Kara-Khanid Khanate
Turkic dynasty
The Kara-Khanid Khanate (Persian: قراخانیان, romanized: Qarākhāniyān; Chinese: 喀喇汗國; pinyin: Kālā Hánguó), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (Persian: آل افراسیاب, romanized: Āl-i Afrāsiyāb, lit. 'House of Afrasiab'), was a Karluk Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek Khanids refer to royal titles with Kara Khagan being the most important Turkic title up until the end of the dynasty.
The Khanate conquered Transoxiana in Central Asia and ruled it independently between 999 and 1089. Their arrival in Transoxiana signaled a definitive shift from Iranic to Turkic predominance in Central Asia, yet the Kara-khanids gradually assimilated the Perso-Arab Muslim culture, while retaining some of their native Turkic culture. The Khanate split into the Eastern and Western Khanates in the 1040s. In the late 11th century, they came under the suzerainty of the Seljuk Empire followed by the Qara Khitai (Western Liao dynasty) who defeated the Seljuks in the Battle of Qatwan in 1141. The Eastern Khanate ended in 1211, and the Western Khanate was extinguished by the Khwarazmian Empire in 1212.
The capitals of the Kara-Khanid Khanate included Kashgar, Balasagun, Uzgen, and Samarkand. The history of the Kara-Khanid Khanate is reconstructed from fragmentary and often contradictory written sources, as well as studies on their coinage.
Names
The term Karakhanid was derived from Qara Khan or Qara Khaqan (Persian: قراخان, romanized: Qarākhān), the foremost title of the rulers of the dynasty.
“Kara-Khanid Khanate” enters the record as turkic dynasty. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Kara-Khanid, Khanate and Turkic can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q494354. VIAF identifies the subject as 316591037. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1089, 1141, 1211 and 1212.
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