Otrar, a small city and part of the Kharwizm Empire was the first conquest of the Mongols under Ghengis Khaan in Central Asia. He attacked Otrar in the early 13th century after repeatedly being snubbed by the local leader. The last straw was when a Mongol delegate was executed and their heads sent back to Mongolia. The amazing thing is that Otrar is still lying there in ruins. When you walk over the olds site of the city every second piece of ground under your foot is made of old bones, broken pottery, ceramics, bricks, and other artefacts. Its as if the ashes are still warm!
In nearby Turkistan there stands a grand mausoleum and mosque built under direction by Timerlane (the well known leader from today's Uzbekistan who claimed descendency from Ghengis Khaan. Some of his methods like piling the skulls of his slain enemies in huge pyramids later became mistaken as the same techniques used formerly by Ghengis Khaan.)
The last photo is of an old Kazak saddle, similar to the kind used by the nomads more than a thousand years ago. There is evidence to suggest that the ancient Mongol saddle was also more like the ancient Kazak saddle than the modern Mongol variety.
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