Central Asia · Timur and the khanates
Western Moghulistan
Mahmud Khan's khanate and the Yarkent Khanate, 1487/1514–1705
"Western Moghulistan" denotes the western division of the Moghul khanate after Yunus Khan's death in 1487, which went through two phases: first the Tashkent-based steppe khanate of Mahmud Khan (1487–1508), destroyed by the Uzbeks; then, as its effective continuation, the Yarkent Khanate (also called the Kashghar Khanate or Saidiyya, 1514–1705), founded in the Tarim Basin by Mahmud's nephew Sultan Said Khan.
- Existed
- Mahmud Khan's khanate and the Yarkent Khanate, 1487/1514–1705
- Shown on the map
- 1519–1635
- Peak area
- 284k km²
- Region
- Central Asia
Overview and identity
"Western Moghulistan" denotes the western division of the Moghul khanate after Yunus Khan's death in 1487, which went through two phases: first the Tashkent-based steppe khanate of Mahmud Khan (1487–1508), destroyed by the Uzbeks; then, as its effective continuation, the Yarkent Khanate (also called the Kashghar Khanate or Saidiyya, 1514–1705), founded in the Tarim Basin by Mahmud's nephew Sultan Said Khan. The Moghulistan infobox dates the western remnant 1462–1705, treating Yarkent as its continuation; the listed peak of roughly 284,000 km² reflects the Tarim Basin (Altishahr) core of the khanate after the loss of the steppe.
Origins and ethnolinguistic background
The dynasty was the same Eastern Chagatayid (Moghul) house — Turkified, Sunni Muslim descendants of Chagatai Khan — but its Yarkent phase ruled an overwhelmingly Turkic (Turki/Chagatai-speaking) sedentary oasis population, the ancestors of the modern Uyghurs, with cities including Yarkent (capital), Kashgar, Hotan, Yangihissar, Aksu, Uchturpan, and (after 1570) Kucha, Karashar, and Turpan.
Chronology and major rulers
Mahmud Khan (1487–1508) held western Moghulistan from Tashkent, raiding the Timurids; in 1503 he and his brother Ahmad Alaq were defeated and captured by Muhammad Shaybani, and Tashkent was lost. Mahmud spent years trying to recover his authority, finally submitted to Shaybani, and was executed in 1508; the Kyrgyz tribes meanwhile drove the Moghuls from the Tian Shan steppe by about 1510–11. Sultan Said Khan (1514–1533) — Ahmad Alaq's son, Babur's cousin — had meanwhile taken Kashgar, Yarkent, and Hotan from the Dughlat ruler Mirza Abu Bakr in 1514, ending nearly three centuries of Dughlat dominance in Kashgaria. Said campaigned in Bolor (1527–28), Badakhshan (1529), and Ladakh-Kashmir (1532), dying of high-altitude pulmonary edema at Daulat Beg Oldi in 1533 while returning from Tibet. Abdurashid Khan (1533–1565) fought the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz for the steppe but lost it permanently, confining the Moghuls to the Tarim Basin; his execution of a Dughlat amir drove the amir's nephew Mirza Muhammad Haidar to India, where he conquered Kashmir and wrote the Tarikh-i Rashidi, the principal history of the Moghuls. Abdul Karim Khan (1560–1591) absorbed the Turpan Khanate (1570). From the late 16th century the khanate decentralized into subkhanates at Kashgar, Yarkent, Aksu, and Khotan, while power shifted from the khans to Naqshbandi khojas, split into rival Aq Taghlik and Kara Taghlik factions.
Government, economy, culture, religion
A Sunni monarchy whose legitimacy was Chinggisid but whose governance increasingly belonged to the khojas. The economy rested on the Tarim oases' irrigation agriculture and Silk Road trade, including tributary-style commerce with Ming/Qing China. The era's most enduring cultural product is the Uyghur Twelve Muqam musical tradition, associated with the Yarkent court (Amannisa Khan). Later khans (Muhammad Sultan, Shuja ad-Din Ahmad, Abd al-Latif/Afak Khan, the Pulat and Qilich khans, Abdallah, Ismail Khan, and Akbash Khan, 1695–1705) ruled amid khoja factionalism and growing Kyrgyz pressure.
Decline and fall
When the khans tried to reassert authority by expelling the Aq Taghlik leader Afaq Khoja in the 1670s, Afaq fled to Lhasa and obtained the 5th Dalai Lama's intercession: the Buddhist Dzungar Khanate invaded in 1678–1680 and installed puppet rulers. A 1705 revolt of Kashgar begs and Kyrgyz seized Akbash Khan; the Dzungars intervened, defeated the Kyrgyz, and ended Chagatayid rule, governing Altishahr through khoja clients until the Qing conquest (1755–1759).
Legacy
The Yarkent Khanate is the last Chagatayid state and the formative polity of the modern Uyghur identity; its name survives in the city of Yarkand (Yarkent) in today's Xinjiang, China.
Common questions
- What was Western Moghulistan?
- "Western Moghulistan" denotes the western division of the Moghul khanate after Yunus Khan's death in 1487, which went through two phases: first the Tashkent-based steppe khanate of Mahmud Khan (1487–1508), destroyed by the Uzbeks; then, as its effective continuation, the Yarkent Khanate (also called the Kashghar Khanate or Saidiyya, 1514–1705), founded in the Tarim Basin by Mahmud's nephew Sultan Said Khan.
- When did Western Moghulistan exist?
- Western Moghulistan existed Mahmud Khan's khanate and the Yarkent Khanate, 1487/1514–1705. On this map it is drawn 1519–1635.
- How large was Western Moghulistan?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Western Moghulistan covered about 284,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- Who ruled Western Moghulistan?
- Mahmud Khan (1487–1508) held western Moghulistan from Tashkent, raiding the Timurids; in 1503 he and his brother Ahmad Alaq were defeated and captured by Muhammad Shaybani, and Tashkent was lost. Mahmud spent years trying to recover his authority, finally submitted to Shaybani, and was executed in 1508; the Kyrgyz tribes meanwhile drove the Moghuls from the Tian Shan steppe by about 1510–11.
- How did Western Moghulistan end?
- When the khans tried to reassert authority by expelling the Aq Taghlik leader Afaq Khoja in the 1670s, Afaq fled to Lhasa and obtained the 5th Dalai Lama's intercession: the Buddhist Dzungar Khanate invaded in 1678–1680 and installed puppet rulers. A 1705 revolt of Kashgar begs and Kyrgyz seized Akbash Khan; the Dzungars intervened, defeated the Kyrgyz, and ended Chagatayid rule, governing Altishahr through khoja clients until the Qing conquest (1755–1759).
- How was Western Moghulistan governed?
- A Sunni monarchy whose legitimacy was Chinggisid but whose governance increasingly belonged to the khojas. The economy rested on the Tarim oases' irrigation agriculture and Silk Road trade, including tributary-style commerce with Ming/Qing China.
- Why does Western Moghulistan still matter?
- The Yarkent Khanate is the last Chagatayid state and the formative polity of the modern Uyghur identity; its name survives in the city of Yarkand (Yarkent) in today's Xinjiang, China.
Sources
Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.
- Wikipedia: Yarkent Khanate en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarkent_Khanate
- Wikipedia: Moghulistan en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moghulistan
This entry was written from the sources above and last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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