Irtysh River

The Irtysh River (Mongolian: Эрчис мөрөн/Erchis, "erchleh", "twirl"; Russian: Иртыш; Kazakh: Ертiс / Yertis; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: É'ěrqísī hé; Uyghur: ئېرتىش; Tatar: Cyrillic Иртеш, Latin İrteş) is a river in Siberia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob River.

The river's headwaters originate in the Altai Mountains on the Mongolian-Chinese borders.

Irtysh's main affluents are the Tobol River and the Ishim River. The Ob-Irtysh system forms a major drainage basin in Asia, encompassing most of Western Siberia and the Altai Mountains.

Geography

From its origins as the Kara-Irtysh (Black Irtysh) in the Mongolian Altay mountains in Xinjiang, China, the Irtysh flows northwest through Lake Zaysan in Kazakhstan, meeting the Ishim and Tobol rivers before merging with the Ob near Khanty-Mansiysk in western Siberia, Russia after 4,248 kilometres (2,640 mi).

The name Black Irtysh (Kara-Irtysh in Kazakh, or Cherny Irtysh in Russian) is applied by some authors, especially in Russia and Kazakhstan, to the upper course of the river, from its source entering Lake Zaysan. The term White Irtysh, in opposition to the Black Irtysh, was occasionally used in the past to refer to the Irtysh below lake Zaysan; now this usage is largely obsolete.

Battle of Irtysh River

The Battle of Irtysh River or Battle of Yexi River was a battle in 657 between Tang Dynasty general Su Dingfang and the Western Turkic Khaganate qaghan Ashina Helu during the Tang campaign against the Western Turks. It was fought along the Irtysh River near the Altai Mountains. Helu's forces, consisting of 100,000 cavalry, were ambushed by Su as Helu chased decoy Tang troops that Su had deployed. Helu was defeated during Su's surprise attack, and lost most of his soldiers. Turkic tribes loyal to Helu surrendered, and the retreating Helu was captured the next day.

Helu's defeat ended the Western Turkic Khaganate, strengthened Tang control of Xinjiang, and led to Tang suzerainty over the western Turks.

References