Almaliq ( ug, ئالمالىق; zh, t=, p=Ālìmálǐ),Previously transcribed into Chinese as , ''Ā'ěrmǎlì''; , ''Ālǐmǎchéng''; , ''Ālǐmá'' and , ''Ālìmǎlì''. also spelled Armalec, Almalik, Almalig, Almaligh and Almarikh, was a medieval city in the

Ili Ili, ILI, Illi may refer to: Abbreviations * Irish Life International, part of Irish Life and Permanent * Intuitive Logical Introvert, a personality type in socionics * Influenza-like illness * Iran Language Institute, a state-owned, non-profit ...

basin in present-day

Huocheng County Huocheng County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Korgas County (; ), is situated within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and under the administration of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. It is locate ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

, China along

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

border. A modern town named Alimali (阿力玛里) in

Khorgas Khorgas, officially known as KorgasThe official spelling according to , (Beijing, ''SinoMaps Press'' 1997); ( zh, s=霍尔果斯, t=霍爾果斯, p=Huò'ěrguǒsī; kk, قورعاس, Qorǵas), also known as ''Chorgos'', ''Gorgos'', ''Horgos' ...

, adjacent to Huocheng, has no historical connections with the medieval town. Almaliq was originally one of Karluk cities in the Turkic Kaganates. It is known from the accounts of the Persian historians and Chinese travelers of the Mongol era (13th to 15th centuries), in particular the 13th-century

Daoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

Qiu Chuji Qiu Chuji (10 February 1148– 21 August 1227), courtesy name Tongmi (通密), also known by his Taoist name Master Changchun, was the disciple of Wang Chongyang and a renowned Taoist master. He is known for meeting Genghis Khan near the Hindu K ...

(Chang Chun). According to the travel notes of Genghis Khan's chief adviser

Yelü Chucai Yelü Chucai (; mn, Urtu Saqaltu "Longbeard", written in Chinese characters as "", July 24, 1190 – June 20, 1244), courtesy name Jinqing (), was a Khitan statesman from the imperial clan of the Liao dynasty, who became a vigorous adviser and ...

, the city of Almaliq was situated between the

Tian Shan The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...

mountains and the

Ili River The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...

. There were many

crab apple ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone of th ...

trees around Almalik. The native people called them "almaliq", thus giving the name to the city. An account by a Persian historian tells that in 1211, Prince Ozar of Almaliq acknowledged the supremacy of

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

. The king was later killed by the

Gurkhan Gurkhan () was a Mongol title meaning "Universal Ruler" and roughly equivalent to the older term ''khagan''. It was held by the rulers of the Western Liao dynasty in the 13th century. The title was first adopted by Yelü Dashi (Emperor Dezong of W ...

Karakitai The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai (), also known as the Western Liao (), officially the Great Liao (), was a Sinicized dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Khitan Yelü clan. The Qara Khitai is considered by historians to be an ...

. Genghis Khan ordered the king's son Siknak Tekin to succeed him as king of Almaliq and gave him the only daughter of his elder son

Jochi Jochi Khan ( Mongolian: mn, Зүчи, ; kk, Жошы, Joşy جوشى; ; crh, Cuçi, Джучи, جوچى; also spelled Juchi; Djochi, and Jöchi c. 1182– February 1227) was a Mongol army commander who was the eldest son of Temüjin (aka G ...

for marriage. In 1219, when Genghis Khan led his host on campaign to

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, Siknak Tekin followed him. The marriage between the ruler of Almaliq and a granddaughter of

demonstrates the city's importance at the time. Home to people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and religions, the city became an important Islamic center under the rule of

Tughluq Temur Tughlugh Timur Khan (also Tughluq Tömür or Tughluk Timur) (1312/13–1363) was the Khan of Moghulistan from c. 1347 and Khan of the whole Chagatai Khanate from c. 1360 until his death. Esen Buqa (a direct descendant of Chagatai Khan) is believe ...

, Khan of

Moghulistan Moghulistan (from fa, , ''Moghulestân'', mn, Моголистан), also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (), was a Mongol breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Teng ...

, from to 1363. Tughluq Temür's tomb can still be seen in the town. Inscriptions also show the presence of

Nestorian Christians Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...

in the town in the third quarter of the fourteenth century. A number of Catholic missionaries worked in Almaliq in the 14th century as well, including

Giovanni de' Marignolli Giovanni de' Marignolli ( la, Johannes Marignola;. ), variously anglicized as John of Marignolli or John of Florence, was a notable 14th-century Catholic European traveller to medieval China and India. Life Early life Giovanni was born, probab ...

. Like him, many

Europeans in Medieval China Given textual and archaeological evidence, it is thought that thousands of Europeans lived in Imperial China during the Yuan dynasty.Roux (1993), p. 465 These were people from countries traditionally belonging to the lands of Christendom during t ...

stopped there while traveling. The city was typically known as "Armalec" in their accounts.

Henry Yule Sir Henry Yule (1 May 1820 – 30 December 1889) was a Scottish Oriental studies, Orientalist and geographer. He published many travel books, including translations of the work of Marco Polo and ''Mirabilia'' by the 14th-century Dominican ...

Cathay and the way thither: being a collection of medieval notices ...
Volume 2; pp 288, 321, 338, etc. The ancient city of Almaliq is not to be confused with

Olmaliq Olmaliq ( uz, Olmaliq / Олмалиқ, russian: Алмалык, Almalyk) is a district-level city (2021 pop 133,400) in the Tashkent Region of central Uzbekistan, approximately 65 km east of Tashkent. It is located at latitude 40° 50' 41N; ...

(traditionally transcribed "Almalyk"), the Uzbeki mining town founded in 1951.Encyclopædia Britannica, Olmaliq
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References

Citations

Bibliography

W. Barthold Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold (russian: Васи́лий Влади́мирович Барто́льд.; 1869–1930), who published in the West under his German baptism name, Wilhelm Barthold, was a Russian orientalist who specialized in the his ...

ev. by B. Spuler and O. Pritsak "Almaligh", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', 2nd ed. * Niu Ruji, "Nestorian Inscriptions from China (13th - 14th Centuries)", in R. Malek, ''Jingjiao, The Church of the East in China and Central Asia'', 2006.

External links

* Daniel Waugh,
Almaliq
(University of Washington) {{Authority control Central Asia Populated places along the Silk Road Ancient Chinese cities Medieval cities Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture