khanate · Central Asia and the Steppe

Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate

1042 CE – 1211 CE · capital Kashgar

The eastern branch of the Kara-Khanid dynasty, ruling Kashgar and the Tarim cities, whose khan received Yusuf Balasaguni's Kutadgu Bilig, a classic of Turkic literature.

Origins

Around 1042 the Kara-Khanid Khanate split into two rival branches. The eastern khanate, under the Hasanid line descended from Hasan Bughra Khan, held Kashgar, Balasagun, the Ili valley and the western Tarim, while the Western Kara-Khanid Khanate, ruled by the descendants of Ali ibn Musa, held Transoxiana.

Rule and society

The eastern khans ruled Turkic tribes and oasis towns, continuing the spread of Islam in the Tarim Basin and facing the Buddhist Kingdom of Qocho to the east. Kashgar became a centre of Turkic Islamic culture: Yusuf Balasaguni presented his mirror for princes, the Kutadgu Bilig, to the Kashgar khan around 1069.

Decline and legacy

In the 1130s the Qara Khitai took Balasagun and reduced the eastern khans to vassals ruling Kashgar. The line ended around 1211, in the turmoil after Kuchlug, the Naiman prince who had seized the Qara Khitai throne, took over Kashgar, shortly before the Mongol conquest.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Kara-Khanid Khanate 840 CE – 1042 CEEastern Kara-Khanid Khanate

Connections (2)

  • Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate was a vassal of Qara Khitai1134 CE – 1211 CE
  • Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate was conquered by Qara Khitai1211 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-kara-khanid-khanate
MLA
“Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-kara-khanid-khanate. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-kara-khanid-khanate.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-kara-khanid-khanate (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻