The Karluks (also Qarluqs, Qarluks, Karluqs, otk, 𐰴𐰺𐰞𐰸, Qarluq, Para-Mongol: Harluut, zh, s=葛逻禄, t=葛邏祿 ''Géluólù'' ; customary phonetic: ''Gelu, Khololo, Khorlo'', fa, خَلُّخ, ''Khallokh'', ar, قارلوق ''Qarluq'') were a prominent

nomadic A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

Turkic tribal confederacy residing in the regions of Kara-Irtysh (Black

Irtysh 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 ...

) and the

Tarbagatai Mountains The Tarbagatai Mountains ( mn, , , translit. ''Tarvagatai nuruu'', literally: "range with marmots"; ; kk, Тарбағатай жотасы, ''Tarbağatai jotasy'') are a range of mountains located in the north-western parts of Xinjiang, China, ...

west of the

Altay Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with the ...

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 ...

. Karluks gave their name to the distinct Karluk group of the

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...

, which also includes the Uyghur, Uzbek and

Ili Turki language Ili Turki is an endangered Turkic language spoken primarily in China. In 2007, it was reported that there were around 30 families using it in China. Classification Ili Turki appears to belong to the Chagatay group of Turkic languages, although ...

s. Karluks were known as a coherent ethnic group with autonomous status within the

Göktürk khaganate The First Turkic Khaganate, also referred to as the First Turkic Empire, the Turkic Khaganate or the Göktürk Khaganate, was a Turkic khaganate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia under the leadership of Bumi ...

and the independent states of the Karluk yabghu,

Karakhanids 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 ...

and

Qarlughids The Qarlughids were a tribe of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin that controlled Ghazni, lands of the Bamyan Province, Bamyan, the Kurram Valley (Ghazna, Banban, and Kurraman), and established a short-lived Muslim principality and dynasty that last ...

before being absorbed in the

Chagatai Khanate The Chagatai Khanate, or Chagatai Ulus ( xng, , translit=Čaɣatay-yin Ulus; mn, Цагаадайн улс, translit=Tsagaadain Uls; chg, , translit=Čağatāy Ulusi; fa, , translit=Xânât-e Joghatây) was a Mongol and later Turkicized kha ...

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, ...

. They were also called Uch-Oghuz meaning "Three Oghuz". Despite the similarity of names,

Mahmud al-Kashgari Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammed al-Kashgari, ''Maḥmūd ibnu 'l-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Kāšġarī'', , tr, Kaşgarlı Mahmûd, ug, مەھمۇد قەشقىرى, ''Mehmud Qeshqiri'' / Мәһмуд Қәшқири uz, Mahmud Qashg'ariy / М ...

's ''

Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk The ' ( ar, ديوان لغات الترك, lit=Compendium of the languages of the Turks) is the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, compiled in 1072–74 by the Turkic scholar Mahmud Kashgari who extensively studied the Turkic ...

'' wrote: "Karluks is a division of nomadic Turks. They are separate from Oghuz, but they are

Turkmens Turkmens ( tk, , , , ; historically "the Turkmen"), sometimes referred to as Turkmen Turks ( tk, , ), are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-weste ...

like Oghuz.". Ilhanate's

Rashid-al-Din Hamadani Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb ( fa, رشیدالدین طبیب;‎ 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, fa, links=no, رشیدالدین فضل‌الله همدانی) was a statesman, historian and physician in Ilk ...

in his '' Jami' al-tawarikh'' mentions Karluks as one of the Oghuz ( Turkmen) tribes. Kafesoğlu (1958) proposes that ''Türkmen'' might be the Karluks' equivalent of the

Göktürks The Göktürks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks ( otk, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, Türük Bodun; ; ) were a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and ...

' political term ''Kök Türk''.

Etymology

Nikolai Aristov Nikolai Aleksandrovich Aristov (''Russian'' Николай Александрович Аристов,1847 – c. 1903) was a Türkologist by calling, who utilized his experience, education, and access to official information he had as a fairly ...

noted that a tributary of the Charysh River was Kerlyk and proposed that the tribal name originated from the

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

with a Turkic meaning of "wild Siberian millet". Peter Golden, citing Németh, suggests that ''qarluğ/qarluq'' possibly means "snowy" (from Proto-Turkic *qar "snow"). However,

Marcel Erdal Marcel Erdal (born July 8, 1945) is a linguist and Turkologist, professor and head of the Turcology department at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. He graduated from Robert College (Istanbul) in 1963. Publications * ''The Turkic Nagy-Szent-Mi ...

critiques this as a folk etymology, as " Old Turkic the suffix +''lXk'', which is implied in this account, had fourfold vowel harmony, and the +''lXk'' derivate from ''kar'' would in Old Turkic be *''karlık'' and not ''karluk''". Having noted that the majority of Chinese transcriptions 歌邏祿, 歌羅祿, 葛邏祿, 葛羅祿 and 哥邏祿 (all romanized as ''Geluolu'') are trisyllabic, while only one form 葛祿 (''Gelu'') is disyllabic, Erdal contends that although the latter one transcribed ''Qarluq'', the former four transcribed *''Qaraluq'', which should be the preferred reading. Thus, Erdal concluded that "the name is likely to be an exonym, formed as an ''-(O)k'' derivate from the verb ''kar-ıl-'' ‘to mingle (intr.)’ discussed in Erdal (1991: 662); it would thus have signified ‘the mingled ones’, presumably because the tribe evolved from the mingling of discrete groups," as already suggested by Doerfer.

History

Early history

The first Chinese reference to the Karluks (644) labels them with a

Manichaean Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...

attribute: ''Lion Karluks'' (''"Shi-Geluolu"'', ''"shi"'' stands for Sogdian "lion"). The "lion" ( tr, arslan) Karluks persisted up to the time of the

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

s.Yu.Zuev, "Early Türks: sketches of history and ideology", Almaty, Dayk-Press, 2002, p. 215, In the Early Middle Age, three member tribes of the Göktürk Kaganate formed the Uch-Karluk (Three Karluks) union; initially, the union's leader bore the title

Elteber Elteber ( otk, 𐰃𐰠𐱅𐰋𐰼, elteber or ''(h)elitbär''; Chinese 頡利發 ''xié-lì-fā'' < EMCh: *''γεt-li^H-puat'') was the

, later elevated to

Yabgu Yabghu ( otk, 𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆, yabγu,Entrabγu">"𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆_[yabγuйабғұ"in_"Ethno-Cultural_Dictionary"_''Türik_Bitig''_),_also_rendered_as_Jabgu,_Djabgu_or_Yabgu,_was_a_state_office_in_the_early_Turkic_peoples.html" ;"title="abγuй ...

."Karluk Djabghu State (756-940)"
''Qazaqstan Tarihy'' After the split of the Kaganate around 600 into the Western and Eastern Kaganates, the Uch-Karluks (三姓葛邏祿), along with Chuyue (處月; later as

Shatuo The Shatuo, or the Shatuo Turks (; also transcribed as Sha-t'o, Sanskrit SartZuev Yu.A., ''"Horse Tamgas from Vassal Princedoms (Translation of Chinese composition "Tanghuyao" of 8-10th centuries)"'', Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences, Alma-Ata, I ...

沙陀), Chumi (處蜜), Gusu (姑蘇), and Beishi (卑失) became subordinate to the Western Turkic Khaganate. After the Göktürks' downfall, the Karluk confederation would later incorporate other Turkic tribes like the Chigils, Tuhsi, Azkishi,

Türgesh The Türgesh or Türgish ( otk, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰏𐰾:𐰉𐰆𐰑, Türügeš budun, Türgesh people; ; Old Tibetan: ''Du-rgyas'') were a Turkic tribal confederation. Once belonging to the Duolu wing of the Western Turkic ''On Oq'' elites, Tür ...

, Khalajes, Čaruk, Barsqan, as well as Iranian

Sogdians :''This category lists articles related to historical Iranian peoples'' Historical Peoples Iranian Iranian Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples ...

and West Asian and Central Asian migrants. In 630,

Ashina Helu Ishbara Khagan (Old Turkic: 𐰃𐱁𐰉𐰺𐰀𐰴𐰍𐰣, Ïšbara qaγan, , personal name Ashina Helu - ) (ruled 651–658) was the last khagan of the Western Turkic Khaganate. Name The khagan's underlying Turkic name, transcribed with Ch ...

, the Ishbara Qaghan of the

Eastern Turkic Kaganate The First Turkic Khaganate, also referred to as the First Turkic Empire, the Turkic Khaganate or the Göktürk Khaganate, was a Turkic khaganate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia under the leadership of Bumi ...

, was captured by the Chinese. His

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

, the "lesser Khan" Hubo, escaped to Altai with a major part of the people and 30,000 soldiers. He conquered the Karluks in the west, the Kyrgyz in the north, and took the title Yizhuchebi Khagan. The Karluks allied with the Tiele and their leaders the Uyghurs against the Turkic Kaganate, and participated in enthroning the victorious head of the Uyghur (

Toquz Oghuz The Toquz Oghuz ( otk, 𐱃𐰸𐰆𐰔:𐰆𐰍𐰔, Toquz Oγuz; ; "Turks of Nine Bones") was a political alliance of nine Turkic-speaking Tiele tribes in Inner Asia, during the early Middle Ages. The Toquz Oghuz was consolidated and subordina ...

). After that, a smaller part of the Karluks joined the Uyghurs and settled in the Bogdo-Ola mountains in

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

, the larger part settled in the area between Altai and the eastern Tien Shan. In 650, at the time of their submission to the Chinese, the Karluks had three tribes: Mouluo 謀落 / Moula 謀剌 (*''

Bulaq Boulaq ( ar, بولاق, Būlāq from "guard, customs post"), is a district of Cairo, in Egypt. It neighbours Downtown Cairo, Azbakeya, and the River Nile. History The westward shift of the Nile, especially between 1050 and 1350, made land ava ...

''), Chisi 熾俟 or Suofu 娑匐 (*''Sebeg''), and Tashili 踏實力 (*''Taşlïq''). On paper, the Karluk divisions received Chinese names as Chinese provinces, and their leaders received Chinese state titles. Later, the Karluks spread from the valley of the river Kerlyk along 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 ...

in the western part of the Altay to beyond the Black Irtysh, Tarbagatai, and towards the Tien Shan. By the year 665 the Karluk union was led by a former Uch-Karluk

bey Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...

with the title Kül-Erkin, now titled "

" (prince), who had a powerful army. The Karluk vanguard left the Altay region and at the beginning of the 8th century reached the banks of the Amu Darya.W. Barthold, "Four Studies In History Of Central Asia", Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1962, pp. 87–92 Famed for their woven carpets in the pre-Muslim era, they were considered a vassal state by the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

after the final conquest of the

Transoxania 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 ...

regions by the Chinese in 739. The Karluk rose in rebellion against the Göktürk, then the dominant tribal confederation in the region, in about 745, and established a new tribal confederation with the Uygur and Basmyl tribes. However, Karluks and Basmyls were defeated and forcibly incorporated into the

tribal confederation, led by the Uyghur

Yaglakar clan , other_names= zh, c=藥羅葛 , p=Yàoluógé , region= , image = Yaglakar clan tamga.png , image_caption = Tamga of Yaglakar , founder=Bezgek Yaglakar Khan (Mythical) , dissolution=795 , other_families= Ädiz clan The Yaglakar clan was the fi ...

. They remained in the Chinese sphere of influence and an active participant in fighting the Muslim expansion into the area, up until their split from the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

in 751. Chinese intervention in the affairs of Western Turkestan ceased after their defeat at the Battle of Talas in 751 by the Arab general Ziyad ibn Salih. The Arabs dislodged the Karluks from

Fergana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...

. In 766, after they overran the Turgesh in

Zhetysu Zhetysu, or Jeti-Suu ( kk, , Жетісу, pronounced ; ky, ''Jeti-Suu'', (), meaning "seven rivers"; also transcribed ''Zhetisu'', ''Jetisuw'', ''Jetysu'', ''Jeti-su'', ''Jity-su'', ''Жетысу'',, National Geospatial-Intelligence Age ...

, the Karluk tribes formed a

Khanate A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire. Mong ...

under the rule of a Yabgu, occupied

Suyab Suyab ( fa, سوی آب; Middle Chinese: /suʌiH jiᴇp̚/), also known as ''Ordukent'' (modern-day ''Ak-Beshim''), was an ancient Silk Road city located some 50 km east from Bishkek, and 8 km west southwest from Tokmok, in the Chu ri ...

and transferred their capital there. By that time the bulk of the tribe had left the Altai, and the supremacy in Zhetysu passed to the Karluks. Their ruler with the title Yabgu is often mentioned in the Orkhon inscriptions. In Pahlavi texts one of the Karluk rulers of

Tocharistan Tokharistan (formed from "Tokhara" and the suffix ''-stan'' meaning "place of" in Persian) is an ancient Early Middle Ages name given to the area which was known as Bactria in Ancient Greek sources. In the 7th and 8th century CE, Tokharistan ...

was called Yabbu-Hakan (Yabgu-Kagan). The fall of the Western Turkic Kaganate left Zhetysu in the possession of Turkic peoples, independent of either Arabs or Chinese. In 822, the Uyghurs sent four Karluks as tribute to

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

China.

Culture

The Karluks were hunters, nomadic herdsmen, and agriculturists. They settled in the countryside and in the cities, which were centered on trading posts along the caravan roads. The Karluks inherited a vast multi-ethnic region, whose diverse population was not much different from its rulers. Zhetysu was populated by several tribes: the

Azes Azes I (Greek: , epigraphically ; Kharosthi: , ) was an Indo-Scythian ruler who ruled around c. 48/47 BCE – 25 BCE with a dynastic empire based in the Punjab and Indus Valley, completed the domination of the Scythians in the northwestern In ...

(mentioned in the Orkhon inscriptions) and the Tuhsi, remnants of the

; as well as the

Turks (沙陀突厥) (lit. "Sandy Slope Turks", i.e. "Desert Turks") of Western Turkic, specifically Chigil origins, and the interspersing Sogdian colonies. The southern part of Zhetysu was occupied by the

Yagma The Yagmas (), or Yaghmas, were a medieval tribe of Turkic people that came to the forefront of history after the disintegration of the Western Turkic Kaganate. They were one component of a confederation which consisted of Yagma, the Karluks, th ...

people, who also held

Kashgar Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...

. In the north and west lived the

Kankalis The Kangly (康曷利; pinyin: Kānghélì; Middle Chinese ( ZS): /kʰɑŋ-ɦɑt̚-liɪH/ or 康里 pinyin: ''Kānglĭ'' < MC-ZS: /kʰɑŋ-lɨ^X/;

Issyk Kul Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake in th ...

. The diverse population adhered to a spectrum of religious beliefs. The Karluks and the majority of the Turkic population professed Tengrianism, considered as

shamanism Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...

and by the Christians and Muslims. Chigils were

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

of the

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...

denomination. The majority of the Toquz Oghuz, with their khan, were

Manicheans Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani ( ...

, but there were also Christians,

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, and

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

among them. The peaceful penetration of

Muslim culture Islamic culture and Muslim culture refer to cultural practices which are common to historically Islamic people. The early forms of Muslim culture, from the Rashidun Caliphate to the early Umayyad period and the early Abbasid period, were predomi ...

through commercial relations played a far more important role in their conversion than Muslim arms. The merchants were followed by missionaries of various creeds, including Nestorian Christians. Many Turkestan towns had Christian churches. The Turks held sacred the Qastek pass mountains, believing to be an abode of the deity. Each creed carried its script, resulting in a variety of used scripts, including Türkic runiform, Sogdian,

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

, and later the Uygur. The Karluks had adopted and developed the Turkic literary language of Khoresm, established in

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

and

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

, which after Mongol conquest became known as the

Chagatai language Chagatai (چغتای, ''Čaġatāy''), also known as ''Turki'', Eastern Turkic, or Chagatai Turkic (''Čaġatāy türkīsi''), is an extinct Turkic literary language that was once widely spoken across Central Asia and remained the shared litera ...

. Of all Turkic peoples, the Karluk were most open to the influence of Muslim culture. Yaqubi reported the conversion of the Karluk-yabgu to Islam under Caliph Mahdi (775–785), and by the 10th century, several towns to the east of Talas had mosques. Muslim culture had affected the general way of life of the Karluks. During the next three centuries, the Karluk Yabgu state occupied a key position on the choice international trade route, fighting off mostly Turkic competitors to retain their prime position. Their biggest adversaries were Kangars in the north-west and

in the south-east, with a period of Samanid raids to

in 840–894. But even in the heyday of the Karluk Yabgu state, parts of its domains were in the hands of the Toquz Oghuz, and later under Kyrgyz and Khitan control, increasing the ethnical, religious, and political diversity.W. Barthold, "Four Studies In History Of Central Asia", Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1962, pp. 92–102

Social organization

The state of Karluk Yabgu was an association of semi-independent districts and cities, each equipped with its own

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

. The biggest was the capital

, which could turn out 20,000 warriors, and among other districts, the town of Beglilig (known as "Samakna" before Karluk ruleW. Barthold, "Four Studies In History Of Central Asia", Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1962, pp. 88–89) had 10,000 warriors, Panjikat could turn out 8,000 warriors, Barskhan 6,000 warriors, and Yar 3,000 warriors. The titles of the petty rulers were Qutegin of the Karluk Laban clan in Karminkat, Taksin in Jil, Tabin-Barskhan in Barskhan, Turkic Yindl-Tegin and Sogdian Badan-Sangu in Beglilig. The prince of Suyab, situated north of the Chu river in the Turgesh land, was a brother of one of the Göktürk khans, but bore the Persian title Yalan-shah, i.e. "King of Heroes". Muslim authors describe in detail the trade route from Western Asia to China across Zhetysu, mentioning many cities. Some bore double names, both Turkic and Sogdian. They wrote about the capital cities of

Balasagun Balasagun ( or ''Balasagyn''; ) was an ancient Sogdian city in modern-day Kyrgyzstan, located in the Chüy Valley between Bishkek and the Issyk-Kul lake. Located along the Silk Road, the ruins of the city were inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO Wor ...

, and Kayalik, in which

William of Rubruck William of Rubruck ( nl, Willem van Rubroeck, la, Gulielmus de Rubruquis; ) was a Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer. He is best known for his travels to various parts of the Middle East and Central Asia in the 13th century, including the ...

saw three Buddhist temples in the Muslim town for the first time. The geographers also mentioned

Taraz Taraz ( kz, Тараз, تاراز, translit=Taraz ; known to Europeans as Talas) is a city and the administrative center of Jambyl Region in Kazakhstan, located on the Talas (river), Talas (Taraz) River in the south of the country near the borde ...

(Talas, Auliya-ata),

Navekat Navekat or Nevkat was an ancient Silk Road city that flourished between the 6th and 12th centuries. It lies near the modern village of Krasnaya Rechka, in the Chüy Valley, present-day Kyrgyzstan, about 30 kilometers east of Bishkek. It was ...

(now Karabulak), Atbash (now Koshoy-Kurgan ruins),

Issyk-kul Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake i ...

, Barskhan, Panjikat, Akhsikat, Beglilig, Almalik, Jul, Yar, Ton, Panchul, and others.

Kirghiz period

Prior to the Kirghiz-Uyghur war of 829–840, the Kirghiz lived in the upper basin of the

Yenisei River The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук, ...

. Linguistically their language, together with the

Altai language Altai ( alt, Алтай тил, Altay til) is a set of Turkic languages, spoken officially in the Altai Republic, Russia. The standard vocabulary is based on the Southern Altai language, though it's also taught to and used by speakers of the No ...

, belongs to a separate Kirghiz group of the Turkic language family. At that time they had an estimated population of 250,000 and an army of 50,000. Kirghiz victory in the war brought them to the Karluk door. They captured

Tuva Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...

, Altai, a part of

Dzungaria Dzungaria (; from the Mongolian language, Mongolian words , meaning 'left hand') is a geographical subregion in Northwest China that corresponds to the northern half of Xinjiang. It is thus also known as Beijiang, which means "Northern Xinjiang" ...

, and reached

. Allied with the Karluks against the Uygurs, in the 840s the Kirghiz started the occupation of that part of

which is their present home. Karluk independence ended around 840. They fell from dominating the tribal association to a subordinate position. The Kirghiz remained a power in Zhetysu until their destruction by the

Kara-Khitans The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai (), also known as the Western Liao (), officially the Great Liao (), was a Sinicized dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Khitan Yelü clan. The Qara Khitai is considered by historians to be an ...

in 1124, when most of them evacuated from their center in

back to the

Minusinsk Depression Minusinsk Basin or Khakass-Minusinsk Basin (russian: Минусинская (Хакасско-Минусинская) котловина, ''Minusinskaya (Chakassko-Minusinskaya) kotlovina'') is in Khakassia and Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia locate ...

, leaving the Karluks to predominate again in Zhetysu. The position of the Karluk state, based on the rich Zhetysu cities, remained strong, despite the failures in wars in the beginning of the 9th century. Yabgu was enriched by profitable trade in slaves on the Syr-Darya slave markets, selling guards for the

Abbasid Caliphs The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came to ...

, and control over the transit road to China in the sector from

to Issyk Kul. The Karluk position in Fergana, despite Arab attempts to expel them, became stronger. The fall of the last Kagan with its capital in

Ötüken Ötüken ( otk, 𐰇𐱅𐰜𐰤:𐰖𐰃𐱁, Ötüken yïš, "Ötüken forest", 𐰵𐱅𐰜𐰤:𐰘𐰼, ''Ötüken jer'', "Land of Ötüken", Old Uyghur: 𐰵𐱅𐰜𐰤:𐰘𐰃𐱁 ''Ötüken yïš''; ) was the capital of the First Turkic K ...

, which dominated for three centuries, created a completely new geopolitical situation in all Central Asia. For the first time in three hundred years, the powerful center of authority that created opportunities for expansion or even existence of any state in

Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...

had finally disappeared. Henceforth, the Turkic tribes recognized only the high status of the clan that inherited the Kagan title, but never again his unifying authority. Several Muslim historians state that after the loss by the Uygurs of their power (840), the supreme authority among the Turkic tribes passed to the Karluk leaders. Connection with the

Ashina Ashina may refer to: *Ashina tribe, a ruling dynasty of the Turkic Khaganate *Ashina clan (Japan),_one_of_the_Japanese_clans *Ashina_District,_Hiroshima.html" ;"title="DF 7 of 80; retrieved 2013-5-4 ..., one of the Japanese clans *Ashina District, H ...

clan, the ruling clan of the Turkic Kaganate, allowed the Karluk dynasty to dress their authority with legitimate attire, and, abandoning the old title Yabgu, to take on the new title of Kagan.

Karakhanid period

Towards 940 the "heathen”

from the southern border seized the Chu valley and the Karluk capital

. The Yagma ruler bore the title Bogra-khan (Camel Khan), very common among Karakhanids. The Yagma quickly proceeded to take control of all Karluk lands. In the 10th and 12th centuries, the lands on both sides of the principal chain of the Tian Shan were united under the rule of the Karakhanid Ilek-khans (Khans of the Land) or simply Karakhanids (Great Khans). The Karakhanid state was divided into fiefs which soon became independent. The Kara-Khanid Khanate was founded in the 9th century from a confederation of Karluks,

Chigils The Chigil (Chihil, and also (D)Jigil, Cihil, Chiyal) were a Turkic tribe known from the 7th century CE as living around Issyk Kul lake area. They were considered to be descended from the tribe Chuyue, who were of mixed Yueban- Western Turkic or ...

, Yagmas, and other tribes. Later in the 10th century a Karakhanid Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam. His son Musa made Islam a state religion in 960. The empire occupied modern northern Iran and parts of Central Asia. This region remained under Karakhanid, and for varying periods it remained an independent vassal of Great Seljuq Empire, Seljuk and Kara-Khitan Khanate, Kara-Khitan. The Karakhanid khanate ended when the last ruler of its western Khanate was killed by the Khwarazmian dynasty, Khwarezmids in 1212. Both the Kara-Khitans and the Khwarezmids were later destroyed by the Mongol invasion. The name Khāqāniyya was given to the Qarluks who inhabited Kāshghar and Bālāsāghūn, the inhabitants were not Uighur however their language has Uyghurs#Origin of modern nomenclature, been retroactively labelled as Uighur by scholars.

Khitan period

At the beginning of the 10th century, a tribe related to the Mongols, the Khitan people, Khitans with an admixture of Mongols, founded a vast empire, stretching from the Pacific to Lake Baikal and the Tian Shan, displacing the Turkic population. The Khitan language has been classified as para-Mongolic: distantly related to the Mongolic languages of the Mongols. Reportedly, the first Gurkhan was a Manichaeism, Manichaean. Owing to its long sway over China, the ruling dynasty, which the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' call the Liao dynasty (916–1125), was strongly influenced by Chinese culture. In 1125, a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic people, the Jurchen people, Jurchen, allied with the Southern Song, ending the domination of the Khitan. The Khitan exiles, headed by Yelü Dashi, a member of the Khitan royal family, migrated to the West. The Khitan settled in the

east of Zhetysu, and their number grew to 40,000 tents. Around 1130 the local Karakhanid ruler of

asked for their aid against the hostile

Kankalis The Kangly (康曷利; pinyin: Kānghélì; Middle Chinese ( ZS): /kʰɑŋ-ɦɑt̚-liɪH/ or 康里 pinyin: ''Kānglĭ'' < MC-ZS: /kʰɑŋ-lɨ^X/;

. They then conquered Kankali and subdued Xinjiang. In 1137 near Khujand they defeated the Transoxanian Karakhanid ruler Mahmud Khan, who then appealed to their suzerain the Seljuk Empire, Seljuks for help. The Kara-Khitans, who were also invited by the Khwarazmian dynasty, Khwarazmians (then also a vassal of the Seljuks) to conquer the lands of the Seljuks as well as in response to an appeal to intervene by the Karluks who were involved in a conflict with the Karakhanids, then advanced to

. In 1141, the Seljuks under Ahmad Sanjar also arrived in Samarkand with his army, but was defeated by the Kara-Khitans in the Battle of Qatwan, after which the Kara-Khitans became dominant in Transoxania. The western Khitan state became known under its Turkic name, the Kara-Khitan Khanate and their ruler bore the Turkic title Gurkhan "Khan’s son-in law". The original Uch-Karluk confederation became split between the Karakhanid state in the west and the Karakhitay state in the east, lasting until the Mongol invasion. Both in the west and east, Karluk principalities retained their autonomous status and indigenous rulers, though in Karakhitay the Karluk khan, like the ruler of Samarkand, was forced to accept the presence of a permanent representative of the Gurkhan. The Gurkhans administered limited territories, populated in 1170 by 84,500 families under direct rule. The Gurkhan's headquarters was called Khosun-ordu (lit. "Strong Ordu"), or Khoto ("House"). The Karluk capital was Kayalik. The Karakhanids continued to rule over Transoxania and western Xinjiang. The Kara-khitans did not interfere with the religion of the people, but Islam became less dominant as the other religions took advantage of the new freedom to increase the number of their adherents. The Nestorianism, Nestorian Patriarch Elias III (1176–1190) founded a religious metropole in

. The Karakhitay metropolitan bore the title Metropolitan of Kashghar and Navakat, showing that the see of Kashghar also controlled the southern part of Zhetysu. The oldest Nestorian tombs in the Tokmak and Pishpek cemeteries go back to the epoch of Karakhitay domination. Ata-Malik Juvayni however stressed the oppression of Muslims by Kuchlug, a son of the last Nayman khan who was ousted (towards 1204) by Mongolia by Genghis Khan. The Nayman Nestorian Christian Küchlük usurped the throne of the Kara-Khitans. In 1211, a Mongol detachment under the command of Khubilai Noyon, one of Genghis Khan's generals, appeared in the northern part of Zhetysu. Arslan-khan Karluk killed the Karakhitay governor of Kayalik and proclaimed his loyalty to Genghis Khan. The Zhetysu, together with Eastern Turkestan, voluntarily surrendered to the Mongols. Kuchlug was killed by the invading Mongols in 1218.

Mongol era

In the 1211 a Mongol detachment under command of Khubilai noyon, one of Genghis Khan's generals, appeared in the northern part of Zhetysu. Arslan Khan Karluk, probably the son of Arslan khan and brother of Mamdu khan, killed the Khitan governor of Kayalik and proclaimed his loyalty to Genghis Khan. The ''Collection of Annals'' records that Genghis Khan removed his title from Karluk Arslan Khan: "Let your name be Sartaktai", i.e. Sart, said the sovereign. After the absorption of the Kara-Khanid Khanate by the

, the ethnonym Karluk became rarely used. The Karluk language was the primary basis for the later lingua-franca of the Chagatai Khanate and Central Asia under the Timurid dynasty. It is therefore designated by linguists and historians as the

, but its contemporaries, such as Timur and Babur, simply called it ''Turki''.

Modern period

In the 20th century, the geopolitical Great Game among great powers demanded the creation of modern nationalities among Central Asian Turks. The ethnonym "Karluk" was not revived. Instead, Uzbek and Uyghur became the two major divisions among speakers of modern variants of the Chagatai language. Under these two modern nationalities, there are subgroups like the Uyghur Dolan people, Dolan, Aynur and several regional populations of Uzbeks. Some of the Uzbeks share more similarities with Kipchak people, Kipchak groups like the Karakalpaks, Karakalpak and Kazakhs, or with the Iranian peoples, Iranian Tājik people, Tajiks, than with fellow Uzbeks who speak a descendant of the Karluk language. In Turkmenistan, the Karluks are part of the Arabachy ethnographic group of Turkmens living in the Districts of Turkmenistan, Garlyk etrap (named after the tribe) of the Lebap Region, Lebap velayat.

Genetics

A genetic study published in ''Nature (journal), Nature'' in May 2018 examined the remains of two Karluk males buried at Butakty in the Tian Shan between 800 AD and 1000 AD. One male carried the paternal Haplogroup J (Y-DNA), haplogroup J2a and the maternal Haplogroup A (mtDNA), haplogroup A, while the other carried the maternal haplogroup Haplogroup F (mtDNA), F1b1e.

Physical appearance

Arab historian Al Masudi stated that, among Turkic peoples, the Karluks were "the most beautiful in form, the tallest in stature and the most lordly in appearance".al-Masudi, ''Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems'', ed. Pellat, p. 155; cited in Golden, P. B. (1992) ''An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples''. Series: Turcologica, Vol. 9. Wiesbaden: Otto-Harrassowitz. p. 198

Notes

References

Sources

* * Z. V. Togan: ''The Origins of the Kazaks and the ôzbeks'', H.B. Paksoy, IUE.it, webpage
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Karluk Nomadic groups in Eurasia Ethnic groups in Chinese history Turkic peoples of Asia