People or land · The Qara Khitai: the gurkhan's own lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Inner Tien Shan herders

The high valleys of the inner Tien Shan, between the Chu and Issyk-Kul to the north, Ferghana to the west and the Kashgar plain to the south, are summer pastures and passes rather than farmland: the Suusamyr, Son-Kul and Kochkor basins, the Naryn and the At-Bashi, crossed by the roads from Uzgend and Ferghana to the Chu and from the Chu to Kashgar over the Torugart.

Turkish herding clans (in Qarakhanid times the Chigil, Yaghma and Tukhsi lived in and round these mountains) move their flocks up in summer and down in winter under their own chiefs, paying the gurkhan in animals and service. No town of note stands here in 1200. The evidence for who lived here in 1200 is very thin; the Kyrgyz who later fill these mountains are still on the Yenisei.

Who holds it

Name
Not pinned: no chief or clan of these valleys is named in the sources for 1200
Title
Chiefs of the Turkish herding clans
Since
Not pinned
Confidence
low

Overlord

The gurkhan, whose capital lies just over the mountains in the Chu valley

What it holds

  • The summer pastures of the Naryn, At-Bashi, Son-Kul, Kochkor and Suusamyr valleys
  • The passes between the Chu, Ferghana and Kashgar

How it was acquired

Customary use by the herding clans.

Allies and rivals

The gurkhan's Khitan clans share or claim the pastures nearest the Chu; the khans of Ferghana and Kashgar use the passes.

How things stand that morning

Herders under their own chiefs, within the gurkhan's sphere; nothing recorded.

Wealth

Horses, sheep and yaks; tolls and guide-work on the passes.

Military

Mounted herdsmen; no castles recorded.

Threats

  • Harsh winters (the herds' losses)
  • Demands of the gurkhan's officers

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Drawn as a self-governing province because no town lord is known to rule these mountains; the clans and chiefs of 1200 are not named in any source read.

On the map: A sketch of the high country; its edges against the Chu, Ferghana and Kashgar are guesses along the mountain crests.

Primary sources for Qara Khitai

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.

Sources and studies

  1. W. Barthold, Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion (1928)
  2. Wikipedia, 'Qara Khitai'

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.