Daurian Monuments of the Amur Region

Abstract

The first information about the Amur peoples appeared in the mid-17th century in the reports of Russian pioneers. For the Daurians, accommodation was indicated along the Amur and Zee. It was noted that the Daurians had towns and fortresses, and a military-administrative system under the control of local princes. Unlike the Tungus-Manchus, the Daurians were not the indigenous inhabitants of the Amur region. Their relocation to the Amur was regarded as a military and political act of the Yuan Dynasty, which was assigned the function of Mongolian occupation troops. A series of archaeological sites identified as Daurian has been discovered in the Western Amur region. It has been established that the settlements of the Daurian type belong to the valley type, and have a square shape with 1–2–3 ramparts, corner towers and ditches. Settlements and underground burial grounds were located near the Daurian towns. The earliest Daurian towns and burial grounds date back to the period of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). The late Daurian monuments date back to the 17th century. During the Chinese Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), the Mongol-speaking Daurians lived in parallel with the aboriginal Tungus-Manchu tribes.

Keywords

• daurians
• towns
• fortification
• amur region
• mongols
• yuan
• ming
• qing