Ali ibn Hasan, also known as Harun Bughra Khan and better known as Ali-Tegin (also spelled Alitigin) was a
Karakhanid
The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek K ...
ruler in
Transoxiana
Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...
from 1020 to 1034 with a brief interruption in 1024/5.
Biography
Origins
He was the son of
Hasan ibn Sulayman Bughra Khan (simply called "Bughra Khan" in
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 ...
sources), who was the eponymous ancestor of the eastern branch of the Karakhanid family, known as the "Hasanids", to which Ali-Tegin belonged. Hasan is only known from Persian sources because of his wars with the
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
Samanids People
Samanid
Samanid
Samanid
The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan orig ...
, who used to be the rulers of Transoxiana before the Karakhanids under
Nasr Khan annexed their territories in 999.
Rise to power
Ali-Tegin is first mentioned as being thrown in prison under the orders of his opponent
Mansur Arslan Khan, but quickly managed to escape and receive help from a group of
Oghuz Turks led by the
Seljuq chief
Arslan Isra'il
Arslan Isra'il, also known as Arslan Yabgu (died 1032) was a Turkic chieftain, who was from the Kınık tribe, which would later establish the Seljuk Empire. His name Arslan means "the lion". Arslan was son of the warlord Seljuk and uncle to th ...
. With these Oghuz Turks in his grasp, Ali-Tegin seized
Bukhara and soon occupied all of
Sogdia; after his conquest of the region, he took the titles of "Yïgan-tigin" and "Arslan Ilig". He gave his daughter in marriage to Arslan Isra'il. With the possession of the wealthy and important cities of Bukhara and
Samarkand, Ali-Tegin became a powerful and influential figure in
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
; however, this strained his relations with his jealous brother
Yusuf Qadir Khan, which resulted in the latter allying himself with the
Ghaznavid
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...
Sultan 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''.
Siam Mahmud
*Mahmood (singer) (born 1 ...
(), who had received expressions of discontent from Ali-Tegin's subjects and was himself annoyed by Ali-Tegin, who did not allow him to send envoys to Qadir Khan, who controlled two important cities,
Khotan
Hotan (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become ...
and
Kashgar. Ali-Tegin, after learning of his brother's alliance with the Ghaznavids, responded by allying himself with his other brother Muhammad Toghan Khan.
Conflict with the Ghaznavids
In 1024/5, a combined army under Mahmud and Qadir Khan invaded Ali-Tegin's territories and completely defeated him and his Seljuq supporters. Ali-Tegin then fled to the
steppes, whilst Mahmud and Qadir Khan made a marriage alliance at Samarkand. One of Mahmud's officers captured Ali-Tegin's family as they fled towards the steppes. Meanwhile, Arslan Isra'il fled to Ghaznavid territory in
Khorasan and asked for permission to settle in the region in return for protecting the Ghaznavid borders from incursions by the other Turks of Transoxiana. Mahmud, not trusting him and his followers, had them imprisoned.
Fortunately for Ali-Tegin, Mahmud had to withdraw from Transoxiana in order to prepare another expedition in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, giving Ali-Tegin an opportunity to counter-attack Qadir Khan and re-conquer his former territories. Ali-Tegin, although no longer enjoying the support of Arslan Isra'il, still had assistance from the latter's nephews
Tughril
Abu Talib Muhammad Tughril ibn Mika'il ( fa, ابوطالب محمد تغریل بن میکائیل), better known as Tughril (; also spelled Toghril), was a Turkmen"The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
and
Chaghri Beg
Abu Suleiman Dawud Chaghri Beg ibn Mikail, widely known simply as Chaghri Beg (989–1060), ''Da'ud b. Mika'il b. Saljuq'', also spelled Chaghri, was the co-ruler of the early Seljuk Empire. The name ''Chaghri'' is Turkic (Çağrı in modern Turk ...
. Ali-Tegin quarreled with the Seljuqs in 1029, but they still continued to serve and support him.
After a brief civil war in the Ghaznavid state in 1030, Mahmud's son
Mas'ud I became the new ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire, and continued his father's aggressive policy towards Ali-Tegin; Mas'ud now intended to once and for all conquer Transoxiana from Ali-Tegin and to give it to Qadir Khan's second son, who was his own brother-in-law, Muhammad Bughra Khan. In 1032, the Ghaznavid governor of
Khwarazm
Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ea ...
,
Altun Tash
Altuntash (died 1032) was a Turkic Khwarazmshah from 1017 until his death in 1032.''The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World'', C.E. Bosworth, The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 5, Ed. J. A. Boyle, (Cambridge University Press, 196 ...
, captured Bukhara, and an inconclusive
battle was shortly fought at Dabusiyya; Altun Tash died during the battle, but one of his most trusted officers,
Ahmad Shirazi Khwaja Abu Nasr Ahmad ( fa, خواجه ابو نصر احمد), better known as Ahmad Shirazi (), also known as Ahmad(-e) Abd al-Samad (), was a Persian ''vizier'' of the Ghaznavid Sultan Mas'ud I and the latter's son Mawdud from 1032 to 1043. He ...
, successfully negotiated a treaty with Ali-Tegin, who agreed to return to Samarkand, whilst the Ghaznavid army withdrew back to their own territories.
Meanwhile, in Khwarazm, Altun-Tash's son
Harun became the new ruler of the region. However, unlike his father, he was hostile to the Ghaznavids and in 1034 made an alliance with Ali-Tegin, with whom he planned to invade Khorasan. However, before the invasion could take place, Harun was assassinated by his own slaves, at the instigation of Mas'ud. Ali-Tegin died in the same year; his sons continued to preserve their father's authority in Transoxiana for a few years, until their relative
Böritigin () of the Alid branch seized their territories.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali-Tegin
1034 deaths
Turkic rulers
11th-century Turkic people
Year of birth unknown
11th-century rulers in Asia