The Ülüş system was the administrative system of the historical Turkic and Mongolic states. The noun ''Üleş'' in Turkish means "share" and the verb "üleş-mek" means to share.

The system

According to historian

Halil İnalcık Halil İnalcık (7 September 1916 – 25 July 2016) was a Turkish historian. His highly influential research centered on social and economic approaches to the Ottoman Empire. His academic career started at Ankara University, where he completed h ...

, the sovereignty didn't belong solely to the

khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

(emperor), but to the members of the khagan's family. Thus the khagan allocated each member of the family a share of the country. This share was called ülüş. According to Kürşat Kocak however, the ülüş practice included also high level state officials. Academia periodical
/ref> This resembles the

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

system in

Medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

. It is stressed by Lev Gumilev that it was not a European type

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

, but the system was developed by the Southern Xiongnu during the second century AD.L. N. Gümilev, ''Eski Türkler'', translation by Ahsen Batur, p. 80-81 It was used by the

First Turkic Khaganate The First Turkic Khaganate, also referred to as the First Turkic Empire, the Turkic Khaganate or the Göktürk Khaganate, was a Turkic khaganate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia under the leadership of Bu ...

Uyghur Khaganate The Uyghur Khaganate (also Uyghur Empire or Uighur Khaganate, self defined as Toquz-Oghuz country; , Tang-era names, with modern Hanyu Pinyin: or ) was a Turkic empire that existed for about a century between the mid 8th and 9th centuries. It ...

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...

and other political powers of Central Asia.

Example

In the

(551-581) during the reign of Taspar Qaghan in 576, there were 8 üleşes (see

Göktürk family tree The Göktürk family tree refers to the ruling Ashina clan of the Turkic Khaganate, a vast medieval empire which stretched from northeast China to the Black Sea.Jean Paul Roux: ''Türklerin Tarihi (Historie des Turcs)'', tr:Prof Dr Aykut Kazancı ...

). :1.

Taspar Taspar Qaghan ( Sogdian: ''t’asp’r γ’γ’n'') or Tatpar Qaghan (Sogdian: ''t’tp’r x’γ’n'', Rouran: ''Tadpar qaɣan''; Old Turkic: 𐱃𐱃𐰯𐰺𐰴𐰍𐰣 Tatpar qaγan, 佗缽可汗/佗钵可汗, Pinyin: tuóbō Kèhán, Wade ...

: in the

Altai Mountain The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with th ...

area :2. She tu (Taspar’s nephew; later renemed Ishbara as the khagan): east part of the khaganette :3. Böri (Taspar's nephew): west part of the Eastern territory :4. Töremen (Taspar's nephew, later renemed Apa as the khagan): north territories :5.

Kara Çürün Tardu or Tardush Yabghu was the second yabghu of the Western Turkic Khaganate (c. 575–603), and ninth Khagan of the First Turkic Khaganate (599–603). He was the son of Istämi. Names The regnal name in Turkic was Tarduš (), Medieval G ...

(Taspar's cousin later renamed Tardu as the khagan of the Western Territory): in Yedisu area :6.

Tamgan Tumgan (also known as Turkshad, Turxanthos) was a shad (governor prince) of the Turkic Empire (also called Göktürk) in the late 6th century. According to Edward Gibbon his name may be a title rather than a proper name. Background In 552 Bumin ...

(Taspar's cousin): in

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

area :7.

Amrak Ashina Anluo () was the fifth ruler of the Turkic Khaganate. in the sixth century. His regnal title is not recorded in Chinese sources. Name His name is subject to debate. '' Book of Sui'' and ''Tongdian'' recorded his name as Ānluó () wherea ...

(Taspar's son): (unidentified) :8. Tegin shad (Taspar’s son): unidentified

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ules system Sovereignty Medieval Asia Medieval law