Karamergen

Karamergen was a medieval settlement in the old delta of the Ili, south of Lake Balkhash. It stood on a route between the Ili valley and eastern Turkestan, at the edge of the desert and the river's wooded channels. Irrigation supported agriculture here, while the river and lake offered fish. The town flourished between the ninth and thirteenth centuries, when the delta formed a northern frontier of settled life in Zhetysu.