Kings and their demesnes · Ferghana: the khans of Uzgend · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Khan of Uzgend

The khan at Uzgend rules the Ferghana valley as the gurkhan's vassal and keeps the gurkhan's treasury in his town.

His name in 1200 is not recorded. His towns are Uzgend, Osh, Quba, Marghinan, Akhsikath and Kasan; the valley's western mouth at Khujand is probably the khan of Samarkand's.

Who he is

Name
Not pinned (Tughrul Khaqan Muhammad attested 578/1182; Ulugh Sultan Qadir Khan from 606/1210)
Title
Khan of Ferghana at Uzgend
Since
Not pinned
Born
Not pinned
Family
Husaynid branch of the Qarakhanids; see the Ferghana realm record.
Confidence
low

TDV 'Karahanlilar'; Barthold, Turkestan, p. 393.

Overlord

The gurkhan

What it holds

  • Uzgend with the gurkhan's treasury
  • Osh, Quba, Marghinan
  • Akhsikath and Kasan
  • The passes towards Kashgar and the Chu

How it was acquired

Hereditary in the Husaynid branch since 1137-41.

Allies and rivals

See the Ferghana realm record.

How things stand that morning

Ruling the valley in peace as a vassal; name not pinned.

Wealth

See the Ferghana realm record.

Military

His Turkish guard and the walled towns. No figures.

Threats

  • Nomads of the mountains
  • Family rivals

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. 1210Qadir Khan in power at Uzgend; Kuchlug plunders the treasury.Depends on: Kuchlug's revolt. Stopped by: Far beyond 1200.

Places of note

  • Uzgend tombs and minaret: Domed tombs of the Qarakhanids (Nasr b. Ali 1012-13; the northern tomb 1152-53, believed to be Jalal al-Dunya wa'l-Din Husayn's; the southern tomb 1186, occupant unknown) and a brick minaret.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Coins and building inscriptions only.

On the map: The valley floor and lower slopes; the high rims are given to the herders' provinces or left unanchored.

Primary sources for Khanate of Ferghana

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 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

Sources and studies

  1. TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Karahanlilar'
  2. W. Barthold, Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion (1928), pp. 182, 390, 393
  3. Archnet, 'Three Mausolea at Uzgen'

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