On the names of the Qarakhanids

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

I have decided to make a list of the names used for the so-called "Qarakhanid Empire" of 10th-13th century Turkistân.

Qarakhanid: Also written as Qara-khanid, Qara Khanid, etc... This was a name created by the Russian historian Vasilij Vasil'jevič Grigor'jev (Василий Васильевич Григорьев) in his article written in 1874. This was among the many titles used by the rulers of this khanate so Grigor'jev decided to use this name for this state. The word Qara has many meanings, including "Black", "Northern" (Black was the color for north in the steppe location color naming method), "Powerful", "Hard" (as in Hard Winter), "Un-Legitimate" and the like. Also check the "Theories on the Origins of the Qarakhanid Rulers" thread. According to Maḥmūd al-Kāšġarī ﻤﺤﻤﻮﺪ ﺍﻠﻜﺎﺸﻐﺮﻱ (Mahmud of Kashghar), the Yaġma people was called Qara Yaġma. The title Qadïr (Hard) had the same meaning with Qara so they were usually used together. In Modern Anatolian Turkish, this name's form is Karahanlý/Kara Hanlý/Kara-Hanlý.

Illigkhanid: Versions you might see include Illig Khanid, Ilek Khanid and Ilekkhanid. This comes from a title used on the coins often. Earliarly, scholars read this title as Ilek Khan الك خان but later it was understood that الك was Illig, meaning "Holder of the State" in Old Turkic. Unfortunately, there are still scholars in Turkey who use the inaccurate form Ilek in their academic works.

Khans of Turkistān: Before the invention of the name "Qarakhanid", European scholars called this state The Uyghur Khans of Turkestan whereas Ottoman history books referred to them as Türkistân Khâqânlarï (Khaqans of Turkistān).

In the Islamic Sources: These names are found in the Islamic sources giving information about the Qarakhanids: al-Khāqāniyya الخاقانيه ("The Khaqans"), al-Khāniyya الخانيه ("The Khans"), Mulūk al-Khāqāniyya ملوك الخاقانيه ("Realm of the Khaqans" or "Khaqanid Rulers"), Mulūk al-Khāniyya ملوك الخانيه ("Realm of the Khans" or "Khanid Rulers") and Awlād al-Khāniyya اولاد الخانيه ("Sons of Khans").

House of Afrāsyāb: Another interesting name mentioned in the Islamic-Persian sources is Āl-i Afrāsyāb ال افراسياب (House of Afrāsyāb) because the Qarakhanid ruling family thought they were the descendents of the legendary ruler Afrāsyāb (known among the 10th-11th Turks with the name Alp Är Toŋa [Brave Warrior Panther]).

Please post any other information you know

[sharshuvuu]

No one seems to be responding to your Qarakhanid threads, unfortunately. I don't know enough about them to contribute much, but tell me, how do you go about inserting Arabic and having it come out legible? I haven't had occasion to attempt this, so I don't know how it works on this forum.

Sharshuvuu

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

Well, I open such threads rather for databases, so no problem if no one would reply, unless that would be a question thread

I write those texts in Arabic in Word (using Symbols) and than copy-paste them here.

[tengrikut]

by the way, the name afrasyab also means Iranian badness god. Iranians call Alp Er Tunga as Afrasyab because of his wars against them.

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

Not actually. He was considered a sorceress-king, not a god

[tengrikut]

i didn't mean that they consider him as god. but there was a god named Afrasyab.

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

Are you sure? I never saw that.

[Azadan Januspar]

I also never saw that, of course Afrasyab was always in oral and written versions of Iranian epics called Shahnamak's. He was the "Shaya" or "Patixshah" of Turan never remembered a God. By the way I'm curious about the sources mentioned that Turkish etymology for his name.

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

It's in Dîwânu Luġât al-Turk, where the name Alp Er Toŋa is described as the Turkic version of Afrâsyâb's name.

[Azadan Januspar]

Thanks is there any online access to that?

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

Unfortunately, no That is a big shame for the Turkic peoples