Endere
The site of Endere lies on the southern Silk Road on the Endere river. Stein believed it had been occupied at two different times. Xuanzang saw the site in ruins in AD 645, which he called Tuhuoluo. It was then occupied later in the Tang dynasty, but was abandoned when the Tibetans took over in the 8th century. Stein excavated twice on two occasions, 20-25 February 1901 and 8-14 November 1906, but both were brief visits. Christoph Baumer visited in October 1998. After the Tang had brought the southern Silk Road under their control towards the end of the 7th century, they rebuilt Endere and established an administrative and military centre there in about AD 700. The Tibetans, in alliance with the Western Turks and the Arabs, constantly attacked Tang garrisons, but were driven back from the Tarim Basin in AD 719 by a Chinese counter-offensive. After the defeat of Talas by the Arabs in 751 and the An Lushan rebellion (756-762), the Chinese experienced heavy military pressure from the Tibetans. By 791, they had to withdraw from Endere, leaving Tibet to control one of the most strategically important forts along the southern Silk Road. The Endere ruins are the centre of a fairly large settlement that spread over approximately 16 sq km in the Han era. The settlement was not a city, but rather a series of settlements. During the city’s most prosperous period, the Endere Darya river ran 800 m east of the administrative city centre, while today it runs 9.5 km west of the town. Endere was given up in the 9th century AD as a result of such a change in the Endere Darya’s flow, but in the 11th century a new colony, Bilel-Konghan, was established on the western banks of the river as it then was. The ruins of this colony are similar to Endere, but a lack of ceramic shards or Chinese or Tibetan colonisation show that Bilel-Konghan was only after the Islamic conquest. When the river changed its course again, this settlement was also deserted. The centre of Endere is marked by two buildings, the great stupa and the Tang citadel. Coins from the Han era were found near the great stupa, dating it to the time of the Eastern Han (AD 24-220). About 300 m north-east of the stupa, a quadrangular archaic city wall rises from the sand, at places up to 9 m high, and 10 m deep.
Stein did not carry out extensive excavations, but did find a large piece of glass bowl, almost certainly imported from Rome. The large Tang fort that later belonged to the Tibetans lies 1.5 km east of the stupa. In 1906, Stein could prove that the walls of the fortress had been built on the ruins of an older colony, it can be assumed that Tuluoluo city spread from the large stupa to the citadel. Baumer supports this conclusion with the discovery of a Kharoshthi administrative text, written on a greyish-white soapstone block at the base of a dilapidated stupa in the immediate neighbourhood of the citadel.
Inside one of the larger rooms (V), wooden poles 50 cm thick that formerly supported the roof protrude from the sand at regular intervals. 400 m west of the fort, Baumer found such a pole measuring 1.5 m in length. It is likely that it was dragged there by treasure-seekers and left. In room E.III, Baumer was able to excavate two sgriffiti that proved significant to Endere’s history: a vertical Chinese and a horizontal Tibetan inscription. In temple E.I, in three corners of the cella, Stein discovered almost life-size, red-painted clay statues, but the fourth one had been destroyed. The unequivocal relation to Gandhara art allows these figures to be dated to the 4th or early 5th century AD. Stein also found many paper manuscripts with a Sanskrit text in the Brahmi script, or written in the Tibetan language. All these documents are concerned with the Buddhist canon.
At shrine E I, Stein exposed the only wall paintings found at Endere. On the wall of a small chapel, there had once been depicted a large standing Buddha, but only his feet and part of a garment had been preserved. Stein also discovered a small wooden tablet with the image of the four-armed, elephant-headed god known as Ganesha in Hinduism, and Vinayaka in Mahayana Buddhism, showing that the influence of Indian culture reached as far as Endere. When Baumer visited in 1998, he noticed that the shrine had been looted and that the paintings were no longer there. Only a few human skeletons were found in the area, raising the question as to where the cemetery at Endere had been.
(SW)
Endere
SThe site of Endere lies on the southern Silk Road on the Endere river. Stein believed it had been occupied at two different times. Xuanzang saw the site in ruins in AD 645, which he called Tuhuoluo. It was then occupied later in the Tang dynasty, but was abandoned when the Tibetans took over in the 8th century. Stein excavated twice on two occasions, 20-25 February 1901 and 8-14 November 1906, but both were brief visits. Christoph Baumer visited in October 1998. After the Tang had brought the southern Silk Road under their control towards the end of the 7th century, they rebuilt Endere and established an administrative and military centre there in about 700. The Tibetans, in alliance with the Western Turks and the Arabs, constantly attacked Tang garrisons, but were driven back from the Tarim Basin in AD 719 by a Chinese counter-offensive.
After the defeat of Talas by the Arabs in 751 and the An Lushan rebellion (756-762), the Chinese experienced heavy military pressure from the Tibetans. By 791, they had to withdraw from Endere, leaving Tibet to control one of the most strategically important forts along the southern Silk Road. The Endere ruins are the centre of a fairly large settlement that spread over approximately 16 sq km in the Han era. The settlement was not a city, but rather a series of settlements. During the city’s most prosperous period, the Endere Darya river ran 800 m east of the administrative city centre, while today it runs 9.5 km west of the town.
Endere was abandoned in the 9th century as a result of such a change in the Endere Darya’s flow, but in the 11th century a new colony, Bilel-Konghan, was established on the western banks of the river as it then was. The ruins of this colony are similar to Endere, but a lack of ceramic shards or Chinese or Tibetan colonisation show that Bilel-Konghan dated from after the Islamic conquest. When the river changed its course again, this settlement was also deserted. The centre of Endere is marked by two buildings, the great stupa and the Tang citadel. Coins from the Han era were found near the great stupa, dating it to the time of the Eastern Han (AD 24-220). About 300 m north-east of the stupa, a quadrangular archaic city wall rises from the sand, at places up to 9 m high, and 10 m deep.
Stein did not carry out extensive excavations, but did find a large fragment of glass bowl, almost certainly imported from Rome. The large Tang fort that later belonged to the Tibetans lies 1.5 km east of the stupa. In 1906, Stein could prove that the walls of the fortress had been built on the ruins of an older colony, it can be assumed that Tuluoluo city spread from the large stupa to the citadel. Baumer supports this conclusion with the discovery of a Kharoshthi administrative text, written on a greyish-white soapstone block at the base of a dilapidated stupa in the immediate neighbourhood of the citadel.
Inside one of the larger rooms (V), wooden poles 50 cm thick that formerly supported the roof protrude from the sand at regular intervals. 400 m west of the fort, Baumer found such a pole measuring 1.5 m in length. It is likely that it was dragged there by treasure-seekers and left. In room E.III, Baumer was able to excavate two sgraffiti that proved significant to Endere’s history: a vertical Chinese and a horizontal Tibetan inscription. In temple E.I, in three corners of the cella, Stein discovered almost life-size, red-painted clay statues, but the fourth one had been destroyed. The unequivocal relation to Gandhara art allows these figures to be dated to the 4th or early 5th century AD. Stein also found many paper manuscripts with a Sanskrit text in the Brahmi script, or written in the Tibetan language. All these documents are concerned with the Buddhist canon.
At shrine E.I, Stein exposed the only wall paintings found at Endere. On the wall of a small chapel, there had once been depicted a large standing Buddha, but only his feet and part of a garment had been preserved. Stein also discovered a small wooden tablet with the image of the four-armed, elephant-headed god known as Ganesha in Hinduism, and Vinayaka in Mahayana Buddhism, showing that the influence of Indian culture reached as far as Endere. When Baumer visited in 1998, he noticed that the shrine had been looted and that the paintings were no longer there. Only a few human skeletons were found in the area, raising the question as to where the cemetery at Endere had been.
(SW)