Keriya
Encyclopedia
Keriya Town or Mugala Town (Chinese
: 木尕拉镇, Pinyin
: Mùgǎlā Zhèn; Ugyhur
: كېرىيە / Keriyə), is a town in Keriya County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
, China
, on the old Southern Silk Road
. As the commercial and administrative centre of Keriya County, it is about 166 km east of Khotan
, 80 km east of Qira, and 120 km west of Niya
. Yutian County has a population of about 160,000.
was known as Wumi (扜彌) and that there were, "3340 households, 20040 individuals with 3540 persons able to bear arms". These figures seem to be out of balance with too a high number of individuals per household. Perhaps to correct this, the Hou Hanshu - which records the kingdom as Jumi (拘彌) - states that, during the Later Han Dynasty (25-220 CE), there were, "2,173 households, 7,251 individuals, and 1,760 people able to bear arms." The later Weilüe and the Tangshu refer to Keriya as Hanmi 扞彌.
Both the Hanshu and the Hou Hanshu place this kingdom 390 li [162 km] east of Khotan. This is very close to the distance between Khotan and Keriya on modern maps, and confirms the identification of Wumi/Jumi with Keriya.
The small modern town of Keriya is situated on the western bank of the Keriya River
. Approximately 180 km north along the Keriya River is the ancient fortified site of Karadong where the world's oldest Buddhist murals have been found. It was abandoned in the 4th century CE. Another site, Yuan Sha, some 40 km north of Karadong, dates from the Iron Age but was abandoned by about 130 BCE.
There is a village about 75 km south of Keriya called Pulu. There are a number of peaks over 6,000 metres to the south of the oasis including Qong Muztag at 6,962 m (22,841 ft) in the upper Keriya River Valley. About 100 families of the distinctive Keriya Uyghurs
, who are said to be quite distinct from other Uyghurs, live at Tangzubasti Village, about 170 km north of the town of Yutian. It is said to be on the ruins of the ancient city of Keladun where artifacts from the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-222 CE) have been found.
Marco Polo
visited the oasis in the late 13th century. He described it as being five day's journey in extent, but with sandy deserts to both east and west. Both the Province and the "most splendid" capital city were called Pem. He notes that the people "all worship Mahomet" and that there were many towns and villages. "It is amply stocked with the means of life" with rich estates including orchards, vineyards, and lots of cotton. He also mentions that "jasper" (probably nephrite jade) and chalcedony
were found in the rivers and the people "live by trade and industry" and were "not at all war-like."
Gold mines were reported near Keriya in the 19th century.
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 木尕拉镇, Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Mùgǎlā Zhèn; Ugyhur
Uyghur language
Uyghur , formerly known as Eastern Turk, is a Turkic language with 8 to 11 million speakers, spoken primarily by the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China. Significant communities of Uyghur-speakers are located in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and various other...
: كېرىيە / Keriyə), is a town in Keriya County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, on the old Southern Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
. As the commercial and administrative centre of Keriya County, it is about 166 km east of Khotan
Khotan
Hotan , or Hetian , also spelled Khotan, is the seat of the Hotan Prefecture in Xinjiang, China. It was previously known in Chinese as 于窴/於窴 and to 19th-century European explorers as Ilchi....
, 80 km east of Qira, and 120 km west of Niya
Niya
Niya may refer to* Ruins of Niya , a site on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin, in modern-day Xinjiang, China* Niya, county seat of Minfeng County in the Tarim Basin, China...
. Yutian County has a population of about 160,000.
History
During the Former Han Dynasty the kingdom based on the Keriya OasisOasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
was known as Wumi (扜彌) and that there were, "3340 households, 20040 individuals with 3540 persons able to bear arms". These figures seem to be out of balance with too a high number of individuals per household. Perhaps to correct this, the Hou Hanshu - which records the kingdom as Jumi (拘彌) - states that, during the Later Han Dynasty (25-220 CE), there were, "2,173 households, 7,251 individuals, and 1,760 people able to bear arms." The later Weilüe and the Tangshu refer to Keriya as Hanmi 扞彌.
Both the Hanshu and the Hou Hanshu place this kingdom 390 li [162 km] east of Khotan. This is very close to the distance between Khotan and Keriya on modern maps, and confirms the identification of Wumi/Jumi with Keriya.
The small modern town of Keriya is situated on the western bank of the Keriya River
Keriya River
The Keriya River is a river in the province of Xinjiang in China. It flows for from the Kunlun Shan mountain range north into the endorheic Tarim Basin, but is lost in the desert several hundred kilometers south of the Tarim River. The only major settlement along the river is Keriya Town, east of...
. Approximately 180 km north along the Keriya River is the ancient fortified site of Karadong where the world's oldest Buddhist murals have been found. It was abandoned in the 4th century CE. Another site, Yuan Sha, some 40 km north of Karadong, dates from the Iron Age but was abandoned by about 130 BCE.
There is a village about 75 km south of Keriya called Pulu. There are a number of peaks over 6,000 metres to the south of the oasis including Qong Muztag at 6,962 m (22,841 ft) in the upper Keriya River Valley. About 100 families of the distinctive Keriya Uyghurs
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
, who are said to be quite distinct from other Uyghurs, live at Tangzubasti Village, about 170 km north of the town of Yutian. It is said to be on the ruins of the ancient city of Keladun where artifacts from the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-222 CE) have been found.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
visited the oasis in the late 13th century. He described it as being five day's journey in extent, but with sandy deserts to both east and west. Both the Province and the "most splendid" capital city were called Pem. He notes that the people "all worship Mahomet" and that there were many towns and villages. "It is amply stocked with the means of life" with rich estates including orchards, vineyards, and lots of cotton. He also mentions that "jasper" (probably nephrite jade) and chalcedony
Chalcedony
Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of the minerals quartz and moganite. These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, while moganite is monoclinic...
were found in the rivers and the people "live by trade and industry" and were "not at all war-like."
Gold mines were reported near Keriya in the 19th century.
External links
- Slideshow of archaeological sites along the Keriya River http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france-priorities_1/archaeology_2200/archaeology-notebooks_2202/asia-oceania_2256/china-keriya-xinjiang_2267/slide-show_2230.html
- 3000 year old archaeological finds at Liushui Village, Yutian County http://english.people.com.cn/200507/21/eng20050721_197540.html
- Archaeological GIS and Oasis Geography in the Tarim Basin http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol2num2/oasis.html
- Description of the Keriya Uyghur people by a Christian evangelical group. http://www.am-ccsm.org/operationchina/K/Keriya.asp
- Site showing photos of the mosque and a statue in Keriya town. http://china.notspecial.org/gallery/motorcyclemadness?page=3