khanate · Central Asia and the Steppe

Turpan Khanate

1462 CE – 1680 CE (approx.) · capital Turpan

The eastern successor of the Chagatai Khanate, ruling Turpan and Hami, where Islam finally displaced the region's old Buddhist culture.

Origins

After Moghulistan divided in the 1460s, its eastern lands around Turpan, Aksu and Kucha formed a separate khanate. From 1487 Yunus Khan's son Sultan Ahmad Khan ruled it, and Turpan became the capital of what is sometimes called Eastern Moghulistan or Uyghurstan.

Rule and society

The Turpan khans ruled the oases of Turpan, Kara-Shahr and at times Hami, controlling trade routes into China. Under Sultan Ahmad Khan and his son Mansur Khan they fought the Ming for Hami, and Islamisation of the Turpan Uyghurs was largely completed in this period, ending a long Buddhist tradition. The khanate was linked by marriage and rivalry to the Yarkent Khanate.

Decline and legacy

The Turpan khanate was weakened by divisions and absorbed into the Yarkent Khanate in the 17th century. In 1680 the Dzungar Khanate conquered both, bringing the oases under Oirat rule.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Moghulistan 1347 CE – 1462 CETurpan Khanate

Connections (3)

More states of Central Asia and the Steppe →

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻