The Kara-Khanid Khanate splits into western and eastern khanates
Around 1040–1042 the Karakhanid realm, long torn by rivalry between two branches of the dynasty, split into two khanates: a western one in Transoxiana, with its capital at Samarkand, under Ibrahim Tamghach Khan, and an eastern one in Semirechye and Kashgaria, with its capitals at Balasagun and Kashgar. The border along the Syr Darya was long contested, and Fergana often changed hands.
- Date
- between 1040 and 1042exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Samarkandtoday: Samarkand, Uzbekistan · Central and Northern Asia
- Participants
- Kara-Khanid Khanate, Ibrahim Tamghach Khan
- Threads
- Central Asia and the Steppe (11th–12th c.)
- Also known as
- Western Kara-Khanid Khanate; Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate; Western Karakhanids; Eastern Karakhanids; Ilek-khans; Западно-Караханидское ханство; Восточно-Караханидское ханство; Илек-ханы
After the conquest of Transoxiana in 999 the Karakhanids ruled their lands as a family confederation, in which provinces were shared out as appanages among members of the dynasty. In the first decades of the 11th century rival members of the dynasty — even brothers — fought over the appanages, and two branches took shape, the descendants of Hasan (Harun) Bughra Khan and those of Ali. The Ghaznavids exploited these feuds, siding now with one prince, now with another: from 1020 to 1034 Bukhara and Samarkand were held by the Hasanid Ali-tegin, against whom his brother Yusuf Qadir Khan allied with Mahmud.
Around 1040 Ibrahim ibn Nasr, known as Böritigin, a son of Nasr ibn Ali, the conqueror of Bukhara, made himself master of Transoxiana: imprisoned after 1034 by the sons of Ali-tegin, he had escaped in 1038 and raised an army among the Kumiji tribes. He made Samarkand his capital and took the title Tamghach Khan, while in the east Sulayman Arslan Khan, a son of Yusuf Qadir Khan, ruled from Balasagun. The often-contested border ran along the Syr Darya; Fergana changed hands, and around 1060 Ibrahim took it. Accounts of the split differ: it is dated to 1040, 1041 or 1042, and some works name another son of Nasr, Muhammad ʿAyn al-Dawla, as the first ruler of the western branch.
Ibrahim Tamghach Khan, who ruled until his death in 1068 (or 1069), was remembered by Muslim historians as a great ruler who brought stability to the west by curbing the appanage system. At the court of the eastern khans in Kashgar Yusuf Balasaguni completed his Kutadgu Bilig (1069–1070). In 1089 the Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah took Samarkand, and for half a century the Western Karakhanids were vassals of the Seljuks.
Connections
Related events
- The Karakhanids take Bukhara: the fall of the Samanids23 October 999 · Central and Northern Asiathe conquest of 999 gave Transoxiana to the branch of Nasr ibn Ali, whose son Ibrahim founded the western khanate
- Yusuf Balasaguni completes the Kutadgu Biligbetween 1069 and 1070 · Central and Northern Asiathe poem was written for the ruler of Kashgar in the eastern Karakhanid khanate
Same participants
- Reign of Mahmud of Ghazni998 – 30 April 1030 · Central and Northern Asiavia Kara-Khanid Khanate
Same place
- Qutayba ibn Muslim conquers Transoxiana705–715 · Central and Northern Asia
- The rise of the Samanids in Transoxiana819–900 · Central and Northern Asia
- Siege of SamarkandMarch 1220 · Central and Northern Asia
- Shaybani Khan destroys the Timurid Empire1500 – 27 May 1507 · Central and Northern Asia
Adjacent events in the thread
- Battle of Dandanaqan23 May 1040 · Central and Northern Asia
- The Cumans reach the Black Sea steppes and the borders of Rus’between 1054 and 1055 – between 1061 and 1062 · Eastern Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Eastern Europe
- Reign of Yaroslav the Wise in Kyiv1019 – 20 February 1054
- The Pravda of Yaroslav, the oldest part of the Russkaya Pravdabetween 1016 and 1039
Middle East and Egypt
- The caliphate of al-Mustansir and the ‘Mustansirite hardship’13 June 1036 – 29 December 1094
Africa
- Igbo-Ukwu: bronze casting in the West African forest800–899 – 1100–1199
- The Almoravids: from a desert reform movement to an empirebetween 1039 and 1046 – 1147
- K2 (Bambandyanalo) and the rise of Mapungubwec. 1000 – c. 1220
South Asia
- Atisha leaves Vikramashila for Tibet1040
- The Kandariya Mahadeva temple is built at Khajurahobetween 1017 and 1050
- Reign of Rajendra I Chola1014–1044
East Asia
- Bi Sheng invents movable typebetween 1041 and 1048
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Reign of Suryavarman I at Angkorbetween 1002 and 1010 – between 1049 and 1050
- Anawrahta builds the Pagan Empire1044–1077
- Polynesians settle the Society Islandsbetween 1025 and 1120
North America
- Pueblo II: stone pueblos and the Chaco worldc. 900 – c. 1150
- Classic Mimbres: the painted bowls of the Mogollonc. 1000 – between 1130 and 1150
- Plum Bayou Mounds: a planned ceremonial centre in the Arkansas valleyc. 650 – c. 1050
Latin America
- Tula and the Toltecs: the leading city of central Mexicoc. 900 – c. 1150
- Collapse of Tiwanakuc. 1000 – c. 1150
- Middle Sicán: the Lambayeque culture at its height at Batán Grandec. 900 – c. 1100
- Chimor: the Chimú kingdom and its capital Chan Chanc. 900 – c. 1470
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Kara-Khanid Khanate
- Wikipedia (English): Böritigin
- Wikipedia (Russian): Караханидское государство
- Wikipedia (Russian): Западно-Караханидское ханство
- Wikipedia (Russian): Восточно-Караханидское ханство
- Barthold W. Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion. — 3rd ed. / Ed. C. E. Bosworth. — London: Luzac, 1968. — (E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series. N. S.; 5).
- Biran M. Ilak-khanids // Encyclopaedia Iranica. — Vol. XII, fasc. 6. — 2004. — P. 621–628.