As the Mongolian legend says, in those days, when the waters of the warm sea were still splashing on the site of the rocky Gobi desert, a beautiful and rich city was built on its picturesque shore by the first descendants of the gods, in which sages and traders, brave warriors and skilled artisans lived.
This city has changed many names. The Uighurs called it Indikutshari, the Chinese called it Hozhou (Fire City). It was also called Gaochang - after the name of the state whose capital it was. The Mongols called this legendary ancient city Khara-Khoto.
Another Mongolian legend tells about his death. The last ruler of the batyr city, Khara-jian-jun, declared war on the Chinese emperor, but after losing several battles, he was forced to hide behind impregnable walls. Unable to take the city by storm, the Chinese diverted the Edzin-Gol river bed from Khara-Khoto and thereby deprived its defenders of water.
Realizing that the city and its inhabitants are doomed to inevitable death, Hara-jian-jun hid all his untold treasures in a secret place, killed his wife and children and fought a decisive battle in which he was killed. The Chinese troops that burst into Hara-Khoto destroyed all its inhabitants, and the city itself was turned into ruins …
Russian travelers and scientists have long known about the dead, lost in the sands of the southern part of the Gobi Desert "black city" (as the toponym Khara-Khoto is translated from Mongolian). In 1886, the expedition of Grigory Potanin learned from the Mongols about some kind of fortress, abandoned by people and covered with sand. Vladimir Obruchev, who visited the same places in 1893, asked the local residents in detail about the ruins of the ancient settlement, but he never saw them.
In 1907, Pyotr Kozlov, a disciple of Nikolai Przhevalsky, set out in search of the mysterious city. He managed to enlist the support of the leader of the Torgout Beile tribe, who lived in those parts, and with the help of a guide, the expedition arrived at the dead city at the bend of the Edzin-Gol River.
The leader argued that foreigners could not bring pack animals into the ruined city, light fires and eat inside the city walls. Women were not allowed to appear in Hara-Khoto. Violation of prohibitions could cause the wrath of the spirits - the founders of the ancient city. Russian travelers were even told the story of how a local resident accidentally wandered into the city in search of lost horses a hundred years ago. Among the destroyed buildings, she found several strands of large pearls. When the woman left the city, a terrible sandstorm suddenly began. A few days later, her corpse, half-buried in sand, with strands of pearls clutched in her palms, was found by a caravan passing by. The chief of the Torgout Beile tribe also wished that the researchers, if they discovered the treasures of Hara-jian-tszun, would transfer the found riches to him.
And so the eyes of Russian travelers saw the high fortress walls, almost completely covered with sand. At the western wall two suburgan mausoleums could be distinguished, one of which was completely destroyed. And in the second, the researchers were awaited by amazing and invaluable finds from a historical point of view. Inside the mausoleum, scientists discovered the rarest examples of Buddhist icon painting made in colored paints on silk canvases, many metal and wooden figurines typical of the 11th – 12th centuries. The found library was of particular value - more than 2000 well-preserved handwritten books and scrolls.
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In the center of the mausoleum, on a stone pedestal, from which a tall metal pole rose upward, twenty clay figures as tall as a man were placed face to face. Handwritten sheets of paper lay next to each of the figures. A well-preserved skeleton was sitting in the far corner of the suburgan. The researchers suggested that these are the remains of a clergyman, for whom, in fact, the mausoleum was built. Anthropometric examination showed that the skeleton belonged to … a woman of about fifty. She was buried sitting, as required by customs, and was, apparently, the very high-ranking clergyman. It seems that the ancient inhabitants of the "black city" were much more civilized than the current inhabitants of the desert.
A lot of curious and mysterious finds awaited the expedition in the city itself. In the center of Khara-Khoto, they cleared sand from a round stone structure 2.5 m high, resembling a giant head of cheese. On its upper flat side, researchers stumbled upon incomprehensible cuneiform letters that differed from those with which the found manuscripts were made, and, apparently, belonged to a much earlier era, as well as mysterious concentric circles, spirals and lines woven into a bizarre web. All of this was carved into solid stone. According to scientists, the building in time immemorial could well serve the inhabitants of the city as an observatory, as well as a sanctuary where the ancient priests sacrificed to their gods.
In one of the dilapidated buildings, after careful cleaning, the eyes of amazed travelers saw well-preserved fragments of wall painting, in which, in addition to the faces of the saints, there were images of strange creatures: two-headed birds, fish with human heads, and a frightening look of dragons. Next to these creatures were miniature figures of people. A unique collection of documents dating back to the reign of Genghis Khan, including a description of ancient fortune-telling, also fell into the hands of scientists.
However, either by coincidence, or because of the once imposed curse, an unprecedented drought began at this time. In addition, a series of powerful tremors swept through the central part of Mongolia at the same time. All this was interpreted by the elders as a sign that powerful spirits are unhappy with the presence of gentiles on their land. In the middle of the summer of 1907, the Mongol authorities ordered Kozlov to stop excavations and leave the country. This was motivated by complaints from the local population: strangers, they say, desecrate the "forbidden city" with their presence.
Despite the obstacles posed by the authorities, the expedition managed to transport a significant part of the found exhibits and manuscripts to St. Petersburg, to the Russian Geographical Society. “We have collected,” summed up Pyotr Kozlov, “archaeological material that filled ten pood boxes prepared for shipment to the Russian Geographical Society and the Academy of Sciences. In addition, I immediately sent by Mongolian mail to Urga (Ulan Bator) and further to Petersburg several packages with the news of the actual discovery of Khara-Khoto, attaching icon painting and writing samples found in the excavations for speedy study and identification: fragments of Buddhist writings on Chinese, two small passages of the Tibetan text and eleven notebooks of Xi Xia letter manuscripts."
In the library of the dead city, a dictionary of the Tangut language Xi Xia was found, thanks to which the experts and scientists of the Russian Geographical Society were able to decipher most of the discovered manuscripts. It turned out that starting from the II century, there was a defensive zone that protected the population from the raids of nomads, and there was an outpost of China in long clashes with the Huns.
Another century passes, and the chronicles begin to mention the trading city of Xihai standing in the oasis. But three centuries later, during the decline of the Han Empire, the city seemingly disappears. However, not for long: in the Tang era, the Tongcheng fortress was built on this site, which at first passed to the Tibetans, then to the Turks, and in the 9th century to the Uighurs. At the same time, the Tanguts appeared on the historical stage, who at the end of the 10th century created the powerful state of Xi Xia, stretching for hundreds of kilometers from west to east and from south to north.
In 1226, Mongol troops led by Genghis Khan set out on a campaign against China. The state of Xi Xia was destroyed and dissolved in the huge Yuan Empire founded by the Mongols, which stretched in the XIII-XIV centuries from the banks of the Danube to the Pacific Ocean.
Hara-Khoto received a new name - Edzina (in Mongolian Ijinai). It became an important trading city on the way from China to the Mongolian capital Karakorum, founded at the beginning of the 13th century on the banks of the Selenga River at the confluence of the Orkhon River. Marco Polo mentions Edzin in his notes: “He stands at the beginning of the sandy steppe in the north of the Tashut region. The people are idolaters, they have many camels and all kinds of cattle. The local people … are engaged in arable farming and cattle breeding."
The traveler called the Buddhists idolaters. In fact, not only they settled there. Kozlov's findings testified that representatives of many peoples lived in the city. In addition to the Tangut, Chinese and Mongolian texts, manuscripts in Persian and Arabic have been found in Khara-Khoto. Thus, the Yijinai of the Yuan era was actually a center of transit trade with a motley mixed population.
But in 1372 the Chinese commander Feng Sheng captured Yijinai. Having blocked the branches of the Edzin-Gol River with dams, he not only left the defenders of the city without water, but also ruined the blooming oasis, which it was no longer possible to revive.
Scientists have not been able to decipher some of the documents found. They were written in an unknown language. According to one version, ancient priests encrypted magical texts on mysterious scrolls, which mere mortals were not allowed to know. According to another version, these writings are, perhaps, the only material evidence of a certain mysterious civilization that created the city of Hara-Khoto and escaped the attention of chroniclers. But only the silent ruins, covered with sand and covered with many exciting legends, know about it.
From the book: "The most eerie and mystical places on the planet and the secrets of their inhabitants." Reutov Sergey