Kara-Khanid Khanate was a Turkic
Khanate founded by the
Karakhanids or
Qarakhanids, also called the
Ilek Khanids (
Turkish Karahanlilar,
Chinese ??,
???), who were a
Turkic dynasty. The Khanate ruled
Transoxania in
Central Asia from 840-1211.
[1] Their capitals included
Kashgar,
Balasagun,
Uzgen and then again Kashgar. The name of the state comprises two Turkish words, "Kara" and "Khan". "Kara" means "black" in Turkish, indicating nobility, and "Khan", actually
Kagan, is a Turkish title given to the ruler of a state like
Hakan,
Tanhu,
Yabgu, and
Ilbey.
Despite continuity from the first Uyghur Empire and affinity with the Kara-Khojas, the Kara-Khanids claimed descent from the legendary Afrasiab dynasty.[citation needed] The use of the vertical Uyghur script among Muslim Turks extended well into Timurid times in western Turkistan, and well into Manchu times in some enclaves in Eastern Turkistan. The Anatolian Turkish beyliks in Ilkhanid times and early Ottoman times still retained scribes trained in the vertical script in order to do transactions with the Timurids. These scribes were called "bakshy", a name possibly of Chinese origin, meaning "great scholar", one of the titles of the Confucian soldier-scholar Yelu Dashi, or of Sanskrit origin.
The Muslim, Persianized[citation needed] , sedentary elements of the Kara-Khanid culture are preserved today among the Uyghur,Tajik, Uzbek, Afghan, and Hui nations. The nomadic elements of the two of which speak Chagatay Turkic languages.Kara-Khanid and Kara-Khitan states, the Karluk and Naiman hordes, laid the foundation for the modern Kypchak Turkic-speaking cultures of the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Tatars.
A branch of the Uyghurs migrated to oasis settlements of Tarim Basin and Gansu, such as Gaochang (Khoja) and Hami (Kumul) and set up a confederation of decentralized Buddhist states called Kara-Khoja. Others, occupying western Tarim Basin, Ferghana Valley, Jungaria and parts of Kazakhstan bordering the Muslim Khwarazm Sultanate, converted to Islam no later than 10th century and built a federation with Muslim institutions called Kara-Khanlik, whose princely dynasties are called Kara-Khanids by historians.
