Sariakesh (pronounced sah-RYE-ah-kesh) was a targai king who in the late ninth millennium united many of the tribes of the southern steppes into a large confederation. To cement his power he ordered the construction of an immense palace on a bluff overlooking Tomb Lake, where all kings under him would be made to travel to receive their orders. This immense black marble and onyx edifice was barely finished when Sariakesh was assassinated, likely by figures within his subject tribes who chafed at his rule, and the site was abandoned for several centuries before new inhabitants began to arrive, eventually forming the modern city of Shar Tulya.