Bilge Khan of Otrar

Who he is

Name

Taj al-Din Bilge Khan

Title

Khan (malik) of Otrar

Since

Not pinned: attested as a Qara Khitai vassal by 1204 (at Andkhud with his cousin Uthman) and as ruler of Otrar about 1210

Born

Not pinned

Family

A Qarakhanid of the Ferghana (Husaynid) branch (TDV), cousin of Uthman of Samarkand (Barthold), hence a nephew of Ibrahim b. Husayn. Wives and children not recorded.

Confidence

low

Barthold, Turkestan, p. 391; TDV 'Karahanlilar'; Wikipedia 'Battle of Andkhud'. Barthold doubts Nasawi's statement that he still ruled Otrar until about 1216-17.

Overlord

The gurkhan

What it holds

• Otrar and its oasis at the confluence of the Arys and the Syr Darya
• Probably Yasi (Shavgar, the later Turkestan) and Sawran upstream of the Qipchaq frontier (not pinned)

Allies and rivals

Kinsmen: the khans of Samarkand and Uzgend. Lord: the gurkhan. Neighbours: the Qipchaq khan of Sighnaq downstream; the Khwarazmshah's base at Jand further down.

How things stand that morning

Otrar is a vassal town of the gurkhan under a Qarakhanid lord, probably Bilge Khan (not pinned).

Wealth

Irrigated fields of the Arys and Syr Darya; pottery; the trade between the steppe and the oases (horses, sheep, slaves, furs for cloth, grain and weapons).

Military

The walled town and citadel of Otrar; his retinue (he rides with Tayangu in 1204). No figures.

Threats

• The Qipchaq of Sighnaq
• The Khwarazmshah at Jand

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.

1. 1204Fights at Andkhud with Tayangu and Uthman against Mu'izz al-Din.Depends on: The Ghurid attack on Khwarazm. Stopped by: Peace between Ghurids and Khwarazm.
2. about 1210Submits to Muhammad of Khwarazm; later exiled to Nasa and executed.Depends on: Muhammad's war with the gurkhan. Stopped by: Far beyond 1200.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Named only from 1204 onward; his tenure in 1200 is an inference.

On the map: The oasis is traced roughly; its limits towards Yasi and Sawran are not known.

Primary sources for Khanate of Samarkand

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.

• The History of the World Conqueror, Ata-Malik Juvayni (1252 to 1260). Written for the Mongols but with a long retrospective on the powers they destroyed. Read online
• 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 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
• Dictionary of Countries, Yaqut al-Hamawi (1224 to 1228, at Aleppo). An alphabetical gazetteer of every place Yaqut had read of or seen: he travelled as a bookseller's agent through Syria, Iraq, Persia, Khurasan and Khwarazm (about 1213 to 1220) and settled in Aleppo. Read online
• 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