Orkhon

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Orkhon
Орхон
Selengerivermap.png
Data
location Mongolia
River system Yenisei
Drain over Selenga  → Angara  → Yenisei  → Arctic Ocean
source at Suwraga-Khairchan in the Changai Mountains
46 ° 52 '24 "  N , 101 ° 9' 24"  E
muzzle near Süchbaatar in the Selenge coordinates: 50 ° 15 ′ 7 ″  N , 106 ° 8 ′ 14 ″  E 50 ° 15 ′ 7 ″  N , 106 ° 8 ′ 14 ″  E

length 1124 km
Catchment area approx. 132,835 km²
Drain MQ
 96 m³ / s
Left tributaries Tamir
Right tributaries Tuul , Charaa , Scharyn , Jero
Small towns Kharkhorin , Süchbaatar
The Orkhon at Kharkhorin

The Orkhon at Kharkhorin

Upper reaches of the Orkhon River
Orkhon on the road from Darchan to Erdenet
Orkhon on the road from Darchan to Erdenet
Orkhon region

The Orkhon ( Mongolian Орхон , sometimes Orkhon ) is a 1124 km long, southwestern and right-side tributary of the Selenga (Selenge) in the north of Mongolia ( Asia ) and also the longest river in Mongolia.

geography

course

The Orkhon rises in the center of Mongolia around the border of the Archangai-Aimag to the Öwörchangai-Aimag . Its source is in the eastern part of the Changai Mountains on the Suwraga-Chairchan mountain ( 3179  m ) in the Changai Nuruu National Park .

Initially, the river in Öwörchangai-Aimag runs to the southeast, and shortly afterwards turns to the northeast and then to the north, with the Tamir flowing towards it. A little later it takes an easterly direction, flowing in large turns in the Bulgan Aimag . Then it reaches the Selenge-Aimag and runs a little after the confluence of the Tuul through the Darchan-Uul-Aimag lying in it and then again through the Selenge-Aimag, in which it turns to the northeast.

Shortly before the Russian border, the Orkhon flows into the Selenga (Selenge) directly below Süchbaatar , which flows from there mainly north-northeast towards Lake Baikal .

Tributaries

The most important tributary of the Orkhon is the Tuul , which covers the southeastern catchment area around Ulaanbaatar . At the mouth it is significantly smaller than the Orkhon, but it is longer than it is. Although the length specification of 819 km certainly does not include all turns, the Orkhon river system with the Tuul flowing 340 km above it is around 1,160 km long.

Localities

The localities at Orkhon include:

Hydrography, hydrology and ice drift

The catchment area of the Orkhon is around 132,835 km². This area was the mythological and administrative core area of ​​the Turkic peoples of Inner Asia and is now the economic core area of ​​Mongolia, which is also reflected in the wastewater pollution.

At the beginning of November, ice forms on the Orkhon, which gradually freezes over completely. In the thaw period, usually from mid-May, strong floods form. This results in extremely different mean monthly discharges : the mean discharge in July at the mouth is 80 to 90 times the mean February value. With its water flow of 96.0 m³ / s, it is only slightly smaller than the Selenga at its mouth at Süchbaatar .

Cultural history

The valley has been little explored and is shrouded in myth, Huns , Uyghurs and Mongols settled here, and ancient Turkish tribal princes were also buried.

A 1220 km² area of ​​the Orkhon Valley was included in the UNESCO list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage sites in 1994 under the entry "Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape" . A ten-year management plan for the protection and development of the region was drawn up with the support of the German World Heritage Foundation .

The main historical sites along the Orkhon are as follows:

  • The banks of the Orkhon are extremely important for Turkologists , as they house royal chronological records of the first Turkish empires from the 8th century in the form of inscriptions on several memorial stones in Old Turkish script . The Second Turk Kaganat went under in 744, after which the Uighur Kaganat rose.
  • the ruins of Char Balgas (also Karabalgasun or Karabalgas), the capital of the Uyghurs in the 8th century, with traces of the palace and temples, monasteries, trading houses (etc.), a city made of clay with more than 10,000 inhabitants and an early center of the Trading on the Silk Road .
  • the ruins of the capital of the Mongolian Empire , Karakorum , which Genghis Khan had built near today's Kharkhorin in 1235 , with a magnificent palace and cobbled streets,
  • Erdene Dsuu monastery near Karakorum, which was founded in 1586 as the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, and
  • the monastery Töwchön Chiid that stands on a mountain near the upper reaches of the Orkhon.
  • In addition, there are many older graves along the Orkhon, some of which are ascribed to the Huns , but some are of much older origin.

Are named after the river

The following were named after the Orkhon river:

  • the Orkhon aimag , one around the city Erdenet province in Mongolia, although it does not touch its territory, but only just flows past it,
  • several Sum (administrative districts) of the same name in different aimags (provinces) of Mongolia and
  • the Orkhon runes , a Turkish script from the 7th century.

Web links

Commons : Orchon  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Web archive: Орхон гол ( Memento from June 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Orkhon) in an overview of Mongolian waters (Mongolian)
  2. ↑ a b Article Orchon in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)http: //vorlage_gse.test/1%3D085209~2a%3D~2b%3DOrchon
  3. ↑ a b c Station: Suhe Bator ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Level near Süchbaatar near the confluence with the Selenge), period 1950–1957, on webworld.unesco.org @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / webworld.unesco.org
  4. ↑ Web archive: Туул гол ( Memento from June 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Tuul) in an overview of Mongolian waters (Mongolian)
  5. ↑ Report on the Orkhon Valley at SRW, accessed on June 29, 2020
  6. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Center: Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape. Retrieved September 29, 2017 .
  7. ^ Clifford Edmund Bosworth: Orkhon , in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition
  8. ↑ Report on excavations, accessed on June 29, 2020
  9. ↑ Report on the Orkhon Valley at SRW, accessed on June 29, 2020
  10. ↑ Report on the Orkhon Valley at SRW, accessed on June 29, 2020