The article pays special attention to land and water objects encountered in studies of historical geography. In the article, the names of settlements and large rivers are identified with currently existing hydrographic names. Of course, it is known that the names of some water sources have not been preserved, and their localization on a modern map is difficult. In the “Secret History of the Mongols” there are the hydronyms gorkhon and bulag, but there is no hydronym gol. From the history of the steppe regions of Eurasia, we know the visions of nomads about the surrounding nature; we tried to identify the places where major events took place in the life of the nomads, in which places they roamed, and compared the names of settlements and water resources with modern maps.

In “The Secret History of the Mongols” states that many terms describing the environment are associated with events. Along with natural objects, mountains, it was the main marker, landmark of the territory of nomads, along which the trajectory of new paths of spatial development spread in the Middle Ages. The importance of water sources for a nomad is evidenced by the question that was addressed to the stranger: “Where is the land, the water that you drank?” The article describes and analyzes descriptions of many types of water sources based on the “Secret History of the Mongols”. This helps to obtain information about the places of migration of tribes such as Kerei and Merkits, because The river, like the land, is mentioned as an element connecting certain communities of nomads in various sources telling about the Kereys and Merkits.