Qasim bin Janibek Khan (,

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

: ''Qasym bin Jänıbek Han''), known by his shortened regal name as Qasim Khan (also spelled as Kasym Khan) was a son of Janibek Khan. He ruled as the fourth

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 ...

of the

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, ...

from about 1511 to 1521. He is viewed as the greatest leader to unite the Kazakh tribes. Although,

Burunduk Khan Burunduk Khan (, ''Būryndyq han'') also known as Muryndyq (, ''Mūryndyq'') was a son of Kerei Khan and the third Khan of Kazakh Khanate in 1474 or from 1480 to 1511. Biography Burunduk became a khan in 1474. The sources describe the reign of B ...

was the Khan of the Kazakhs, the control of the government was in the hands of Qasim Khan. Eventually, he sent Burunduk Khan into exile who died in

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, ...

. Qasim Khan had a brother named Adik Khan who was married to Sultana Nigar Khanim, daughter of Yunus Khan of Moghulistan. When Adik Khan died, Qasim Khan took her as his wife. Qasim Khan is generally regarded as one of the greatest rulers of the

. Shortly after taking the throne in 1511, Qasim Khan fought against his cousin

Muhammad Shaybani Muhammad Shaybani Khan ( uz, Muhammad Shayboniy, also known as Abul-Fath Shaybani Khan or Shayabak Khan or Shahi Beg Khan, originally named "Shibägh", which means " wormwood" or "obsidian") (c. 1451 – 2 December 1510), was an Uzbek leader ...

for control of the Desht-i-Kipchak region. After Shaybani and the Uzbeks suffered severe losses in numerous battles near Lake Balkhash, the Uzbek Khanate agreed to give Qasim Khan 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 ...

all former Uzbek lands north of the Syr Darya. This effectively allowed Qasim Khan to conquer all of modern Kazakhstan, much of modern-day Uzbekistan, and parts of southwestern Siberia, western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and Kyrgyzstan. The

consistently controlled of all of these lands until the 18th century, when they began suffering attacks from the Tsardom of Russia in the north, 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 ...

to the south, and the Dzungars in the east. After his conquests against Muhammad Shaybani, Qasim began to advance the power of the Kazakh state for the long term. He is credited with creating the first written code of laws for the

, which he called "The Bright Road of Qasim Khan" as well as creating some of the first written records of the

Kazakh language The Kazakh or simply Qazaq (Latin: or , Cyrillic: or , Arabic Script: or , , ) is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia by Kazakhs. It is closely related to Nogai, Kyrgyz and Karakalpak. It is the official lan ...

, which used the Arabic script until the early 20th century. Qasim Khan, a devout

Muslim 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 Abrah ...

himself, was also a proponent of

Islamic 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 ...

and a patron of the arts. Under his reign, all inhabitants of modern-day Kazakhstan fully adopted

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...

, which had begun spreading throughout the Desht-i-Kipchak steppe in the 13th century but only became firmly established under him and the Shaybanid rulers before him. Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, the

Kazakh Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kazakhstan *Kazakhs, an ethnic group *Kazakh language *The Kazakh Khanate * Kazakh cuisine * Qazakh Rayon, Azerbaijan *Qazax, Azerbaijan *Kazakh Uyezd, administrative dis ...

Chagatayid governor of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, wrote extensively about Qasim's success in the

Tarikh-i-Rashidi Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat Beg (Persian: میرزا محمد حیدر دولت بیگ c. 1499/1500 – 1551) was a Chagatai Turco-Mongol military general, governor of Kashmir, and a historical writer, He was a Turkic speaking Dughlat prince ...

. With the relatively notable exceptions of Ottoman

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Selim I and

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

Shah Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...

, Dughlat considered Qasim to be one of the most powerful rulers of the eastern Islamic world. Qasim oversaw the construction of numerous mosques and mausoleums, especially in northern Kazakhstan, many of which still stand today. Towards the end of his reign, Qasim built an alliance with the rising

Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror: * Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ** Timurid Empire of C ...

prince

Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā 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 ...

, who shared a common enemy of

with him. Qasim had three sons by his two wives: Khanzada Abu'l Khair was born to Sultan Nigar Khanum, while Khanzada Haqnazar and Khanzada Muhammed were born to Khanyk Sultan Khanum. Since he was the oldest, Khanzada Muhammed ultimately succeeded his father as khan, followed by Haqnazar long after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Kasym Kazakh khans Year of birth missing Year of death missing

See also

References