26 PICTURESQUE12A gathering of grannies share
gossip at Dadal, Genghis Khan’s
birthplace. Altargana is a bi-annual
festival where Buryat Mongols
from Mongolia, China and Russia
gather in their traditional costumes.
The Buryat people are descended
from various Siberian and Mongol
peoples that inhabited the Lake
Baikal region, which was occupied
by the Mongol Empire. Buryatia,
north of Mongolia, is currently a
republic of Russia.MONGOLIA06Nokurian in typical Turkmen dress
donning a telpek, a Turkmen hat.
Turkmen are semi-nomadic people,
so Mongol expansion was not as
aggressive in this region, with
the exception of the massacre
in Urgench (now called Konye-
Urgench, meaning 'old Urgench'). It
was considered one of the bloodiest
massacres in history. Despite the
devastating effects of the invasion,
the city was revived and regained its
previous status. It was Tamerlane
who put the final end to Urgench.TURKMENISTAN03A beautiful Kyrgyz lady with green
eyes in the Pamirs near Murghab.
The Yenisei Kyrgyz was an ancient
Turkic tribe who had dwelled along
the Yenisei river since 200BC. They
were described in Tang Dynasty
texts as having 'red hair and green
eyes'. A Chinese general, Li Ling,
defected to the Xiongnu during
the Han Dynasty. Li Ling was the
grandson of famous Han Dynasty
General Li Guang, the ancestor
of the Li family who founded the
Tang Dynasty. Yenisei Kyrgyz were
therefore regarded as the extended
family of the Tang Dynasty, and
assisted the Yenisei Kyrgyz to revolt
against the Uyghur Khanate from
the Orkhon Valley in 840AD, in
current day central Mongolia. This
relationship could possibly explain
the more common black hair
and brown eyes of the Tianshan
Kyrgyz in present day Kyrgyzstan
and China.TAJIKISTAN04West of the Yellow River (Hexi 河西)
is the Hexi Corridor, the passage
into China from Central Asia. This
is a renowned section of the Silk
Road that encompasses the Gobi
Desert. At the centre of the corridor
is Zhangye (张掖), which is in an area
of rainbow-coloured rock formations.
Marco Polo, together with his father
and uncle, spent a year here at
Campichu in the state of Tangut (西
夏), which has been identified today
as Zhangye. Marco Polo would have
seen this rainbow-hued passage.
CHINA
01
The Mongol Empire had little
success in conquering Syria. In
Aleppo before the war, a hospitable
carpet shop owner beams from
his souq shop. He informed me
that he had four wives and many
children. Aleppo has suffered
tremendously during the current
war and resolution to peace seems
bleak. Hopefully, it would not be
too long before it sees the laughter
and colours that I encountered in
the souqs.SYRIA05Horse breeding in Eastern Mongolia.
The Mongol Empire was established
on horseback. The rise and fall
of the empire was dramatic. The
Mongols are back to where they
began and their horse breeding
traditions continue.
MONGOLIA
02