| Languages | |
|---|---|
| Karluk languages i.eUzbek,Uyghur,Chagatai;Turkic,Persian,Ili Turki | |
| Religion | |
| Tengrism,Islam,Nestorian Christianity[1] |
TheKarluks (alsoQarluqs,Qarluks,Karluqs,Old Turkic:𐰴𐰺𐰞𐰸, Qarluq,[2]Para-Mongol: Harluut,simplified Chinese:葛逻禄;traditional Chinese:葛邏祿Géluólù ; customary phonetic:Gelu, Khololo, Khorlo,Persian:خَلُّخ,Khallokh,Arabic:قارلوقQarluq) were a prominentnomadicTurkic tribal confederacy residing in the regions of Kara-Irtysh (BlackIrtysh) and theTarbagatai Mountains west of theAltay Mountains inCentral Asia. Karluks gave their name to the distinctKarluk group of theTurkic languages, which also includes theUzbek,Uyghur andIli Turki languages.
Karluks were known as a coherent ethnic group (with autonomous status within theGöktürk khaganate and an independent one in their subsequent states of theKarluk yabghu,Karakhanids andQarlughids) before being absorbed in theChagatai Khanate of theMongol Empire.[citation needed]
They were also calledUch-Oghuz meaning "Three Oghuz".[3] Despite the similarity of names,Mahmud al-Kashgari'sDīwān Lughāt al-Turk wrote: "Karluks is a division of nomadic Turks. They are separate fromOghuz, but they areTurkmens like Oghuz."[4]Ilkhanate'sRashid al-Din Hamadani in hisJami' al-tawarikh mentions Karluks as one of theOghuz (Turkmen) tribes.[5]I. Kafesoğlu (1958) proposes thatTürkmen might be the Karluks' equivalent of theGöktürks' political termKök Türk.[6]
Nikolai Aristov noted that a tributary of theCharysh River was Kerlyk and proposed that the tribal name originated from thetoponym with a Turkic meaning of "wild Siberian millet".[7]
Peter Golden, citingNémeth, suggests thatqarluğ/qarluq possibly means "snowy"[8] (from Proto-Turkic *qar "snow"[9]). However,Marcel Erdal critiques this as a folk etymology, as "[i]n Old Turkic the suffix +lXk, which is implied in this account, had fourfold vowel harmony, and the +lXk derivate fromkar would in Old Turkic be *karlık and notkarluk".[10]
Having noted that the majority of Chinese transcriptions 歌邏祿, 歌羅祿, 葛邏祿, 葛羅祿 and 哥邏祿 (all romanized asGeluolu) are trisyllabic, while only one form 葛祿 (Gelu) is disyllabic, Erdal contends that although the latter one transcribedQarluq, the former four transcribed *Qaraluq, which should be the preferred reading. Thus, Erdal concluded that "the name is likely to be an exonym, formed as an-(O)k derivate from the verbkar-ıl- ‘to mingle (intr.)’ discussed in Erdal (1991: 662); it would thus have signified ‘the mingled ones’, presumably because the tribe evolved from the mingling of discrete groups," as already suggested byDoerfer.[11]
The firstChinese reference to the Karluks (644) labels them with aManichaean attribute:Lion Karluks ("Shi-Geluolu","shi" stands forSogdian "lion"). The "lion" (Turkish:arslan) Karluks persisted up to the time of theMongols.[12]
In theEarly Middle Ages, three member tribes of theGöktürk Khaganate formed the Uch-Karluk (Three Karluks) union; initially, the union's leader bore the titleElteber, later elevated toYabgu.[13] After the split of the khaganate around 600 into theWestern andEastern khaganates, the Uch-Karluks (三姓葛邏祿), along with Chuyue (處月; later asShatuo 沙陀), Chumi (處蜜), Gusu (姑蘇), and Beishi (卑失) became subordinate to theWestern Turkic Khaganate. After the Göktürks' downfall, the Karluk confederation would later incorporate otherTurkic tribes like theChigils,Tuhsi,[14]Azkishi,Türgesh,Khalajes,Čaruk,Barsqan, as well asIranianSogdians and West Asian and Central Asian migrants.[13]
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In 630,Ashina Helu, theIshbara Qaghan of theEastern Turkic Khaganate, was captured by theChinese. Hisheir apparent, the "lesser Khan" Hubo, escaped toAltai with a major part of the people and 30,000 soldiers. He conquered the Karluks in the west, theKyrgyz in the north, and took the titleYizhuchebi Khagan. The Karluks allied with theTiele and their leaders theUyghurs against the Turkic Khaganate, and participated in enthroning the victorious head of the Uyghurs (Toquz Oghuz). After that, a smaller part of the Karluks joined the Uyghurs and settled in theBogdo-Ola mountains inMongolia, the larger part settled in the area betweenAltai and the easternTian Shan.[16]
In 650, at the time of their submission to the Chinese, the Karluks had three tribes:Mouluo 謀落/Moula 謀剌 (*Bulaq),Chisi 熾俟[a][17] orSuofu 娑匐[b][18] (*Sebeg), andTashili 踏實力 (*Taşlïq).[13][19] On paper, the Karluk divisions received Chinese names as Chinese provinces, and their leaders received Chinese state titles. Later, the Karluks spread from the valley of the river Kerlyk along theIrtysh River in the western part of theAltai to beyond theBlack Irtysh,Tarbagatai, and towards theTian Shan.[20]
By the year 665 the Karluk union was led by a former Uch-Karlukbey with the title Kül-Erkin, now titled "Yabgu" (prince), who had a powerful army. The Karluk vanguard left the Altai region and at the beginning of the 8th century reached the banks of theAmu Darya.[21]
They were considered a vassal state by theTang dynasty after the final conquest of theTransoxania regions by the Chinese in 739. The Karluk rose in rebellion against the Göktürks, then the dominant tribal confederation in the region, in about 745, and established a new tribal confederation with theUygur andBasmyl tribes.[22] However, Karluks and Basmyls were defeated and forcibly incorporated into theToquz Oghuz tribal confederation, led by the UyghurYaglakar clan.[23][24] They remained in the Chinese sphere of influence and an active participant in fighting theMuslim expansion into the area, up until their split from theTang in 751. Chinese intervention in the affairs ofWestern Turkestan ceased after their defeat at theBattle of Talas in 751 by theArab general Ziyad ibn Salih. The Arabs dislodged the Karluks fromFergana.
In 766, after they overran theTürgesh inJetisu, the Karluk tribes formed aKhanate under the rule of aYabghu, occupiedSuyab and transferred their capital there. By that time the bulk of the tribe had left theAltai, and the supremacy in Jetisu passed to the Karluks. Their ruler with the title Yabghu is often mentioned in theOrkhon inscriptions.[21] InPahlavi texts one of the Karluk rulers ofTocharistan was called Yabbu-Hakan (Yabghu-Khagan).[25] The fall of the Western Turkic Kaganate leftJetisu in the possession of Turkic peoples, independent of either Arabs or Chinese.[21]
In 822, the Uyghurs sent four Karluks as tribute toTang dynasty of China.[26]
The Karluks were hunters, nomadic herdsmen, and agriculturists. They settled in the countryside and in the cities, which were centered on trading posts along the caravan roads. The Karluks inherited a vast multi-ethnic region, whose diverse population was not much different from its rulers.Jetisu was populated by several tribes: theAzes (mentioned in theOrkhon inscriptions) and theTuhsi, remnants of theTürgesh;[31][32] as well as theShatuo Turks (沙陀突厥) (lit. "Sandy Slope Turks", i.e. "Desert Turks") of Western Turkic, specifically ofChigil origins,[33][34] and the interspersingSogdian colonies. The southern part of Jetisu was occupied by theYagma people, who also heldKashgar. In the north and west lived theKangly. Chigils, who had joined and been a significant division of the Three-Karluks, then detached and resided aroundIssyk Kul.[21]
The diverse population adhered to a spectrum of religious beliefs. The Karluks and the majority of theTurkic population professedTengrianism, considered asshamanism andheathen by theChristians andMuslims. The Karluks converted toNestorian Christianity at the end of the 8th century CE, about 15 years after they established themselves in theJetisu region.[27] This was the first time theChurch of the East received such major sponsorship by an eastern power.[35] Particularly, theChigils wereChristians of theNestorian denomination. The majority of theToquz Oghuz, with their khan, wereManicheans, but there were alsoChristians,Buddhists, andMuslims among them.
The peaceful penetration ofMuslim culture through commercial relations played a far more important role in their conversion than Muslim arms. The merchants were followed by missionaries of various creeds, includingNestorian Christians. ManyTurkestan towns had Christian churches. The Turks held sacred the Qastek pass mountains, believing to be an abode of the deity. Each creed carried its script, resulting in a variety of used scripts, includingTürkic runiform,Sogdian,Syriac, and later theUygur.[21] The Karluks had adopted and developed the Turkic literary language ofKhwarazm, established inBukhara andSamarkand, which after theMongol conquest became known as theChagatai language.[citation needed]
Of allTurkic peoples, the Karluks were most open to the influence ofMuslim culture.Yaqubi reported the conversion of the Karluk-yabghu toIslam underCaliph Mahdi (775–785), and by the 10th century, several places to the east ofTalas had mosques. Muslim culture had affected the general way of life of the Karluks.[36]
During the next three centuries, theKarluk Yabgu state (laterKara-Khanid Khanate) occupied a key position on the international trade route, fighting off mostlyTurkic competitors to retain their prime position. Their biggest adversaries wereKangly in the northwest andToquz Oghuz in the southeast, with a period ofSamanid raids toJetisu in 840–894. But even in the heyday of the Karluk Yabgu state, parts of its domains were in the hands of the Toquz Oghuz, and later underKyrgyz andKhitan control, increasing the ethnical, religious, and political diversity.[37]
The state ofKarluk Yabghu was an association of semi-independent districts and cities, each equipped with its ownmilitia. The biggest was the capitalSuyab, which could turn out 20,000 warriors, and among other districts, the town of Beglilig (known as "Samakna" before Karluk rule[38]) had 10,000 warriors,Panjikat could turn out 8,000 warriors,Barskhan 6,000 warriors, and Yar 3,000 warriors. The titles of the petty rulers were Qutegin of the Karluk Laban clan in Karminkat, Taksin in Jil, Tabin-Barskhan in Barskhan, Turkic Yindl-Tegin andSogdian Badan-Sangu in Beglilig. The prince ofSuyab, situated north of theChu river in theTürgesh land, was a brother of one of the Göktürk khans, but bore the Persian title Yalan-shah, i.e. "King of Heroes".
Muslim authors describe in detail the trade route from Western Asia to China acrossJetisu, mentioning many cities. Some bore double names, bothTurkic andSogdian. They wrote about the capital cities ofBalasagun,Suyab, and Kayalik, in whichWilliam of Rubruck saw threeBuddhist temples in theMuslim town for the first time. The geographers also mentionedTaraz (Talas, Auliya-ata),Navekat (now Karabulak[clarification needed]), Atbash (now Koshoy-Kurgan ruins),Issyk-kul,Barskhan,Panjikat,Akhsikat, Beglilig,Almalik, Jul, Yar, Ton, Panchul, and others.[39]
Prior to theKyrgyz-Uyghur war of 829–840, theKyrgyz lived in the upper basin of theYenisei River. Linguisticallytheir language, together with theAltai language, belongs to a separate Kyrgyz group of theTurkic language family. At that time they had an estimated population of 250,000 and an army of 50,000. Kyrgyz victory in the war brought them to theKarluk door. They capturedTuva,Altai, a part ofDzungaria, and reachedKashgar. Allied with the Karluks against the Uyghurs, in the 840s the Kyrgyz started the occupation of that part ofJetisu which is their present home. Karluk independence ended around 840. They fell from dominating the tribal association to a subordinate position. The Kyrgyz remained a power in Jetisu until their destruction by theKara-Khitans in 1124, when most of them evacuated from their center inTuva back to theMinusinsk Depression,[37] leaving the Karluks to predominate again in Jetisu.
The position of the Karluk state, based on the richJetisu cities, remained strong, despite the failures in wars in the beginning of the 9th century. Yabghu was enriched by profitable trade in slaves on theSyr Darya slave markets, selling guards for theAbbasid Caliphs, and exercizing control over the transit road toChina in the sector fromTaraz toIssyk-Kul. The Karluk position inFergana, despiteArab attempts to expel them, became stronger.[40]
The fall of the lastkhagan with its capital inÖtüken, which dominated for three centuries, created a completely new geopolitical situation in allCentral Asia. For the first time in three hundred years, the powerful center of authority that created opportunities for expansion or even existence of any state inTurkestan had finally disappeared. Henceforth, theTurkic tribes recognized only the high status of the clan that inherited the Khagan title, but never again his unifying authority. SeveralMuslim historians state that after the loss by theUyghurs of their power (840), the supreme authority among the Turkic tribes passed to the Karluk leaders. Connection with theAshina clan, the ruling clan of theTurkic Khaganate, allowed the Karluk dynasty to dress their authority with legitimate attire, and, abandoning the old titleYabghu, to take on the new title ofKhagan.[41]
Towards 940 the "heathen”Yagma from the southern border seized theChu river valley and the Karluk capitalBalasagun. The Yagma ruler bore the titleBogra Khan (Camel Khan), very common amongKarakhanids. The Yagma quickly proceeded to take control of all Karluk lands. In the 10th and 12th centuries, the lands on both sides of the principal chain of theTian Shan were united under the rule of the Karakhanid Ilek-khans (Khans of the Land) or simply Karakhanids (Great Khans). The Karakhanid state was divided into fiefs which soon became independent.[43]
The Kara-Khanid Khanate was founded in the 9th century from a confederation ofKarluks,Chigils,Yagmas, and other tribes.[44] Later in the 10th century a KarakhanidSultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam. His son Musa made Islam a state religion in 960. The empire occupied modern northernIran and parts ofCentral Asia. This region remained under the Karakhanids, but for varying periods it was an autonomous vassal ofSeljuks andKara-Khitans. The Karakhanid Khanate ended when the last ruler of its western khanate was killed by theKhwarezmids in 1212. Both the Kara-Khitans and the Khwarezmids were later destroyed by theMongol invasion.
The name Khāqāniyya was given to the Karluks who inhabitedKashgar andBalasagun, whose inhabitants were notUyghur however their language hasbeen retroactively labelled as Uyghur by scholars.[45]
At the beginning of the 10th century, a tribe related to theMongols, theKhitans, with an admixture of Mongols, founded a vast empire, stretching from thePacific toLake Baikal and theTian Shan, displacing theTurkic population. TheKhitan language has been classified aspara-Mongolic: distantly related to theMongolic languages of theMongols.[46] Reportedly, the firstGurkhan was aManichaean.
Owing to its long sway over China, the ruling dynasty, which theTwenty-Four Histories call theLiao dynasty (916–1125), was strongly influenced byChinese culture. In 1125, aTungusic people, theJurchen, allied with theSouthern Song, ending the domination of theKhitans. The Khitan exiles, headed byYelü Dashi, a member of the Khitan royal family, migrated westwards.[47] The Khitans settled in theTarbagatai Mountains east ofJetisu, and their number grew to 40,000 tents.
Around 1130 the localKarakhanid ruler ofBalasagun asked for their aid against the hostileKankalis and Karluks. The Khitans occupied Balasagun, expelled the weak Karakhanid ruler, and founded their own state, which stretched from theYenisei toTaraz. They then conquered theKankalis and subduedXinjiang. In 1137 nearKhujand they defeated theTransoxanian Karakhanid ruler Mahmud Khan, who then appealed to theirsuzerain theSeljuks for help. The Kara-Khitans, who were also invited by theKhwarazmians (then also a vassal of the Seljuks) to conquer the lands of the Seljuks as well as in response to an appeal to intervene by the Karluks who were involved in a conflict with the Karakhanids, then advanced toSamarkand. In 1141, the Seljuks underAhmad Sanjar also arrived inSamarkand with his army, but was defeated by the Kara-Khitans in theBattle of Qatwan, after which the Kara-Khitans became dominant inTransoxania.[48]
The western Khitan state became known under its Turkic name, theKara-Khitan Khanate and their ruler bore the Turkic title Gurkhan "Khan’s son-in law".[49] The original Uch-Karluk confederation became split between the Karakhanid state in the west and the Karakhitay state in the east, lasting until the Mongol invasion. Both in the west and east, Karluk principalities retained their autonomous status and indigenous rulers, though in Karakhitay the Karluk khan, like the ruler of Samarkand, was forced to accept the presence of a permanent representative of the Gurkhan.[50]
The Gurkhans administered limited territories, populated in 1170 by 84,500 families under direct rule. The Gurkhan's headquarters was called Khosun-ordu (lit. "Strong Ordu"), or Khoto ("House"). The Karluk capital was Kayalik. The Karakhanids continued to rule over Transoxania and western Xinjiang. The Kara-khitans did not interfere with the religion of the people, but Islam became less dominant as the other religions took advantage of the new freedom to increase the number of their adherents. TheNestorian Patriarch Elias III (1176–1190) founded a religious metropole inKashgar. The Karakhitay metropolitan bore the title Metropolitan of Kashghar and Navakat, showing that the see of Kashghar also controlled the southern part of Zhetysu. The oldest Nestorian tombs in the Tokmak and Pishpek cemeteries go back to the epoch of Karakhitay domination.Ata-Malik Juvayni however stressed the oppression of Muslims byKuchlug, a son of the lastNayman khan who was ousted (towards 1204) by Mongolia byGenghis Khan. The Nayman Nestorian Christian Küchlük usurped the throne of the Kara-Khitans. In 1211, a Mongol detachment under the command ofKhubilai Noyon, one of Genghis Khan's generals, appeared in the northern part of Zhetysu. Arslan-khan Karluk killed the Karakhitay governor of Kayalik and proclaimed his loyalty to Genghis Khan. The Zhetysu, together with Eastern Turkestan, voluntarily surrendered to the Mongols.[51] Kuchlug was killed by theinvading Mongols in 1218.[52]
In 1211 aMongol detachment under the command of Qubilai Noyon appeared in the northern part ofJetisu. Karluk Arslan Khan, probably the son of Arslan khan and brother of Mamdu khan, killed theKhitan governor of Kayalik and proclaimed his loyalty toGenghis Khan.[53] TheCollection of Annals records that Genghis Khan removed his title from Karluk Arslan Khan: "Let your name be Sartaktai", i.e.Sart, said the sovereign.[12]
After the absorption of theKara-Khanid Khanate by theChagatai Khanate, the ethnonym Karluk became rarely used. TheKarluk language was the primary basis for the laterlingua franca of the Chagatai Khanate and Central Asia under theTimurid dynasty. It is therefore designated by linguists and historians as theChagatai language, but its contemporaries, such asTimur andBabur, simply called itTurki.
A genetic study published inNature in May 2018 examined the remains of two Karluk males buried at Butakty in theTian Shan between 800 AD and 1000 AD.[54] One male carried the paternalhaplogroup J2a[55] and the maternalhaplogroup A,[56] while the other carried the maternal haplogroupF1b1e.[57]
Arab historianAl Masudi stated that, among Turkic peoples, the Karluks were "the most beautiful in form, the tallest in stature and the most lordly in appearance".[58]
{{cite book}}:|website= ignored (help)Over time, these peoples were divided into numerous clans, [and indeed] in every era [new] subdivisions arose from each division, and each for a specific reason and occasion received its name and nickname, like the Oghuz, who are now generally called the Turkmens [Turkman], they are also divided into Kipchaks, Kalach, Kangly, Karluk and other tribes related to them...
The conversion of the Karluk Turks by the Church of the East in the eighth century marked an important moment of self-determination for Christians living in early medieval Central Asia: never before had Christianity enjoyed the official backing of such a significant power in the region as the Karluks, who established their kingdom in Zhetysu, the "Land of the Seven Rivers" beneath Lake Balkhash. The Karluks most likely converted to Christianity about fifteen years after they conquered Zhetysu from the Türgesh Khaganate, bridging the identity of the new Karluk state to a religion that had rarely, if ever, been formally associated with the rulers who controlled Central Asia.
An agreement was reached at this point with the Karakhanid Ilig Nasrb. Ali making the Oxus the boundary between the two empires [the Karakhanids and the Ghaznavids], for the shrunken Samanid amirate came to an inglorious end when the Ilig occupied Bukhara definitively in 999
