Altun Bishik (Altun Beshik, Altin Bishik, Altin Beshik) is a mythological figure through whom the

Khanate of Kokand The Khanate of Kokand was a Central Asian polity in the Fergana Valley centred on the city of Kokand between 1709 and 1876. It was ruled by the Ming tribe of Uzbeks. Its territory is today divided between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, a ...

claimed descent from the

Timurid dynasty The Timurid dynasty, self-designated as Gurkani (), was the ruling dynasty of the Timurid Empire (1370–1507). It was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim dynasty or Barlās clan of Turco-Mongol originB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of I ...

. The

Khans of Kokand Khan may refer to: * Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name * Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by various ethnicities Art and entertainment * Khan (band), an English progressiv ...

wished to legitimize their rule of the

khanate A khanate ( ) or khaganate refers to historic polity, polities ruled by a Khan (title), khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. Khanates were typically nomadic Mongol and Turkic peoples, Turkic or Tatars, Tatar societies located on the Eurasian Steppe, ...

through a connection with the

(ruled 1370–1506). From the time of the last Timurids to that of the first Khans of Kokand there was a period of more than two hundred years. Faced with this situation, the Khans connected their genealogy with

Babur Babur (; 14 February 148326 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also ...

through a legendary figure, “Altun Bishik”. In the legend, a baby of Babur's family was left in a ''bishik'' (cradle) when Babur fled prosecution, making for the limits of

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (, now called the Amu Darya) is the Latin name for the region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

. The child was named Altun Bishik, after its imperial cradle, and in the legend he ostensibly lived from 918 AH/1512 CE – 952 AH/1545 CE. Even in historical sources, he has appeared as a historic figure. In the legend of this baby began the Khans of Kokand. The legend in various versions has resulted in manuscripts on Kokand historical writings, since the beginning of the 19th century. Despite it, Altun Bishik and the legend connected with him are not the historical truth.

Bibliography

# Beisembiev T. K. Kokandskaia istoriografiia: Issledovanie po istochnikovedeniiu Srednei Azii XVIII-XIX vekov. Almaty, TOO "PrintS", 2009, 1263 pp., . # Beisembiev T. "Annotated indices to the Kokand Chronicles". Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Studia Culturae Islamica. № 91, 2008, 889 pp., . # Beisembiev T.K. "Ta'rikh-i SHakhrukhi" kak istoricheskii istochnik. Alma Ata: Nauka, 1987. 200 p. Summaries in English and French # Beisembiev T.K. "Legenda o proiskhozhdenii kokandskikh khanov kak istochnik po istorii ideologii v Srednei Azii (na materialakh sochinenii kokandskoi istoriografii)". Kazakhstan, Srednjaja i Tsentralnaia Azia v XVI-XVIII vv. Alma-ata, 1983, pp. 94–105 # Nalivkine V. P. Histoire du Khanat de Khokand. Trad. A.Dozon. Paris, 1889. # Nalivkin V. "Kratkaia istoria kokandskogo khanstva". Istoria Srednei Azii. A.I.Buldakov, S.A.Shumov, A.R.Andreev (eds.). Moskva, 2003, pp. 288–290. # Vakhidov Sh.Kh. XIX-ХХ asr bāshlarida Qoqān khānligida tarikhnavislikning rivājlanishi. Tarikh fanlari doktori dissertatsiyasi. Tāshkent, 1998, pp. 114–137. # Erkinov A. "Imitation of Timurids and Pseudo-Legitimation: On the origins of a manuscript anthology of poems dedicated to the Kokand ruler Muhammad Ali Khan (1822–1842)". (http://wcms-neu1.urz.uni-halle.de/download.php?down=9046&elem=1986852) GSAA Online Working Paper No. 5 # Erkinov A. "Les timourides, modeles de legitimite et les recueils poetiques de Kokand". In: Ecrit et culture en Asie centrale et dans le monde Turko-Iranien, XIVe-XIXe siècles // Writing and Culture in Central Asia and in the Turko-Iranian World, 14th-19th Centuries. F.Richard, M.Szuppe (eds.), ahiers de Studia Iranica. 40 Paris: AAEI, 2009, pp. 285–330. # Lal Ruby. Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World. Oxford, 2005, p. 113 #Scott Levi. "Babur’s Legacy and Political Legitimacy in the Khanate of Khoqand." to be submitted to the Journal of Asian Studies. haris and binal {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishik, Altun Mythological kings 16th-century births 16th-century deaths