News
Permits and Funding for 2019 Expedition secured
Explore the heartland of the Mongol Dynasty with V2
The site aims to shed new light on the life, and death of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Great Khans by reference to primary sources and on location surveys and exploration.
With the fall of the Yuan Dynasty in 1378 and the subsequent onslaught of the Ming, who wrought revenge and destruction on the Mongol Homeland, the whereabouts of cities, temples and known historical locations were lost in the mists of time. The same fate befell the locations of places associated with the Imperial family. These were recorded in their time by European, Arab, Chinese and not least, Mongol primary sources
And so the sun set on the chosen and sacred landscape of Genghis Khan and the Kyat Mongols. The sanctity of the Forbidden Steppe, reserved for imperial elections, coronations and the safekeeping of the bones and spirit of the Mongol Great Khans and the Kyans, was erased from the psyche of the people, thus preventing them from remembering and performing their time-honoured ancestral rites.
By the late 17th century, following the fall of the Ming Empire in 1644, renewed internecine struggles for dominance between the Khalkhas and Oirats, Saskya-pa and Gelug-pa Buddhists and the rising geopolitical interests of Russia, and the China ‘Manchu’ Qing, knowledge of the sacred sites passed into folklore and legend.
Genghis Khan’s ‘Chosen Place’ the ‘Ikh Qoruc’ of the Mongol Dynasty.
the Forbidden Steppe
Genghis Khan’s chosen place for his last resting place in the Forbidden Steppe was secured by a 10 mile wide fence guarded, day and night, by a thousand mounted warriors where, on pain of death, access was denied to all but those with imperial authority to enter.
This guarded grassland steppe, is referred to in Arabic sources by its Mongol name ‘The Ikh Qoruc’ or the ’The Great Sacred Enclosure or Precinct’; it was reserved not only for the last resting place of the Chingissid Dynasty but, as Peng-taya in 1232 and Fra. Giovanni of Carpine in 1245 recount, also for those Mongols who died serving the reigning Khan in distant lands or, were high status Kyans.
The Lone Tree and origin of the Forbidden Steppe
Where Genghis Khan chose his last resting place to be
“One day, Genghis Khan was out hunting, when he saw at one place a solitary tree. The sight of that tree pleased him, and he sat for an hour under it. Within himself he was moved (by it) and thus gave his orders: ‘This place is suitable for my burial; remember it’ at the time of the wailing people who had heard these words repeated them. The princes (sahzdagan) and the leaders (umdra, the emirs) in compliance with this order chose (that Place)“. Rashid al Din writing 1290-1312 (Trans P. Pelliot M. Polo pg 335)
Rashid adds a caution when he goes on to say:
“It is said in that very year of the burial, trees and grass grew beyond measure over that steppe, and now the wood is so thick that it leaves no passage and they do not know (which is) the original tree or the place of burial, so much so that even the old keepers of the ‘forbidden precinct’ (qorȕqčĭān) do not find their way to it……” (idem)
Who related this or what the source of who said it or how much weight can be attached to it, is unknown. Additionally some translators, instead of using the term ‘wood’, which describes a small area of land covered with growing trees akin to a ‘grove’ (see Pelliot M Polo), use the term ‘forest’ suggesting a more expansive feature.
The tone of Rashid’s comment does, however, suggest that there is some doubt as to the existence of such a feature, yet its existence should not necessarily be discounted. Whatever the case, some 13 great Khans and up to 35 male and female members of the Imperial Family were also interred nearby.
Genghis Khan’s ‘Chosen Place’ the ‘Ikh Qoruc’ of the Mongol Dynasty.
Khan Khenti ‘Burkhan Khaldun’; The Myth of the Location of Genghis Khan’s Sacred Mountain
Section 1
The discovery of Genghis Khan’s burial site has been compared with finding the ‘Holy Grail’. In the absence of a known location, historians have speculated it might be on a supposed mountain he declared sacred in ‘The Secret History Of The Mongols’, referrring to it as Burkhan Khaldun. In the 1950’s N. Poppe in his paper ‘On Some Geographic Names in The Jami al-Tawarix’ tentatively suggested this mountain’s location might be coterminous with the Khenti mountain range in north east Mongolia. Since then this location has repeatedly been cited by notable and aspiring academics alike, with no primary source or any new evidence presented to support the case.
In the 1998 published paper ‘Searching for Cinggis Khan: Notes and Comments on Historic Sites in Xentii Aimag, Northern Mongolia’, Professor I. De Rachewiltz arguably makes, as far as I have been able to establish, the first serious case of associating ‘The Secret History’ Burkhan Khaldun and Imperial burial ground location with Khan Khenti. The rationale is mostly based on; a review of existing and known historical accounts and interpretations, a fleeting visit to Khan Khenti, anecdotal local information and, untested observations from the project report of the Japanese 1990 Gurvan Gol Project.
Close study of alternative translations of the ‘The Secret History of the Mongols’, together with detailed reference to primary sources a better understanding of the spatial context of the pre-Genghis period is emerging. From this, and the knowledge gained from ten years exploration of the geography of this period, it is becoming increasingly clear that Khan Khenti cannot possibly be where the Imperial burial grounds or Genghis’s Khan’s ‘supposed’ sacred mountain is located.
Shamanistic belief that high places and trees represent a bridge between the sky god and the underworld, has fostered the sobriquet of Burkhan Khaldun to some 20-25 mountains in Mongolia. Shamanism, even today, is deeply rooted in Mongolian culture and it played an important role in the life of and, as Genghis Khan himself believed, his destiny. From the Shaman practice of venerating mountains, local tradition suggests that in the late 19th century Khan Khenti was indeed a shamanistic ritual site. While accepting the sacred status of this important geographical feature, the watershed of many notable river courses that discharge into three oceans, there is little justification, however, to assume that this is where the ‘Burkhan Khaldun’ of the Secret History is located.
Further, analysis on the ground of the described sequence of events leading up to the Burkhan Khaldun episode, the time and space constraints of the time, make it rationally impossible for Temujin, as he was then and his family to have reached Khan Khenti without being first captured by the Merkits. Consequently Khan Khenti cannot be where he was interred and by implication, nor can it be where the Dynasty burial site is located.
It is from section 103 of ‘The Secret History of The Mongols’ that we learn Genghis Khan declared ‘a high place’ (likely a mountain) sacred, because he said it saved his life. From the account it is clear this place must have been reasonably accessible from his camp and located south of the river Tungelik and the Tana stream. This place became so sacred to him that thereafter before every campaign he would ascend its summit, where it is said a Gher was erected and from within he would conduct incantations and shamanistic rituals to seek guidance from the ‘Blue Heaven’. Descending from the high place that saved his life, he decreed that ‘the seed of my seed shall know this’ it follows, therefore, that in the 13th and 14th century many will have known its location. No primary source of these periods so far available to the west, names or even suggests that Khan Khenti was its location. All efforts over the last 50 years or so, have consistently failed to firmly identify the location of this place or mountain.
Khan Khenti ‘Burkhan Khaldun’; The Myth of the Location of Genghis Khan’s Sacred Mountain
section 2
From ancient times the strategic importance of central Asia has never escaped the notice of aspiring conquerors and world powers. In the 19th century the then aspiring world powers; Russia, China, Japan, Britain, France and Germany repeatedly commissioned military personnel to undertake reconnaissance missions of the Mongolian plateau under the guise of exploration and diplomacy. Such undertakings were responsible for renewing interest in its history, especially that of the 13th century era of the Great Khans and the Mongol Empire. Notable among many of these trailblazers were the Jesuit priests Gerbillion and Gaubil with their companions, Kafarof alias Archimandrite Palladius, Pozdneyv, Kozlov, Prezwalski, Schubert and, arguably, the most studious P. Pelliot. Even so the importance and detail of this period remained relatively obscure and unknown in the west. Huge credit, therefore, must also be accorded to other renowned 20th century scholars; F W Cleaves, I de Rachewiltz, E Haenisch and the ‘father’ of Mongolian archaeology and anthropology Kh. Perlee, for expanding our knowledge of it.
The visitors occupied themselves with noting its geography, communication corridors, and natural resources, as well as the potential for military and economic exploitation. They engaged in mapping of the terrain and recording for their home country’s consumption, the socio-economic and cultural traditions of the indigenous peoples. The Jesuit priests were responsible for translations of the history of previous dynasties, amongst them the ‘Da Yuan’, and when accompanying the Qing emperor, Kang Shi, on his expeditions, producing remarkably accurate maps of the terrain even by today’s standards, showing river courses, mountains, lakes, settlements and, of great interest today, their long lost historical names. These records becoming invaluable sources, in aiding our understanding of the 13th century geography of the area
Today there is a strong belief in Mongolia that Khan Khenti is the famed location of the sacred mountain irrespective of whether there is or if any verifiable proof will ever be discovered. In part this belief has evolved because of the existence of a presumed man made mound on a broad ridge of the Khan Khenti Masiff. In the absence of any real alternative, in the late 20th century this feature, complimented by the shamanistic veneration of mountains, gave rise to the idea that it may have marked the burial site of the great khan.
Following Mongolia’s independence in 1990, numerous high level expeditions costing millions of dollars, were mounted to find the imperial burial grounds. Most focused on Khan Khenti, starting with the 1990 Japanese Gurvan Gol Project. These have all failed to find any proof to substantiate that the mound is artificial or that it is a burial site. Remarkably, time and again, it seems to have escaped the attention of the seekers that the Khan’s burial site contains also up to 50 royal graves and, nearby are located a multitude of graves belonging to high status individuals who served the reigning Khan. Interestingly, recurring anecdotal comments of visitors to the mound, suggest it to be a natural feature left over from the last ice age.
Discovery of the ‘YUAN CHAO PI CHI’ a Biography of Genghis Khan
The most significant event in rekindling interest in the life of Genghis Khan, was the discovery in the 18th century, by the Archmandrite Palladius, of a transcribed ‘Pin Yin’ (old Chinese script) copy of the ‘Yuan Chao Pi Chi’. This is essentially a biography of the great Khan and is better known in the west as ‘The Secret History of the Mongols’. Here, from section 103, we learn that Genghis vowed to pray, every morning to a (high) place (suggesting a mountain) that saved his life, referring to it as ‘Burkhan Khaldun’. The circumstances of this event has given rise to the unproven notion, but accepted by many 20th century historians, that ‘the place’ corresponded to a mountain and this was likely to be the place of his burial. The location of this supposed mountain has never been, even remotely, established. The association of it with Khan Khenti is relatively recent with no reference to it preceding the 20th century or, come to that, has any tenable evidence been discovered that supports the view this is the location of the imperial burial site.
steppe or mountain
what landscape did genghis khan choose for the dynasty burial ground
what the primary sources say
Rashid’s complimentary note to the Lone Tree reference, tells us that Genghis Khan’s Chosen Place is in ‘That Steppe’ and not on a mountain .
Peng-Taya and Tsu-ting in 1232 and 1235 say the imperial grave was trodden by horses making the ground appear even as before.
Tsu-ting in 1235 says ‘I T’ing have seen the tomb of T’e-mu-chĕn it is on the side of the Lu-kou mountains and rivers surround it’.
Peng-Taya in 1232 says: ‘At the tomb of T’e-mu-chĕn arrow posts have been stuck in the ground so as to make a fence more than 30 li (10 miles) wide.
Fra. Giovanni di Carpine: ‘They go in secret into the open country and there they remove the grass, roots and all,…and they put the grass over it as it was before’.
Is this what Peng-taya and Tsu-ting saw?
Forbidden Steppe 2015 - V2 Prospective Tomb Site A Overrun With Horses
Why the imperial burial ground has not been found
Reasons abound for the ignorance surrounding the whereabouts of the Imperial Burial Ground. They range from deception and conspiracy to secrecy and fanciful imaginary notions by the poorly informed. Add to this the difficulty of access, interpretation and understanding of multi-lingual primary sources, real clues to its location have, time and again, been passed over.
Historians adding to assumptions of other historians have leant towards a mountain location, even though all records dating from the time, suggest otherwise. If they are right then the Secret History ‘Burkhan Khaldun’ is a rational choice. With the repeated failure of finding any tangible evidence on Khan Khenti then our code named mountain V2 must be a credible contender.
From the records we have it is highly likely the site, when found, will be in a grassland Steppe environment adjacent to a watercourse/s and mountain/s. The likelihood must also be that a grove or small forest of Siberian Pine or Larch or a mixture of both will be associated with it, in preference to other type. These being the dominant species of the Taiga in north east Mongolia.
The Yuan Shi, the Jami al-Tawarix, Carpine and Peng/Tsu Ting accounts all suggest that nearby there will also be many graves of other imperial family members and of the Kyat tribe/clan, who were brought back (even) from distant lands. No wonder that in 1290 Rashid describes this place as the ‘Ikh Qoruc’ the ‘Great Sacred Enclosure’.
By then, some 70 years after Genghis khan’s death, the number of graves to be accommodated would have been numerous, requiring a substantial area to be set aside for the purpose. Hence ‘Great’ was an appropriate adjective to describe such a place and gives a clear indication that by then, it had expanded to a sizeable land area.
Careful reading of the primary sources point to a Steppe location rather than a Mountain being the location of the sacred enclosure. That there was a mountain Genghis Khan considered sacred and was worshipped by him and his immediate descendant is probable, but there is little if any reason to conclude the Imperial burial grounds are on a mountain.
Instead, it will be exactly where the primary sources say it is.
Upcoming 2019 Prospective Tours and Expeditions
The enigma of Genghis Khan’s death in the Lieu Pan Shan mountains, how his remains were brought back to north east Mongolia and the unknown 1600 km route of the cortege back across the Gobi desert has beguiled Kings, Historians, Scholars and popular authors. Not least many who have come across this understated period of human history and pondered the intriguing success of how a minor central Asia fledgling nation could create an empire six times larger than that of the Romans and over such a short period of time. Limited access in the west, to factual information of this epoch, has given rise to prejudicial notions of it, where, over time, myth and fact have become blurred. The aim of our research and field work is to separate the two and promote a better understanding of the historical significance of Mongolian culture and its heritage.
ON STANDBY for the 2019 SUMMER SEASON
The V2 team, in association with the National University of Mongolia, have applied for the Ministry Permit to continue the ongoing field work in the Herlen Valley. Vito and Geoff are on stand-by to visit UB, should added local representations be necessary.
We are hopeful the permit will be granted and if so, at the back end of this summer the team will be in the Herlen Valley for up to 4 weeks. Detailed plans have yet to be finalised but some ideas being considered are for small teams to maybe take off making for Kara Khorum and explore the Gobi and Arkhangay while others revisit the mountain codenamed V2 and Khan Khenti.
Tasks and Team Structure
This year’s expedition aims to address historical issues arising from the 13th century period by ongoing exploration of the terrain associated with Genghis Khan’s tribal lands to expand our knowledge of the local geography and place names of the time; while others will progress archaeological digs and UAV surveys of previously identified sites associated with ‘he Secret History of the Mongols.’
The September 2019 expedition will, therefore, concentrate on archaeological surveys and investigation of sites associated with the heartland f the 13th Century Mongols, referred to by William Rubruck as ‘OnonKerule’ when he visited back in 1252. Effort will predominantly concentrate on hands on archaeology, UAV lidar and thermal aerial surveys, and ground penetrating radar investigations adding to the knowledge acquired in previous years.The core of the expedition teams will be made up of V2 principal members, principals from the National University of Mongolia and field support from Mongolian students and local guides.
A limited number of guests are welcome to join expedition teams.
Interested! then send us a post.
