The Orkhon River, the longest river in Mongolia, rises in the Khangai Mountains in southern Mongolia and flows northward for over 700 miles, eventually reaching Lake Baikal in southern Siberia. There is archaeological evidence of human habitation in the Orkhon valley dating to the third century BC. The Orkhon valley had excellent pasturage and was situated along a much used east/west trading route. Another advantage of the area was its long established copper mining operation, the Dalakyn-tal.

The ancient capital of the Uighur kingdom, Khar Balgas, was located to the northeast of Kharakhorum, and is today marked by ruins and a stone stele erected during the Goturk empire's eighth century domination of the region which is inscribed with an early Turkic script bearing the name of its location. North of the stele was the sacred mountain of Otuken. The Turks who had previously controlled this area thought that whoever held possession of it had a divine right to rule. The Mongolians considered all mountains to be sacred places, the home of the ancestor spirits of their rulers, so combining their own beliefs with the divine ruler rights of the Turks gave their takeover of the region legitimacy.

While Ogodei knew he had to construct a formal palace area inside his capital city for official business, he didn't particularly like living in it, nor did his nobles, despite the mounds they made upon which to erect their gers. They solved this problem by erecting elaborate gers throughout the Orkhon valley but still near enough to Kharakhorum to confirm their official presence. Ogodei would make the rounds of his men's encampments, visiting for a time with each. Some of these pavilions were very large and could hold thousands of people, or so the the writings of visiting Europeans tell us, though they may have been exaggerating. Ogodei's favorite escape was to his own pavilion, the Sauri Palace, where he stayed with his family and hunted the abundant waterfowl accompanied by the expert falconers of the place. This palace was described as sumptuously decorated with beautiful colored carpets and bejeweled embroidered hangings. Another pavilion of the Khan's, Sira-Ordu, had wooden latticed walls and a brocade ceiling embroidered with gold, with an outer covering of white felt affixed with golden nails.

Travelers as well would have camped outside the walls with their families, going into the city to attend to their business. You too, be you noble or nomad, can set up your campsite outside the walls of Kharakhorum while you attend to whatever business you have come to do within the city walls of Kharakhorum.


Sources:
Lane, George. Daily Life in the Mongol Empire. Greenwood Press, 2006.
Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. Chinese Imperial City Planning. University of Hawaii Press, 1990.
wiki-Orkhon Valley
Silk Road Seattle-Kharakhorum