Khotan became a Muslim city after the Qarakhanid conquest of about 1006.
By 1213 or 1214 it has a madrasa (a college of Islamic law and teaching) whose imam is a man of such standing that Kuchlug has him nailed to its door; nothing in the sources dates its founding. The house is a real power in a small way: its teachers and judges settle disputes under Islamic law, vouch for the prince's acts as lawful, and speak for the Muslim townsmen; a madrasa is normally kept by endowment lands (waqf) and fees. Every detail of its lands and income below is inferred from what such a house is, not read from a source.
The record marks the power so the campaign can use it; the person is in Imam and judges of Khotan.
Who holds it
- Name
- not known for 1200; 'Ala al-Din Muhammad is attested as imam only in 1213 or 1214 (see Imam and judges of Khotan)
- Title
- Imam and chief teacher of the madrasa of Khotan, with the qadi (judge) and the scholars of the town
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Iranica 'Khotan' and Wikipedia 'Kuchlug' (the imam nailed to the door of his madrasa), Chinese Wikipedia 'Qu Chuli' (names him), Iranica 'Chinese Turkestan iii' (Khotan stays a centre of Iranian culture; two churches working about 1050). Nothing dates the madrasa's foundation or lists its lands.
Overlord
The khan of Khotan, as patron and protector.
What it holds
- The madrasa and its teaching
- The qadi's court
- The Friday mosque (not described in any source)
- Endowment (waqf) lands and fees: inferred, not recorded
How it was acquired
Not recorded. A Muslim community and courts exist after the conquest of about 1006; the madrasa is first attested in 1213 or 1214.
Allies and rivals
Ally and check on the khan of Khotan. The Buddhist and Christian minorities live beside it: Gardizi reports two churches working in Khotan about 1050 (Iranica 'Chinese Turkestan iii').
How things stand that morning
Not recorded. The revolt of Khotan and Kashgar and its crushing lie ahead, in 1204; what part the Muslim leaders of Khotan take in it is not recorded.
Wealth
Endowment rents and fees, inferred; no figures.
Threats
- Later: Kuchlug's conquest of 1213 or 1214 and his order that Muslims change religion or wear Khitan dress
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 1213 or 1214Kuchlug takes Khotan; the imam 'Ala al-Din Muhammad, who has argued with him about the faiths, is nailed to the door or a post outside his madrasa (Iranica 'Khotan'; Wikipedia 'Kuchlug').Depends on: Kuchlug in power. Stopped by: His fall or a quicker Mongol arrival.
- 1216 to 1218The Mongols arrive and allow Muslims free practice (Juvaini, via Iranica).Depends on: Jebe's campaign against Kuchlug. Stopped by: A Naiman victory.
Places of note
- Khotan madrasa: Seat of the imam and the qadi.
Where the sources disagree
- Wikipedia 'Kuchlug' leaves the imam unnamed; Chinese Wikipedia and Iranica name him 'Ala al-Din Muhammad. The campaign board's calendar puts the killing 'after 1211'; Iranica dates the conquest of Khotan 1213, and the surrender of Kashgar is 1214.
Evidence: The institution is attested only in 1213 to 1214; its foundation, lands and 1200 holder are not.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: A point only: the madrasa's lands, if it had any, are not known.
Primary sources for Tarim oases
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- History of the Liao, chapter 30, on the Western Liao, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1344). The only Chinese official notice of the Qara Khitai, a few pages at the end of juan 30. Read online
- History of the Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. Read online
- History of the World Conqueror: the Qara Khitai (Gur Khans) and the Uyghurs of Beshbaliq, Ala al-Din Ata-Malik Juvayni (begun about 1252 to 1253, ends with 1260). Juvayni's chapters on the Uyghur kingdom (its origin legend, Beshbaliq and Qocho, and the idiqut Barchuq's murder of the Qara Khitai resident before his submission to Chinggis Khan in 1209) and on the Gur Khans of the Qara Khitai are the fullest Muslim account of the Tarim and Zhetysu around 1200: the gurkhan Zhilugu's court at Balasagun, his tax collectors in the oasis towns and in Samarkand, his relations with the Khwarazmshah Tekish and then Muhammad, and the arrival of the Naiman prince Kuchlug in 1208. Read online
- Old Uyghur contracts, land sales, loans and administrative documents from the Turfan oases (mostly thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with some earlier; dated by animal years and rarely to a reign). Sale deeds, loans, leases, slave sales, wills and tax lists from Turfan, Qocho and Beshbaliq, the only internal evidence for everyday life, land tenure, prices and officials in the Uyghur kingdom whose idiqut was a vassal of the Qara Khitai in 1200.
- Journey to the West of the Perfected Changchun (Qiu Chuji), Li Zhichang (李志常) (about 1228, from the journey of 1220 to 1224). A dated eyewitness itinerary across the steppe and the Tarim twenty years after 1200: the Kereyit country and the Ongud frontier, the Naiman mountains, the Uyghur towns of Beshbaliq and the Tarim with their Buddhist and Christian communities, Almaliq of the Qarluq, and Samarkand. Read online
Sources and studies
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Khotan' (History in the Islamic Period)
- Wikipedia, 'Kuchlug'
- Chinese Wikipedia, 'Qu Chuli' (Kuchlug)
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Chinese Turkestan iii. From the Advent of Islam to the Mongols' (I. Togan)
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Ilak-Khanids' (C. E. Bosworth)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.