Qocho Kingdom 高昌回鶻
843–14th century
Territory of Qocho c. 1000
Status	Independent state (843–1132) Vassal state of theWestern Liao (1132–1209) Vassal state of theMongol Empire (1209–1335) Vassal state of theChagatai Khanate (Late 13th to mid 14th century)
Capital	Gaochang (Qocho),Beshbalik (Beiting/Tingzhou)
Common languages	Old Uyghur,Middle Chinese; alsoTocharian andSogdian in early years
Religion	Manichaeism (official initially 843–965),[1][2]Buddhism (Later declared as official)[3] Church of the East
Government	Monarchy
Idiqut
History
• Established	843
• Disestablished	14th century
Preceded by Succeeded by Uyghur Khaganate Tibetan Empire Western Liao Chagatai Khanate
Today part of	China Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan

Qocho orKara-Khoja (Chinese:高昌回鶻;pinyin:Gāochāng Huíhú;lit. 'Gaochang Uyghurs'),[4] also known asIdiqut^[5][6][7][8] ("holy wealth"; "glory"; "lord of fortune"^[9]), was aUyghur kingdom created in 843, with strongChinese Buddhist andTocharian influences. It was founded by refugees fleeing the destruction of theUyghur Khaganate after being driven out by theYenisei Kirghiz. They made their winter capital inQocho (also calledGaochang orQara-Khoja, near modernTurpan) and summer capital in Beshbalik (modernJimsar County, also known as Tingzhou).^[10] Its population is referred to as the "Xizhou Uyghurs" after the oldTang Chinese name for Gaochang, the "Qocho Uyghurs" after their capital, the "Kucha Uyghurs" after another city they controlled, or the "Arslan ("Lion") Uyghurs" after their king's title.

KARAKHANID KHANATE

CUMANS

KHAZARS

KIMEKS

KHITAN EMPIRE

1000

QOCHO

KHOTAN

GHAZNAVID
EMPIRE

HINDU
SHAHIS

BUYIDS

WESTERN
CHALUKYAS

PALA
EMPIRE

OGHUZ
YABGUS

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Qocho Kingdom and main neighbouring politiesc. 1000

In 843, a group of Uyghurs migrated southward under the leadership of Pangtele, and occupiedKarasahr andKucha, taking them from theTibetan Empire.^[11]

In 856, this group of Uyghurs received royal recognition from theTang dynasty.^[12] At this time, their capital was in Karasahr (Yanqi).^[13]

The land of the Uighurs is very large, so large that to the west it appears boundless. In the fourth and fifth months, all vegetation dries up as if it were winter. The mountains are snow-covered even in summer. When the sun rises it becomes hot, but as soon as it sets, it grows cold. Even in the sixth lunar month (i.e., the peak of summer), people must use wadded coverlets to sleep. It does not rain in summer. The rain only starts to fall in autumn, and then the vegetation begins to sprout. Come winter, the rivers and plains are like our spring, with flowers in full bloom.^[14]

In 866, Pugu Jun declared himself khan and adopted the title ofidiqut. The Kingdom of Qocho captured Xizhou (Gaochang), Tingzhou (Beshbalik, or Beiting), Changbaliq (nearÜrümqi) and Luntai (Bugur) from theGuiyi Circuit. The Uyghur capital was moved to Xizhou, which the Uyghurs calledIdiqutshari. Beshbalik became their summer residence.^[11][15]

On the southern end of the Altai Mountains is a city of the Uighurs, called Bieshiba (Beshbaliq). There is a Tang-era stele there that identifies it as the former Vast Sea (Hanhai) Military Prefecture. The Vast Sea is several hundredli northwest of this city. In that sea is a small island covered with feathers shed by birds. Over two hundredli west of this city is the county of Luntai, which also has a Tang-era stele. Five hundredli south of this city (Beshbaliq) is Hezhou (Qocho), known as Gaochang in the Tang. It is also known as Yizhou. Three to four thousandli west of Gaochang is the city of Wuduan (Khotan), which was known as the kingdom of Yutian in the Tang. The two rivers that produce black and white jade are located there.^[14]

In 869 and 870, the Kingdom of Qocho attacked the Guiyi Circuit but was repelled.^[16] In 876, the Kingdom of Qocho seizedYizhou from the Guiyi Circuit.^[16] In 880, Qocho attacked Shazhou (Dunhuang) but was repelled.^[15] By 887, they were settled under an agrarian lifestyle in Qocho.

In 904, Zhang Chengfeng of the Guiyi Circuit (later renamed Jinshan Kingdom) attacked Qocho and seized Yizhou (Hami/Kumul) and Xizhou (Gaochang).^[17] This occupation ended after the Jinshan Kingdom's loss to the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom in 911.^[15] In 954, Ilig Bilgä Tengri rose to power.^[11] In 981, Arslan Bilgä Tengri ilig rose to power.^[11] From 981, the Idiqut of Qocho sent tribute missions to the Song dynasty under the title "Nephew Lion King Arslan Khan of the West Prefecture." The addition of the title "Nephew" (外甥) was intended as a show of sincerity to theHan people of theCentral Plains, as "nephew" referred to the traditional relationship between the Uyghur Khans and the previous Tang dynasty, who referred to each other as uncle and nephew. Meanwhile, West Prefecture (西州) referred to Qocho's designation under Tang administration.^[18] In 984, Arslan Bilgä Tengri ilig became Süngülüg Khagan.^[11] In the same year, aSong Chinese envoy reached Qocho and gave an account of the city:

There is no rain or snow here and it is extremely hot. Each year at the hottest time, the inhabitants dig holes in the ground to live in ... The earth here produces all the five grains except buckwheat. The nobility eat horseflesh, while the rest eat mutton, wild ducks and geese. Their music is largely played on the pipa and harp. They produce sables, fine white cotton cloth, and an embroidered cloth made from flower stamens. By custom they enjoy horseback riding and archery ... They use the [Tang] calendar produced in the seventh year of the Kaiyuan reign (719). They fashion pipes of silver or brass and channel flowing water to shoot at each other; or they sprinkle water on each other as a game, which they call pressing out the sun's heat to chase off sickness. They like to take walks, and the strollers always carry a musical instrument with them. There are over fifty Buddhist temples here, the names inscribed over their gates all presented by the Tang court. The temples house copies of the Buddhist scriptures (da zang jing) and the dictionariesTang yun,Yupian andJingyun. On spring nights the locals pass the time milling about between the temples. There's an "Imperial Writings Tower' which houses edicts written by the Tang emperor Taizong kept carefully secured. There's also a Manichaean temple, with Persian monks who keep their own religious law and call the Buddhist scriptures the 'foreign Way' ... In this land there are no poor people; anyone short of food is given public aid. People live to an advanced age, generally over one hundred years. No one dies young.^[19]

In 996, Bügü Bilgä Tengri ilig succeeded Süngülüg Khagan.^[11]

In 1007, Alp Arsla Qutlugh Kül Bilgä Tengri Khan succeeded Bügü Bilgä Tengri ilig.^[11] In 1008,Manichaean temples were converted toBuddhist temples.^[21] In 1024, Kül Bilgä Tengri Khan succeeded Alp Arsla Qutlugh Kül Bilgä Tengri Khan.^[11] In 1068, Tengri Bügü il Bilgä Arslan Tengri Uighur Tärkän succeeded Kül Bilgä Tengri Khan.^[11] By 1096, Qocho had lostAksu,Tumshuk, andKucha to theKara-Khanid Khanate.^[15]

In 1123, Bilgä rose to power. He was succeeded by Yur Temur at some point.^[11] In 1128, the Kingdom of Qocho became a vassal of theQara Khitai.^[22]

In 1128, during the reign of Bilge Tekin, the Uighur Kingdom became a vassal state of the Western Liao established by the Khitan. Originally the Western Liao exercised only a loose control over the Uighur state, but soon started to extort excessive taxes and levies in the Uighur lands. In 1209, the Uighur Iduq-qut ("Lord of happiness")Barchuk Art Tegin ordered the death of the Khitan magistrate (shangjian) in an attempt to free his people from the rule of the Western Liao. It just so happened that Chinggis Khan's envoys arrived at this juncture, and fearing retaliation from the Liao, he immediately sent envoys to Mongolia to express his willingness to acknowledge allegiance to Chinggis in exchange from protection.^[22]

In 1209, the Kingdom of Qocho became a vassal of theMongol Empire.^[9]

I must, however, point out that, although Chinggis Khan adopted the ruler of the Uighur state Barchukh Art Tegin as his "fifth son", the Uighur state never became the "fifth khanate", as has been suggested by some scholars. The Uighur state was not independent, but was part of the Mongol empire. During the early Yuan dynasty, at least before the Princes' rebellions, the Yuan central government exercised a tight control over the Uighur state. Although the Mongol royal family maintained a marriage relationship with the Uighur Idu-qut family for almost a century, the women who were married into Uighurstan were not the daughters of the Yuan emperors, but were mostly descendants of Ogedei Khan who had lost the throne to the descendants of Tolui, his younger brother. At the same time, although the Mongol royal family continued to marry their Princesses to the Uighur Iduqut, not a single one of the Mongol Khans or Yuan Emperors married a Uighur Princess.^[23]

In 1229, Barčuq Art iduq-qut succeeded Yur Temur.^[11] In, 1242 Kesmez iduq-qut succeeded Barčuq Art iduq-qut.^[11] In 1246, Salïndï Tigin iduq-qut succeeded Kesmez iduq-qut.^[11] In 1253, Ögrünch Tigin iduq-qut succeeded Salïndï Tigin iduq-qut.^[11] In 1257, Mamuraq Tigin iduq-qut succeeded Ögrünch Tigin iduq-qut, who was executed for supporting the Ogodeid branch of the Genghisid family.^[11] In 1266, Qosqar Tigin iduq-qut succeeded Mamuraq Tigin iduq-qut.^[11] In 1280, Negüril Tigin iduq-qut succeeded Qosqar Tigin iduq-qut.^[11]

In 1318, Negüril Tigin iduq-qut died.^[11] Later, the Kingdom of Qocho became part of theChagatai Khanate. In 1322, Tämir Buqa iduq-qut rose to power.^[11] In 1330, Senggi iduq-qut succeeded Tämir Buqa iduq-qut.^[11] In 1332, Taipindu iduq-qut succeeded Senggi iduq-qut.^[11] In 1352, Ching Timür iduq-qut succeeded Taipindu iduq-qut and was the last known ruler governor of the kingdom.^[11] By the 1370s, the Kingdom of Qocho ceased to exist.

MainlyTurkic andTocharian, but alsoChinese andIranian peoples such as theSogdians were assimilated into theUyghur Kingdom of Qocho.^[24] Chinese were among the population of Qocho.^[25] Peter B. Golden writes thatthe Uyghurs not only adopted thewriting system and religious faiths of the Sogdians, such asManichaeism,Buddhism, andChristianity, but also looked to the Sogdians as "mentors" while gradually replacing them in their roles asSilk Road traders and purveyors of culture.^[26]

During the rule of the Qocho Kingdom, some of their subjects also began adopting Islam, as evident when the Idiqut threatened to retaliate against the Muslims of his lands and "destroy the mosques" if Manichaeans were persecuted in neighbouringKhorasan. He emphasized thatMuslims in Qocho were "more numerous" than Manichaeans under Islamic rule, and he was ultimately successful in staying the persecutions in Khorasan. This episode was recorded by Arab bibliographerIbn Al-Nadim, although he referred to the Qocho Idiqut as the "King of China".^[27][28]

The Uyghur ruling family of Qocho were mainly practitioners ofManichaeism until the early 11th century, although by the 960s, they also supportedBuddhism. WhenAl-Muqtadir (r. 908–932) of theAbbasid Caliphate began persecuting Manichaeans in what is nowIraq, the ruler of Qocho sent a letter toNasr II of theSamanid Empire threatening to retaliate againstMuslims in his realm.^[27][28] Manichaean monks accompanied Uyghur embassies from 934 to 951, while between 965 and 1022, the accompanying monks were Buddhists. Manichaeism in Qocho probably reached its peak in 866 and was gradually replaced by Buddhism afterward. This shift was noticeable by 1008 when Manichaean temples were converted to Buddhist temples. Part of the reason for Manichaeism's decline may have been the lifestyle of the Manichaean clergy. A decree discovered inTurpan reports that Manichaean clerics lived in great comfort, possessed estates with serfs and slaves, ate fine food, and wore expensive garments.^[29] One of the most important medieval Uyghur documents is a 9th-century decree to a Manichaean monastery affixed with 11 seals in Chinese characters saying: "Seal of the cabinet minister and of the Il Ugasi ministers of the great, fortunate Uyghur government." The document details a dramatized dialogue between Mani and a prince, and testifies to the rich cultural life of the Qocho kingdom.^[30]

Tang rule over Qocho and Turfan left a lasting Chinese Buddhist influence on the area. Tang names remained on more than 50 Buddhist temples withEmperor Taizong of Tang's edicts stored in the "Imperial Writings Tower" and Chinese dictionaries like Jingyun, Yupian, Tang yun, and da zang jing (Buddhist scriptures) stored inside the Buddhist temples. Uyghur Buddhists studied the Chinese language and used Chinese books like theThousand Character Classic and theQieyun. It was written that "In Qocho city were more than fifty monasteries, all titles of which are granted by the emperors of the Tang dynasty, which keep many Buddhist texts as theTripiṭaka,Tangyun,Yupuan,Jingyin etc."^[31]

The Uyghurs of Qocho continued to produce the ChineseQieyun rime dictionary and developed their own pronunciations of Chinese characters.^{[32][better source needed]} They viewed the Chinese script as "very prestigious" so when they developed theOld Uyghur alphabet, based on the Syriac script, they deliberately switched it to vertical like Chinese writing from its original horizontal position in Syriac.^[33]

While Persian monks still maintained a Manichaean temple in the kingdom, there was continued respect for Tang dynasty legacies and Buddhism. There were over fifty Buddhist temples, the name inscriptions on their gates all presented by the Tang court. The edicts of Emperor Taizong of Tang were carefully stored in an "Imperial Writings Tower." Indeed, the 10th century Persian geography bookHudud al-'Alam called Qocho, the capital city, "Chinese town".^[34]

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James A. Millward claimed that the Uyghurs were generally "Mongoloid" (a term meaning "appearing ethnically Eastern or Inner Asian"), giving as an example the images of Uyghur patrons of Buddhism in Bezeklik, temple 9, until they began to mix with the Tarim Basin's original,Indo-European-speaking "Caucasoid" inhabitants,^[35] such as the so-calledTocharians. Buddhist Uyghurs created the Bezeklik murals.^[36]

Painted silk fragments of men in armour, from a Manichaean Temple near Qocho. Turkish, 8th century or 9th century CE. Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin.^[37]

The Uyghurs of Qocho were Buddhists whose religious identity were intertwined with their religion. Qocho was a Buddhist state with both state-sponsoredMahayana Buddhism andManichaeism. The Uyghurs sponsored the construction of many of the temple-caves in what is now called theBezeklik Caves. Although they retained some of their culture, they were heavily influenced by the indigenous peoples of western China and abandoned theOld Turkic alphabet in favor of a modifiedSogdian alphabet, which later came to be known as theOld Uyghur alphabet.^[38] The Idiquts (the title of the Qocho rulers) ruled independently until they become avassal state of theQara Khitai (Chinese: "Western Liao").

They do not cremate their dead, but bury the dead without coffins. They always bury the dead with the head facing west. Their monks do not shave their heads, and there are no painted or sculpted images in their temples. The language of their scriptures is also unintelligible to us. Only in Hezhou (i.e., Gaochang/Qocho) and Shazhou (i.e., Dunhuang) are the temples and images like those of the Central Lands, and in those temples they recite Buddhist scriptures written in the Chinese (Han) script.^[14]

The Buddhist Uyghurs frequently came into conflict with their western Muslim neighbors.^[39] Muslim Turks described the Uyghurs in a number of derogatory ways. For example, the "Compendium of the Turkic Dialects" byMahmud al-Kashgari states that "just as the thorn should be cut at its root, so the Uighur should be struck on the eye".^[40] They also used the derogatory word "Tat" to describe the Buddhist Uyghurs, which means "infidels". Uyghurs were also called dogs.^[41][42][43] While al-Kashgari displayed a different attitude towards the Turk diviners beliefs and "national customs", he expressed towards Buddhism a hatred in his Diwan where he wrote the verse cycle on the war against Uyghur Buddhists. Buddhist origin words like toyin (a cleric or priest) and Burxān or Furxan^[44][45] (meaning Buddha,^[46][47] acquiring the generic meaning of "idol" in the Turkic language of Kashgari) had negative connotations to Muslim Turks.^[48][49]

The Uyghurs were subjected to attacks by Muslim Turks, according to Kashgari's work.^[50] TheKara-Khanid Khanate's rulerSultan Satuq Bughra Khan razed Qocho's Buddhist temples in the Minglaq province across the Ili region.^{[51][52][53][54]} Buddhist murals at theBezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves were damaged by local Muslim population whose religionproscribed figurative images of sentient beings, the eyes and mouths in particular were often gouged out. Pieces of murals were also broken off for use as fertilizer by the locals.^[55] The Islamic–Buddhist conflict from the 11th to 12th centuries is still recalled in the forms of theKhotan Imam Asim Sufi shrine celebration and other Sufi holy site celebrations. Bezeklik'sThousand Buddha Caves are an example of religiously motivated vandalism against portraits of religious and human figures.^[56]

According to Kashgari'sThree Turkic Verse Cycles, the "infidel tribes" suffered three defeats, one at the hands of the Karakhanids in theIrtysh Valley, one by unspecified Muslim Turks, and one inflicted upon "a city between the Tangut and China", Qatun Sini, at the hands of the Tangut Khan.^[57][58] The war against Buddhist, shamanist, andManichaean Uyghurs was considered ajihad by the Kara-Khanids.^{[59][60][61][62]} Imams and soldiers who died in the battles against the Uyghur Buddhists and Khotan are revered as saints.^[63] It is possible the Muslims drove some Uyghur Buddhist monks towards taking asylum in the TangutWestern Xia dynasty.^[64]

There are many varieties of people in that country. Their hair and beards are thick and curly like wool, and vary widely in shade from black to yellow. One sees only the eyes and noses on their faces [because of all the facial hair]. Their tastes and habits are also different from ours. There are Mosuluman (Muslim) Uighurs who are cruel by nature and eat only meat from animals that they have just killed with their own hands. Even when fasting, they drink wine and eat without any sense of unease. There are Yilizhu (Christian) Uighurs who are quite weak and cowardly and dislike killing; when fasting, they do not eat meat. There are Yindu (Indian) Uighurs who have black skin and are simple and honest. There are too many other kinds for me to list them all. Their king selects his eunuchs from those of the Yindu (Indians) who are dark and ugly and uses fire to brand their faces.^[14]

In 1209, the Kara-Khoja rulerBaurchuk Art Tekin declared his allegiance to the Mongols underGenghis Khan and the kingdom existed as a vassal state until 1335. After submitting to the Mongols, the Uyghurs served the Mongol rulers as bureaucrats, providing the expertise that the initially illiterate nomads lacked.^[65] Qocho continued exist as a vassal to the Mongols of theYuan dynasty, and were allied to the Yuan against theChagatai Khanate. Eventually the Chagatai khanGhiyas-ud-din Baraq eliminated Yuan influence over Qocho. When the Mongols placed the Uyghurs in control of the Koreans at court, the Korean king objected. Emperor Kublai Khan rebuked the Korean king, saying that the Uyghur king ranked higher than the Karluk Kara-Khanid ruler, who in turn was ranked higher than the Korean King, who was ranked last, because the Uyghurs surrendered to the Mongols first, the Karluks surrendered after the Uyghurs, and the Koreans surrendered last, and that the Uyghurs surrendered peacefully without violently resisting.^[66][67] A hybrid court was used whenHan Chinese and Uyghurs were in involved in legal issues.^[68]

Alans were recruited into the Mongol forces with one unit called theAsud or "Right Alan Guard", which was combined with "recently surrendered" soldiers, Mongols, and Chinese soldiers stationed in the area of the former kingdom of Qocho. In Beshbalik (nowJimsar County), theMongols established a Chinese military colony led by Chinese general Qi Kongzhi.^[69]

The last Buddhist Uyghurs of Qocho and Turpan were converted to Islam by force during aJihad (holy war) at the hands of theChagatai Khanate rulerKhizr Khoja (r. 1389–1399).^[70]Mirza Haidar Dughlat'sTarikh-i-Rashidi (c. 1540, inPersian) wrote, "(Khizr Khoja) undertook a campaign against Karakhodja [Qocho] and Turfan, two very important towns in China, and forced their inhabitants to become Muslims".^[71] The Chagatai Khanate also conquered Hami, where the Buddhist religion was also purged and replaced with Islam.^[72] Ironically after being converted to Islam, the descendants of the Uyghurs in Turpan failed to retain memory of their Buddhist legacy and were led to believe that the "infidel Kalmuks" (Dzungar people) were the ones who built Buddhist monuments in their area.The Encyclopaedia of Islam wrote "By then the Turks of the Turfan ... forgetting all the other highlights of their past, they attributed the Buddhist and other monuments to the 'infidel Kalmuks'."^{[73][74][75][76]}

The Islamic conversion forced on the Buddhist city of Hami was the final blow to Uyghur Buddhism,^[59][77][78] although some Buddhist influence in the names of Turpan Muslims still remained.^[79] Since Islam reached them much after other cities in the Tarim Basin, personal names of pre-Islamic Old Uyghur origin are still used in Hami and Turpan while Uyghurs to the west use mostly Islamic names of Arabic origin.^[80] Cherrypicking of history of Xinjiang with the intention of projecting an image of either irreligiosity or piousness of Islam in Uyghur culture has been done for various reasons.^[81]

After the conversion to Islam by Uyghurs, the term "Uyghur" fell out of use until it was revived in 1921.^[82][83]

History of the Turkic peoplespre–14th century
Turkic peoples Onogurs Oghuz Turks Saragurs Utigurs Bulgars Sabir Kutrigurs Karluks Kimek Kipchaks Cherniye Klobuki Uyghurs Tatars Kumyks Yakuts Dolgans Krymchaks Crimean Karaites
Turkic languages Turkish Azerbaijani Uzbek Kazakh Uyghur Turkmen Tatar Kyrgyz Bashkir Chuvash Qasgqai Karakalpak Sakha Kumyk Karachay-Balkar Tuvan Gagauz Karaim Krymchak
Turkic mythology Belief system:Tengrism andShamanism Chief gods and goddesses:Kayra andÜlgen Epics and heroes:Ergenekon andAsena Major concepts:Sheka andGrey wolf
Pre-14th century Yenisei Kyrgyz People202 BCE–13th CE Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate Dingling71 BC–?? AD Tiele (Gaoche) Göktürks First Turkic Khaganate552–581 Western Turkic Khaganate581–657 (Tokhara Yabghus,Turk Shahis) Eastern Turkic Khaganate581–650 Second Turkic Khaganate682–744 Sabiri People Khazar Khaganate618–1048 Xueyantuo628–646 Kangar Union659–750 Turk Shahi665-850 Türgesh Khaganate699–766 Kimek–Kipchak Confederation743–1035 Uyghur Khaganate744–840 Oghuz Yabgu State750–1055 Karluk Yabgu State756–940 Kara-Khanid Khanate840–1212 Western Kara-Khanid Eastern Kara-Khanid Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom848–1036 Qocho856–1335 Pecheneg Khanates860–1091 Ghaznavid Empire963–1186 Seljuk Empire1037–1194 Sultanate of Rum Cuman–Kipchak Confederation1067–1239 Khwarazmian Empire1077–1231 Kerait Khanate11th century–13th century Atabegs of Azerbaijan1136–1225 Delhi Sultanate1206–1526 Mamluk dynasty Khalji dynasty Tughlaq dynasty Qarlughid Kingdom1224–1266 Golden Horde1242–1502 Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)1250–1517 Bahri dynasty Ottoman State1299–1922
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Part ofa series on the
History ofXinjiang
Prehistoric and ancient period Afanasievo culture Tarim mummies (Xiaohe Cemetery) Yanbulaq culture Subeshi culture Tocharians Shirenzigou culture Kingdom of Khotan Yuezhi Wusun Xiongnu Shule Kingdom Loulan Kingdom Kucha Karasahr Jushi Kingdom Shanshan Western Regions (Han Protectorate;Chief Officials) Former Liang Former Qin Later Liang Western Liang Gaochang Rouran First Turkic Khaganate Western Turkic Khaganate Eastern Turkic Khaganate Second Turkic Khaganate
Medieval and early modern period Tang Protectorates (West;Beiting) Tibetan Empire Uyghur Khaganate Kara-Khanid Khanate Kingdom of Qocho Qara Khitai Mongol Empire (Yuan;Chagatai Khanate) Moghulistan (Turpan;Yarkent) Ming ruled Kara Del Dzungar Khanate Kumul Khanate Yettishar Qing rule (Dzungar genocide Dungan Revolt Qing reconquest)
Modern period Xinjiang Province, Republic of China (Xinjiang clique 1st East Turkestan Republic 2nd East Turkestan Republic) Xinjiang Province, People's Republic of China Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Production and Construction Corps Xinjiang conflict Xinjiang internment camps /Persecution of Uyghurs in China)
v t e

The Kingdom of Qocho's rulers trace their lineage to Qutlugh of the Ediz dynasty of the Uyghur Khaganate. There are numerous gaps in our knowledge of the Uyghur rulers of Qocho prior to the thirteenth century. The title of the ruler of Qocho wasidiqut oriduq qut. In 1308, Nolen Tekin was granted the title Prince of Gaochang by the Yuan EmperorAyurbarwada. The following list of rulers is drawn mostly fromTurghun Almas,Uyghurlar (Almaty, 1992), vol. 1, pp. 180–85.^[84] Named rulers based on various sources of other languages are also included.^[85][11]

• 850–866: Pan Tekin (Pangtele)
• 866–871: Boko Tekin
  ...
• 940–948: Irdimin Khan
• 948–985: Arslan (Zhihai) Khan
  ...
• 954: Ilig Bilgä T[e]ngri
• 981: Arslan Bilgä T[e]ngri ilig
• 996-1007: Bügü Bilgä T[e]ngri ilig
• 1007-1024: Alp Arsla Qutlugh Kül Bilgä T[e]ngri Qan
• 1024: Kül Bilgä T[e]ngri Qan
• 1068: T[e]ngri Bügü il Bilgä Arslan Tngri Uighur Tärkän
• 1123: Bilgä
• 1126–????: Bilge (Biliege/Bilgä) Tekin
  ...
• ????–????: Isen Tomur
  ...
• 1208/1229–1235/1241: Baurchuq (Barchukh) Art Tekin
• 1229: Yue-er Tie-mu-er
• 1235/1242–1245/1246: Qusmayin (Kesmez)
• 1246–1253/1255: Salun (Salindi) Tekin
• 1253/1255–1257/1265: Oghrunzh (Ogrunch) Tekin
• 1257/1265–1265/1266: Mamuraq Tekin
• 1266–1276/1280: Qozhighar (Qosqar) Tekin
• 1276/1280–1318: Nolen (Neguril) Tekin
• 1309/1318: Kiräsiz iduq-qut
• 1309/1318-1326/1334: Köncök iduq-qut
• 1318/1322–1327/1330: Tomur (Tamir) Buqa
• 1327/1330–1331/1332: Sunggi (Senggi) Tekin
• 1331/1332–1335/1352: Taypan (Taipingnu)
• 1335–1353: Yuelutiemur
• 1352-1360: Ching Timür iduq-qut
• 1353–????: Sangge

• 
  Uyghur king from Turfan
• 
  Uyghur Prince from the Bezeklik murals
• 
  Uyghur noble from the Bezeklik murals
• 
  UyghurManichaean Elect depicted on a temple banner from Qocho
• 
  Uyghur Princesses from the Bezeklik murals
• 
  Uyghur Princes from the Bezeklik murals
• 
  Uyghur donor from the Bezeklik murals
• 
  Uyghur Manichaean Electae from Qocho
• 
  Uyghur Manichaean clergymen from Qocho
• 
  Manicheans from Qocho
• 
  Mural from a Christian temple in Qocho

• Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
• Kara Del
• Ming–Turpan conflict
• Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom
• Islamization and Turkification of Xinjiang
• History of the Uyghur people
• History of Xinjiang
• Silk Road transmission of Buddhism

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• 843 establishments
• Former countries in Chinese history
• History of Buddhism in China
• History of Xinjiang
• Former kingdoms
• Vassal and tributary states of the Mongol Empire
• Uyghur history

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