Study guide: Karakhanid Khanate and Turkic Islam

📋 Course Outline

1. Arab Conquest of Central Asia
2. Islamisation of the Turkic Peoples
3. Origins and Territory of the Karakhanids
4. Conquest of Transoxiana
5. Eastern Turkistan and the Tarim Basin
6. Division and Foreign Domination
7. Fall of the Karakhanid State
8. Intellectual Life and Literature

📅 Key Dates

1. 651Arab forces conquered Merv.
2. 751Arabs and Karluks defeated the Chinese army in the Battle of Talas.
3. 840The Karluk yabghu accepted the title of kaghan.
4. 999The Karakhanids conquered Transoxiana and expelled the Samanids from Mavarannahr.
5. 1006Yusuf Qadir Khan of Kashgar conquered the Kingdom of Khotan.
6. 1041Muhammad ’Ayn ad-Dawlah took over the western branch.
7. 1141The Qara Khitai defeated Ahmad Sanjar at Qatwan and became dominant in the region.
8. 1204A rebellion of the Eastern Karakhanids in Kashgar was suppressed by the Qara Khitai.
9. 1212The Khwarezm Shah recaptured Samarkand, executed Uthman and extinguished the Western Karakhanid state.

📖 1. Arab Conquest of Central Asia

📝 Essential Points

• After Kuteiba ben Muslim became ruler of Khorasan in 705, the Arabs began the systematic occupation of Central Asia, establishing military garrisons and conquering Buhara in 709 and Sogd in 710.

💡 Memory Hook

Merv → Mavarannahr → Talas → Otrar

📖 2. Islamisation of the Turkic Peoples

★ Must-know

• In 960 AD, 200,000 Turks converted to Islam under Satuk Bugra Khan.

📌 Musa, the son of Satuk Bugra Khan, declared Islam the state religion of the Karakhanids, making them the first Muslim Turkic khanate.

Further detail

• According to Haukal, thousands of Turks converted to Islam in the tenth century.

💡 Memory Hook

Conversion of rulers → Islam as state religion → Muslim Turkic khanate

📖 3. Origins and Territory of the Karakhanids

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Karakhanids: a Turkic dynasty that ruled between 840 and 1211 and controlled Mavarannahr, Semirech’ie, Eastern Turkistan and Southern Kazakhstan

★ Must-know

• The most widely accepted hypothesis identifies the ruling dynasty as originating from the Karluks, especially the Chigil and Yaghma clans.

Further detail

• The dynasty had several names in the sources:

  • al-Khaqaniya
  • Al-i Afrasiyab
  • Ilek Khanids
  • Ilak Khanids

• The main capitals were:

  • Kashgar
  • Balasagun
  • Samarkand
  • Uzgen

📖 4. Conquest of Transoxiana

★ Must-know

📌 After the Samanid domains were divided, the Ghaznavids received Khorasan and Afghanistan, while the Karakhanids received Transoxiana, with the Oxus River forming the boundary between the rival empires.

Further detail

• Hasan Sulayman took:

  • Isfijab
  • Ferghana
  • Samarkand
  • Bukhara

• The Karakhanid state was organized into appanages associated with Balasagun, Kashgar, Uzgen and Samarkand.

💡 Memory Hook

Ghaznavids received Khorasan and Afghanistan, whereas Karakhanids received Transoxiana

📖 5. Eastern Turkistan and the Tarim Basin

★ Must-know

• The Karakhanid conquest of the western Tarim Basin began after Satuk Bughra Khan converted to Islam in 934 and captured Kashgar.

• The conquest of the western Tarim Basin was significant for the eventual Turkification and Islamification of Eastern Turkistan.

Further detail

• The Karakhanids also fought the Uyghur Kingdom of Kocho in Turfan, in the eastern part of Xinjiang.

💡 Memory Hook

Capture of Kashgar and Khotan → Turkification and Islamification of the Tarim Basin

📖 6. Division and Foreign Domination

★ Must-know

📌 In the early eleventh century, internal warfare divided the Karakhanid state into an Eastern Khanate centered first at Balasagun and later Kashgar, and a Western Khanate centered at Samarkand.

📌 In 1089, the Seljuks entered Transoxiana and took Samarkand, after which the Western Karakhanid Khanate became a Seljuk vassal for about half a century.

Further detail

📌 Under the Qara Khitai, the Karakhanids continued ruling Muslim populations as tax-collecting vassals, while Islamic religious life continued without interruption.

💡 Memory Hook

Eastern–Western division → Seljuk overlordship → Qara Khitai vassalage

📖 7. Fall of the Karakhanid State

📝 Essential Points

• The Eastern Karakhanid dynasty ended in 1211, while the Western dynasty ended in 1212.

• The Karakhanid state was significant because it was the first Turkic Muslim state and marked the beginning of the Muslim period in Turkic history in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

📖 8. Intellectual Life and Literature

★ Must-know

• The principal works were:

  • Qutadghu Bilik
  • Divan al-Lughat at-Turk
  • Hibatu'l-haqaiq
  • Diwan Hikmet

• Yusuf Balassaguni wrote Qutadghu Bilik in 1069–1070 in eastern Turkic and presented it to Tabghach Bogra Khan, receiving the title Ulug khass-khajib.

• The poem's four principles are:

  • correct law
  • happiness
  • mind
  • the future life beyond the grave

• Mahmud al-Kashgari compiled Divan al-Lughat at-Turk between 1072 and 1074 after travelling among Turkic tribes, creating an encyclopedia of Turkic society for an Arabic-speaking audience.

Further detail

• Khoja Ahmad Yasavi was a Turkic poet and Sufi who founded the Yasawiyya order, while Ahmad Yugnaki wrote the didactic poem Hibat al-haqaiq in the twelfth century.

📊 Synthesis Tables

Eastern and Western Karakhanid Khanates

Dimension	Eastern Khanate	Western Khanate
Main centers	Balasagun, later Kashgar	Samarkand
Principal region	Fergana and Zhetysu	Transoxiana
External status	Briefly a Seljuk vassal; later under Qara Khitai influence	Seljuk vassal for about half a century
End	1211	1212