TheYagmas (Chinese:樣磨), orYaghmas, were a medieval tribe ofTurkic people that came to the forefront of history after the disintegration of theWestern Turkic Kaganate. They were one component of a confederation which consisted of Yagma, theKarluks, theChigils and other tribes which founded theKara-Khanid Khanate. From the seventh century until theKarakhanid period, the Yagma were recorded inArabic,Persian, andChinese accounts as a prominent and powerful political entity in theTarim Basin,Dzungaria, andJeti-su.
The Yagmas appear to be ofToquz Oghuz origin or are closely associated with them.[1] According toHudud al-'alam "their king is from the family of the Toquz-Oghuz kings."[2]
According to the Persian workMujmal al-Tawarikh wa-'l-Qisas, the Yağma "king" (called ''padšâh" in that source,meaning king,an obvious persian attempt to translate the Turkic title 'Khan') bore the title ofBogra Khan (Bughra/Bogra means Male Camel, it was common for Turks to use animal names as titles such as Toghan Khan, Arslan Khan, Bughra Khan, Böri Khan etc.).[3] The Yagma title ofBogra Khan allowedV.Bartold to suggest that KarakhanidIl-khans were from the Yagma tribe.
Mahmud al-Kashgari mentioned the Yagma andTukhsi tribes, with a clan ofChigils, along theIli River.[4] In the tenth century the Yagma tribe lived in theKashgar[5] area and further northwest.Al Gardezi, who used sources composed in the eighth century, wrote that the Yagma united numerous tribes between theUyghurs andKarluks in the larger part of the easternTian Shan, including Kashgar City and District.Gardezi called the Yagma a "rich people with large herds of horses" in a country of "one month of travel". The Yagma constantly clashed with the Karluks and theKimaks, and were a dependent of theWestern Turkic Kagans until their demise.
According toYury Zuev, asemantic meaning of the wordyağma in the ancientCommon Turkic language, is "attack, onslaught."[6] However, according toPeter Golden, the word may have derived from Turkic verbal rootyağ- "to pour down, rain",[3] but noting that the form with -ma is unusual. He also noted the Persian word yaġmâ meaning "prey, plunder, booty, spoils", and that it is unclear if it has any relationship with Yağma.[7]
The following account of the country of Yaghma and its towns is given in the tenth century textHudud al-'alam:
East of the Toquz-Oghuz country; south of it, the river Khuland-ghun which flows into theKucha river, west of it are the Qarluq borders. In this country there is little agriculture, (yet) it produces many furs and in it much game is found.
Their wealth is in horses and sheep. The people are hardy, strong, and warlike, and have plenty of arms. Their king is from the family of the Toquz-Oghuz kings. These Yaghma have numerous tribes; some say that among them 1,700 known tribes are counted. Both the low and the nobles among them venerate their king ...and in their region there are a few villages.
1.Kashghar belongs to Chinistan but is situated on the frontier between the Yaghma, Tibet, theQïrghïz, and China. The chiefs of Kashghar in the days of old were from the Qarluq, or from the Yaghma...
— Hudud al-'alam[2]
{{isbn}}: ignored ISBN errors (link)