Tayangu is the gurkhan's senior field commander, and the Persian historians attach him to Taraz on the Talas, the frontier town of the gurkhan's own lands towards Shash and the Syr Darya.
In 1198 he led the army that crossed the Oxus after the Ghurids took Balkh, raided Guzganan and was destroyed by the Ghurids in a night attack near Gurziwan, with heavy losses (Ibn al-Athir's figure is 12,000 dead); the gurkhan then sought compensation from Tekish. He keeps the gurkhan's confidence: in 1204 he routs Mu'izz al-Din at Andkhud and takes his ransom, and he commands against Khwarazm until he is captured in the battle near Taraz in 1210.
Who he is
- Name
- Tayangu (Tāyankū); his personal name is not recorded
- Title
- Tayangu (a Qara Khitai rank or title; Barthold suggests the first syllables render the Chinese 'taiwang', great prince), commander of the gurkhan's armies; called 'Tayangu of Taraz' by Juvaini
- Since
- Not pinned; in command by 1198
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- Not recorded.
- Confidence
- medium
TDV 'Karahitaylar' (commander of the 1198 campaign and of the later operations); Barthold, Turkestan, pp. 371, 377, 385, 390; Wikipedia, 'Battle of Andkhud' and 'Yelu Zhilugu'.
Overlord
The gurkhan Yelu Zhilugu
What it holds
- Taraz and the Talas valley, as the gurkhan's commander (Juvaini's 'Tayangu of Taraz'; the extent of his charge is not recorded)
- Command of the gurkhan's field army
How it was acquired
Appointment by the gurkhan; date not pinned.
Allies and rivals
Serves the gurkhan; fought the Ghurids (1198, 1204) and later Khwarazm (1210). Works with the khans of Samarkand and Otrar in 1204.
How things stand that morning
The gurkhan's general at Taraz, a year and more after the defeat of 1198.
Wealth
The Talas valley's farms and pastures and the road from Shash to the Chu.
Military
The gurkhan's field army; the walled town of Taraz. Record: defeat in Guzganan (1198), victory at Andkhud (1204), captured near Taraz (1210).
Threats
- Qipchaq raids from the Karatau and the lower Syr Darya, as in 1181, when Tekish's ally Alp Qara reached the Talas
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.
- 1204Routs Mu'izz al-Din at Andkhud and takes his ransom.Depends on: A Ghurid attack on Khwarazm and a Khwarazmian appeal to the gurkhan. Stopped by: Peace between Ghurids and Khwarazm.
- 1210Captured by Muhammad of Khwarazm and Uthman in the battle near Taraz (Ilamish).Depends on: Muhammad's break with the gurkhan. Stopped by: Far beyond 1200.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Named in Ibn al-Athir, Juvaini and Juzjani for 1198-1210; his tie to Taraz rests on Juvaini's epithet.
On the map: The extent of Tayangu's charge is not recorded; the Talas valley is drawn as the natural district of Taraz.
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.
- 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
- The Life of Sultan Jalal al-Din Mankubirti, Shihab al-Din Muhammad al-Nasawi (about 1241, at Aleppo). A Khwarazmian secretary's life of the last Khwarazmshah. Read online
- The Nasirid Generations: a General History of the Muslim Dynasties, Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani (1259 to 1260, at Delhi). The Ghurid court's own history, by a man born in 1193 whose family served the sultans of Ghur and Ghazna. Read online
- Compendium of Chronicles, Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah Hamadani (1300 to 1311, at Tabriz). The official Ilkhanid history, compiled from Mongol oral tradition and the lost Altan Debter. Read online
- Compendium of Chronicles: the Turkic and Mongol tribes and the life of Chinggis Khan, Rashid al-Din Hamadani (about 1300 to 1311, in the Ilkhanate). The fullest description of who held what on the steppe around 1200, written a century later from Mongol court records (the Altan Debter) and from informants such as Bolad Chingsang. 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
Sources and studies
- TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Karahitaylar'
- W. Barthold, Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion (1928), pp. 368, 371, 377, 385, 390
- Wikipedia, 'Battle of Andkhud'
- Wikipedia, 'Qara Khitai' (citing Biran 2005, pp. 65-66, for the 1198 battle near Kurzuban)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.