Almaliq, Xinjiang

Almaliq (Chinese: ; pinyin: Ālìmálǐ), also spelled Armalec, Almalik,Almalig, and Almaligh, was a medieval city in the Ili basin in present-day Huocheng County in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang. It is situated between the city of Yining (Ili) and the border with Kazakhstan.

Almaliq was originally one of Karluk cities in the Turkic Kaganates. It is known from the accounts of the Persian historians and Chinese travellers of the Mongol era (13th to 15th centuries), in particular the 13th-century Daoist Qiu Chuji (Chang Chun).

According to the travel notes of Genghis Khan's chief adviser Yelü Chucai, the city of Almaliq was situated between the Tian Shan mountains and the Ili River. There were many crab apple trees around Almalik. The native people called them "almaliq", giving the name to the city.

An account by a Persian historian tells that in 1211, Prince Ozar of Almaliq acknowledged the supremacy of Genghis Khan. The king was later killed by the Gurkhan of Karakitai. Genghis Khan ordered the king's son Siknak Tekin to succeed him as king of Almaliq and gave him the only daughter of his elder son Jochi for marriage. In 1219, when Genghis Khan led his host on campaign to Persia, Siknak Tekin followed him.

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