was a center of habitation and important political and economic activity long prior to the thirteenth century.
[edit] History
The ruler of the Göktürk Empire in the eighth century, Bilgä Qaĝan, erected a stone stele with, runic inscriptions in the Orkhon River Valley. Some 25 miles to the north of the stele he ruled from his Ördü a nomadic capital, in the shadow the sacred forest-mountain Ötüken. Mountains were considered sacred in Tengrisim as an axis mundi, but Ötüken was especially sacred because the ancestor spirts of the qağans and beys resided here. Moreover, a force called qut emenated from this mountain , granting the Qağan the divine right to rule the turkic tribes. Whoever controlled this valley was considered heavenly appointed leader of the turks and could rally the tribes. Thus control of the Orkhon Valley was of the utmost strategic importance in every turkic state. Historically every turko-mongolian capital (Ördü) was located here for this exact reason.
In 744, after the defeat of the last Kök-Türk Qağan by the Uyghur-Qarluk-Basmyl alliance, the Uyghurs established their imperial capital Ordu Baliq on the site of the old ördü. Ordu Baliq was the first walled city-state to exist in Mongolia. It was designed by Sogdian architects and at its height rivaled Changan and Constantinople in cosmopolitan affluence.
It occupied 25 square kilometers. The ruins of the town, which include the 10 meter high town wall, a 12 meter high tower and another 14 meter high sentry tower, clearly indicate that in its own time Ordu Baliq was a well-constructed town. The town can be divided into three main parts. The central part consisting of numerous buildings surrounded by continuous wall forms the biggest part. Ruin of a large number of temples and dwelling houses are to be found to the south beyond the center. The Khaans residential palace, which was also surrounded by high walls on all sides, stood in the northeastern part of the town. Ordu Baliq was a fully-fortified commandry and commercial entrepot typical of the central points along the length of the Silk Road. The well-preserved remains now consist of concentric fortified walls and lookout towers, stables, military and commercial stores, and administrative buildings. There are also remains of a water drainage system there. Archaeological studies demonstrate areas of the town were allotted for trade and handcrafts, and in the center of the town, were places, monastery and cloister, temples. The palace had castle walls around it and two main gates, north and south, plus watchtowers. Russian archaeologist N.M.Yadrintsev discovered a green granite monument with rolled up dragon on its head, bearing a runic inscription.
An Arab ambassador from the Samanid Empire, Tamim ibn Bahr, visited Ordu Baliq in 821 CE and left the only historic account of the city. In his a brief description of he traveled through uninhabited steppes until arriving in the vicinity of the Uighur capital. He described Ordu-Baliq itself as a great town, "rich in agriculture and surrounded by rustaqs (villages) full of cultivation lying close together. The town had twelve iron gates of huge size. The town was populous and thickly crowded and had markets and various trades." The most colorful part of his description is the 100 foot high golden yurt on top of the citadel where the Qaĝan held court.
[edit] Discovery
The Russian traveller Paderin in 1871 visited the Uighur capital now called by the Mongols Kara Balghasun (black city) or khara-kherem (black wall), of which only the wall and a tower are in existence, while the streets and ruins outside the wall are seen at a distance. Paderin's belief that this was the old Mongol capital Karakorum has been shown to be incorrect. The Mongolian Karakorum, has been identified by several authorities with a site on which the 16th century Buddhist monastery of Erdene Zuu was built. This monastery lies about 25 m. south by east of the Uighur capital, Kharabalaghasun. North and north-east of the monastery are ruins of ancient buildings. The proper position of the two Karakorums was determined by the expedition of N. Yadrintsev in 1889, and the two expeditions of the Helsihg-fors Ugro-Finnish society (1890) and the Russian academy of science, under Dr W. Radlov (1891), which were sent out to study Yadrintsev's discovery.
