The Mangghud, or Manghud ( mn, Мангуд, ''Mangud''), were a
Mongol tribe of the Urud-Manghud federation. They established the
Nogai Horde in the 14th century and the Manghit dynasty to rule the
Emirate of Bukhara
The Emirate of Bukhara ( fa, , Amārat-e Bokhārā, chg, , Bukhārā Amirligi) was a Muslim polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the lan ...
in 1785. They took the Islamic title of
Emir instead of the title of
Khan
Khan may refer to:
*Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan
*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 ...
, since they were not descendants of
Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin
, ...
and rather based their legitimacy to rule on
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. The clan name was used for Mongol vanguards as well. Their descendants live in several regions of the former
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in 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 Europe, ...
.
Manghuds in the Mongol Empire
According to ancient sources, they were derived from the
Khiyad Mongols. The Manghuds and the Uruuds were war-like people from the Mongolian plateau. Some notable Manghud warriors supported
Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin
, ...
(1162–1227), while a body of them resisted his rise to power. When the
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in 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 Europe, ...
began to expand westward, the Manghud people were spread westward into the Middle East along with many other Mongol tribes. In the
Golden Horde, the Manghuds supported
Nogai (d. 1299) and established their own semi-independent
horde
Horde may refer to:
History
* Orda (organization), a historic sociopolitical and military structure in steppe nomad cultures such as the Turks and Mongols
** Golden Horde, a Turkic-Mongol state established in the 1240s
** Wings of the Golden Hord ...
from
the khans in
Sarai.
After Nogai's death in 1299, the majority of Manghud warriors joined the service of
Tokhta Khan. Their chieftain
Edigu, the powerful
warlord of the Golden Horde, officially founded
Nogai Horde or Manghit Horde in the 14th-15th century. Turkish historians would record their tribal name as Manghit or Nogais, as opposed to the original Manghud or Mangudai.
Military unit of the Mongols
The mangudai or mungadai were military units of the
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in 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 Europe, ...
, but sources differ wildly in their descriptions. One source states that references to Mongol
light cavalry
Light cavalry comprised lightly armed and armored cavalry troops mounted on fast horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the mounted riders (and sometimes the warhorses) were heavily armored. The purpose of light cavalry was primarily rai ...
"suicide troops" date back to the 13th century.
However, a
United States Army author believes that Mangudai was the name of a 13th-century Mongol warlord who created an arduous selection process to test potential leaders. The term is used by element of the
United States Army as a name for multi-day tests of Soldiers' endurance and warrior skills.
Nogai Horde
Some of the Manghuds assimilated into
Turkic people and these Manghuds became Manghit (Mangit) tribe of the Turks. The Nogais protected the northern borders of
Astrakhan and
Crimean khanates, and through organized raids to the northern steppes prevented
Russian and
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n settlements. Many Nogais joined the service of Crimean khan. Settling there, they contributed to the formation of the
Crimean Tatars. However, Nogais were not only good soldiers, they also had considerable agricultural skills. Their basic social unit was the semi-autonomous 'ulus' or band. But Nogais were proud of their nomadic traditions and independence, which they considered superior to settled agricultural life.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the
Kalmyks
The Kalmyks ( Kalmyk: Хальмгуд, ''Xaľmgud'', Mongolian: Халимагууд, ''Halimaguud''; russian: Калмыки, translit=Kalmyki, archaically anglicised as ''Calmucks'') are a Mongolic ethnic group living mainly in Russia, w ...
or the
Oirats
Oirats ( mn, Ойрад, ''Oirad'', or , Oird; xal-RU, Өөрд; zh, 瓦剌; in the past, also Eleuths) are the westernmost group of the Mongols whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western Mongolia.
Histor ...
, migrated from the steppes of southern Siberia on the banks of the
Irtysh River
The Irtysh ( otk, 𐰼𐱅𐰾:𐰇𐰏𐰕𐰏, Ertis ügüzüg, mn, Эрчис мөрөн, ''Erchis mörön'', "erchleh", "twirl"; russian: Иртыш; kk, Ертіс, Ertis, ; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: ''É'ěrqísī hé'', Xiao'erj ...
to the Lower
Volga region about 1630. The Kalmyks expelled the Nogais who fled to the plains of northern
Caucasus and to the Crimea under the
Ottoman Empire. A few part of them joined to
Kazakh Khanate
The Kazakh Khanate ( kk, Қазақ Хандығы, , ), in eastern sources known as Ulus of the Kazakhs, Ulus of Jochi, Yurt of Urus, was a Kazakh state in Central Asia, successor of the Golden Horde existing from the 15th to 19th century, ...
as part of
Little jüz.
Manghit dynasty

The Manghits had been settled by Genghis Khan around the city of
Qarshi. Qarshi would continue to serve as the Manghits' base of power under the Bukhara Khanate. In the 18th century, the basins of the
Amu Darya and
Syr Darya
The Syr Darya (, ),, , ; rus, Сырдарья́, Syrdarjja, p=sɨrdɐˈrʲja; fa, سيردريا, Sirdaryâ; tg, Сирдарё, Sirdaryo; tr, Seyhun, Siri Derya; ar, سيحون, Seyḥūn; uz, Sirdaryo, script-Latn/. historically known ...
passed under the control of three Uzbek khanates, claiming legitimacy in their descent from Genghis Khan. These were, from west to east, the
Qunggirat
The Khongirad ( Mongolian: ᠬᠣᠩᠭᠢᠷᠠᠳ; Хонгирад; Khonghirad; ), also known as Qongirat (Qoŋğırat/Қоңғырат), was one of the major divisions of the Mongol tribes. Variations on the name include Onggirat, Ongirat, Q ...
s based on
Khiva
Khiva ( uz, Xiva/, خىۋا; fa, خیوه, ; alternative or historical names include ''Kheeva'', ''Khorasam'', ''Khoresm'', ''Khwarezm'', ''Khwarizm'', ''Khwarazm'', ''Chorezm'', ar, خوارزم and fa, خوارزم) is a district-level city ...
in Khwārezm (1717–1920), the Mangits in Bukhara (1753–1920), and the Mings in Kokand (Qǔqon; c. 1710–1876).
The Manghit dynasty was founded by a common
Uzbek family that ruled the
Emirate of Bukhara
The Emirate of Bukhara ( fa, , Amārat-e Bokhārā, chg, , Bukhārā Amirligi) was a Muslim polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the lan ...
from 1785 to 1920. Manghit power in the
Khanate of Bukhara
The Khanate of Bukhara (or Khanate of Bukhoro) ( fa, , Khānāt-e Bokhārā; ) was an Uzbek state in Central Asia from 1500 to 1785, founded by the Abu'l-Khayrid dynasty, a branch of the Shaybanids. From 1533 to 1540, Bukhara briefly became its ...
began to grow in the early 18th century, due to the emirs position as ''ataliq'' to the khan. The family effectively came to power after
Nader Shah
Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...
's death in 1747, and the assassination of the ruling
Abu al-Fayz Khan and his young son Abdalmumin by the
ataliq Muhammad Rahim Bi.
From 1747 to the 1780s, the Manġits ruled behind the scenes, until the emir
Shah Murad declared himself the open ruler, establishing the Emirate of Bukhara. The last emir of the dynasty,
Mohammed Alim Khan, was ousted by the Soviet
Red Army in September 1920, and fled to
Afghanistan. There is disagreement over whether the dynasty descends from simple Uzbeks or of true Mongolian origin. According to the Russian orientalist N.V. Khanykova, the Manġit dynasty was considered the oldest Uzbek family in the Bukhara Khanate descending from
Timur Malik
Timur Malik ( fa, تیمور ملک) was a statesman of the Khwarazmian Empire, who served as the governor of Khujand in the region of Transoxiana. He is known for his valiant though ultimately unsuccessful defense of Khujand in 1219-1220 during th ...
; from the division of which the tuk came the reigning dynasty, in addition, this clan enjoyed some special privileges.
The Manghit dynasty issued coins from 1787 up until the Soviet takeover.
[P. Donovan]
''The Coinage of the Mangit Dynasty of Bukhara The Coinage of the Mangit Dynasty of Bukhara''
, 'ANS Magazine' Vol. 6/1 (Spring 2007).
Heads/rulers of the Manghit dynasty of the Emirate of Bukhara
*''Pink Rows Signifies progenitor chiefs serving as Tutors (Ataliqs) & Viziers to the Khans of Bukhara.''
**''Green Rows Signifies chiefs who took over reign of government from the
Janids and placed puppet Khans''.
Descendants
Their descendants, the Nogai and
Karakalpak people live in
Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...
and
Khorazm. Others are the present-day
Khalkha Mongols who live in
Mongolia and the Baarin banner in
Inner Mongolia. While the Manghits are found among the
Tatars in
Russia, the
Bashkirs and the
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs (also spelled Qazaqs; Kazakh: , , , , , ; the English name is transliterated from Russian; russian: казахи) are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to northern parts of Central Asia, chiefly Kazakhstan, but also parts o ...
.
The daughter of the last Emir
Alim Khan, Shukria Alimi Raad, worked as a broadcaster for
Radio Afghanistan. Shukria Raad left Afghanistan with her family three months after
Soviet troops invaded the country in December 1979. With her husband, also a journalist, and two children she fled to
Pakistan, and then through
Germany to the
United States. In 1982 she joined the
Voice of America, working for many years as a broadcaster for VOA's
Dari Service, editor, program host and producer. Alim Khan also had a son named Shahmurad, who denounced his father in 1929 (at the age of seven) and later served in the Soviet Army. During his governance in Bukhara, he also had a son named Qasem who was killed by the Bolshevik revolutionaries. Qasem had only one son who, when he was 13 years old, escaped from Bukhara to Iran-Mashhad with his stepfather. When he arrived in Iran, he took the name Husein Bukharaei. He married Bibimeymanat Mohsenolhoseini in Mashhad. They had 6 sons and 4 daughters. Husein Bukharaei died in 1993. Their children (Hasan, Lo'ba, Ali, Narges, Qasem, Reza, Fatemeh, Mohammad, Mahmoud, Mahboubeh) all live in Mashhad. In 2020, the BBC World Service made a documentary called "Bukhara" about the last ruler of Bukhara, which refers to the fate of the family of Amir Alam Khan. Alim Khan's descendants include granddaughter Nailaj Naebzadeh from his daughter Razia Alimi, and great-granddaughter Kadeij Naebzadeh. They live in United States. Nailaj Naebzadeh was born in United States. Just like her aunt, Shukria Alimi Raad, her mother Razia Alimi too escaped from Afghanistan during the invasion of the Soviet Army in 1979.
See also
*
History of Tajikistan § Manghit dynasty (1756–1920)
References
Further reading
*
External links
History of the Khanate of Bukhara
{{Authority control
Military history of the Mongol Empire
Nirun Mongols
Emirate of Bukhara
Borjigin