Endere

Endere (Chinese: 安迪尔; pinyin: Āndí'ěr) is an archaeological site in Xinjiang, China, in the southern Taklamakan Desert, a part of the southern route of the ancient Silk Road.

It has been tentatively identified with a place called Saca that is mentioned in documents written in Kharoṣṭhī script which have been found in the region.

[1] In 1901 the fort of Endere was excavated by Sir Mark Aurel Stein.

Endere is believed to have been an important military post and a centre for Buddhist worship located about half-way between Charchan and Nina (or Niya).

Stein discovered a number of buildings devoted to Buddhist worship including a shrine filled with textile rags and fragments of Buddhist manuscripts written in Chinese, Tibetan and Sanskrit which suggests it had drawn worshippers from far and wide.