The Turpan Khanate (), also known as the Eastern Moghulistan, Kingdom of Uyghurstan or Turfan Khanate, was a

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

Turco-Mongol The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these khanates eventually ass ...

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, ...

ruled by the descendants of

Chagatai Khan Chagatai Khan (; – 1242) was a son of Genghis Khan and a prominent figure in the early Mongol Empire. The second son of Genghis's wife Börte, Chagatai was renowned for his masterful knowledge of Mongol custom and law, which he scrupulously ...

. It was founded by

Ahmad Alaq Sultan Ahmad Khan ( Chagatai and Persian: سلطان احمد خان; b. 1465 – 1504), better known as Ahmad Alaq was the Khan of Eastern Moghulistan ( Turpan Khanate) from 1487 to 1504. He was the second son of Yunus Khan. His mother was S ...

in 1487 based in

Turpan Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the ...

as the eastern division of

Moghulistan Moghulistan, also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, was a Muslims, Muslim, Mongol, and later Turkic peoples, Turkic breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Tian Shan, Teng ...

, itself an eastern offshoot of the

Chagatai Khanate The Chagatai Khanate, also known as the Chagatai Ulus, was a Mongol and later Turkification, Turkicized khanate that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan, second son of Genghis Khan, and his descendants and successors. At its height in the l ...

. Most territories of the Turpan Khanate were conquered by 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 ...

, the western offshoot of Moghulistan, in 1570.

History

In 1487,

gained independence from his brother

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 ...

, and ruled the northern part of the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

from

in the east (now Gaochang, Turpan in

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

). Under Ahmad Araq and his eldest son

Mansur Mansour (, Manṣūr); also spelled Mounsor, Monsur (Bengali), Mansoor, Manser, Mansur, Mansyur (Indonesian) or Mensur (Turkish), is a male Arabic name that means "He who is victorious", from the Arabic root ''nasr (disambiguation), naṣr'' (ن� ...

, Turpan became more Muslim. Ahmad Alaq made peace with the

Ming China The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

, which had been in conflict over the control of the

Kara Del Kara Del or Qara Del was a kingdom that existed in Kumul or Hami, in present-day Xinjiang. It was founded by the Yuan prince Gunashiri, a descendant of Chagatai Khan, in the late 14th century (c. 1389), and ruled by the Chagatayids thereafter ...

Hami Hami ( zh, c=哈密) or Kumul () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Xinjiang, China. It is well known for sweet Hami melons. In early 2016, the former Hami county-level city merged with Hami Prefecture to form the Hami prefecture-level city ...

since the time of his father

Yunus Khan Yunus Khan (b. 1416 – d. 1487) ( Chagatai and Persian: یونس خان), was Khan of Moghulistan from 1462 until his death in 1487. He is identified by many historians with Ḥājjī `Ali (, Pinyin: ''Hazhi Ali''; Chagatai and Persian ...

, and exchanged envoys. In the early 1500s, Ahmad Alaq was defeated and killed in a battle against

Muhammad Shaybani Muhammad Shaybani Khan ( Chagatai and ; – 2 December 1510) was an Uzbek leader who consolidated various Uzbek tribes and laid the foundations for their ascendance in Transoxiana and the establishment of the Khanate of Bukhara. He was a Sh ...

of the

Khanate of Bukhara The Khanate of Bukhara was an Uzbek state in Central Asia from 1501 to 1785, founded by the Abu'l-Khayrid dynasty, a branch of the Shaybanids. From 1533 to 1540, Bukhara briefly became its capital during the reign of Ubaidullah Khan. The Khana ...

. Mansur, who succeeded Ahmad Araq to the throne, occupied Turpan and Aksu. Mansur defeated his brother

Sultan Said Khan Sultan Said Khan (Chagatai language, Chagatai and Persian language, Persian: سلطان سعید خان) ruled the Yarkent Khanate from September 1514 to July 1533. He was born in the late 15th century in Moghulistan, and he was a direct descend ...

who ruled the western Moghulistan and exiled him. Mansur fought again with the Ming dynasty over the Hami-based Kara Del kingdom, and Mansur conquered the kingdom and brought the region under his control in 1513. With the conquest

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

s from the Hami area migrated to Ming-controlled territory, and Buddhists from areas west of Hami disappeared. Historian

Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat Beg (; c. 1499/1500 – 1551) was a Chagatai Turco-Mongol military general, governor of Kashmir, and a historian. He was a Mughal Dughlat prince who wrote in both Chaghatai and Persian languages. Haidar and Ba ...

characterized Mansur's battle with the Ming dynasty over Hami as a "

holy war A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war (), is a war and conflict which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion and beliefs. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent t ...

Nieuhof-p-189-Mogolsche-gezant-Lach-van-Kley-plate-315

While Mansur was fighting against Ming China, Sultan Said Khan was under the protection of his cousin,

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 ...

of 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 ...

, in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. In response to Babur's capture of

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

, the Mir of Duglat captured the

Ferghana Valley The Fergana Valley (also commonly spelled the Ferghana Valley) in Central Asia crosses eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Encompassing three former Soviet republics, the valley is ethnically diverse and relation ...

and presented it to Sultan Said Khan. Using this as a foothold, Sultan Said Khan returned to Moghulistan and defeated

Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat (also Ababakar or Abubekr; died shortly after AH Rajab 920 / Aug-Sept 1514; exact date uncertain; year 1516 indicated by some authors is wrong) was a ruler in South-Western part of present Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region ...

Dughlat The Dughlat clan (; Mongolian: '' Dolood/sevens, Doloo/seven; Middle Mongolian: Doluga, Dolugad''; Dulğat; ) was a Mongol (later Turko-Mongol) clan that served the Chagatai khans as hereditary vassal rulers of several cities in western Tarim Ba ...

, and in 1514 declared himself Khan. There was also a faction in the Duglat division that opposed Abu Bakr, and Mirza Muhammad Haidar and others supported Sultan Said Khan. At first, the brothers Mansur Khan and Sultan Said Khan were at odds, but eventually they reconciled, and the Khans of Moghulistan existed side by side in the east and west. Sultan Said attempted to advance into the steppe region to the west, but was blocked by the

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

and

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (Kazakh language, Kazakh: , , , ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe. They share a common Culture of Kazakhstan, culture, Kazakh language, language and History of Kazakhstan, history ...

, and ended up taking possession of the western Tarim Basin, centered on

Kashgar Kashgar () or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is a city in the Tarim Basin region of southern Xinjiang, China. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, located near the country's border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. For over 2,000 years, Kashgar ...

and

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 ...

. As a result, the government of Sultan Said Khan and his descendants came to be known as the

Dutch and Moghol embassies at the Chinese court in 1656

From the 16th century onwards, the leaders of the

Khoja The Khoja are a caste of Muslims mainly members of the Nizari Ismaʿiliyyah sect of Islam with a minority of followers of Shia Islam originating the western Indian subcontinent, and converted to Islam from Hinduism by the 14th century by the Pe ...

s came to have a strong influence, replacing the Dughlat faction, which had traditionally had a strong influence in Moghulistan. The Turpan Khanate declined rapidly after Mansur's death under the reign of Shah Khan, and in 1570, the Turpan Khanate was invaded by an army led by Abduraim Sultan (brother of

Abdul Karim Khan Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (Devanagari: उस्ताद अब्दुल करीम ख़ान, Persian: ) (11 November 1872 – 27 October 1937) the governor of

Khotan Hotan (also known by #Etymology, other names) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region in Northwestern China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become an ...

in the Yarkand Khanate. The monarch, Muhammad Khan ibn Mansur Khan was captured and taken prisoner, and the Turpan Khanate faded from historical texts. Quraish, who had rebelled, was subdued by the army sent by Abdul Karim Khan, and Turpan came under the control of the Yarkand Khanate. The last thing heard of the Turpan Khanate were embassies sent from Turpan to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in 1647 and 1657. The

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

of China regarded them as embassies from a genuine Chagatayid.

List of rulers

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Xinjiang topics Mongol peoples Chagatai Khanate Former countries in Central Asia Former countries in Chinese history Khanates Mongol rump states Former monarchies

History

List of rulers

See also

References

Bibliography