Medieval city in present-day Xinjiang, China
Almaliq
(
Uyghur
:
????????
;
Chinese
:
阿
力
麻
里
;
pinyin
:
?limal?
),
[4]
also spelled
Almalik
,
[5]
Almalig
,
[5]
was a medieval city in the
Ili
basin in present-day
Huocheng County
,
Xinjiang
, China along
Kazakhstan
border. A modern town named Alimali (阿力?里) in
Khorgas
, adjacent to Huocheng, has no historical connections with the medieval town.
History
[
edit
]
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
Qiu Chuji
(Chang Chun).
According to the travel notes of Genghis Khan's chief adviser
Yelu Chucai
, the city of Almaliq was situated between the
Tian Shan
mountains and the
Ili River
. There were many
crab apple
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
. The king was later killed by the
Gurkhan
of
Karakitai
. 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
for marriage. In 1219, when Genghis Khan led his host on campaign to
Persia
, Siknak Tekin followed him.
[6]
The marriage between the ruler of Almaliq and a granddaughter of
Genghis Khan
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
, Khan of
Moghulistan
, from
c.
1351
to 1363. Tughluq Temur's tomb can still be seen in the town. Inscriptions also show the presence of
Nestorian Christians
in the town in the third quarter of the fourteenth century.
[7]
[8]
A number of Catholic missionaries worked in Almaliq in the 14th century as well, including
Giovanni de' Marignolli
. Like him, many
Europeans in Medieval China
stopped there while traveling. In June 1339, six monks, a bishop, and a Genoese merchant were killed by order of the
Khan Ali
, the sultan of the region, who had recently assassinated the previous ruler
Yesun-Timur Khan
.
[9]
The city was typically known as "Armalec" in their accounts.
[5]
References
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
Aci senyoreya lo rey Chabech, seynior qui es dit del imperi de Medeia. Aquest esta en Emalech.
in
Buchon, Jean Alexandre (2011).
Notice D'un Atlas En Langue Catalane, Manuscrit de L'An 1375 Conserve Parmi Les Manuscrits de La Bibliotheque Royale Sous Le Numero 6816, Fonds Ancien
(PDF)
. p. 135.
ISBN
978-1271741458
.
- ^
Massing, Jean Michel (1 January 1991).
Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration
. Yale University Press. p. 30.
ISBN
978-0-300-05167-4
.
- ^
"The Cresques Project - Panel VI"
.
www.cresquesproject.net
.
- ^
Previously
transcribed into Chinese
as
阿爾馬立克
,
?'?rm?li
;
阿里?城
,
?l?m?cheng
;
阿里麻
,
?l?ma
and
阿力?力
,
?lim?li
.
- ^
a
b
c
Henry Yule
,
Cathay and the way thither: being a collection of medieval notices ...
, Volume 2; pp 288, 321, 338, etc.
- ^
Emil Bretschneider
:
Medieval Researches
, Vol 2
, p33, Trubner Oriental Series, London, 1888.
- ^
Niu,
loc. cit.
- ^
Borbone, Pier Giorgio (2008).
"Syroturcica 2: The Priest Sargis in the White Pagoda"
.
Monumenta Serica
.
56
: 487?503.
ISSN
0254-9948
.
- ^
a
b
Prazniak, Roxann (31 March 2019).
Sudden Appearances: The Mongol Turn in Commerce, Belief, and Art
. University of Hawaii Press. p. 80.
ISBN
978-0-8248-7808-5
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- W. Barthold
[rev. 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.
- Pachkalov, Alexander. Archaeological Sources: The Chaghadaid Khanate. In The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire. Edited by Michal Biran, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hodong Kim, Seoul National University. Cambridge University Press, 2023. Vol. II. 464-473 pp.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for
Almaliq
.