| JIMSAR COUNTY
Location of Jimsar County (pink) in Changji Prefecture (yellow) and Xinjiang (light grey) Jimsar County is a county in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. It contains an area of 8,149 km2 (3,146 sq mi). According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 130,000.
Near the town of Jimsar are the ruins of the ancient city of Beiting (Pinyin: Beitíng) or Ting Prefecture (Pinyin: Tíngzhou), the headquarters of the Beiting Protectorate during the 8th century. It was later known as Beshbalik and became one of the capitals of the Uyghur Khaganate and then the Kingdom of Qocho.
History
:
The modern city Jimsar is located at 43°59' N, 89°4' East; It is a location of the Uyghur ancient southern capital Beshbalik or Beshbalyk. In modern Turkish "Besbalik (or "Beshbalyk") literally means "Five Fishes", the closest approximation of "Beshbalyk" would be "Bes" (five) and "Baylik" (Beylik in modern Turkish meaning Principality) so it would be written as "Besbeylik" in modern Turkish). However, not like today's meaning, "Baliq" means city in old turkik language, so the meaning of Beshbalik/Beshbaliq is "Five cities". This city name appeared in Yuan dynasty record as both (Wu Chéng, means 5 cities) or (bié shi ba li). It became the Uyghur main capital after a disastrous results of the Yenisei Kirghiz attack on the Uyghur northern capital Karabalgasun (Khanbalyk).
After the attack, a significant part of the Uyghur Khaganate population fled to the area of the present Jimsar County and Tarim Basin in general in 840, where they founded the Kingdom of Qocho. The Uyghurs submitted to Genghis Khan in 1207. Beshbalik consisted of five parts: an outer town, the northern gate of the outer town, the extended town of the west, the inner town and a small settlement within the inner town. At first, the city was the political center of the Uyghur Idiquit (monarch) and his Mongol queen, Altalun, daughter of Genghis Khan under the Mongol Empire in the first half of the 13th century. Alans were recruited into the Mongol forces with one unit called "Right Alan Guard" which was combined with "recently surrendered" soldiers, Mongols, and Chinese soldiers stationed in the area of the former Kingdom of Qocho and in Besh Balikh the Mongols established a Chinese military colony led by Chinese general Qi Kongzhi (Ch'i Kung-chih). Due to military struggles between the Chagatai Khanate and the Yuan Dynasty during the reign of Kublai Khan, the city was abandoned and lost its prosperity in the late 13th century. The History of Yuan records the name as both Wu-ch'eng (5 cities) and Bie-shi-ba-li.
Jimsar city was established in the south of the ruins of Beshbalik.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/ |
.png){kind=spacer}