The Yarkent Khanate, also known as the Yarkand Khanate and the Kashghar Khanate,
was a
Sunni Muslim
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 ...
Turkic state ruled by 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 ...
descendants of
Chagatai Khan
Chagatai Khan ( Mongolian: ''; Čaɣatay''; mn, Цагадай, translit=Tsagadai; chg, , ''Čaġatāy''; ug, چاغاتاي خان, ''Chaghatay-Xan''; zh, 察合台, ''Chágětái''; fa, , ''Joghatây''; 22 December 1183 – 1 July 1242) ...
. It was founded by
Sultan Said Khan in 1514 as a western offshoot of
Moghulistan
Moghulistan (from fa, , ''Moghulestân'', mn, Моголистан), also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (), was a Mongol breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Ten ...
, itself an eastern offshoot of 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 kh ...
. It was eventually conquered by the
Dzungar Khanate
The Dzungar Khanate, also written as the Zunghar Khanate, was an Inner Asian khanate of Oirat Mongol origin. At its greatest extent, it covered an area from southern Siberia in the north to present-day Kyrgyzstan in the south, and from t ...
in 1705.
Capital
Yarkent
Yarkant County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also transliterated from Uyghur as Yakan County, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomou ...
served as the capital of the Yarkent Khanate, which was also known as the Yarkent State (''Mamlakati Yarkand''), from the establishment of the Khanate (1514 AD) to its fall (1705 AD). The previous
Dughlat The Dughlat clan ( kk, Дулат, Dulat, lit=ruthless or fierce warrior; Mongolian: '' Dolood/sevens, Doloo/seven; Middle Mongolian: Doluga, Dolugad''; Dulğat; ) was a Mongol (later Turko-Mongol) clan that served the Chagatai khans as hereditary ...
state of
Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat (1465–1514) of
Kashgaria also used
Yarkent
Yarkant County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also transliterated from Uyghur as Yakan County, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomou ...
as the capital of state.
History
Background
The Khanate was predominantly
Uyghur/
Turki
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 literar ...
; some of its most populated cities were
Hotan
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 ...
,
Yarkent
Yarkant County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also transliterated from Uyghur as Yakan County, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomou ...
,
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. ...
,
Yangihissar
Yengisar County, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (also known as Yangi Hissar); via Mandarin Chinese known as Yingjisha, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (Ying-chi-sha), is a county in the southwest of ...
,
Aksu,
Uchturpan,
Kucha,
Karashar
Karasahr or Karashar ( ug, قاراشەھەر, Qarasheher, 6=Қарашәһәр), which was originally known, in the Tocharian languages as ''Ārśi'' (or Arshi) and Agni or the Chinese derivative Yanqi ( zh, s=焉耆, p=Yānqí, w=Yen-ch'i), is an ...
,
Turpan
Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015).
Geonyms
The original name of the cit ...
and
Kumul. It enjoyed continued dominance in the region for about 200 years until it was conquered by the Dzungar Khan,
Tsewang Rabtan in 1705.
In the first half of the 14th century 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 kh ...
had collapsed; on the western part of the collapsed Chagatai Khanate, the Empire of
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...
emerged in 1370, and became the dominant power in the region until its conquest in 1508 by the
Shaybanids. Its eastern part became
Moghulistan
Moghulistan (from fa, , ''Moghulestân'', mn, Моголистан), also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (), was a Mongol breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Ten ...
, which was created by
Tughluk Timur Khan in 1347 with the capital centered in
Almalik, around the
Ili River Valley
The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...
. It comprised all the settled lands of Eastern Kashgaria, as well as regions of
Turpan
Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015).
Geonyms
The original name of the cit ...
and
Kumul which were known at the time as Uyghurstan, according to
Balkh
), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001
, pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia
, pushpin_relief=yes
, pushpin_label_position=bottom
, pushpin_mapsize=300
, pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...
and Indian sources of the 16th and 17th centuries. The reigning dynasty of the Yarkent Khanate originated from this state, which existed for more than a century.
In 1509 the Dughlats, vassal rulers of the
Tarim basin
The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest 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, China." Hyd ...
, rebelled against the Moghulistan Khanate and broke away. Five years later
Sultan Said Khan, a brother of the Khan of Moghulistan in Turfan, conquered the Dughlats but established his own Yarkent khanate instead.
This put an end to the dominance in the cities of Kashgaria of the Dughlat emirs, who had controlled them since 1220, when most of Kashgaria had been granted to the Dughlat by Chagatai Khan himself. The conquest of the Dughlats allowed the Yarkent state to become the foremost power in the region.
Reign of Sultan Said Khan
The reign of Sultan Said Khan was heavily influenced by the
khoja
The Khojas ( sd}; gu, ખોજા, hi, ख़ोजा) are a mainly Nizari Isma'ili Shia community of people originating in Gujarat, India.
Derived from the Persian Khwaja, a term of honor, the word Khoja is used to refer to Lohana Rajp ...
s. Said Khan also had a close relationship with
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 hi ...
, his cousin and founder of the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
across the Himalayas and
Karakoram Range from the Yarkent Khanate.
Said Khan's reign included a campaign in
Bolor in 1527-1528, a raid into
Badakhshan
Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic ...
in 1529, and looting expeditions into Ladakh and Kashmir in 1532.
Sultan Said Khan purportedly died in 1533 at
Daulat Beg Oldi of a
high-altitude pulmonary edema while returning to Yarkent from an expedition into Ladakh and Kashmir.
Later Khans
Sultan Said Khan was succeeded by Abdurashid Khan (1533–1565), who began his reign by executing a member of the Dughlat family. Abdurrashid Khan also fought for control of (western) Moghulistan against the Kirghiz and the Kazakhs, but (western) Moghulistan was ultimately lost; thereafter the Moghuls were largely restricted to possession of the Tarim Basin.
Meanwhile, the Yarkent Khanate was conquered by the Buddhist Dzungar Khanate
The Dzungar Khanate, also written as the Zunghar Khanate, was an Inner Asian khanate of Oirat Mongol origin. At its greatest extent, it covered an area from southern Siberia in the north to present-day Kyrgyzstan in the south, and from t ...
in the Dzungar conquest of Altishahr from 1678 to 1705.
List of rulers
* List of khans of the Yarkent Khanate
Culture
The collection of Uyghur Twelve Muqam
Gallery
File:Dome of Amanni Shahan's mausoleum. Yarkand. 2011.jpg, Dome of Amanni Shahan's mausoleum. Yarkand. 2011
File:Minaret. Yarkand. 2011.jpg, Minaret. Yarkand. 2011
File:Yarkand-tumbas-reyes-d02.jpg
File:Yarkand-tumbas-reyes-d03.jpg
File:Yarkand-tumbas-reyes-d04.jpg
File:Yarkand-tumbas-reyes-d05.jpg
File:Yarkand-tumbas-reyes-d06.jpg
File:Yarkand-tumbas-reyes-d07.jpg
File:Yarkand-tumbas-reyes-d08.jpg
File:Yarkand-tumbas-reyes-d09.jpg
File:Outside-e1506252775539.jpg
File:Palace of Yarkent Khans02.jpg
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Saray Mehmet, Doğu Türkistan Tarihi (Başlangıçtan 1878’e kadar), Bayrak Matbaacılık, İstanbul-1997
* Kutlukov M, '' About foundation of Yarkent Khanate (1465-1759) '', Pan publishing house, Almata
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of t ...
,1990
*
{{Xinjiang topics
Historical Turkic states
Former countries in Chinese history
Mongol rump states