China: Statue of Mahmud al-Kashgari who compiled the first Turkic languages dictionary. Mausoleum of Mahmud al-Kashgari (Mahmud al-Kashgari Mazar) Upar, Xinjiang Province

Mahmud al-Kashgari was a renowned 11th century linguist, poet and historian who compiled the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages.

Upal is on the Karakoram Highway, which follows the old Silk Road route from China to Pakistan. Its name comes from the Sanskrit: upál-, which means 'a noble stone', sharing an Indo-European root to the Greek opallios (ὀπάλλιος), from which the English word opal is derived.