Abdullah (died c. 1359) was the leader of the

Qara'unas The Qara'unas or Negüderi were the Mongols who settled in Afghanistan after moving from Turkestan and Mongolia. Foundation The word Qarauna derived from the Turkic word ''Qara'' meaning black in Mongolian. At first they were subjects of the ...

(1358–1359) and the ruler of the Chagatai ''ulus'' (1358). He was the son of

Amir Qazaghan Qazaghan (died 1358) was the amir of the Qara'unas (1345 at the latest – 1358) and the effective ruler of the Chagatai Khanate, Chagatai ''ulus'' (1346–1358). The following opinions were expressed about the ethnic origin of the Qazaghan: 1) Va ...

. After Qazaghan had taken control of the Chagatai ''ulus'' around 1346, he appointed Abdullah as governor of

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

. During his father's lifetime, Abdullah led an expedition against

Khwarazm Khwarazm (; ; , ''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 east by the Kyzylkum Desert, on the south by th ...

, although Qazaghan had been against it. When the latter died in 1358 Abdullah succeeded him. Unlike his father, he had an active interest in the tribes of the northern part of the ''ulus''. Qazaghan, whose power base had been in the southern portion of the ''ulus'', had tended to leave the northern tribes alone; Abdullah was not content to do the same. The northern tribes bitterly resented his attempts to curtail their power. Abdullah's decision to keep his capital in Samarkand proved to be his undoing. The

Barlas The Barlas (;Grupper, S. M. 'A Barulas Family Narrative in the Yuan Shih: Some Neglected Prosopographical and Institutional Sources on Timurid Origins'. Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi 8 (1992–94): 11–97 Chagatay language, Chagatay/ ''Barlās'' ...

and Suldus tribes, both located near the city, hated the prospect of a strong Qara'unas presence in their immediate vicinity. Together the leaders of the Barlas and Suldus, Hajji Beg and Buyan Suldus, revolted and drove Abdullah out of power; he returned to the territories of the Qara'unas and died soon afterwards. The victorious parties often cited Abdullah's treatment of Bayan Quli as a pretext for their revolt. Bayan Quli had been Qazaghan's puppet khan; soon after Qazaghan's death Abdullah desired Bayan Quli's wife and had him executed. In any case, Buyan Suldus was installed as amir of the ''ulus'', while both Abdullah's brothers and Shah Temur, who had been raised by Abdullah to the khanship following Bayan Quli's execution, were killed.

References

*Manz, Beatrice Forbes, ''The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane''. Cambridge University Press, 1989, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdullah Mongol Empire people 1359 deaths Mongol Empire Muslims Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Date of death unknown Place of death unknown 14th-century monarchs in Asia Chagatai khans 1350s in the Mongol Empire