The most mysterious aspect of the Por-Bazhyn fortress is the complete lack of evidence indicating it was ever used. Scientists have spent over 120 years trying to understand why.
Historians and scientists still disagree on the origins of the Por-Bajin fortress island. However, some experts believe that this isolated area may have been built to attract people rather than to imprison anyone. They suggest that this could have been a summer palace, a monastery, or an astronomical observatory.
The name Por-Bajin in Tuvan means “clay house“. The island is located between the Sayan and Altai mountain ranges, near the border with Mongolia, and is 3,800 kilometers from Moscow, Russia.
Por-Bajin Island was first discovered in 1891, and the purpose of constructing the facilities on this island remains an unresolved mystery more than a century later.
Further detailed studies were conducted in 2007, during which archaeologists uncovered numerous clay fragments resembling human footprints, faded paintings on wall plaster, large gates, and charred wooden pieces.
According to experts, the island was constructed during the period of the Khitan Empire (from 744 to 840 AD). However, they are still unclear about the motive for building a fortress in such a remote location, far from major population centers and important trade routes. The thick layout and construction materials reflect Chinese architectural traditions.
Scientists were able to use laser mapping technology to create a 3D image of the 3.5-hectare land used to build the fortress.
Although the structure is estimated to be around 1,300 years old, many walls remain intact and well-preserved, with a main structure divided into two sections in the courtyard. The main structure features 36 wooden columns supporting a stone foundation, with walkways paved with tiles.
The ruins form a rectangular shape with an internal maze. It resembles a mandala diagram from Buddhism or Hinduism and is very different from anything previously found in the Tuva Republic.
The area in front of the eastern wall resembles a square in front of a palace for conducting rituals. At the end of the square once stood a magnificent palace complex with columns. Its walls rise up to 10 meters, and the foundations and steel cores of the columns remain.
The fortress’s very aged appearance is not surprising. However, it seems the inhabitants “vanished” along with all their belongings, leaving almost no traces of their daily lives. What happened to the residents of Por-Bazhyn? Who built the fortress? Who created the artificial lake surrounding it? Or perhaps it was not a fortress at all? Even more puzzling than the origins of the fortress island is the reason why it was abandoned.
Some artifacts excavated from Por-Bajin Island. (Photo: Daily Mail)
Researchers noted the absence of heating systems on the island, even though it had to withstand the harsh Siberian weather and is situated at an elevation of 2,300 meters above sea level.
An Enigmatic Fortress
One might encounter the image of a mysterious fortress in the middle of a lake in the oral folklore of the Tuvan people. The most famous of these is the fairy tale “A Khan with Donkey’s Ears.” The locals regard the lake and fortress as sacred places, believing that a blue bull named “Maender” lives in the lake: It comes ashore at night and feeds on the fears of the people.
According to another myth, the tomb of Genghis Khan is hidden on the island. Some believe this is the entrance to Shambhala, the mythical land in Tibet that the Soviet Union once sought to find.
The fortress discovered by ethnographer Klemments is a remarkable site. In 1957, an archaeological expedition led by Professor Sevyan Vainshtein was sent to the island.
“I participated in excavations from 1957 to 1963. The only way to get there was by small plane or horseback. We – three archaeologists and 15 workers – lived in tents on the island in the middle of the lake,” Vainshtein recalled.
On the island, behind the fortress walls, they counted 27 houses with small courtyards, and when excavating one of the mounds, they discovered the ruins of a palace. Its roof was made of clay tiles and had 36 wooden columns. The archaeologists also found murals decorated with geometric designs, painted in bright, warm colors such as red, orange, and yellow.
“We found remnants of weapons, containers, a smelting iron cache, and a clay statue. There were not many discoveries because the palace had been destroyed in a fire that occurred over 1,000 years ago. It is unknown what happened to the residents of Por-Bazhyn as we found no skeletons there. It is very likely that they had to flee,” Vainshtein said.
Theories
This expedition in the 1950s and 1960s seems to have raised even more questions. For a long time, researchers of Por-Bazhyn did not understand what type of structure it was. Several theories exist.
Archaeologist Vainshtein believes that the fortress and palace were built by the Uyghur ruler Bayanchur Khan (the khan of an ancient Turkic state who lived from 713 to 759).
It is also believed that the fortress once served as a lookout point along the Silk Road from China to Europe. This theory does not fit well as the fortress is located in a remote place on an island in the middle of a lake.
The Por-Bazhyn fortress is isolated on an island in the middle of a lake. (Photo: Sputnik).
According to another theory, it was a base for bandits who specialized in robbing merchants, which is believed to be the source of rumors about treasure hidden in the fortress’s underground chambers.
However, the theory that it was a monastery seems the most plausible. The history of Buddhism is closely linked to Central Asia, a region on the route of interaction between India – where Buddhism originated – and China – where Buddhism became popular in the medieval period.
“What I saw in the murals at Por-Bazhyn is very similar to the layout of Buddhist monasteries that developed in Central Asia, possibly in the 7th-8th centuries AD,” said Tigran Mkrtychev, Deputy Director for Scientific Work at the Russian Museum of Oriental Art, in 2007.
Mkrtychev also does not rule out the possibility that it was a monastery of another ancient Eastern religion – Manichaeism. This religion, which originated in Mesopotamia in the 3rd century, penetrated the Uyghur Khaganate over several centuries.
“Buddhist monasteries are quite familiar to us, but Manichaean monasteries are less studied,” Mkrtychev noted.
The “Miyake Event” and Surprising Discoveries
Exploration of the “secrets” of the Por-Bazhyn fortress continued once again in 2007-2008, when a new expedition was sent to the island to conduct extensive excavations.
The archaeologists made an intriguing discovery: after its construction, the fortress was never put into use. This explains why the so-called “cultural layer” inside the fortress is so sparse. Yet, there are still no clues about what Por-Bazhyn truly was, when it was built, and why it was abandoned.
Subsequently, scientific methods have contributed to exploring Por-Bazhyn: radiocarbon analysis and the Miyake event. In 2012, the journal Nature published a paper by Japanese scientists who dated the rings of a 1,800-year-old cedar tree and discovered a spike in radiocarbon in the atmosphere in the year 775. This spike is believed to be the result of a solar storm. This phenomenon is referred to as the “Miyake event” (named after the author of the paper) and has been utilized for dating purposes at archaeological excavations.
In 2018, Russian experts sent several samples to one of the world’s leading laboratories specializing in radiocarbon analysis at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
“We sent 3 samples of pine wood taken from the walls of Por-Bazhyn to Groningen. One of them, which still had some bark intact, was selected for study and revealed the ‘Miyake event’ in the third ring from the bark. Subsequent studies allowed scientists in Groningen to conclude that the tree was felled in the summer. This made it possible to determine not only the year but also the season of the construction start, which was the summer of 777,” said Andrey Panin, Deputy Director of the Geography Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
According to the calculations of archaeologists, the construction lasted for two summers. This was a period when the ruler implemented an extremely difficult religious reform: the adoption of Manichaeism. In 779, there was a coup against Manichaean followers in the khanate, resulting in the ruler’s death and the reversal of his reforms.
“Based on the available data, it is hypothesized that the function of the complex was not defensive, as previously believed, but related to religious worship: It was once a Manichaean monastery. If the monastery was built just before the coup, then the previous rulers did not have time to use it, while the new ones had no use for it at all. This could explain the greatest mystery of Por-Bazhyn – the lack of signs of use,” Andrey Panin stated.
