Pages: 39-42

On the Study of the Cities of the Mongol Empire in Mongolia and the Trans-Baikal Region. The results of the research of hillforts on the territory of Mongolia and the Trans-Baikal (Zabaikalye) region dating back to the time of the Mongol Empire have shown that not all of them can be considered cities. Some of them are palace or manor complexes detached from the settlements. The paper focuses exclusively on sites with undoubted proto-urban or urban status. Among these, first of all, the Karakorum in Mongolia and the Khirkhirin hillfort in the Trans-Baikal region. The history of their research, the features of the sites’ location and layout of urban development, as well as general characteristics of the finds from the cultural layer are reviewed. On the whole, to-date, a large source base about the cities of the Mongol Empire in Mongolia and the Trans-Baikal region has been formed, which allows solving important general problems related to the history and culture of the medieval nomads of Eurasia.

Keywords: Mongolia, Transbaikalia, epoch of the Mongol Empire, urban architecture, Karakorum, Khirkhirinsky hillfort

Information about author:

Nikolay N. Kradin. Doctor of Historical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Address: Pushkinskaya St., 89, Vladivostok, 690001, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]