Akbash Khan ( Chagatai: اقباش خان literally ''White Head Khan''), born Muhammad Mumin ( Chagatai and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: محمد مؤمن) of the

Yarkent Khanate The Yarkent Khanate, also known as the Yarkand Khanate and the Kashghar Khanate, was a Sunni Muslim Turkic peoples, Turkic state ruled by the Mongols, Mongol descendants of Chagatai Khan. It was founded by Sultan Said Khan in 1514 as a western of ...

was a Central Asian Khan in the beginning of 18th century. He was the last Khan of Yarkent Khanate. He is known as one of the "later Chagatai princes" (察合台後王) in China.

Origin

Akbash Khan's name was Muhammad Mumin. He descended from the second son of

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

, Chagatai. He was a member of the

Borjigin A Borjigin is a member of the Mongol sub-clan that started with Bodonchar Munkhag of the Kiyat clan. Yesugei's descendants were thus said to be Kiyat-Borjigin. The senior Borjigids provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Inner Mongolia u ...

clan by blood. His father was Said Baba Khan of Eastern Khanate (Uyghurstan) and his grandfather was

Ismail Khan Mohammad Ismail Khan (Dari/Pashto: محمد اسماعیل خان; born 1946), better known as Ismail Khan, is an Afghan former military officer, warlord and politician who served as Minister of Energy and Water from 2005 to 2013 and before tha ...

. He had two brothers who were also at one point Khans of Yarkent Khanate (

Abd ar-Rashid Khan II Abd ar-Rashid Khan II ( Chagatai and Persian: عبد الرشید خان ثانی) was Khan of Yarkand and Turpan from 1680 to 1682. He was son of Baba Khan or Babak Khan. Baba Khan was son of Ismail Khan (Moghul khan). Dzungar's appointment of ...

and Muhammad Imin Khan respectively).

Reign

In 1678,

Galdan Boshugtu Khan Galdan Boshugtu Khan (1644 – 3 May 1697) was a Choros- Oirat khan of the Dzungar Khanate. As fourth son of Erdeni Batur, founder of the Dzungar Khanate, Galdan was a descendant of Esen Taishi, the powerful Oirat Khan of the Northern Yuan dyn ...

of Dzungar invaded Yarkent Khanate on the invitation of Afak Khoja, who previously was exiled from the country by

, conquered eastern part of

, captured Ismail Khan in

Yarkand Yarkant County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also SASM/GNC ro ...

and set up

as a puppet. Instead of

Afaq Khoja Afaq Khoja (), born Hidayat Allah (; ), also known as Apaq Xoja or more properly Āfāq Khwāja (), was a Naqshbandi īshān and political leader with the title of Khoja (Turkestan), Khwaja in Kashgaria (in present-day Southern Xinjiang, China). ...

of the

Naqshbandi Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...

order, Galdan appointed Rashid. This arrangement of power caused the later conflicts between the Moghuls and Khojas. Akbash was never supposed to inherit the title of Khan since his brothers were already ruling

Yarkand Khanate The Yarkent Khanate, also known as the Yarkand Khanate and the Kashghar Khanate, was a Sunni Muslim Turkic state ruled by the Mongol descendants of Chagatai Khan. It was founded by Sultan Said Khan in 1514 as a western offshoot of Moghulistan, i ...

. However, Abd ar-Rashid was captured by Oirats upon complaint of Afaq Khoja and Muhammad Imin died during the conflict with Afaq Khoja. Afaq then set his son Yahya Khoja as the Khan of Yarkent Khanate in 1692. In 1694, Afaq Khoja was poisoned and died. His son Yahya also died of Oirat riots. Muhammad Imin's sister Khanum Padshah took power in 1695 but was killed in the same year. After these incidents, Akbash was the only legitimate successor of the title of Khan. In 1695, he was installed as a Khan by Yarkent Begs. On the other hand, Begs in Kashgar had different ideas, they invited Kirghiz tribes and installed Akbash's son

Mahmud Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Given name Mahmood * Mahmood Ali (1928 ...

as a Khan. Kashgar and Kirghiz joint forces attacked Yarkent and captured it, making Akbash a captive. The Yarkent Begs sought the help of Oirats. The Oirats successfully took back Yarkent city but Akbash lost his title permanently. During his reign, Akbash Khan was not able to effectively control the city of Kashgar since most of the followers of Afaq Khoja were centered in Kashgar. His influence was limited in Yarkent and the cities that lie eastward.

References

{{reflist

Sources

People from the Yarkent Khanate 18th-century Mongol khans