Böritigin, also known as Ibrahim ibn Nasr or Tamghach Khan Ibrahim, was a

Karakhanid The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; zh, t=喀喇汗國, p=Kālā Hánguó), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Karluk Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the early 13th century. Th ...

ruler in

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (, now called the Amu Darya) is the Latin name for the region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

from 1038 to 1068. He was one of the greatest rulers of the dynasty.

Biography

He was the son of Nasr Khan, a Karakhanid ruler from the western branch of the family, known as the "Alids", which was named after their ancestor Ali ibn Musa Qara Khan. Böritigin is first mentioned some time after 1034, when he was imprisoned by the sons of the deceased Ali-Tegin, who was from the eastern branch of the family, known as the "Hasanids". However, Böritigin eventually managed in 1038 to escape to his brother who was at Uzgend, and then raised an army consisting of Kumiji tribes from the upper Oxus river. He then invaded the territories of the

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus to the Indus Va ...

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) 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 came to be use ...

Mas'ud I, and plundered Khuttal and Vakhsh. He then conquered

Chaghaniyan Chaghaniyan (Middle Persian: ''Chagīnīgān''; ''Chaghāniyān''), known as al-Saghaniyan in Arabic sources, was a medieval region and principality located on the right bank of the Oxus River, to the south of Samarkand. History Hephthalite r ...

and defeated a Ghaznavid counter-attack. The following year, Böritgin began fighting the sons of Ali-Tegin and by 1040 had annexed much of Transoxiana. He then made

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 ...

his capital and took the title of "Tamghach Khan Ibrahim". In 1042, the newly crowned Ghaznavid ruler Maw'dud invaded the territories of the

Seljuqs The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of the S ...

and conquered much of Khorasan. This greatly increased the fame of Maw'dud and made Böritigin acknowledge him as his suzerain. In ca. 1050, Maw'dud, with the aid of Böritigin and an army sent by the former Kakuyid ruler Garshasp I, re-invaded Khorasan; Böritigin and his commander Qashgha invaded

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 ...

and Tirmidh, but Maw'dud died and thus the invasion failed. The Seljuqs then extended their rule as far as Vakhsh and appointed a certain Abu 'Ali ibn Shadhan as the governor of their new conquests. After this, Böritigin seems to have stopped recognizing the Ghaznavids as his suzerain. In 1059/60 Böritigin forced the Karakhanid rulers of Farghana to acknowledge him as their suzerain. In the early 1060s, the newly crowned Seljuq ruler

Alp Arslan Alp Arslan, born Muhammad Alp Arslan bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second List of sultans of the Seljuk Empire, sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk (warlord), Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty and the empire. He g ...

invaded Transoxiana, which made Böritigin complain to the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

of needless aggression from the Seljuqs. Böritigin died in 1068 and was succeeded by his son Shams al-Mulk Nasr. He also had a daughter named Terken Khatun who later married the son of Alp Arslan,

Malik-Shah I Malik-Shah I (, ) was the third sultan of the Seljuk Empire from 1072 to 1092, under whom the sultanate reached the zenith of its power and influence. During his youth, he spent his time participating in the campaigns of his father Alp Arslan, ...

References

Sources

* * * * Kochnev B.D. Numizmaticheskaya istoriya Karakhanidskogo kaganata (991—1209 gg.). Moskva «Sofiya», 2006

Biography

References

Sources

Further reading