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Earlier I wrote about the Uighurs and the Xi Xia . Now I must finally turn my attention to the Jin Dynasty, also known as the Jurchen Dynasty (1115–1234). The people known as Jurchens who went on to found the Jurchen, or Jin Dynasty, originated around the timbered basins of the Amur, Ussuri, and Sungari rivers in Manchuria, in what is now northeast China. Their language was Tungusic, an eastern extension of the Altaic language family and closely related to Manchu, the language of the people what would later create the Qing Dynasty.  Almost nothing is known of their history prior to the tenth century a.d. Apparently they began to use iron only in the early eleventh century. One tribe of the Jurchen, the Wanyan, began making farming tools and weapons from iron and on the basis of this new technology soon dominated their neighbors. Under the leadership of a chieftain known as Wugunai (1021–1074) the Wanyan soon assumed leadership of a loose confederation of the various Jurchen tribes. W

Wandered on out to Baga Nuur to visit the family of my friend Zevgee , who recently transmigrated. My last visit to Baga Nuur, to celebrate Women’s Day , was a happier occasion. Saraa , Zevgee’s wife Tümen-Ölzii, Zevgee and Enkha  celebrating Women’s Day This time Zevgee was no longer with us, but I did have the opportunity of meeting up once again with his family members, many of them from Bayankhongor Aimag, where Zevgee was born.   Five of Zevgee’s brothers, to the right, in Baga Nuur A few years ago I did a camel trip from Amarbuyant Khiid in Bayankhongor to Shar Khuls Oasis with Zevgee, his wife, and two of his brothers, Davakhüü and Khaidav, following the Route Of The 13th Dalai Lama and The Roerich Expedition .    Davakhüü  Khaidav Khaidav, Zevgee’s son Bira, his brother-in-law Shoovoi, and Davakhüü loading a camel at Amarbuyant Khiid  Davakhüü and Khaidav with four of their magnificent camels at Amarbuyant Khiid  Zevgee, Khaidav, and Davakhüü taking a rest break in the Gobi

After viewing the Summer Mosque in Khiva I wandered outside the city walls and soon found myself in front of the statue of Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (c. 780–c. 859). Sources vary on the birthplace of al-Khwārizmī, but at least one historian, Ibn al-Nadim, asserts that he was born in Khorezm (also known as Khwarizm), and local boosters insist that despite all the various nay-sayers he was born right here in Khiva, hence his statute here on the main drag in front of the city walls.  Al-Khwārizmī  was a celebrated geographer, astronomer and mathematician and is acknowledged as the inventor of  Algebra , a dubious accomplishment which has earned him the well-deserved opprobrium of generations of high school students the world over. Statue of Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (c. 780–c. 859) Al-Khwarizmi's most famous (or perhaps most notorious) book, in which he formulated the basis principles of algebra, was entitled  Hisab Al-Jabr W'al Mugabalah,  t

Zevgee (1938–2011) My good friend Zevgee transmigrated on the Full Moon Day of May 17, which by coincidence (or maybe not) was the day of  Vesak , the Buddhist holiday observing the Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment, and Death, and also, according to Some Interpretations , the anniversary of the day the Buddha first taught the Kalachakra Tantra. I first met Zevgee in 1997, as described in Part Three   of my book Travels in Northern Mongolia .  I eventually did twelve Horse or Camel Trip s  with him, including a horse trip last summer to Onon Hot Springs . He will be missed.   Zevgee last summer at Onon Hot Springs Zevgee, with his wife and two brothers at Shar Khuls Oasis

After Solongo’s Fall From Her Camel we rode until the sun went down and then camped for the night. The next morning we were up before dawn, since we still had two long days of riding to reach our destination south of Atas Bogd Uul.  Camp Boss Sister Dulya supervising the loading of a camel   Camp Boss Sister Dulya signs off on a perfectly loaded camel  Sister Dulya ready to ride Riding into black shale hills  Typical black shale hills of the Gobi  After passing through the black shale hills we emerged on a huge gravel flat. This is the view looking west.   Crossing the gravel flat. You can’t tell it from this photo, but the wind was blowing a relentless  sixty miles an hour.   Looking south across the grave flats toward Atas Bogd Uul, just visible in the distance.   Atas Bogd Uul from the southern edge of the gravel flats. In the foreground is a range of hills topped by 4,705-foot Arslan Khairkhan Uul, so named because the peak is said to resemble a crouching lion ( arslan ).   Approa