Karluks

The Karluks ( Old Turkish Qarluq; Arabic / Persian قارلوق ) were a tribal confederation historical Turkish steppe nomads in early medieval Central Asia.

Especially after their defeat by the Samanids Ismail I in the year 893 Karluks many were enslaved, converted to Islam and took the result as a military and Hofsklaven ( Ghulam ) in the service of the Samanids. From the ranks of these military slaves, among others, the later Ghaznavid ruler of Khorasan and northern India emerged.

History

The Karluk were initially of relatively minor importance. Even Mahmoud al - Kaschghari mentioned the Karluks not in the list of 20 Turkish tribes in the introduction to his Diwan Lughat at- Turk. According to Uighur sources, these formed around 760 a tribal federation of three clans. However, the work Hudud al - ʿ Ālam mentioned that the Karluks stocks from seven tribes.

After the decline of Göktürkenreichs and his replacement by the Uyghur Empire, the Karluk shifted in the 7th and 8th centuries their residences successively from the Khangai Mountains and the Altai to the eastern end of Lake Balkhash and further in the Seven Rivers country.

Around 766 solved the Karluk the prevailing Türgiş as the top layer of the nomads of Turkestan from, occupied the cities Suyab ( the former capital of Türgiş ) and Taraz. Thus, the Karluk dominated the areas between Altai and Syr Darya, also repressed the Oghuz further west to the Aral Sea, but remained under the pressure and the supremacy of the Uyghur.

791/792 were the Karluk as allies of the Tibetans and tried jointly with them to gain control of East Turkestan, but were defeated by the Uyghur. But even against the Arabs in Central Asia, there were various alliances and battles, for example, they supported 776 Mukanna the uprising. Finally, the areas of the Karluk were after a massive campaign of Uyghur - Khaqan Qut Bulmish (reigned 808-821, he came up to the Syr Darya and fought there against the Arabs ) 820/821 the Uyghur Empire incorporated. But already 840 they were once again independent and some areas of East Turkestan were able to acquire.

According to later sources (Al- Marwazi ) united under her leadership nine tribal groups: three groups of Chigil, three groups of B.gh.sk.l, to the Bulak, Kökerkin and Tukhsi. However, this composition was not stable and underwent in the course of time probably a number of changes, for which the presence of some other tribal name speaks. Perhaps the Yaghma these included that were scattered in the 10th century by analogy with the Karluks about different areas of Turkestan.

The Karluk had, like nomads then not unusual for two jointly ruling princes about himself: the " Arslan Qara Khaqan " to the east and the " Bugra Qara Qagan " in the West. The western part of rulers Oghulchak Kadir Khan for example, led the war against the Samanids ( 893, 903-904 ). 893 he was defeated by Ismail I (r. 892-907 ), who penetrated as far as the Talas and made many prisoners.