AHistoryIndependent states
The Altai Mountains
Ancestral homeland of the Göktürks: the Ashina clan smelted iron here for the Rouran; it was called Altun Yish, the Golden Mountain.
The Altai Mountains stand where Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China meet. According to the Chinese chronicles, in the 5th-6th centuries the Ashina clan lived on the southern slopes of the Altai and smelted iron for the Rouran Khaganate. In 552 Bumin Khan defeated the Rouran and founded the Göktürk Khaganate.
In the Göktürk inscriptions the Altai is called Altun Yish. Its name is linked to the Turkic word altın, "gold". Today Altaians, Kazakhs and other Turkic peoples live in the Altai, and part of the Russian Altai belongs to the UNESCO site "Golden Mountains of Altai".
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Updated: November 12, 2026