Munk

Munk was one of the chief towns of medieval Khuttal, in the green uplands near Khovaling. Ibn Hawqal considered it larger than Hulbuk, another important town of the region. Although its houses were built of earth, he described its walls as made of stone and plaster. Water was brought to the town through pipes, traces of which have been found among the remains of the old city.

The Mongol invasion devastated Munk in the early thirteenth century. Yet its cool climate, plentiful water and pastures continued to attract rulers: the amir Qazaghan spent summer and autumn here in the middle of the fourteenth century, while wintering farther south at Sali Saray. The old name survives in the locality of Shahri Ming.