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29Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 5 (2012 5) 719-728
УДК 73.03
Formation of Uyghur Settlements in the Territory of Contemporary Tuva in the Early 18 - Mid 19 Centuries
Jumber A. Khvichia*
Tuvan State University 36 Lenina St., Kyzyl, the Republic of Tuva, 667000 Russian Federation 1
Received 16.03.2012, received in revised form 23.03.2012, accepted 28.03.2012
This article analyzes the Uyghur settlements in the territory of contemporary Tuva and northern Mongolia. The main stages of formation and development of a network of settled communities -reinforced Uyghur settlements were determined. The features of their architectural and planning solutions were studied.
Establishment of the statehood in Central Asia in the early Middle Ages is connected to the formation of the Turkic Khaganate (6-8 centuries), the traditions of which were inherited and developed by the Uyghur Khaganate formed in 745-840.
In the period of the Uyghur Khaganate clearly-defined administrative-territorial divisions appear which leads to a rise in urban planning. At the beginning of the 7th century the construction offortified towns begins, a linear network of permanent settlements develops in the north-western part of the Uyghur Khaganate. The separate administrative centers stand out in the system of towns. Originally, such an administrative center was the city of Ordu-Baliq that later evolved into the capital of the Uygur Khaganate. With the increase of economic and military power the Khaganate start to expand its borders through new territories. New administrative centers of the Khaganate appear: Por-Bazhyng, Shagonar settlements, etc.
The Uyghur towns that developed as a linear network of defensive settlements turn into administrative and military centers playing a significant role in urban development throughout the Khaganate.
Keywords: Uygur, town, Turkic Khaganate, Por-Bazhyng, Shagonar settlements.
Point
The development of the territory of contemporary Tuva refers to the Bronze Age, as evidenced by numerous archaeological findings. Over a long period of history of Tuva several cultures changed each other - Scythian, Uyuk, Hun-Sarmatian, Turkic, Uyghur, Mongolian, Chinese.
The Uyghur period is the most important stage of development because it was the beginning of the urban development of the territory of contemporary Tuva and northern Mongolia.
In this regard, the study of the Uyghur period that was short-term, but extremely important for the urban genesis of Tuva, is an urgent task of the history of architecture and urban planning.
* Corresponding author E-mail address: [email protected]
1 © Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved
The earliest written source containing information about the Uyghur Khaganate is a chronicle of Rashid al-Din. An ethnographer and archaeologist D.A. Klemenets, a participant of the Russian Orkhon Expedition in 1891 was one of the first researchers who gave a description of the Uyghur Khaganate capital Ordu-Baliq and the town-fortress Por-Bazhyng. A significant contribution to the study of cultural and archaeological heritage of the Uyghur Khaganate was made by S.V. Weinstein who participated in the archaeological expedition in 1957.
In 2007, under the auspices of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia an archaeological expedition worked in the Por-Bazhyng. Among archaeologists and the Ministry staff, students from various Russian universities took part in the expedition.
Nevertheless, the subject of the architectural development of the Uyghur Khaganate remains far from settled. Therefore, our work devoted to examining issues of the urban development of the territory of the Uyghur Khaganate, formation and development of the architecture of the Uyghur ethnic group not only allows to create a more holistic view of the most important stage of the historical and cultural traditions of the Uyghur ethnic group, but also to comprehend the initial stage of the urban development of Tuva and Northern Mongolia.
Example
The occurrence and formation of the permanent settlements and towns in the Uygur Khaganate are closely linked to many factors -social, economic, political ones, including the climatic features of the region, directly affecting the nature and forms of economic activity.
Climatic conditions in the Uyghur Khaganate were favorable not only for the development of the distant cattle-breeding, but also for agriculture.
Agriculture was being developed in the north-west and north-east parts of the Uyghur Khaganate near the settlements.
Along with agriculture and cattle-breeding the domestic production also became widespread among the Uyghurs (Weinstein, 1991). These archaeological studies suggest the existence of the Uyghur weaving, manufacture of felt and currying. Metal processing was widely developed.
Thus, the Uigur Khaganate was characterized by complex methods of farming, in which the irrigated agriculture was combined with distant cattle-breeding, handicraft and homemade trades were developed. Agriculture gradually became an independent field, and crafts concentrated in urban areas.
The archeologists found a large number of irrigation facilities, remnants of which are located throughout the territory of contemporary Tuva, but mainly in Central and North-Western parts, and also the remains of mills, tools and crops were found (Grach, 1980).
At the beginning of the 7th century the chaotic development of the territory by the nomadic tribes of the Uyghurs completed and there was a transition to the second stage of the semi-settlement and settlement that takes a clear framework for development of the territory. And it was a major step in the formation of a stationary system of settlements. The Uyghur Khaganate is no exception in this regard, it passed all stages of the formation of the system of settlements compliant with all the nomadic states in transition to settled life: nomadic lifestyle; nomadic - semi-settled; settled with the elements of nomadism.
In the first half of the 8th century begins a new stage in the formation of the Uyghur Khaganate, which is explained by the first permanent settled settlements and the formation of clearly-defined administrative and territorial division of the Khaganate with administrative centers.
Initially, such administrative centers were: the city of Ordu-Baliq formed on the basis of the Uyghur settlement - the Khar-Balgas fortress that later evolved into the capital of the Uyghur Khaganate and played this role until the end of the Khaganate.
At the beginning the Uyghur Khaganate was located in the northern part of contemporary Mongolia in the Orkhon River and the Selenga Riverbasins, but with the increase of economic and military power the Khaganate begins to expand its borders through new territories. In this case there is a need for development and construction of new conquered territories. One such example is the conquest of the territory of contemporary Tuva. After the annexation of the territory the construction of permanent settlements begins. Presumably one of the first settlements was Por-Bazhyng on Lake Tere-Khol. Por-Bazhyng played not only a defensive role, but also it was an administrative capital of the new territory, since the control over the entire territory of Tuva was carried out from there because of the lack of other settlements at that stage. This is indicated by written historical documents and a favorable geographical location in the central part of the Khaganate. Por-Bazhyng was the first settlement on the territory of contemporary Tuva, which speaks not only of its importance and usefulness, but also the beginning of laying the foundations for the construction of other settlements and the development of new permanent settlements in the Uyghur Khaganate in the future.
By the mid-8th century a linear network of permanent settlements developed in the Western part of the Uyghur Khaganate, and within a relatively short time appear 16 settlements located in the territory of contemporary Tuva.
Typically, the settlements were built in flood plains surrounded by canals or wetlands separated from the waterfront terrace above the floodplain.
In the vicinity of Schagonar town there is a group of five settlements located together. The biggest of them (I Shagonars settlement) is located on the right bank the Shagonarchik River and has an additional wall with a ditch that crosses the valley to the coast of the Ulug-Khem River. On the left bank of the same river there is the V Shagonar settlement. Three other fortresses are located as a compact group in the floodplain of the Chaaty River at Mount Bai-Dag, six kilometers to the South-East of the I Shagonar settlement (II, III and IV Shagonar settlements). They are located in the direction from the north to the south in the 260 and 500 m from each other (Kyzlasov, 1969).
Full-scale surveys of the author and the materials of the archaeological expedition of the Moscow University, 1977, in the III Shagonar settlement made it possible to reconstruct the architectural-planning solutions of the fortress.
The III Shagonar settlement is located 4 km South-East of the modern Shagonara city and 2 km South-East of the Kok-Chiraa village. Originally it was a well-fortified castle (126x119 m) of about 1.5 hectares. The length of the walls on top of the shaft: western wall: 119.7 m, Northern: 126 m, Eastern: 119 m and Southern: 126.2 m. Openings of the northern and eastern gates 3.5 and 9 m. Unlike other settlements there was an inner square citadel in the castle (47x45 m, which is about 0.2 ha). Shafts of the citadel - the remains of strong walls in the south-east corner of the citadel were made of the elongated mud brick (42x20x10 or 43x23x10 cm), as was shown by cleaning the old pits during archaeological expeditions; the size of the bricks are characteristic of adobe buildings of the Central and Eastern regions of Central Asia in 7-8 centuries. Shafts remained better (remnants of 10 towers and gates with entrances are visible in the northern and eastern walls) than in the other settlements. The height of shafts from the
Fig. 1. Buildings reconstruction of the Uyghur Khaganate
level of the deep ditches outside reaches 5.5 m, and from the level of the flat inner surface of the settlement - 2.8 m.
During the excavations archeologists found a lot of tile, fragments of plates that were partially charred, numerous iron nails wirh a flae top, os well as supporting pillars. These are all traces of wooden buildings with a tiled roof and frame-and-pillar structure (Grach, 1980)
Layout of the buildings is reconstructed on the basis of the partially preserved structures of buildings found in the process of the settlement excavations (Fig. 1).
The main administrative centers, the capitals of the Uyghur Khaganate, were two cities - Khar-Balgas and Por-Bazhyng.
The Settlement of Por-Bazhyng was a temporary headquarters of the Khagans during their stay in the northwest area of the Uyghur Khaganate, the territory of contemporary Tuva. Studies of these cities-fortresses conducted in different years note the great similarity in the architectural and urban planning solution, the architecture of individual buildings, components and structures.
Ordo-Baliq and Por-Bazhyng unlike other settlements originally constructed as administrative centers.
Ordu Baliq
Ruins of Ordu Baliq, the capital of the Uyghur Khaganate are in Mongolia, in the valley of the Orkhon River.
Locals call it Khar balgas. In the second half of the 19th century Ordu-Baliq was studied by the Russian scientists D.A. Klements, V.V. Radlov, by D. Bukinich in 1933, 1934, and in 1949 S.V. Kiselyov, H. Perlee carried out research there.
S.V. Danilov suggested that Ordu-Baliq was originally located not in the Orkhon Valley, but was moved there later. In the Chinese historical chronicle it is written "Beginning of Tian Bao in 751 was the main headquarters of the Uyghur Khan Pei-lo migrated to a place between Mount U-Te-Jian (Utugen) and the Hong River (Orkhon). There was a plain on the left of the place. On the right there was Mount U-Te-Jian, 600 li north the Xian-ae (Selenga) River". It is quite difficult to determine exactly when and where the city was founded, but perhaps Ordu-Baliq was founded
Fig. 2. The plan ofthe fortress Ordu-Baliq (Khar-Balgasun)
by nine Uyghur genera who wandered from their homeland, from tne Selenga River to the South, wrote H. Perlee.
According to the wuitten sources, OrdurBaliq was a large city, the center od the administradion ot the State where craft and trade ¡people concentrated, dhe temples were located these. Planning strucWure ot tire city shows its three big separare componenis: a fortress, a fortified citadel of the khan palace, and s trade--craft city. The walls of the fortress tower at 10 m, and a wall of 12 meters with a guard tower remained from the citadel thaz was rectangular in plan at the Southwest eorner. In the center of a large rectangPe of fortifications rose a lower wale with tte same shape enclosing the Khan's palace. The total area of the city wus more ttan 25 km2.
To the east of the palace residence the gardens followed by arable lands were located by the squares with the length of one kilometer. The fortress was surrounded by forts in the form
of massive towers. To the south of the palace residence there was a temple block where the grounds of the temples, tombs, stone walls with Turkic; and Uyghua inscriptions and reliefs were preseoved. Behind the big wall in the west comer there was en enclosed shopping and commercial centea isize: 1000x1000m). The majooity of the buildings consisted of a craft-shopping histricts of conditionally regular layout, locahed in the South-West ok the citadey. Traces of dwellings and public buildings, the remains of foundations, roads, ditches and canals cutting the fabric of the urban development with a total length of more than 24 km still remoined (Fig. 2).
The mateoials ohtained in the study of Oedu-Baltq confirm thao the lortress west the central headquarters of the Uyghuf khagan and wae a capital of the Khaganate.
In addition, the remains of buildings with pagoda were in the city, which were perhaps the iconic buildings of the ruling Khagan family.
Stone steles with Uyghur, Chinese and Orkhon-Yenisei inscriptions dedicated to the Uyghur khagan were installed near the doors of this building. In the north-western, western parts of Ordu-Baliq there were the blocks where the commercial and artisan population of the city lived. During excavations in 1949 clear traces of metal processing, the remains of smelting bronze, and the Chinese coin dated to 840 were found. In Ordu-Baliq multiple fragments of so-called "Kyrgyz vases" were also found, which is the evidence that there were many people involved in pottery. Khar bagas although was a big city, but it lasted no more than 100 years, in the 840's the Yenisei Kirghiz destroyed and burned the Uyghur capital and destroyed Khaganate.
Por-Bazhyng
Fortress Por-Bazhyng is on the island of Terekhol Lake located in the source of the Maliy Yenisei River (Fig. 3). Almost the entire area of the island is occupied by a fortress.
The Por-Bazhyng Settlement's size is 220x160 m. The remains of 27 buildings remained inside the fortress along the northern, western and southern walls. Research and excavations of these structures allowed determining their functional affiliation, sizes and design features.
In the central part of the fortress there were two sub-square buildings connected by a corridor. These two buildings formed a palace complex of a large and a small palace. The bigger palace had a sub-square shape, size 35x37 m, and the smaller palace had a size of 15x15 meters, and a covered walkway with a width of 6 m and length of 10 m connected them (Fig. 4).
The big palace was the main building of the fortress Por-Bazhyng, which was the residence of Khagan during his stay in the north-western part of the Khaganate. The small palace belonged to the wives of Khagan.
The height of the palace probably reached 7-8 m, it was dictated by the height of the wooden pillars that made up the skeleton of the building.
Fig. 3. The Settlement Por-Bazhyng
The partitions of the building were thin plastered inner walls (thickness 10-12 cm) that raised probably no more than one-third the height of the rooms.
On the west side of the palace there was a passage (6x10 m) stretching from the east to the west.
Behind the passage there was a small palace, the continuation of the passage was a small corridor stretching deep into a small palace, where a large hall of the small palace was. Excavations revealed the remains of walls along the perimeter of a large hall; one can assume that those were the bedrooms of the Khagan's wives. The sizes of these facilities did not exceed 18-20 meters.
The height of the small palace and the passage were likely considerably lower than the height of the main palace building.
The construction of the palace was designed as a whole frame system.
The foundation was made as one solid plane under the whole palace complex including the passage sticking out the stylobate of the palace at 50 cm, which gave the stability of the entire
complex. The foundation was made of flagstones with bonding; the binding material was a specially prepared solution of clay. The stylobate raised above the foundation at 1 m from the level of a flat surface of the fortress. The stylobate was made of bricks -the inner part was laid with gray mud bricks; the connecting material was a clay mortar, on the outer side of the stylobate the facing was made of bricks.
At the top of the stylobate the columns of wooden pillars were installed. Massive wooden columns with a diameter of about 40 cm and a height of 7 m were based on well-preserved granite foundations projecting of the plane of the floor and serving as bases. The size of most of the bases in the building was about 60x60 cm, 35 cm thick. The outer plane of some bases was decorated with a geometric embossed pattern made of obliquely shaded triangles inscribed in a square cut with a diagonal. The columns were the main frame of the building carrying a load of wooden ceiling and roof. The stability of the frame was provided by the columns that were connected to each other in the longitudinal and
transverse direction and along the perimeter by wooden joists of the ceiling with a diameter of up to 20 cm that was supported by the roof structure on top that was probably made from roof timbers and wooden lathing, it is confirmed by the large number of boards and tiles found during excavations in the palace complex.
The outer walls filling the spans between the outer columns were built of mud bricks plastered on the inner and outer sides. The walls were reinforced by thin wooden poles.
The floor in the big palace and the passage was made of a well-fired ceramic tiles, and in a small palace, in one of the rooms the remains of a wooden floor were found.
In the territory of the fortress except for the palace, the foundations of small buildings also remained in a good condition (Fig. 4).
Handicraft buildings found in the settlement having an average size of 7x8 meters can be divided into two types. The first type was the buildings consisted of one room, while the second type was represented by the buildings with two rooms. Unlike the utility buildings found in other settlements, estates in Por-Bazhyng were surrounded by a comparatively low mud wall separating the neighboring estates. This is evidenced by the well-preserved remains of fences protruding from the level of the plane of the settlement at 30-70 cm. the walls of the buildings were made of mud bricks plastered on both sides. Signs in the decoration of the façade of the building were not found. The roof of buildings was probably made of tiles, as evidenced by the large number of residues of tile found throughout the entire fortress.
Comparison of materials of different archeological expeditions revealed a complete match of many architectural elements and details in the settlements of Port-Bazhyng and Ordu-Balyq. S.I. Weinstein noted that a comparison of the ornamental parts of a complex pattern, size
and other characteristics of most end plates of Por-Bazhyng and Ordu-Baliq is supplemented by a similarity in the layout of these fortresses. D.A. Klements who examined the two settlements in 1891 marks the same similarity. D.A. Klemenets wrote: "... if anyone compares the layout of the ruins of the fortress on Lake Tere-Khol with the plans of ancient buildings in Mongolia will, of course, marvel at the similarity of the first ruins with those of Ordu-Baliq. The resemblance is so remarkable that an involuntarily bold idea to restore the missing details in one of them differently occurs". (Weinstein, 1991).
Resume
The Uyghur settlements were the administrative and economic centers for the surrounding settlements and the territories. This was dictated by the need to manage a fairly large territory of the Khaganate, creating a vertical administrative hierarchy: nomadic populations ^ settlement ^ capital.
This division of the territory led to the attraction of the nomadic population to the settlements, which found a justification for both economic and military terms. Since the Uyghur Khaganate kept constant wars during its existence, there was a great need for rapid mobilization of troops, and such an administrative-territorial division and subordination made it possible to mobilize the population in a short time and gather soldiers for the army from all over the territory.
At the initial stage the settlements developed as a linear network of defensive settlements, then the partial settlement of the nomadic population of nearby areas that until then was dispersed throughout the Khaganate gradually occurs. This allowed the settlements in a short period of time to concentrate the main part of the population around them and transform the settlements from purely defensive structures into the administrative and military centers that played a significant
role in the urban development throughout the Khaganate.
Construction of the Uyghur settlements resulted in the emergence of networks of linear settlements at the initial stage that grew in the second half of the 9th century in the system
of settlements of the Uyghur Khaganate: the Khaganate's local administrative center -settlements focused on the capital of the Khaganate; settled nomadic settlements centered and focused around the local administrative centers - settlements.
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Формирование уйгурских поселений на территории современной Тувы в начале VIII - середине IX вв.
Д.А. Хвичия
Тувинский государственный университет Российская Федерация 667000, Республика Тыва,
г. Кызыл, ул. Ленина, 36
Настоящая статья посвящена анализу уйгурских поселений на территории современной Тувы и Северной Монголии. Определены основные этапы формирования и развития сети оседлых поселений - укрепленных уйгурских городищ. Рассмотрены особенности их архитектурно-планировочного решения.
Становление государственности на территории Центральной Азии в раннем средневековье связано с образованием Тюркского каганата (У1-УШвв.), традиции которого были унаследованы и развиты Уйгурским каганатом, образовавшимся в 745-840 гг.
В период существования Уйгурского каганата появляется четко выраженное административно-территориальное деление, что приводит к подъему градостроительной деятельности. В начале VII века начинается строительство укрепленных городов, развивается линейная сеть оседлых поселений в северо-западной части Уйгурского каганата. В системе городов выделяются отдельные административные центры. Первоначально таким административным центром был: город Орду-Балык, который впоследствии развился в столицу Уйгурского каганата. С увеличением экономической и военной мощи каганат начинает расширять свои границы за счет новых территорий. Появляются новые административные центры каганата: Пор-Бажын, Шагонарские городища и пр. Уйгурские города, развивавшиеся как линейная сеть поселений оборонительного характера, преобразовываются в административно-военные центры, играющие значительную роль в градостроительном развитии всей территории каганата.
Ключевые слова Уйгур, город, Тюркский каганат, Пор-Бажын, Шагонарские городища.
