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Barchuq Art Tegin (Chinese:巴而朮·阿而忒·的斤; known also asIdikut Baurchuk,Idikut Barchuq) was a ruler, with a title of Idiqut ("Lord of happiness"), of theQocho inBeshbalik (near present-dayÜrümqi, China),Kara-Khoja (near present-dayTurpan, China, known also asIdikut-Shahri),Kumul,Kucha andKarasahr between 1208 and 1235. As a result of his policies, Uyghuria joined theMongol Empire as its fifth Ulus (district) in 1211.
In 1209, Baurchuk sparked a rebellion against theWestern Liao dynasty, who had forced the Uyghurs into paying tribute. He killed the Gurkhan'senvoy Shaukam and sent an embassy toGenghis Khan, asking for his help. The Mongol ruler accepted Baurchuk's deputation and pledged his support.
During the following year or two, Baurchuk mounted military expeditions againstNaimans and killed four sons of their rulerDayan Khan. After this show of loyalty to Genghis Khan, he was received by the latter in modern-dayMongolia (1211), married his daughterAltun Begi and was declared by Genghis Khan to be his fifth son, afterJochi,Chagatay,Ögedei andTolui.[1]
In September 1219, Baurchuk joined Genghis Khan in an attack against theKhwarezmian Empire, personally commanding 10,000tuman troops and taking part in the siege ofOtrar andNishapur[2] (razed to ground by Mongols). In the spring of 1226, he took an active part in the two-year Mongol expedition against theWestern Xia led by Genghis Khan himself and completed in almost full annihilation of theTangut people, who were declared to be responsible for Genghis Khan's death under the walls of besieged Tangut capital,[3] in September, 1227. Baurchuk's participation in the expedition for destruction of the Tangut state was motivated not only by his obligations as ally of the Mongols, but also by the enmity that existed between the Tanguts and the Uyghurs since the destruction of theBuddhist/Manichaean Uyghur Kingdom inGansu (848–1036) two centuries before, during the Uyghur-Tangut war of 1028–1036, followed by mass killings of its inhabitants. The population of the Western Xia was reduced from around 3,000,000 people to less than one hundred thousand, which eventually had been assimilated by other ethnic groups, mostly of Mongolic,Turkic andTibetan origins.
The presentTungan (Hui) people of autonomous Ningxia region can be considered as descendants of the Tangut people. The nameNingxia in Chinese means "Tranquillized or Quelled Xia".
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