Kaidu River

Coordinates: 42°2′45″N 86°35′36″E / 42.04583°N 86.59333°E / 42.04583; 86.59333

The Kaidu River (Chinese: 开都河; pinyin: Kāidū Hé), also known under its ancient name Liusha River (Chinese: 流沙河; pinyin: Liúshā Hé; literally: "Flowing Sands River") or Chaidu-gol is a river in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China and an important source of water for the region.

The sources of the Kaidu River are located on the central southern slopes of the Tian Shan from where it flows through the Yulduz Basin and the Yanqi Basin into Lake Bosten for which it is the most important tributary. The river leaves the lake under the name Kongque River (Chinese: 孔雀河; pinyin: Kǒngquè Hé), which literally means "Peacock River", but is derived from the Uyghur name "Konchi Darya" which means "Tanner's River". The Kongque River flows through the Iron Gate Pass (simplified Chinese: 铁门关; traditional Chinese: 鐵門關; pinyin: Tiĕmén Guān) into the Tarim Basin.

Cultural significance

In the Journey to the West, the Kaidu River is referred to as the Flowing Sands River and is the place where the river-ogre Sha Wujing terrorized the surrounding villages and travelers trying to cross the river, before becoming a disciple of Xuanzang.

Kaidu

Kaidu (Mongolian: ᠺᠠᠶᠳᠣ Qaidu, Cyrillic: Хайду; Chinese: 海都; pinyin: Hǎidū) (1230–1301) was the leader of the House of Ögedei and the de facto khan of the Chagatai Khanate, a division of the Mongol Empire. He ruled part of modern-day Xinjiang and Central Asia during the 13th century, and actively opposed his uncle, Kublai Khan, who established the Yuan dynasty in China, until Kaidu's death in 1301. Medieval chroniclers often mistranslated Kadan as Kaidu, mistakenly placing Kaidu at the Battle of Legnica. Kadan was the brother of Güyük, and Kaidu's uncle.

Early life

Kaidu was the son of Kashin a grandson of Ögedei Khan and a great-grandson of Genghis Khan and Börte. His mother's name was Shabkana Khatun from the Bekrin (Mekrin) tribe of mountaineers that were "neither Mongols, nor Uighurs".

In 1260, Marco Polo described Yarkand, part of the area under Kaidu as "five days' journey in extent"; that its inhabitants were mostly Muslim although there were also some Nestorian and Jacobite Assyrians; and that it had plenty of food and other necessities, "especially cotton." In the Toluid Civil War between 1260 and 1264, Kublai Khan was warring with his own brother Ariq Böke, who was proclaimed Great Khan at Karakorum, Kaidu began to have major conflicts with Kublai and his ally, the Ilkhanate.