The oasis lordships of the Tarim, vassals of the Qara Khitai

Who rules

Name

Yelu Zhilugu (suzerain; reign from 1177 or 1178, sources differ). The local lords are mostly not known.

Title

No single ruler: a group of oasis lordships, each under its own prince, governor, sangha or headmen; suzerain the gurkhan of the Qara Khitai

Since

Qara Khitai suzerainty over the Eastern Qarakhanids dates from the 1130s to 1141 (Balasagun taken 1134; Qatwan, 9 September 1141)

Born

not known

Family

The Muslim lords of the west and south belong to the Eastern Qarakhanid house (Yusuf b. Muhammad reigns at Kashgar; Khotan has a khan of its own, not named). The lords of the north-east are Uyghur or of unknown house.

Confidence

medium for how the group is governed, low for every name

Read for this record: Iranica 'Ilak-Khanids', 'Khotan', 'Chinese Turkestan iii', 'Qara Ketay', 'Yarkand', 'Kucha'; Wikipedia on the Qara Khitai, Qocho, Kara-Khanids and Kuchlug; Chinese Wikipedia on Kuchlug and Xinjiang history; Stein, Ancient Khotan; the Persia map's records. No named ruler of Yarkand, Aksu, Kucha or Karashahr turned up in any of them.

Overlord

The gurkhan Yelu Zhilugu of the Qara Khitai (the Persia map's qarakhitai record). Karashahr and perhaps Kucha may also lean on the idiqut of Qocho, himself a vassal of the gurkhan.

What the realm holds

• Southern road: Yarkand, Poskam, Karghalik, Guma, Moyu, Khotan, Lop, Chira, Keriya, Niya and Cherchen (Qiemo), with the Khotan jade rivers
• Northern road: Maralbexi, Tumshuk, Uch Turfan, Aksu, Bay, Kucha, Luntai, Korla and Karashahr, with Lake Bosten
• The caravan halts, canals, tolls and orchards of these oases; no source lists any prince's tolls or lands
• Not held but used: the Taklamakan interior, the Lop desert road to Dunhuang, the Karakoram road to Ladakh

How it was acquired

The Qarakhanids took Khotan about 1006 (Utbi calls Yusuf Qadir Khan 'khan of Khotan' in 397 AH, 1006-07). The Qara Khitai took Balasagun in 1134 and beat the Qarakhanids and Sultan Sanjar at Qatwan on 9 September 1141; the Tarim lords have paid tribute since.

Allies and rivals

Overlord: the gurkhan. West: the khan of Kashgar, Yusuf b. Muhammad, head of the Eastern Qarakhanid house (Persia record). North-east: the idiqut of Qocho, a fellow vassal and Buddhist, nearest neighbour of Karashahr (the tau sheet). East: the Tangut empire of Xia holds Shazhou (Dunhuang), the far end of the Lop road. North: Qarluq and other Turkic herders on the Tian Shan pastures, and the Qarluq of Almaliq beyond (tau). South: the Tibetan herders of the plateau, and over the Karakoram, Ladakh and Kashmir.

The realm that morning

Quiet. No war, raid or revolt is recorded in the Tarim in the winter of 1199-1200; the first dated trouble is the Kashgar and Khotan revolt of 1204. The gurkhan's rule is a name in the sermon and a tax by envoy. The one resident Qara Khitai commissioner attested east of the Pamirs is the shaojian at the Uyghur court of Qocho (tau sheet, Persia record). Where the gurkhan's authority is real: Kashgar, where his predecessor moved and demoted the eastern khan, and, judging by what happens in 1204, Khotan, which the gurkhan's army reaches then.

Where it is only a claim on paper: Yarkand, Aksu, Kucha, Karashahr, Keriya and the desert-edge oases, for which no payment, envoy or officer is recorded. Who exactly rules Yarkand, Aksu, Kucha and Karashahr in 1200 is not pinned; the map shows them as separate lordships because the sources point to local lords and never to one governor of the Tarim.

Wealth

Khotan jade from the White Jade (Yurungkash) and Black Jade (Karakash) rivers, taken from the beds at autumn low water; Khotan silk and pile carpets; cotton, grain, orchards, vines and wine on every oasis (Polo, c. 1273, for Khotan, Pein and Yarkand: later evidence); caravan tolls on the southern and northern roads and at the passes to the Pamirs, Ladakh and Kashmir; the copper, iron and sal ammoniac of the Kucha hills (attested for the Tang, not for 1200); fish and reeds at Lake Bosten and Lop Nur. No figures.

Military

No standing army is attested for any Tarim lord. Each prince has his household and the town militia; the gurkhan's army is far off at Balasagun. The 1204 revolt was put down, the sources say, by the gurkhan; the forces on either side are not recorded. No numbers.

Threats

• The gurkhan's demands: a revolt is crushed (1204)
• Water quarrels between oases and the shifting of rivers
• Later: the Naiman refugee Kuchlug (from 1208 at the gurkhan's court, ruler from 1211) and the Mongols (1218)

How suzerainty works

• The local ruler keeps his throne, his courts, his coinage and his people; the gurkhan can dismiss him at any time (Iranica 'Qara Ketay').
• The gurkhan's name is read in the Friday sermon beside the local ruler's. That is the sign of vassalage.
• Tribute is a tax counted by household. Census and collection are done by an envoy or tax-gatherer of the gurkhan (shihna in Persian, basqaq in Turkic, shaojian in Chinese). Killing one is open revolt: the Uyghurs of Qocho do it in 1209.
• There is no garrison outside the gurkhan's own heartland. An envoy brings a small armed retinue; the main army camps near Balasagun. The gurkhan's reach is therefore a ride of weeks, not a post in each town.
• Hostages and insignia: the Kashgar khan's son is held at Balasagun after the 1204 revolt; a silver paiza and seal mark the vassal in Samarkand. Nothing of either kind is recorded for the oases east of Kashgar.
• Trade with China is left largely to the Uyghurs (Iranica 'Qara Ketay'); the Qara Khitai are Buddhist, Manichaeism and Buddhism revive and the Christian communities grow under them (Togan).

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.

In 1200

1. 1200Nothing is recorded for the Tarim. In the west Khwarazmshah Tekish dies on 3 July 1200 (Persia record) and the gurkhan's attention stays on the Oxus.Depends on: The Qara Khitai and Ghurid war over Balkh (1198) running on. Stopped by: A Ghurid peace with Khwarazm.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1204Kashgar and Khotan rebel against the gurkhan; the revolt is crushed and the Kashgar khan's son is held at Balasagun (Iranica 'Ilak-Khanids'; Wikipedia 'Qara Khitai').Depends on: Discontent with the gurkhan's weight on his vassals. Stopped by: A lighter hand from Balasagun.
2. Rajab 601 (22 February to 23 March 1205, tabular reckoning)Yusuf b. Muhammad of Kashgar dies; no successor is installed.Depends on: Natural death. Stopped by: Nothing.
3. 606 AH (from 6 July 1209)The Uyghurs of Qocho kill the Qara Khitai commissioner and turn to Chinggis Khan; Barchuq Art Tegin is the idiqut who does it (Wikipedia 'Barchuq Art Tegin'). The map's Karashahr and Kucha may pass with him; not pinned.Depends on: The rise of Chinggis in Mongolia. Stopped by: A stronger gurkhan or a loyal idiqut.
4. 1211 (607 AH)Kuchlug the Naiman seizes the gurkhan while he is hunting, frees the hostage prince Muhammad and sends him to rule Kashgar, where the notables kill him at the gate (Iranica; Persia record).Depends on: Kuchlug's welcome at the gurkhan's court from 1208. Stopped by: Nothing in the Tarim could stop it.
5. 1213 or 1214Kuchlug takes Khotan; the imam 'Ala al-Din Muhammad is nailed to the door of his madrasa; Muslims are forced to change religion or wear Khitan dress. Kashgar yields in 1214 (Iranica 'Khotan'; Wikipedia).Depends on: Kuchlug in power. Stopped by: His fall.
6. 1218Jebe enters Kashgar with the Mongols and proclaims religious freedom; Kuchlug is run down in the Pamirs by hunters; Yarkand's garrison leaders yield when his head is shown (Chinese Wikipedia 'Qu Chuli').Depends on: Chinggis's decision to destroy Kuchlug. Stopped by: A Naiman victory over Jebe.

Places of note

• Khotan: Largest oasis of the southern road and seat of its own Muslim khan.
• Yarkand: Large oasis between Kashgar and Khotan; lord not pinned.
• Aksu: Chief oasis of the northern road; lord not known.
• Kucha: Old Buddhist oasis; lord not known.
• Karashahr: Eastern end of the Tarim; neighbour of the Uyghur kingdom.

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry powers.txt puts Ferghana, Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan in one 'Eastern Qarakhanid' khanate. The Persia map has a separate khan at Uzgend and Ferghana, and Iranica ('Ilak-Khanids') says the Eastern khanate had different khans for Kashgar and Khotan, none named. Followed here: Khotan is a lordship of its own.
• The campaign board entry aksu and uch-turfan give the owner as 'The Qara Khitai (Western Liao)'. No source puts a Qara Khitai governor or garrison at either. They are drawn as Tarim lordships under the gurkhan's suzerainty, like Yarkand.
• The Persia map anchors Shache (Yarkand) and Zepu (Poskam) as kashgar and draws Yarkand 'with Kashgar' (Yarkand: not pinned). Here Yarkand and Poskam are tarim: no source puts them under the Kashgar khan in 1200, and the Chinese account of 1218 shows Yarkand as a place with its own garrison leaders. If the campaign prefers the Persia map's reading, recolour the Yarkand oasis kashgar; nothing else here changes.
• The campaign board entry yarkand says Yarkand has been Muslim 'since the Qarakhanid conquest of Khotan two centuries ago'. Yarkand was Qarakhanid and Muslim before the Khotan war (Iranica 'Yarkand'; coins of 1013-14 in the Persia record).
• The campaign board entry calendar and the-jade-rivers say Kuchlug killed the imam of Khotan after 1211. Iranica dates the conquest of Khotan 1213; Wikipedia's Kashgar surrender is 1214. All after 1 January 1200.
• The regional brief names 'Kyrgyz nomads of the Tian Shan'. No Kyrgyz people is attested on these pastures in 1200 (the Yenisei Kyrgyz are in Siberia; the move to the Tian Shan is generally placed after the Mongol conquests, not pinned). The province record uses Qarluq and other Turkic herders.
• Wikipedia 'Hotan' says Khotan was Kara-Khanid 'between 1006 and 1165'. The 1165 end is unexplained and contradicted by the 1204 revolt; ignored.

Evidence: The structure of Qara Khitai rule is fair (Iranica, Togan, Biran as cited). For the Tarim itself no ruler, officer, payment, garrison or event is recorded for the 1190s: Stein wrote that nothing is known of Khotan in the whole Qara Khitai period. Most of this record is therefore the shape of the system and later evidence read backwards, and says so.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: The two belts are the irrigated edge of the desert, drawn wide enough to catch the canals and the near desert. The Taklamakan interior is anchored to the oasis lords whose caravans and herds use it; nobody settled it.

Primary sources for this realm

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.

• 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 Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. 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
• Old Uyghur contracts, land sales, loans and administrative documents from the Turfan oases (mostly thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with some earlier; dated by animal years and rarely to a reign). Sale deeds, loans, leases, slave sales, wills and tax lists from Turfan, Qocho and Beshbaliq, the only internal evidence for everyday life, land tenure, prices and officials in the Uyghur kingdom whose idiqut was a vassal of the Qara Khitai in 1200.
• Journey to the West of the Perfected Changchun (Qiu Chuji), Li Zhichang (李志常) (about 1228, from the journey of 1220 to 1224). A dated eyewitness itinerary across the steppe and the Tarim twenty years after 1200: the Kereyit country and the Ongud frontier, the Naiman mountains, the Uyghur towns of Beshbaliq and the Tarim with their Buddhist and Christian communities, Almaliq of the Qarluq, and Samarkand. Read online