Definition of "Barkul"

From Urumtsi we had decided to take the northern route to Hami, via Gutchen and Barkul, in order to avoid as much as possible the sands of the Tarim basin on the southern slope of the Tian Shan mountains.

1894, Thomas Gaskell Allen, Jr., William Lewis Sachtleben, Across Asia on a Bicycle: The Journey of Two American Students from Constantinople to Peking‎, New York: The Century Co., page 175

The autumn day was drawing in as we rounded an outlying spur of the T’ien Shan and drove into Mu-li Ho, a small walled district city, mostly in ruins, the streets a sea of snow, slush and mud, and full of strange-looking Kazaks, Turks and Tartars. As we arrived three Russian Amo trucks drove in from Barkul, crashing through the narrow crowded streets, their blond Slav drivers contrasting sharply with the Central Asian types.

1937, Eric Teichman, Journey to Turkistan‎, London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, page 95

The long-planned campaign against the Zunghars went badly. In 1732 General Yue Zhongqi, from his forward headquarters at Barkul, was able to raid the enemy in Urumchi but could not protect his own forces in Hami from enemy counterattacks.

1990, Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China‎, W. W. Norton & Company, page 82