People or range · Self-governing peoples of The Tarim, the Uyghurs and Xia · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Kunlun valleys

South of the oasis belt the Kunlun climbs in a few stages to the crest and then to the high plateau.

The valleys that cut it carry the roads and bring the water down: the Yarkand river and the Tiznaf above Yarkand and Karghalik, the Kilian and Sanju routes to the Karakoram, the Karakash (Black Jade) and Yurungkash (White Jade) above Khotan, and the Keriya, Niya and Qarqan valleys further east. They hold a few mountain hamlets, summer pastures, the upper beds of the jade rivers and the guides and pack-men of the Karakoram road. The people are not recorded in any source for 1200.

The Tibetan empire held this edge in the eighth and ninth centuries (the forts of Miran and Endere), but that is long gone; the herders of the plateau south of the crest belong to the Tibet map. This ground is drawn as a self-governing people's country because no oasis lord is known to rule the high valleys, not because any source describes an assembly or a chief there.

Who holds it

Title
Headmen and elders of the valley hamlets and herding groups; none named
Since
not pinned
Born
not known
Family
Not known. No source for 1200 names a people on the north face of the Kunlun.
Confidence
low

Read: Wikipedia 'Hotan', 'Keriya Town', 'Miran', 'Endere' (Tibetan-era forts, long abandoned), Iranica 'Khotan', the Persia map's Kashgar records and anchors. Nothing names a people, chief or event in these valleys for 1200.

Overlord

None shown. The khan of Khotan and the lord of Yarkand take what they can at the valley mouths (inferred). Beyond the crest the Tibet map's ground begins.

What it holds

  • Summer pastures and valley hamlets
  • The upper beds of the jade rivers
  • The guiding and pack-animal trade on the Karakoram road

How it was acquired

Not recorded.

Allies and rivals

Below: Yarkand, Karghalik, Guma, Khotan, Keriya and Niya, who need its water and its guides. South: the herders of the Tibet map's plateau and the road to Ladakh and Kashmir. West: the Sarikol highlanders (Mir of Sarikol).

How things stand that morning

Not recorded. The high passes are closed by snow; the Karakoram road reopens in summer.

Wealth

Flocks, felt and fees for guides and pack animals; jade pebbles from the upper river beds. No figures.

Military

None recorded. No figures.

Threats

  • Snow and the closing of the passes
  • A strong oasis lord taxing the valley mouths

Where the sources disagree

  • Sheet brief: 'the Tibetan and Wakhi mountain peoples of the Kunlun edge'. No source for 1200 puts Tibetan or Wakhi communities on the north face. The Tibetans are on the plateau south of the crest (the Tibet map's ground; anchors there); the Wakhi are on the Persia map's ground in Wakhan; the Sarikoli have their own record (Mir of Sarikol).

Evidence: Geography and the roads only. A province record is kept so the high ground is not left blank or given to an oasis lord by default.

On the map: The lower edge is the line where the oasis belt ends; the upper edge follows the crest as far as the Chinese-administered units go. Beyond it the Tibet map draws.

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia, 'Hotan'
  2. Wikipedia, 'Keriya Town'
  3. Wikipedia, 'Miran (Xinjiang)'
  4. Wikipedia, 'Endere'
  5. Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Khotan' (History in the Islamic Period)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.