Kara-Khanid Khanate

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This article refers to the Turkic state Kara-Khanid Khanate. For the Khitan Khanate, see Kara-Khitan Khanate.
Kara-Khanid Khanate
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Kara Khanid Khanate, c. 1000.
Capital Kashgar
Religion Islam
Government Monarchy
History
 - Established 840
 - Disestablished 1212
Area
 - 1025 est. 3,000,000 km2 (1,158,306 sq mi)

The Kara-Khanid Khanate was a confederation of Turkic tribes ruled by a dynasty known in literature as the Karakhanids (also spelt Qarakhanids) or Ilek Khanids, (Persian: قَراخانيان‎, Qarākhānīyān or خاقانيه‎, Khakānīya, Chinese: 黑汗, 桃花石).[1] Both dynastic names represent titles with Kara Kağan being the most important Turkish title up till the end of the dynasty.[2] The Khanate conquered Transoxania in Central Asia and ruled between 999–1211.[3][4] Their arrival in Transoxania signaled a definitive shift from Iranian to Turkic predominance in Central Asia.[5] Their capitals included Kashgar, Balasagun, Samarkand and Uzgen. Their history is reconstructed from fragmentary and often contradictory written sources, as well as studies on their coinage.[6]

Contents

[edit] Origin

The Karakhanids were a confederation formed some time in the ninth century of Karluk, Yaghma, and Chigil tribes and other tribes living in Semirechye, Western Tian Shan (modern Kyrgyzstan), and Western Xinjiang (Kashgaria).[5] The name of the royal clan is not actually known; the term Karakhanid is artificial - it was derived from Qara Khan or Qara Khaqan (the word "Qara" means "black") which was the foremost title of the rulers of this dynasty,[7] and was devised by European Orientalists in the nineteen century to describe both the dynasty and the Turks ruled by it.[5] Arabic Muslim sources called this dynasty al-Khaqaniya ("That of the Khaqans"), while Persian sources often preferred the term Al-i Afrasiyab ("The Family of the Afrasiyab") on the basis of the legendary kings (though actually unrelated to the Karakhanids) of pre-Islamic Transoxania.[5]

[edit] Early history

The Karluks were a nomadic people from western Altai who moved to Semirechye. In 742CE, the Karluks were part of an alliance led by the Basmyl and Uyghurs, which rebelled against the Kök Türk rulers.[8] In the realignment of power which followed the Karluks were elevated from a tribe led by an el teber to one led by a yabghu; yabghu being one of the highest Turkic dignitaries which also implies membership of the Ashina clan in whom the "heaven-mandated" right to rule resided. The Karluks and Uyghurs went on to ally themselves against the Basmyl and within two years the Karluks and Uyghurs toppled the Basmyl khagan. The Uyghur yabghu became khagan and the Karluk leader yabghu. This arrangement lasted less than a year. Hostilities between the Uyghur and Karluk forced the Karluk to migrate westward into the western Türk-Türgesh lands.[7]

By 766 The Karluks had forced the submission of the Western Türk-Türgesh and they established their capital at Suyab on the Chu River. The Karluk confederation by now included the Chigil and Tukshi tribes who may have been Türgesh tribes incorporated into the Karluk union. By the mid 9th century, the Karluk confederation had gained control of the sacred lands of the Western Türks after the destruction of the Uyghur state by the Kyrgyz. The control of the sacred lands, together with being affiliated with the Ashina clan, allowed the Khaganate to be passed on to the Karluks along with domination of the steppes after the previous Kaghan was killed in a revolt.[9]

In the 9th century southern Central Asia was under the rule of the Samanids and the Central Asian steppe was dominated by Turkic nomads such as the Pechenegs, the Oghuz, and the Karluks. The Karluks' domain reached as far north as the Irtysh and the Kimek confederation, with encampments extending to the Chi and Ili rivers, where the Chigil and Tukshi tribes lived, and east to the Ferghana valley and beyond. South and East of the Karluks was inhabited by the Yaghma.[10] The Karluk center in the 9th and 10th centuries appears to be have been at Balasagun on the Chu River. In late 9th century the Samanids marched into the Steppes and captured Taraz, one of the headquarters of the Karluk kaghan, and a large church was transformed into a mosque.

During the ninth century, the Karluk confederation (including the Türgesh descended Chigil and Tukshi tribes) and the Yaghma, descendants of the Toquz-oguz kings, have joined force and formed the first Karluk-Karakhanid kaghanate. The Chigils appear to to have formed the nucleus of the Karakhanid army. The Eastern Khagan bore the title Arslan Qara Khaqan (Arslan "lion" was the totem of the Chigil) and the Western Khagan the title Bughra Qara Khaqan (Bughra "male camel" was the totem of the Yaghma). Under the Khagans were four rulers with the titles Arslan Ilig, Bughra Ilig, Arslan Tegin and Bughra Tegin.[11]

In the mid-tenth century the Kara-Khanids converted to Islam and adopted Muslim names and honorifics, but retained Turkic regnal titles such as Khan, Kaghan, Ilek (Ilig) and Tegin.[6] According to Ottoman historian Munejjimbashi, a Karakhanid prince named Satuk Bughra Khan was the first of the khans to convert. After conversion, he obtained a fatwa which permitted him in effect to kill his presumably still pagan father, after which he conquered Kashgar.[12] Later in 960, according to Muslim historians Ibn Miskawaih and Ibn al-Athir, there was a mass conversion of the Turks, circumstantial evidence suggests these were the Karakhanids.[7]

[edit] Conquest of Transoxania

Kara-Khanid Khanate in 1025 AD.

At the final decade of the tenth century, the Karakhanids began a struggle against the Samanids for control of Transoxania, with first a campaign led by d Satuk Bughra Khan's grandson Hasan (or Harun) b. Sulayman (title: Bughra Khan). Between 990-992, the Karakhanids took Isfijab, Ferghana, Ilaq, Samarkand, and the Samanid capital Bukhara. However, Hasan Bughra Khan died in 992 due to an illness, and the Samanids returned to Bukhara. Hasan's cousin Ali b. Musa (title: Kara Khan or Arslan Khan) resumed the campaign against the Samanids, and in 999, Ali's son Nasr retook Bukhara meeting no resistance.[6] The Samanid domains were split up between the Ghaznavids, who gained Khorasan and Afghanistan, and the Karakhanids, who received Transoxania; the Oxus River thus became the boundary between the two rival empires. The capital of the Karakhanid state at that time was Balasaghun.

The Karakhanid state was divided into appanages as was customary of Turkic and Mongol nomads. The Karakhanid appanages are associated with four principal urban centers, Balasaghun in Semirechye, Kashgar in Xinjiang (Kashgaria), Uzgen in Fergana, and Samarkand in Transoxania. The dynasty's original domains of Semirechye and Kashgaria conserved their prestige within the Karakhanid state, and the kaghans of these domains retained an implicit seniority over those who ruled in Transoxania and Fergana.[5] The four sons of Ali (Ahmad, Nasr, Mansur, Muhammad) each held their own independent appanage within the Karakhanid state. Nasr, the conqueror of Transoxania, held the large central area of Transoxania (Samarkand and Bukhara), Fergana (Uzgen) and other areas, although after his death his appanage was further divided. Ahmad held Semirechye and Chach, and became the head of the dynasty after the death of Ali. He was succeeded by Mansur.[6]

After the death of Mansur, the Hasan Bughra Khan branch of the Karakhanids became dominant. Hasan's sons Muhammad Toghan Khan II, and Yusuf Kadir Khan who held Kashgar, became in turn the head of the Karakhanid dynasty. The two families, i.e. the descendents of Ali Arslan Khan and Hasan Bughra Khan, would eventually spilt the Karakhanid Khanate in two.

The restored mausoleum of Ayshah bibi near Taraz.

[edit] Division of the Kara-Khanid Khanate

Early in the 11th century the unity of the Karakhanid dynasty was fractured by constant internal warfare that resulted in the formation of two independent Karakhanid states. A son of Hasan Bughra Khan, Ali Tegin, seized control of Bukhara and other towns. The son of Nasr, Ibrahim Tamghach Bughra Khan, later waged war against the sons of Ali Tegin, and won control of large part of Transoxania, and made Samarkand the capital. In 1041, another son of Nasr b. Ali, Muhammad 'Ayn ad-Dawlah (reigned 1041–52) took over the administration of the western branch of the family, forming the Western Khanate. Ibrahim Tamghach Khan brought some stability to Western Karakhanid Khanate by limiting the appanage system which caused much of the internal strife in the Kara-Khanid Khanate.[6]

The Hasan family remained in control of the Eastern Khanate. The Eastern Khanate had its capital at Balasaghun and later Kashgar. When the two states were formed, Ferghana fell into realm of the Eastern Khanate, but was later captured by Ibrahim and became part of Western Khanate.

[edit] Seljuk suzerainty

The eleventh century saw the rise of Seljuks in Iran. The Seljuks took control of Samarkand during the reign of Ibrahim's grandson, together with the domains belonging to the Western Khanate,[6] The Western Karakhanids Khanate became a vassals of the Seljuks for half a century, and the Seljuks would place on the throne whoever they desired. The Karakhanids of Kashgar also declared their submission, but the Eastern Khanate was a Seljuk vassal for only a short time. The Karakhanids would serve the dual suzerainty of both the Kara-Khitans to the north and the Seljuks to the south.[3]


[edit] Kara-Khitan Invasion

Asia in 1200 AD, showing Kara-Khitan and neighbors.

The Khitans were a Mongolian people of the Liao Dynasty who moved west from Northern China when the Jurchens invaded in 1125 and destroyed the Liao Dynasty. They were led by Yelu Dashi who also recruited warriors from Tangut, Tibetan, Karluk, Kara-Khoja, Naiman areas and moved westward. Yelu occupied Balasagun on the Chu River, then defeated the Western Karakhanids in Khujand in 1137.[13] Several military commanders of Karakhanid lineages such as the father of Osman of Khwarezm, escaped from Karakhanid lands during the Kara-Khitan invasion.

In 1141 Kara-Khitan Khanate became the dominant force in the region after they defeated Sultan Sanjar, the last Great Seljukid, at the Battle of Qatwan near Samarkand.[5] The Kara-Khitan Khanate, however, did not destroy the Karakhanid dynasty. Instead, the Khitans stayed at Semirech'e, allowed some of the Karakhanids to rule as vassals in Samarkand, and had the Kara-Khanids act as their tax-collectors and administrators on Muslim sedentary populations (the same practice was adopted by the Golden Horde on the Russian Steppes). The Kara-Khitans were Buddhists ruling over Muslim Karakhanids, although Muslim historians considered them fair-minded and tolerant rulers.[5] However, Kuchlug, a Naiman who usurped the throne of the Kara-Khitan Dynasty, instituted harsh policies towards the Muslim populations under his suzerainty. Nevertheless, Kara-Khanid Muslim generals such as Muhammad Tai who surrendered to Kuchlug were incorporated into his army. The elite Kara-Khitans and their Naiman soldiers, on an interesting note, were very often Nestorian Christians, as suggested by the Syriac names of the Gur-Khans (Emperors), who at the same time had Confucian titles and patronized Buddhist establishments.

[edit] Downfall

The collapse of Seljuks after the defeat by the Kara-khitans also allowed the Khwarezm-Shahs to expand into former Seljuk territory. Uthman (reigned 1204–11) briefly re-established the independence of the Karakhanid dynasty, but in 1211 the Karakhanids were defeated by the Khwarezm-Shah 'Ala' ad-Din Muhammad who executed Uthman, and the dynasty was extinguished.

In the early 13th century Kara-Khitan ruler Kuchlug, a sworn foe of Genghis Khan, was crushed by the advancing Mongol army along with his Kara-Khitan military state. His vassals, the Kara-Khanids, offered meager resistance to the Mongols. Kuchlug put an end to eastern part of Kara-Khanid state in 1211.

[edit] Culture

11-12th century Karakhanid mausolea in Uzgen, Kyrgyzstan.

It is perhaps because of the similarities between Kara-Khanid and Kara-Khoja cultures that during the Yuan and Ming periods former Kara-Khoja and Xixia lands were populated by converts to Islam indistinguishable from Chagatay and Timurid lands. These Turkic Muslims under Chinese influence later adopted the Chinese language while still maintaining extensive trade relations with Turkestan. They were designated "Hui" in Chinese, obviously derived from "Huihui" or "Huihu", an archaic transliteration of "Uyghur". The Kara-Khanid culture started as a literate tradition, with a body of Muslim subjects recorded in the vertical Sogdian script of the first Uyghur Empire.

The Islamized Karluk princely clan, the Balasaghunlu Ashinalar (the Kara-Khanids) gravitated toward the Persian Islamic cultural zone[citation needed] after their political autonomy and suzerainty over Central Asia was secured during the 9-10th century. As they became increasingly Persianized[citation needed] (to the point of adopting "Afrasiab"[citation needed], a Shahnameh mythical figure as the ancestor of their lineage), they settled in the more Indo-Iranian[citation needed] sedentary centers such as Kashgar, and became detached[citation needed] from the nomadic traditions of fellow Karluks, many of whom retained[citation needed] the Nestorian-Mahayana-Manichaean[citation needed] religious mixture of the former Uyghur Khanate[citation needed].

A prominent Karakhanid was the historian Mahmud al-Kashgari who may have lived for some time in Kashgar at the Karakhanid court. Another was Yusuf Balasaghuni who wrote the poem Kutadgu Bilig (The Wisdom of Felicity).

[edit] Legacy

Kara-Khanid legacy is arguably the most enduring cultural heritage among coexisting cultures in Central Asia from the 9th to the 13th century. The Karluk-Uyghur dialect spoken by the nomadic tribes and turkified sedentary populations under Kara-Khanid rule branched out into two major branches of the Turkic language family, the Chagatay and the Kypchak. The Kara-Khanid cultural model that combined nomadic Turkic culture with Islamic, sedentary institutions spread east into former Kara-Khoja and Tangut territories and west and south into the subcontinent, Khorasan (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Northern Iran), Golden Horde territories (Tataristan) and Turkey. The Chagatay, Timurid and Uzbek states and societies inherited most of the cultures of the Kara-Khanids and the Khwarezmians without much interruption.

[edit] Kara-Khanid dynasty

Tomb of Sultan Satuk Bughra Khan in Artush, Xinjiang

Western Karakhanids

Eastern Karakhanids

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East, Vol.1, Ed. Jamie Stokes, (Infobase Publishing, 2009), 578.
  2. ^ Davidovich, E. A. (1998), "The Karakhanids", in Bosworth, C.E., History of Civilisations of Central Asia, 4 part I, UNESCO Publishing, pp. 120, ISBN 92-3-103467-7 
  3. ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica
  4. ^ Grousset, Rene, (2004). The Empire of the Steppes. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0813513049. 
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Svatopluk Soucek (2000). "Chapter 5 - The Qarakhanids". A history of Inner Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521657040. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f Davidovich, E. A. (1998), "Chapter 6 The Karakhanids", in Bosworth, C.E., History of Civilisations of Central Asia, 4 part I, UNESCO Publishing, pp. 119-144, ISBN 92-3-103467-7 
  7. ^ a b c Golden, Peter. B. (1990), "The Karakhanids and Early Islam", in Sinor, Denis, The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Cambridge University Press, pp. 354, ISBN 0 521 2,4304 1 
  8. ^ Christopher I. Beckwith, Empires of the Silk Road, (Princeton University Press, 2009), 142.
  9. ^ Golden, Peter. B. (1990), "The Karakhanids and Early Islam", in Sinor, Denis, The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Cambridge University Press, pp. 350-351, ISBN 0 521 2,4304 1 
  10. ^ Golden, Peter. B. (1990), "The Karakhanids and Early Islam", in Sinor, Denis, The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Cambridge University Press, pp. 348, ISBN 0 521 2,4304 1 
  11. ^ Golden, Peter. B. (1990), "The Karakhanids and Early Islam", in Sinor, Denis, The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Cambridge University Press, pp. 355-356, ISBN 0 521 2,4304 1 
  12. ^ Golden, Peter. B. (1990), "The Karakhanids and Early Islam", in Sinor, Denis, The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Cambridge University Press, pp. 357, ISBN 0 521 2,4304 1 
  13. ^ Sinor, D. (1998), "Chapter 11 - The Kitan and the Kara Kitay", in Bosworth, C.E., History of Civilisations of Central Asia, 4 part I, UNESCO Publishing, ISBN 92-3-103467-7 

[edit] Further reading

  • Davidovich, E. A. (1998), "The Karakhanids", in Bosworth, C.E., History of Civilisations of Central Asia, 4 part I, UNESCO Publishing, pp. 120, ISBN 92-3-103467-7 
  • Golden, Peter. B. (1990), "The Karakhanids and Early Islam", in Sinor, Denis, The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 2,4304 1 
  • Svatopluk Soucek (2000). A history of Inner Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521657040. 
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