Uzgend, at the eastern end of the Ferghana valley on the Kara Darya, was once the capital of all Transoxiana under the early Qarakhanids and is now the capital of the khans of Ferghana.
Its citadel stands inside the inner town, which made it unusual among the Ferghana towns; it has four gates and good water. The road over the Yassi pass to At-Bashi and the Chu, and the road to Kashgar, start here, and it lives by the trade with the Turks. The gurkhan keeps his treasury here. The khans' domed tombs stand in the town: that of Nasr b. Ali (1012-13), the northern tomb (1152-53) believed to be that of Jalal al-Dunya wa'l-Din Husayn, first khan of the Ferghana line, and the southern tomb (1186) of an unknown occupant, with a tall brick minaret.
Who holds it
- Title
- Khan of Ferghana
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
The Qarakhanid khan of Ferghana (name not pinned), vassal of the gurkhan, whose treasury is kept here.
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 and Persian-speaking Muslims; the khan's Turkish household.
Fairs and markets
Not recorded.
Militia
Not recorded.
Walls and castle
Citadel inside the walled inner town; four gates.
Trade and crafts
Trade with the Turks of the mountains and with Kashgar; sal ammoniac from the mountains nearby; the mint.
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.
- 1210Kuchlug plunders the gurkhan's treasury at Uzgend.Depends on: Kuchlug's revolt. Stopped by: Far beyond 1200.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Barthold's geography and the monuments; nothing on its governance in 1200.
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
- W. Barthold, Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion (1928)
- TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Karahanlilar'
- Archnet, 'Three Mausolea at Uzgen'
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.