Vassal of the Great Khan (1227–1266) When
Genghis Khan died in 1227, his son
Chagatai Khan inherited the regions roughly corresponding to the defunct
Qara Khitai Empire:
Issyk-Kul,
Ili River,
Chu River,
Talas River,
Transoxania, and the
Tarim Basin. Chagatai was not fully independent in his khanate however and still received orders from
Karakorum. When he dismissed the governor of Transoxania,
Mahmud Yalavach,
Ögedei Khan reinstated Mahmud, whose dynasty continued to administer the region even after the death of Chagatai. In 1238 there was a Muslim uprising in
Bukhara, but Mahmud's son Mas'ud crushed it the next year before Mongol troops were able to arrive, thereby saving the populace from Mongol vengeance. '' of
Rashid al-Din, Iran, late 14th century. Chagatai Khan died in 1242 and was succeeded by his grandson
Qara Hülegü. He was too young to rule independently so the widowed khatun
Ebuskun ruled as regent in his place. In 1246,
Güyük Khan replaced him with one of his uncles,
Yesü Möngke. Yesü Möngke came to power because he was a personal friend of Güyük Khan. He was a drunkard who left the affairs of the state to his wife and minister Beha ad-Din Marghinani. In 1252 he was deposed by
Möngke Khan, who installed Qara Hülegü again. Qara Hülegü died on his way home and was succeeded by his son
Mubarak Shah. Mubarak Shah was too young to rule and state affairs were managed by his mother
Orghana. In 1260,
Ariq Böke replaced Mubarak Shah with
Alghu, a grandson of
Chagatai Khan. Alghu rebelled against
Ariq Böke upon securing power and defected to
Kublai Khan's side in the
Toluid Civil War. Ariq Böke attacked him and while Alghu experienced initial success in fending off Ariq Böke's army, was forced to flee to
Samarkand in 1263. Ariq Böke devastated the
Ili region in his absence. Alghu was able to recruit a new army with the aid of Orghana and Mas'ud Yalavach. He then went on to defeat an invasion by
Kaidu and drive out Ariq Böke, who surrendered to Kublai in 1264. Alghu died in 1265 and Orghana placed her son, Mubarak Shah, on the throne once again. Mubarak Shah was the first Chagatai khan to be converted to Islam. His rule was cut short by his cousin
Ghiyas-ud-din Baraq, who deposed him with the support of Kublai Khan.
Reign of Kaidu (1266–1301) Ghiyas-ud-din Baraq came into conflict with
Kublai Khan on the administration of the
Tarim Basin. Baraq drove out an agent sent by Kublai to govern the region and when Kublai sent a detachment of 6,000 horsemen, Baraq met them with 30,000 men, forcing them to retreat. Baraq also came into conflict with
Kaidu, who enlisted the
Golden Horde khan
Mengu-Timur in attacking Baraq. With a Golden Horde army of 50,000 at his back, Kaidu forced Baraq to flee to
Transoxania. In 1267, Baraq accepted peace with Kaidu, and relinquished the territory east of Transoxania. Kaidu then coerced Baraq into invading the
Ilkhanate. Baraq attacked first, defeating Prince Buchin, the governor of
Khorasan, and brother of
Abaqa Khan. Abaqa rushed from
Azerbaijan and defeated Baraq near
Herat on 22 July 1270, forcing him to retreat. On the way back he fell from his horse and was crippled so he spent the winter in Bukhara where he died not long after. He converted to Islam before his death. mint. Dated AH 685 (AD 1285). Baraq's four sons and two sons of
Alghu rebelled against Kaidu in the wake of Baraq's death, but they were continually defeated. Kaidu enthroned
Negübei as the khan in Transoxania. When Negübei rebelled, he was killed and replaced with another khan,
Buqa Temür in 1274. It is uncertain when Buqa Temür died, but after that, Baraq's son
Duwa was enthroned as khan. Meanwhile, Abaqa invaded Transoxania in 1272 and sacked Bukhara, carrying off 50,000 captives. In 1275, Duwa joined Kaidu in the
war against the Yuan dynasty but were repelled. In 1297, Duwa invaded the
Punjab and devastated the region, but was defeated. Several invasions of the
Delhi Sultanate also occurred but none were able to make any headway. In September 1298, Duwa captured
Temür Khan's son-in-law, Korguz, and put him to death, but immediately after that suffered a disastrous defeat by Yuan forces. In 1301 they were defeated again in an attack on
Karakorum and Kaidu died during the retreat.
Foreign wars (1301–1325) After Kaidu's death in 1301, both
Duwa and
Kaidu's son Chapar recognized Yuan authority in 1303. However Duwa threw off his allegiance to Chapar. Both the
Yuan dynasty and
Duwa attacked Chapar, forcing him to surrender his territory to Duwa in 1306. Meanwhile, Prince Turghai invaded the
Delhi Sultanate in 1303 and looted the
Delhi region. In 1304 they invaded again but suffered a crushing defeat. Duwa died soon after and was succeeded by his son
Könchek, who ruled only for a year and a half before he died. One of
Buqa Temür's brothers,
Taliqu, seized power, but Duwa's family rebelled and killed him at a banquet. Duwa's younger son
Kebek became khan. Kebek invaded the Delhi Sutunate again in 1305, looting the
Multan region, but suffered a defeat on the way back. Chapar took advantage of the political turmoil to attack Kebek but was defeated and fled to the Yuan dynasty. Another
kuriltai was held in the Chagatai Khanate, which elected another of Duwa's sons,
Esen Buqa I, who took the throne ceded by Kebek. In 1315, Esen Buqa
invaded the Ilkhanate in support of Duwa's grandson, Dawud Khoja, who had set himself up in eastern
Afghanistan. He defeated an Ilkhanate army on the
Murgab and reached as far as
Herat, but was forced to retreat when the Yuan dynasty attacked him from the east. The Yuan army devastated the
Issyk-Kul region. In 1315 the Chagatayid prince
Yasa'ur defected to the Ilkhanate, only to rebel, taking
Khorasan. Both Chagatai and Ilkhanate forces attacked Yasa'ur. He was killed as he fled. Esen Buqa I died in 1318, at which point Kebek returned to power. He made peace with the Ilkhanate and the Yuan dynasty and reigned until 1325.
Religious conflict (1325–1338) , took place in
Almaliq, capital of the Chagatai Khanate, in 1339. The central ruler who ordered the killing was the Chagatai usurper
'Ali-Sultan (r.1339-1342). manuscript of the
Alexander Romance, produced in the Chagatai Khanate. In this version, Alexander is called
Sulqarnai, a Mongolianized form of the
Qur’anic term
Dhu al-Qarnayn.
Kebek was succeeded by his three brothers in succession.
Eljigidey and
Duwa Temür each reigned for only a few months.
Tarmashirin (1326–1334) converted to
Islam and raided the
Delhi Sultanate, reaching as far as
Delhi. Tarmashirin was brought down by an anti-Muslim rebellion of the eastern tribes. A son of
Duwa,
Changshi, was enthroned in 1335. One of his sons was baptized.
Pope Benedict XII appointed the
Franciscan bishop Richard of Burgundy to
Almalik in 1339. But during the reign of
'Ali-Sultan, Islam fully absorbed the Chagatai
Mongols and 'Ali persecuted non-Muslim religions. He is the one who ordered the extermination of the Franciscan congregation at Almaliq, and the killing of six Franciscan monks in 1339 (including bishop Richard of Burgundy, Pascal of Spain, Raymond of Provence and three others), as depicted in the 1342 painting
The Martyrdom of the Franciscans, by
Ambrogio Lorenzetti. File:The Martyrdom of the Franciscans (1342) Mongol officer.jpg|Mongol officer in
The Martyrdom of the Franciscans (1342). File:Мавзолей Буян-Кули-хана.jpg|Mausoleum of
Bayan Qulï Khan (r.1348-1358), in
Bukhara File:Gorskii 21747u.jpg|Decorative detail of the mausoleum of
Bayan Qulï Khan, 1358 File:Piece of Buyan Kuli Khan Frieze, MKG1908.472+4.jpg|Piece of Buyan Kuli Khan mausoleum frieze
Moghulistan (1363–1487) in 1372 (1375). The Khan
Kebek (r. 1309–1325) is depicted with the caption:
Here reigns the King Chabech (Kebek), lord of the Medeja [Media] Empire. He resides at Emalech (Almaliq). His cities appear with the Chagatai flag ().
Ilyas Khoja attacked
Timur in 1364 and defeated him on the north bank of the
Syr Darya. He then besieged
Samarkand but suffered harsh attrition due to an epidemic so that by the next year he was forced to retreat from Transoxania. The
Dughlat Qamar-ud-din Khan Dughlat rebelled and killed Ilyas Khoja in 1368, taking the throne for himself. Ilyas Khoja's brother
Khizr Khoja fled to
Turpan where he set up his own independent realm and converted the last
Uyghurs there to
Islam. In 1375, Timur invaded
Moghulistan, looting the
Ili region. Qamar retaliated by raiding
Fergana until Timur put him to flight. Timur fell into an ambush and barely escaped, retreating to
Samarkand. Timur attacked again in 1376 and 1383 but both times failed to capture the Moghul khan. In 1389 Timur attacked Khizr Khoja instead and forced him to flee into the
Gobi Desert. In 1390 Timur invaded Moghulistan and once again failed to find Qamar, but Qamar, having fled, was never heard of again. Khizr Khoja returned to Moghulistan and assumed power once more. He gave his daughter in marriage to Timur and made peace with him in 1397. Khizr Khoja died in 1399 and was succeeded by his three sons in succession:
Shams-i-Jahan (1399–1408),
Muhammad Khan (1408–1415), and
Naqsh-i-Jahan (1415–1418). Upon Khizr Khoja's death, Timur took the opportunity to send another army to pillage Moghul lands.
Uwais Khan came to power in 1418. During his reign he waged war on the
Oirats and was taken prisoner by their leader
Esen Taishi. Due to Uwais' royal lineage, Esen Taishi treated him with respect and released him. Uwais suffered two more defeats against the Oirats and was captured a second time. He was let go after sending his sister as hostage to Esen Taishi's family. Uwais died in 1429. Two factions supporting his two sons
Yunus Khan and
Esen Buqa II quarreled over the throne with Esen Buqa II emerging as the victor. Yunus fled to Samarkand. Under Esen Buqa II, the powerful Dughlat Sayyid Ali, who had helped him to the throne, became very influential and held both
Kucha and
Kashgar. In 1451, Esen Buqa II raided the northern border of the
Timurid Empire. The Timurid ruler
Abu Sa'id Mirza schemed to split the Moghuls in two, so he summoned Yunus in 1456 and supported his authority in the Ili region. Yunus tried to conquer Kashgar but was repelled by Sayyid Ali and Esen Buqa II. Esen Buqa II died in 1462. His son
Dost Muhammad was an inexperienced 17 year old. He plundered the territory of the Dughlats. By the time he died in 1469, his realm was in general revolt. Yunus took advantage of the situation to capture the Moghul capital
Aksu. Dost Muhammad's young son
Kebek Sultan was taken to
Turpan, where he was proclaimed khan. Four years later, he was put to death by his followers and brought to Yunus. Yunus thus became the sole ruler of Moghulistan in 1472. Yunus' reign began with a raid by the Oirats under Esen Taishi's son Amasanj, who forced Yunus to flee to the Syr Darya. Yunus returned after the Oirats left with their pillage. In 1465, Yunus faced a rebellion by
Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat, who seized
Yarkand and
Khotan. Yunus attempted twice to remove to Abu Bakr but was defeated both times in 1479 and 1480, after which Abu Bakr also seized Kashgar. In the east, Yunus captured
Hami from
Kara Del, which was then a tributary of the
Ming dynasty. A Ming army evicted the Moghuls from the city but failed to catch them, and they soon returned to Hami afterwards. Yunus also took advantage of political infighting in the west to vassalize
Umar Shaikh Mirza II's realm in
Fergana. Yunus moved to
Tashkent in 1484 and settled down, giving up the nomadic way of life. His nomadic followers became alarmed by this action and departed for the steppes, taking with them Yunus' second son
Ahmad Alaq. When Yunus died in 1486, his realm was divided between Western Moghulistan, ruled by
Mahmud Khan, and Eastern Moghulistan, ruled by Ahmad Alaq in the northeast.
Western and Eastern Moghulistan (1487–1508) (r.1487-1508) ruled from
Tashkent over Western Moghulistan.
Baburnama (1589) Following the death of their father Yunus Khan,
Mahmud Khan ruled over the western part of Moghulistan from
Tashkent, while his brother
Ahmad Alaq ruled over the eastern part. In 1488, the
Timurids of
Samarkand tried to recover Tashkent but were defeated by Mahmud. In 1487, Mahmud gave refuge to
Muhammad Shaybani, who then seized
Bukhara and Samarkand from the Timurids in 1500, making himself ruler of
Transoxania. Shaybani immediately turned against Mahmud, who called his brother
Ahmad Alaq for help, and defeated both Moghul khans and took them prisoner. Shaybani released them soon after, but kept Tashkent and
Sairam. Ahmad died soon after. Mahmud was captured again in 1508 and put to death by Shaybani, marking the last time the Chagatayids were ejected from Transoxania.
Yarkent and Turpan Khanates (1514–1705) Yarkent Khanate (1514–1705) In 1514,
Mansur Khan's brother
Sultan Said Khan captured Kashgar,
Yarkand, and
Khotan from
Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat, who had ruled in Mahmud's absence, and forced him to flee to
Ladakh. This marked the final separation of Moghulistan into two realms, with Said situated in Kashgar where he founded the
Yarkent Khanate, and Mansur remained Turpan in the
Turpan Khanate. In 1529, Said attacked
Badakhshan, and in 1531, he invaded Ladakh. During the campaign, Said fell ill from altitude sickness and died in July 1533 on the homeward journey. He was succeeded by his son
Abdurashid Khan. Abdurashid came into conflict with the
Dughlats and persecuted one of their leaders, Sayyid Muhammad-mirza. Abdurashid spent his reign fighting the
Kyrgyz people and the
Kazakhs, who made incursions on the
Ili region and
Issyk Kul. He was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the Kyrgyz-Kazakhs from seizing the Ili region. Abdurashid was succeeded in 1565 by his son
Abdul Karim Khan, who shifted the capital to Yarkand. Abdul was succeeded in 1590 by his brother
Muhammad Sultan, who repelled an invasion by the
Khanate of Bukhara under
Abdullah Khan II. Muhammad died in 1610 and was succeeded by his son
Shudja ad Din Ahmad Khan, who was assassinated in 1619, and replaced by Abd al-Latif (Afak) Khan. Abd al-Latif (Afak) Khan was succeeded by his nephew Sultan Ahmad Khan (Pulat Khan) in 1631. Pulat was overthrown by Abdallah (Moghul Khan) in 1636. Abdallah stabilized the court and exiled a number of old nobles to
India. He repelled Oirat inroads in the Khotan and
Aksu regions, and entered a tributary relationship with the
Qing dynasty in 1655. Friendly relations were also established with
Bukhara and the
Mughal Empire. In 1667, Abdallah's son Yulbars Khan removed his father from power. From the late 16th century onward, the Yarkent Khanate fell under the influence of the
Khojas. The Khojas were
Muslims who claimed descent from
Muhammad or from the first four Arab
caliphs. By the reign of Said in the early 16th century, the Khojas already had a strong influence in court and over the khan. In 1533, an especially influential Khoja named Makhdum-i Azam arrived in Kashgar, where he settled and had two sons. These two sons hated each other and they passed down their mutual hatred down to their children. The two lineages came to dominate large parts of the khanate, splitting it between two factions: the Aq Taghliq (White Mountain) in Kashgar and the Qara Taghliq (Black Mountain) in Yarkand. Yulbars patronized the Aq Taghliqs and suppressed the Qara Taghliqs, which caused much resentment, and resulted in his assassination in 1670. He was succeeded by his son who ruled for only a brief period before
Ismail Khan was enthroned. Ismail reversed the power struggle between the two Muslim factions and drove out the Aq Taghliq leader,
Afaq Khoja. Afaq fled to
Tibet, where the
5th Dalai Lama aided him in enlisting the help of
Galdan Boshugtu Khan, ruler of the
Dzungar Khanate. In 1680, Galdan led 120,000
Dzungars into the Yarkent Khanate. They were aided by the Aq Taghliqs and
Hami and
Turpan, which had already submitted to the Dzungars. Ismail's son Babak Sultan died in the resistance against them in the battle for Kashgar. The general Iwaz Beg died in the defense of Yarkand. The Dzungars defeated the Moghul forces without much difficulty and took Ismail and his family prisoner. Galdan installed
Abd ar-Rashid Khan II, son of Babak, as puppet khan. The new khan forced
Afaq Khoja to flee again, but Abd ar-Rashid's reign was also ended unceremoniously two years later when riots erupted in Yarkand. He was replaced by his brother Muhammad Imin Khan. Muhammad sought help from the
Qing dynasty,
Khanate of Bukhara, and the
Mughal Empire in combating the Dzungars. In 1693, Muhammad conducted a successful attack on the Dzungar Khanate, taking 30,000 captives. Unfortunately Afaq Khoja appeared again and overthrew Muhammad in a revolt led by his followers. Afaq's son Yahiya Khoja was enthroned but his reign was cut short in 1695 when both he and his father were killed while suppressing local rebellions. In 1696,
Akbash Khan was placed on the throne, but the
begs of Kashgar refused to recognize him, and instead allied with the
Kyrgyz to attack Yarkand, taking Akbash prisoner. The begs of Yarkand went to the Dzungars, who sent troops and ousted the Kyrgyz in 1705. The Dzungars installed a non-Chagatayid ruler Mirza Alim Shah Beg, thereby ending the rule of Chagatai khans forever. File:2015-09-12-123007 - Moschee beim Grabmal der Amann Shahan Isa Khan.jpg|
Altyn Mosque in
Yarkand File:Yarkand-tumbas-reyes-d06.jpg|Royal tombs of the Yarkent Khanate at the
Altyn Mosque in
Yarkand, with tomb of
Sultan Said Khan (1533) in the central pavilion File:Afaq Khoja Mausoleum in Kashgar, 11 October 2005.jpg|
Afaq Khoja Mausoleum, 1640 tomb of
Afaq Khoja near
Kashgar File:Kashgar-apakh-hoja-d02.jpg|The entrance of Afaq Khoja Mausoleum
Turpan Khanate (1487–1570) Ahmad Alaq's reduced nomadic realm (known as the
Turpan Khanate) came into frequent conflict with the
Oirats,
Kyrgyz people, and
Kazakhs. According to the
Tarikh-i Rashidi, the Oirats called him
Alasha, "the Killer". In 1482,
Hami was restored to
Kara Del under Qanšin, but in 1488, Ahmad killed Qanšin and retook the city. The next year Ahmad was driven out of Hami. In 1493, Ahmad captured Kara Del's ruler Šamba and held him prisoner. Šamba received support from the
Ming dynasty, which closed its borders to
Turpan and expelled its traders from their markets, which eventually forced Ahmad to give up his ambitions in Hami due to unrest in his realm. In 1499 Ahmad retook
Kashgar and
Yengisar from
Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat.
embassy to Beijing in October 1656. The emissaries portrayed had probably come from
Turpan, rather than all the way from the
Moghul India. They wore dresses of blue silk, decorated with dragons. Around 1500,
Muhammad Shaybani attacked Ahmad's brother
Mahmud Khan, who appealed to Ahmad for help. Muhammad defeated both Ahmad and Mahmud, seizing
Tashkent and
Sairam. Ahmad was captured but released soon after. He died of paralysis in
Aksu a year later. His brother
Mansur Khan succeeded him. His reign began with difficulties with the powerful
Dughlat of Kashgar,
Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat, plundering the cities of
Kucha and Aksu. In 1514, Mansur's brother
Sultan Said Khan captured Kashgar,
Yarkand, and
Khotan from Abu Bakr and forced him to flee to
Ladakh. This marked the final separation of Moghulistan into two realms, with Said situated in Kashgar, and Mansur in Turpan, otherwise known as
Uyghuristan. in 1761.
万国来朝图 In 1513, Kara Del submitted to Mansur and in 1517 Mansur moved to Hami permanently, where he launched raids against the Ming dynasty. Mansur was succeeded in 1545 by his son
Shah Khan. Shah fought with his brother Muhammad, who seized part of Hami and allied with the Oirats. Shah died in 1560 and Muhammad succeeded him. Muhammad had to fight against a third brother, Sufi Sultan, who tried to enlist the Ming in support of his claim to the throne. After Muhammad's death in 1570, the Turpan Khanate faded from historical texts. The last thing heard of them are embassies sent from Turpan to
Beijing in 1647 and 1657. The
Qing dynasty regarded them as embassies from a genuine Chagatayid. ==Government==