Sighnaq, on the right bank of the Syr Darya below Otrar, is the capital of the Qipchaq khans of the middle river, a 'dry harbour of the Qipchaq steppe' where the caravan road from the Tien Shan down the river to the Caspian meets the nomads.
Its people long remained non-Muslim and resisted the Qarakhanids; Juvaini says they became Muslim only under Muhammad of Khwarazm. The Khwarazmshahs raided it from Jand: Atsiz about 1152, Tekish in the winter of 1195 against Qadir Buqu (Qayir Buqu) Khan, when his army failed because the Uran horsemen in it changed sides, and again in 1197-98 with his son Muhammad, when the khan was taken prisoner. Who rules the town on 1 January 1200 is not recorded.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not pinned: Qadir Buqu Khan (Qayir Buqu) was taken prisoner by Tekish in 1197-98; who holds Sighnaq on 1 January 1200 is not recorded
- Title
- Khan of the Qipchaq of Sighnaq
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
Not pinned. The Qipchaq khan Qadir Buqu (Qayir Buqu) held Sighnaq when Tekish raided it in the winter of 1195; after a first army failed when its Uran horsemen went over to the khan, a second campaign led by Tekish with his son Muhammad, governor of Khurasan, took the khan prisoner and brought the Qipchaq of that country under Khwarazmian control (TDV 'Tekis', which dates it only 'after 1195'; the Khwarazm sheet places it in 1197-98; the khan has his own record there, Qadir Buqu Khan). On 1 January 1200 Sighnaq is a Qipchaq town, perhaps under a chief tributary to Khwarazm, perhaps under the released khan.
How things stand that morning
A Qipchaq town, possibly tributary to Khwarazm since the khan's capture in 1197-98; no raid recorded this winter.
Council
Not recorded for 1200.
Communities
Qipchaq Turks, still mostly pagan; Muslim traders.
Fairs and markets
Not recorded for 1200.
Militia
Not recorded for 1200.
Walls and castle
Walled town (ruins 2 km north-west of Sunakata).
Trade and crafts
Trade with the steppe; irrigated fields fed by a canal from the Syr Darya and by mountain streams; hunting and fishing.
Where the sources disagree
- The Qipchaq khan himself is written on the Khwarazm sheet (Qadir Buqu Khan); this record covers only the town. Iranica dates the expedition against him to the winter of 1195; the TDV, after Juvaini, has a failed first campaign and a successful second one in 1197-98.
Evidence: Iranica, Russian and English Wikipedia; nothing specific for 1200.
Primary sources for Kangli and Qipchaq
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
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia (Russian), 'Sygnak'
- TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Tekis, Alaeddin' (the two campaigns against Katir Buku Han, after 1195)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.