Avarga
{{Short description|Steppe in Mongolia; first nomadic capital of the Mongol Empire}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Avarga
|native_name = Аварга
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|map_type = Mongolia
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|map_size = 250
|location = Mongolia
|region = Khentii Province
|coordinates = {{Coord|47|06|10|N|109|09|21|E|display=title,inline}}
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Avarga, also spelt Abharga ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|v|ər|g|ə}}; {{langx|mn|Аварга}} {{IPA|mn|ˈaw̜r(ə)q|}}), is the steppe where the first nomadic capital of the Mongol Empire was located after Genghis Khan seized the territory from the Jurkin clan. Avarga was located at the confluence of the Kherlen and Tsenker River, in present-day Khentii Province, Mongolia.
History
The place was originally called Aurag, meaning source in the Mongolian language.{{cite book |last1=Man |first1=John |title=Genghis Khan |date=2010 |publisher=Transworld |isbn=978-1-4090-4544-1 |page=29 }} Avarga is located near the place where Genghis Khan's family lived. Oral tradition maintains that Börte and other family members continued to live in Avarga during the Mongol invasion of Khorazm (1218–1223). It was a collection and distribution center for goods from around the empire; but it soon proved too small and the Mongol court established the base of Karakorum.
Under Kublai Khan and his successors, it became a shrine for the cult of the Genghis Khan.
A 2020 study concluded that Avarga was Genghis Khan's winter base camp, based on radiocarbon chronology.{{cite journal |last1=Fenner |first1=Jack N. |last2=Delgermaa |first2=Lkhagvadorj |last3=Piper |first3=Philip J. |last4=Wood |first4=Rachel |last5=Stuart-Williams |first5=Hilary |title=Stable isotope and radiocarbon analyses of livestock from the Mongol Empire site of Avraga, Mongolia |journal=Archaeological Research in Asia |date=June 2020 |volume=22 |pages=100181 |doi=10.1016/j.ara.2020.100181 }}