Much of this sheet's ground has no ruler, and it is drawn in one pale colour with each people's range outlined in its own record.
In the south it is the Kunlun and Karakoram valleys above the oasis belt and the high Pamir edge round Tashkurgan, where, as far as anything is known, a local mir and valley headmen hold the fort and the passes. In the south-east it is Charklik, the marshes of Lop Nur and the wells of the desert road to Dunhuang, where fishermen, herders and guides live off the caravans. In the north-east it is the Gobi edge east of Yiwu to 96 E, a stony plain with thin summer herds, and in the Dzungarian basin the sands of the Gurbantunggut, whose edges Qarluq, Kangli and Naiman herders graze in winter.
In the Hexi it is the Tibetan tribes of the eastern Qilian, who follow their own chiefs and are drawn as a people apart, though the Xia prefects of Liangzhou may count them as subjects. The khan of Khotan, the khan of Kashgar and the Tangut emperor each have a claim or an interest at the edges, and none is shown to rule the ground. Each group has its own record.
Who rules
- Name
- None named for 1199-1200 in the sources read
- Title
- No ruler: each valley, camp and people follows its own headmen and elders
- Confidence
- low
What the realm holds
- The Kunlun and Karakoram valleys above the southern road
- Sarikol and Tashkurgan, with the Mintaka and Khunjerab passes
- Charklik, the marshes of Lop Nur and the wells of the desert road to Dunhuang
- The dead cities of the Lop, Loulan and Miran
- The Gobi edge east of Yiwu to 96 E
- The sands of the Gurbantunggut
- The Tibetan tribes of the eastern Qilian
The realm that morning
No war or raid is recorded for any of these peoples in the winter of 1199-1200. The Gobi edge is not occupied in winter; the Gurbantunggut is grazed only in winter, when snow takes the place of water.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: No source names a chief, a tribe or an event for these highlands, sands and stony plains in 1199-1200. The ground is drawn from the lie of the land, from later travellers (Polo about 1273, Stein in 1906) and from the research of each area, whose records say where they guess.
On the map: One colour for many peoples that answer to no prince. The Tibetan tribes of the Qilian are the weakest case: the campaign can colour them Xia instead.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.