Kashgar, on the Kizil Su at the western end of the Tarim basin, is the capital of the eastern Qarakhanid khans and the junction of the roads from Ferghana, the Chu valley, the Pamirs and India with the road to China.
It is a Muslim Turkish city of scholars and a see of the Church of the East, whose metropolitan of Kashgar was created in the late twelfth century. The shrine of Satuq Bughra Khan, the first Muslim khan, is at Artush nearby.
Who holds it
- Name
- Abu'l-Muzaffar Yusuf b. Muhammad
- Title
- Khan of Kashgar
- Since
- About 1180
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
The khan Yusuf b. Muhammad, vassal of the gurkhan.
How things stand that morning
Quiet.
Charter
None: the towns of the Qarakhanid khans have no charters; the khan's governor, the judge (qadi), the market inspector (muhtasib) and the headman (ra'is) run them.
Council
Not recorded.
Communities
Turkish Muslims (Hanafi); Christians of the Church of the East with their metropolitan; traders from Transoxiana and China.
Fairs and markets
Not recorded.
Militia
The notables of Kashgar act on their own in 1210-11, when they kill the returning prince at the gate.
Walls and castle
The khan's walled town and citadel (details for 1200 not recorded).
Trade and crafts
The caravan trade between east and west; cotton and the oasis's farms; goods of Khotan.
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.
- 1204Rises with Khotan against the gurkhan; the revolt is crushed.Depends on: Discontent with the gurkhan. Stopped by: A lighter Qara Khitai hand.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Very little is recorded of Kashgar between 1180 and 1204.
Primary sources for Khanate of Kashgar
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
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, 'Kashgar'
- TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Karahanlilar'
- Wikipedia, 'Yelu Zhilugu' (citing Barthold on the metropolitan see of Kashgar)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.