extraordinarily big number of cliff paintings

December 15, 2014 / / Comments Off

Horses had a very big role to play in ancient society as they were essential for transport, hunting and fighting wars, and their meat could also be food for humans, therefore, they were the second life to the ancient people in the Western Regions. On a rock at Kangjiashimenzi in Hutubi carved nine galloping horses, which testify to the profound affection of nomadic people towards horses.

There are an extraordinarily big number of cliff paintings with the sun and the moon as the subject in Xinjiang. Peoples in the Western Regions, from the Saks to the Huns, Usun, Cheshi, Rouran and Turks, all featured with solar worship in their primitive faiths. A prominent characteristic of the sun-and-moon cliff paintings in Xinjiang is the supreme status of the sun. For instance, the cliff paintings at Xingdi, Kuluke Mountains have a god of sun carved on the top, with its head covered by hair-like things, making this image both personified and god-like. It stands high above anything else, representing it is god of all.

There are hunting scenes in the cliff paintings, which suggest the mode of living and working of the ancient people in the Western Regions and provide us clues for ascertaining the times of the paintings. For example, the cliff paintings in Wensu County depicting hunting with stone balls as weapons tell us they are products of late Neolithic Age, those at Hongshiyue Township, Nilka County

with bows and arrows similar to modern ones as hunting tools should be of the Iron Age. From the cliff paintings we find that the ancient people in the Western Regions sometimes hunted separately, sometimes in duo or in collective chasing. The one on Chasing Wild Bulls in the Xingdi Gorges is among the best cliff paintings on primitive hunting scenes.

There are four pieces of cart paintings at Lanzhou-wanzi and one such painting at Lijia-wanzi in Barkol, Xinjiang. These carts have two wheels, four spokes guia hispana y viajes organizados china and ox in the front. According to experts, such vehicle was probably the Hun style, which suggests the presence of the Hun culture in the cliff paintings in Xinjiang. In another development, the vehicles depicted in the paintings in Yiwu and Yumin counties were possibly the “high-wheel vehicle” of the Dingling people. All of those point to the wide use of vehicles in the nomadic life of the ancient people in the Western Regions.

There are also paintings of warring scene over the control of grassland in Xinjiang. For example, on the rock at Zheyaogou in Qincheng District, northeast of Hami City carved a man on horseback stabbing with his spear a pedestrian archer, a scene of battling for grassland. It was amidst blood-shedding and battlefire that people in the Western Regions developed and prospered, conducted inter-group cultural exchanges and forged their militant and courageous national character.

 


father’s plan to fight the Central Plains

December 4, 2014 / / Comments Off

The situation in the Western Regions became highly complicated at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. Not long after the death of Timur, his son Shahal became the khan, who wrote off his father’s plan to fight the Central Plains, but rather developed friendly ties with the Ming Dynasty and concentrated on making the khanate more prosperous. However, his son Ulab, who was stationed in Transoxiana, sent troops on many occasions to fight Mongolistan of Eastern Chagatai, and had prolonged occupation of Kashgar. In 1447 (the 12th year of Zhengtong reign), Shahal died, and was succeeded by his son Ulab, who was killed soon afterwards. While the Timur Empire was plunged into internal conflicts and division, the activities of the Mongols, the Uzbek, the Kirgiz and the Wala in the Tianshan Mountains area and Transoxiana further aggravated the situation. Babur from the Timur Empire fought intensively with Shaybani Khan of the Uzbek people. The latter died in a battle in 1510 (the 5th year of Zhengde reign), and Babur took Transoxiana. However, his Shiite tendency denied him of popular support from the Sunni sect in that region, hence his defeat in a counterattack initiated by the Uzbek. Babur then retreated to India.

  1. Yarkand Khanate

Amidst the fights in Central Asia, Saed Khan of Eastern Chagatai, which was also a warring party, captured Yarkand with the support of the Duqlat family and built a new regime in 1514(the 9th year of Zhengde reign), which was referred to as “Yarkand Khanate” by historians. Saed gradually solidified his rule, eased social conflicts, and established good law and order in the country. During his reign, Saed spent five years fighting Mongolistan in Northern Xinjiang many times in an attempt to recover the traditional nomadic area of the Mongols, but without success. However, he did achieve reconciliation with Eastern Chagatai Khanate, thus “not only restoring unity to Eastern Chagatai Khanate in form, but also bringing about a peaceful social environment”^!. Saed also sent troops to Badakshan, Tibet and Kashmir. In 1533 (the 12th year of Jiajing reign), he died on his way back from Kashmir.

His successor, Rashed Khan achieved domestic stability, and moreover, defeated Eastern Chagatai Khanate in many rounds of confrontations and wars, thus winning true independence for Yarkand Khanate. He also reformed the foreign policy and entered into alliance with the long-term foe in the west, the Shaybani Dynasty of the Uzbek, which not only brought an end to the Uzbek’s support for the Kazakh and Kirgiz Viajes a la feria canton 2015, pazhou guangzhou, but also put him in a better position to recover Mongolistan when and if the opportunity arose. During his 27-year-long reign, Rashed Khan sent troops to Mongolistan many times and eventually managed to secure a footing in Northern Xinjiang despite the failure to completely tame the Kazakh and Kirgiz. Upon death, Rashed Khan was succeeded by his son Abdul Halem, who continued Saed Kharis foreign policy while cementing the khanship through suppressing the powerful groups at home. Abdul Halem stayed on friendly terms with the Shaybani Dynasty of Uzbek and brought home many victories in the war with the Kazakh and Kirgiz. During the 33 years of reign, he successfully incorporated Eastern Chagatai Khanate into the territory of Yarkand Khanate. Abdul Halem was succeeded by Mohmad Khan, who saw the prime time of the khanate. On the one hand, Mohmad Khan entrusted administration of state affairs to 4 Imis; on the other, he upgraded the power of the khan so as to keep a fast hold on the khanate. He was also extolled for being kind to the people and cracking down on usury. Moreover, he repulsed the invasion of the Uzbek and completely unified the south of the Tianshan Mountains.

 


Topaz: Properties and Types

November 11, 2014 / / Comments Off

Topaz: Properties and Types

Properties

Topaz is a precious crystal belonging to the silicate mineral. It is made up of fluorine and aluminum. The gem is usually prismatic and crystalizes in the orthorhombic system. Topaz is transparent and colorless but it has traces of impurities that give it a variety of tints. The gem commonly occurs in yellow, reddish – orange, blue-brown, wine and pale-gray. It can also be pale green, gold, reddish – yellow, sherry and pink. The pink Topaz is extremely rare, and Pakistan is one of the few locations where the gem occurs naturally. It occurs in nature in igneous rocks of rhyolite and granite.  It crystallizes either in vapor cavities (rhyolite lava flows) or in granatic pegmites. The sherry colored Topaz is majorly mined in Minas Gerais, Brazil. In this region, Topaz occurs in conjunction with quartz and the aquamarine gem. The brown – yellow sapphire from Thailand and Sri Lanka is called “oriental topaz” and is often mistaken for a Topaz. The hardness of the gemstone is 8 in the mohs scale which makes it the hardest silicate mineral.

 

Types

Orange Topaz: It is the November Birthstone and called “the precious topaz”. It is the gemstone of the state Utah in USA, and symbolizes friendship.

 

Blue Topaz: It is a naturally occurring specimen and is extremely rare. The typical colors it comes in are pale or gray yellow, colorless and blue (that is normally heat treated to obtain a darker shade). It is the state gem of Texas State in USA. The intense cobalt blue Topaz is normally obtained by treating a blue Topaz.

 

Imperial Topaz: This type normally comes in three colors: pink (easily available as heat-treated specimen), yellow and pink-orange. The Imperial Topaz from Brazil comes in golden brown or bright yellow hue and in rare cases it occurs in violet color. The pale or brown specimens are generally heat treated to obtain a pink, golden, bright yellow or violet color. Imperial Topaz can be sensitive to sunlight and causes the gem to fade when exposed to the sun for a long time.

 

Mystic Topaz: It is relatively new in the gemstone market. This type is artificially coated with color to give it a rainbow look. This type of Topaz is generally colorless. Other gemstones are also sometimes used to create the mystic Topaz gemstone.


 
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