Far East Kingdoms

Mughulistan (Eastern Chaghatayid Khanate) (Mongols)
AD 1363 - 1618

Mongol Tribes All Modern States Central Asia China Korea

The Mongols appear to have been born out of an amalgam of native Turkic and Tungusic groups in north-eastern Central Asia and East Asia. The famous Mongol foundation epic, the Secret History of the Mongols, states that the Mongols reached the steppe from over the 'Tengis' - the sea or lake - twenty-two generations before the birth of 'Chingiz Khan' in AD 1162.

This famous figure, Chingiz Khan, was the first of the 'Great Khans' of the Mongol empire. His death in 1227 created the basis for the empire's later sub-division into Yuan China, the Blue Horde under Batu Khan, and the White Horde under Orda (with these two collectively known as the Golden Horde). Another brother controlled the Shaibanids, Tolui governed the Il-Khanate, and Chagatai Khan (the second son) inherited Central Asian territory for his Chaghatayids.

In time this became known as Mughulistan (Moghulistan or Moghalistan), the territory of the Mughals or Mongols. This name is still used informally to designate a wide expanse of Central Asia outside modern national borders. The region should not be confused with the Mughal empire of India which was founded in the sixteenth century.

The Chaghatayid khanate encompassed a vast expanse of territory in its early days. The lands it inherited from the Mongol empire included what is now northern Afghanistan (but which had most recently belonged to the Ghurid sultanate), Central Asia, Kashgaria, Lake Balkhash, and Zhetysu.

After 1363 it became divided into two halves, with the ancient region of Transoxiana forming the conquered western section (bordering the Il-Khanate - the Western Chaghatayids), and the still-nomadic but free Chaghatayids still holding the east in Mughulistan (modern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and eastern areas of Mongolia and China). Further division of the eastern section in 1462 would seriously weaken the remaining Mongol groups.

Chaghatayid territory included various established populations, some long-established. It gradually absorbed them to create two main ethic layers and perhaps three distinctions to its population. This included pre-Chaghatayid Turkic tribes which remained within the khanate's territory, having migrated there between the eleventh to fifteenth centuries (these include Turks specifically to cover arrivals up to the thirteenth century, and 'Chagatais' to include those Mongol tribes which arrived as part of the Chaghatayid khanate from the thirteenth century onwards.

It also included the surviving urban populations, especially those of the Ferghana, Khorezm, and Angren valleys. The people here had been established for millennia, and included Indo-Iranians and the earlier native stock which they had absorbed in the first millennium BC. In the eighth to tenth centuries AD they had been Islamicised and, certainly before the twentieth century, most were bilingual, speaking Iranian and Turkic.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by John De Cleene and the John De Cleene Archive, from Mannerheim, Stig Axel Fridolf Jägerskiöld, from Tamerlane and the symbolism of sovereignty, Beatrice Forbes Manz (Iranian Studies 21 (1-2), 1988), from Timurids, The Columbia Encyclopaedia (Sixth Ed, Columbia University), from The Encyclopaedia of War: Timur ('the Lame') (1336-1405), Timothy May, from The Art of War: Great Commanders of the Ancient and Medieval World: Tamerlane, Justin Marozzi (Andrew Roberts, Ed, Quercus Military History, 2008), from The Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan: His Triumph and his Legacy, Peter Brent (Book Club Associates, 1976), from The Mongols: A Very Short Introduction, Morris Rossabi (Oxford University Press, 2012), from the New World Encyclopaedia, from The Origins of Northern China's Ethnicities, Zhu Xueyuan (Beijing 2004), from The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade, Susan Wise Bauer (2010), from Genghis Khan, Paul Ratchnevsky (Thomas Nivison Haining, Trans & Ed, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1991), from The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, René Grousset (Naomi Walford (Trans), Rutgers University Press, 1970), and from External Links: The True Origin of the Mongols?, John Man (Oxford Alumni, 28 July 2020), and Timur (Encyclopaedia Britannica).)

1363 - 1368

Lost the west but secured Eastern Chaghatayid lands.

1363

Tughlugh Temur, the final 'unity' Chaghatayid khan, has failed in his attempts to to quell the tribes of Transoxiana, despite two invasions of the region. His death has ended Chaghatayid hopes of restoring control of western Mughulistan.

Instead Amir Husayn and Tîmûr-i Lang have contested for control and the latter has successfully taken Transoxiana and Khorasan, ostensibly in the name of the khanate. Effectively, though, he has formed his own Timurid khanate.

He places a figurehead Mongol on the Western Chaghatayid throne to legitimise his rule while he governs from behind the throne as amir. With the west lost, Ilyas Khoja, son of Tughlugh Temur, secures command of the east and for the remainder of his lifetime he continues to rule the Eastern Chaghatayid khanate as the heartland of Mughulistan.

1368 - 1390

Dughlat amir. Usurper. Defeated by Timurids. Disappeared.

1388

With the break in rule of the descendants of Kublai Khan, and the dramatic reduction in Northern Yuan power over the past two decades, the authority of the great khan has been gravely damaged.

One of the former generals of Togus-Temur breaks away to form his own small khanate. Gunashiri is a descendant of Chagatai Khan of the Chaghatayids, and the small state he forms is called Qara Del, which is centred in Hami (modern Kumul in Xinjiang Province).

1390 - 1399

Brother of Ilyas Khoja. Agreed peace terms with Timurids.

1399 - 1408

Son. Died.

1402

The death of Sultan Mahmud in Transoxiana marks the end of the puppet Western Chaghatayid khans there. In Mughulistan, the eastern khans continue to be appointed, perhaps dominated by the Timurids. Many of them are entirely unknown, although one of them, Satuk Khan, attempts without success to establish the independence of Mughulistan.

1405

After Timur's death, none of the Timurid royalty accepts his successor. Timur's viceroy in Ferghana asserts his own independence and rules the eastern part of the empire from Samarkand as if he is the new ruler of the entire empire.

Technically, this half of the empire is also known as Greater Khorasan, but the regional name of Transoxiana is usually used to distinguish the two Timurid divisions. In time, within a century of so, much of it falls under the control of the newly-created Shaibanid empire.

1408 - 1415

Brother. Died.

1415 - 1418

Brother.

1418 - 1421

Nephew of Muhammad. Defeated and captured by Oirats.

1421 / 1423

The neighbouring Oirats to the north-east begin an expansion to their south-west by repeatedly attacking Mughulistan, where governs Awais Khan (Vais) rules. His territory encompasses the Ili River, the River Yukhuz, and the regions of Kucha (now in western Xinjiang, held by China) and Turfan (now Turpan, in north-eastern Xinjiang).

1421 - 1425

Son of Muhammad. Attempted to throw off external domination.

1425 - 1429

Restored. Died fleeing battle with Satuk.

1429 - 1434

Timurid supporter and Mughulistan invader.

1434 - 1462

Son of Awais. The khanate is divided.

1449 - 1453

Esen Tayisi, the Oirat khan who controls all Mongols in what is today's Mongolia, twice captures Awais Khan (Vais) as part of continued Oirat expansion to their south-west. Thanks to the respected lineage Awais holds, Esen attempts to bring Princess Makhtum Khanim, Awais' sister into his own family.

1457 - 1459

Almost as soon as Ibrahim takes command in Herat, Abu Sa'id invades from Transoxiana. Balkh is occupied but he is unable to take Herat. However, the Black Sheep Turkmen under Jahan Shah choose this moment to invade from Iran.

They capture Gurgan and defeat Ibrahim outside Astarabad (modern Gorgan). Now assisted by his father, 'Ala' al-Daula, Ibrahim is again defeated and is forced to flee. The Black Sheep take Herat on 28 June 1458, but withdraw soon afterwards. Khorasan is taken by Abu Sa'ad, reuniting the remaining Timurid provinces.

An attempt by Ibrahim to unite with another Timurid prince, Sultan Sanjar, is defeated at the Battle of Sarakhs in March 1459. Sanjar is executed. Ibrahim dies in 1460, and 'Ala' al-Daula dies in 1461, ending all opposition to a sole Timurid ruler in Transoxiana for his lifetime.

1462

Following the invasion of Mughulistan by Satuk and his Timurid-trained troops, and five years of constant opposition before he could be pushed back to Kashgar which had to be freed in 1435, the Mongols remain in some disarray. Esen Burqa has seemingly been unable to prevent further decline.

They have divided into two camps, one of which is centred on Yarkent under Yunus Khan, brother of Esen Burqa following the latter's death by natural causes in 1462 (and is sometimes referred to as 'Western Mughulistan'). The other is centred on Turpan, under Dost Muhammad Khan (sometimes referred to as 'Eastern Mughulistan' or Uyghurstan).

1462 - 1469

Brother of Esen Burqa. Ruled the west only.

1462 - 1468

Son of Esen Burqa. Ruled the east only. Died.

1468

Yunus Khan has remained on good terms with Janybek Khan and Karai Khan, the recent founders of the Kazakh Horde. A consequence of this alliance is that rival Uzbeks have become his opponents.

Now, in 1468, Uzbeks under Shaikh Haidar attack Mughulistan. They are defeated and Shaikh Haidar is killed. The loss breaks Uzbek power until Mohammed Shaibani takes control of them by the end of the century as the leader of the Shaibanids.

1469

Son. Nominal ruler. Killed by his supporters.

1469 - 1487

Seized Turpan to unite Mughulistan. Died of illness.

1487 - 1508

Son. Could only find support in the west.

1487 - 1503

Brother. Gained supporters in the east.

1501 - 1506

Following the Shaibanid conquest of Transoxiana, Khorasan is now threatened. Sultan Husayn Bayqarah of Herat does nothing initially, although one of his princes, Babur of Ferghana in Transoxiana, attempts to fight back.

This Babur is a maternal grandson of Yunus Khan of Mughulistan. He also conquers Kabul, which he makes his base of operations between 1504-1526. Finally deciding to mobilise in 1506, Husayn dies before he can achieve anything.

1503 - 1508

Son of Ahmad. Ruled initially in the east.

1506 - 1507

Babur recognises that Khorasan is undefendable and withdraws south. The following year, the Shaibanids invade and capture Herat, putting a final end to Timurid rule. In Transoxiana, the remnants of Khwarazm become an independent Muslim Uzbek state which is later known as the khanate of Khiva, but without Ghazni (modern Kandahar).

At Babur's urging, Khorasan is soon recaptured by the Safavid shah of Iran, Ismail. Although only part of it is held permanently, this becomes the Iranian province of Khorasan.

1508 - 1514

Gained the west upon Mahmud's death to unite the khanate.

1514 - 1533

Governed west with Mansur's agreement. Died.

1514 - 1548

Governed east by agreement to attack Ming China.

1533 - 1560

Son of Sultan Sa'id. Fought off Mansur. Died.

1543 - 1560

Son of Mansur. Weak.

1547

Bodi Alagh Khan is the last of the powerful Northern Yuan khans. His successors carry the same titular authority but in reality they provide direct governance only for the Chahar Mongols, situated towards the south-east of the modern region of Inner Mongolia. The situation reflects the ever-diminishing authority of the great khans and their successors since the fourteenth century.

1548

The death of Mansur Khan seemingly ends remaining Mongol unity within Mughulistan. Shah Khan's younger brother, Muhammad Khan ibn Mansur Khan, seizes Hami and declares his independence with the aid of Kalmyks or Oirats.