The Gobi Desert keeps many secrets. According to legend, it contains the gate to the magical land of Agartha, which is ruled by the king of the world. Rare daredevils who went here returned alive. That is why the path to the mysterious underworld is lined with the bones of the dead. At night, the outlandish beasts of the desert go hunting - and the gates of Agartha open, revealing the spirits of darkness and evil demons.
Instead of treasures - huge snakes
According to an old Mongolian legend, once in the Gobi Desert, now almost deserted, there was a blooming oasis and the kingdom of Xi-Xia. Numerous Chinese troops once laid siege to its capital, but could not take it by storm. Then they blocked the river, which supplied the city with water, and took it aside. The inhabitants were tormented by thirst, and they dug a deep well, but they never reached the water. Sensing imminent death, their leader Hara-Jiang buried the entire treasury in a dry well and cast a spell over this place. And then he killed his family and led the warriors into the last battle. After the death of the city's defenders, the Chinese plundered it. They tried to find treasures, but instead they dug up two huge snakes with red and green scales. In superstitious fear, the invaders fled, and the destroyed city was swallowed up by the desert sands. So these events would have remained a legend,if scientists had not found ancient manuscripts in the Tangut language in Altai.
Temple with statues of idols
In 1720, the messenger of Peter I, Major I. M. Likharev founded the Ust-Kamenogorsk fortress on the banks of the Irtysh River. About 70 kilometers away, a Cossack patrol found Ablainkit, a fortified complex of a Buddhist monastery, protected from enemies by powerful walls. For unknown reasons, the inhabitants left it, but did not destroy anything and did not take with them. The shrine of the temple was filled with statues of idols, and numerous handwritten scrolls were kept in a huge cabinet with drawers. On a black or blue background, some of them were crowded with gold and silver letters of an unknown alphabet. Several of these manuscripts were delivered to Peter I, who handed them over to the Paris Academy of Sciences. So for the first time, the attention of scientists was drawn to the writings from Central Asia.
Not understanding the text, French scholars nevertheless made a translation. To tell the truth, it was a frank "linden", which was discovered by the Russian academician, the first Moscow archivist Gerhard Miller. In July 1734, he personally visited the unique Ablainkita temple and described in detail its premises. And also - amazing drawings, plot compositions, images of multi-headed and multi-armed male figures, naked female bodies … I also admired two miniature melting furnaces. Perhaps, with their help, in the old days, gold, silver or bronze statuettes of Buddhist deities were made. It was these who usually stood in the nomads' yurts opposite the entrance.
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Part of the manuscripts, wooden tables with carved letters and mysterious frescoes on boards Miller took for a more thorough study in Moscow. Later it became clear: the texts of the manuscripts were written in the Tangut language. The question immediately arose - what kind of people are these Tanguts?
… Their state arose in the X century in the Gobi Desert, the climate in which at that time was much milder than now. The city of Khara-Khoto (in Tangut - Idzinay), located in the valley of the Etszin-gol river, was captured by Genghis Khan in 1227, but did not betray him to fire and plunder. Almost two centuries later, in 1405, the Chinese army entered this blooming oasis. Breaking the resistance of the inhabitants, it destroyed the local irrigation systems, which was tantamount to the destruction of the city. And he died. It was forgotten for several centuries.
Eh, roads
In December 1907, General Pyotr Kozlov, a member of the famous expeditions of Nikolai Przhevalsky, led a caravan through the spurs of the Mongolian Altai, across the Alashan desert to Lake Kukunor, sacred to many peoples of Asia. He knew both the Tangut manuscripts from Ablainkit and the dead city of Khara-Khoto. A strong wind carried sand mixed with snow. Clothes did not save the participants of the hike from the cold. Kozlov hoped to get into the Gobi Desert in the spring. And so it happened. In March, the caravan was already overcoming the ridges of dunes, the beds of dry rivers, stopping for a short time at the rarely seen wells. An almost unbearable heat blew with the wind. The dust creaked on my teeth, stuffed into my mouth and ears. From her, the travelers had a sore throat, and their eyes were inflamed. The expedition went astray several times: the desert did not want to reveal its secrets.
But then, finally, traces of ancient irrigation systems appeared, Buddhist stupas began to come across - monumental and religious structures for storing relics. Soon, walls with protruding towers and domes of buildings loomed over the sea of sand. The riders drove into the lifeless city. Having set up camp, they began to inspect the fortress. There was a gap in one of the walls, through which the rider could easily pass. Was it not the folk tradition that mentioned her?
In ancient years, many caravan routes converged near Khara-Khoto, life was in full swing here. Excavations have confirmed this. The travelers were delighted with the finds: silk painting, scraps of ancient manuscripts and books, coins, fragments of statues made of beautifully polished rock crystal. There were even bundles of old, probably the world's first paper money with hieroglyphs and red stamps. General Kozlov sent a report to the capital about everything that he saw and about the numerous finds. He hoped that the Russian Geographical Society would allow him to change the plan of the expedition. Of course, it was necessary to stay here, because the excavations in the ancient city were very superficial. However, no such permission was received, and the caravan moved on.
Lake Kokonor and Amdo Country
The explorers walked for twenty-five days across the Alashan desert. It was hot during the day and so cold at night that the water froze in the kettle. The Alashan Ridge is a rearing cliff, behind which loose sands have again stretched. The sun heated them up to 70 degrees, and the feet burned even through the soles of their boots.
In August 1908, the caravan reached Lake Kukunor. Kozlov went away from the camp and, lost in thought, sat for a long time on the shore. It was here that Nikolai Przhevalsky's camp stood thirty-five years ago. As then, the waves of the lake were splashing, the surf rustled monotonously. A letter from St. Petersburg caught up with the expedition in the Guide oasis: "Spare no effort, no time, no money for further excavations of Khara-Khoto." The head of the expedition was pleased, but it was not worth returning to the Gobi Desert in winter, and Kozlov headed to the northeastern corner of the Tibetan Plateau, to the mysterious country of Amdo. There, the members of the expedition had to repulse the armed attacks of local tribes and sleep, not letting go of their weapons. Many times their lives hung in the balance, and travelers happily left this unkind country to return to Hara-Khoto and continue excavations there.
The real treasure was revealed to them in one of the suburgans, away from the fortress, on the banks of a dried-up river. It consisted of many books, manuscripts, almost three hundred paintings on canvas, silk and paper, skillfully woven tapestries, bronze and gilded figurines of deities with unusually expressive faces, coins, silver and gold jewelry, various utensils … The dry climate of the desert preserved all these priceless for the history of the treasure. The work was interrupted only in the very heat, when it was possible to burn yourself on the stones, and unexpectedly flying vortices raised clouds of dust.
There were so many finds that it was not possible to take all of them with us. Kozlov hid some of the treasures, hoping to pick it up another time. After packing the rest in boxes, the caravan headed to Russia.
… Peter Kozlov managed to get to Khara-Khoto again only in 1926, and when he arrived at the place, he did not find the things he had hidden last time. Apparently, the spirits of the desert decided to give them away. But the collection taken out on the first expedition turned out to be so large that its research took many years. There were almost two thousand books and manuscripts alone! Connoisseurs of ancient writing, Mongol scholars, archaeologists and numismatists have worked for years to study the collection. Kozlov's findings made it possible to draw many important conclusions and decipher mysterious texts. As it turned out, the ancient Mongolian legend about the forgotten kingdom of Xi-Xia was based on the very real facts of the history of Central Asia.
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №30. Author: Valery Kukarenko
