When is the Khanate of Kokand shown on the map?

The border data draws the Khanate of Kokand 1709–1876. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.

How large was the Khanate of Kokand?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Khanate of Kokand covered about 483,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Central Asia · Russian and Qing conquest

Khanate of Kokand

drawn on the map 1709–1876

The Khanate of Kokand (1709–1876) was an early modern Central Asian state centered on the Fergana Valley, ruled by the Shahrukhid dynasty of the Ming tribe of Uzbeks. At its peak it stretched from the Ulu Tau mountains to Sariqol and from Aq Masjid to Karakol, across what is now Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Shown on the map: 1709–1876
Peak area: 483k km²
Region: Central Asia

Overview and identity

Origins and early period (1709–1799)

As the Khanate of Bukhara's grip on Fergana weakened amid Sufi Khoja ascendancy and nomadic incursions, Shahrukh Biy (r. 1709–1722) built the Koktonliq Ata fortress near Kokand in 1709. His son Abd al-Rahim Biy briefly occupied Khujand, Urateppe, and Samarkand; Abd al-Karim Biy (r. 1734–1751) founded the new Kokand fortress (1740), which became the capital. Backed by Nader Shah's Afsharids, Kokand repelled major Dzungar invasions in 1742 and 1745 (a bridge trap reportedly killed over 2,000 Dzungar soldiers), a victory that consolidated Abd al-Karim's authority and helped free the Senior jüz from Dzungar dominance. Irdana Biy (d. 1769) opened relations with the Qianlong Emperor after the Qing conquest of Altishahr.

Expansion (1799–1849)

Alim Khan (r. 1799–1811) purged rivals, dredged the Yangi Ariq canal, minted silver coinage, and — abandoning the old reliance on plunder-paid Uzbek irregulars (the Qaraqazan) — built the Gala Bahadur / Sipah-i Jadid, a musketeer standing army of 10,000–20,000 including some 6,000 enslaved Pamiri ("Ghalcha") Ismailis personally loyal to him. He conquered the western Fergana Valley, Khujand, and Tashkent before being assassinated by his brother Umar (1811). Under Umar's son Madali Khan (r. 1822–1842) the khanate reached its greatest extent, dominating the Kyrgyz and much of the Kazakh Senior jüz and sheltering the Kashgar Khojas (Jahangir Khoja). In the 1830s its population exceeded 5 million — roughly 3 million sedentary Turkic/Persian-speaking "Sarts" and 2–2.5 million nomads.

Government, economy, culture

Administration mixed Perso-Islamic and Turco-Mongol forms: hakims ruled the main provinces (Kokand, Marghilan, Andijan, Namangan, later Tashkent), qadi-kalan and khwajah-kalan headed justice and religious counsel. Persian was the court, administrative, and literary language; Chagatai Turkic flourished as a secondary literary medium — Kokand became a major poetic hub (the poet-queen Nodira, Umar Khan, and an 1821 anthology of over 70 poets). State-built irrigation turned much of the valley's wilderness into farmland, laying the foundation of the later cotton economy; Indian merchants and financiers were invited in.

Decline and fall (1842–1876)

Emir Nasrullah of Bukhara invaded in 1842, executed Madali Khan and Nodira, and installed Shir Ali; two decades of civil war followed, during which the Kyrgyz broke away under Ormon Khan and Yaqub Beg departed to found Yettishar in Kashgaria. Russia took Tashkent (1865) and Khujand (1867); Khudayar Khan's oppressive taxes sparked revolt, he fled in 1875, and his son Nasruddin's anti-Russian stance provoked Kaufman and Skobelev to abolish the khanate in 1876, incorporating it as Fergana Oblast of Russian Turkestan.

Legacy

Kokand briefly revived as the seat of the anti-Bolshevik Turkestan (Kokand) Autonomy in 1917–18. Its irrigation legacy shaped Fergana's cotton agriculture, and its palace and madrasas remain landmarks of Uzbek heritage.

Common questions

What was the Khanate of Kokand?: The Khanate of Kokand (1709–1876) was an early modern Central Asian state centered on the Fergana Valley, ruled by the Shahrukhid dynasty of the Ming tribe of Uzbeks. At its peak it stretched from the Ulu Tau mountains to Sariqol and from Aq Masjid to Karakol, across what is now Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.
When is the Khanate of Kokand shown on the map?: The border data draws the Khanate of Kokand 1709–1876. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
How large was the Khanate of Kokand?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Khanate of Kokand covered about 483,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled the Khanate of Kokand?: Alim Khan (r. 1799–1811) purged rivals, dredged the Yangi Ariq canal, minted silver coinage, and — abandoning the old reliance on plunder-paid Uzbek irregulars (the Qaraqazan) — built the Gala Bahadur / Sipah-i Jadid, a musketeer standing army of 10,000–20,000 including some 6,000 enslaved Pamiri ("Ghalcha") Ismailis personally loyal to him. He conquered the western Fergana Valley, Khujand, and Tashkent before being assassinated by his brother Umar (1811).
How did the Khanate of Kokand end?: Emir Nasrullah of Bukhara invaded in 1842, executed Madali Khan and Nodira, and installed Shir Ali; two decades of civil war followed, during which the Kyrgyz broke away under Ormon Khan and Yaqub Beg departed to found Yettishar in Kashgaria.
How was the Khanate of Kokand governed?: Administration mixed Perso-Islamic and Turco-Mongol forms: hakims ruled the main provinces (Kokand, Marghilan, Andijan, Namangan, later Tashkent), qadi-kalan and khwajah-kalan headed justice and religious counsel.
Why does the Khanate of Kokand still matter?: Kokand briefly revived as the seat of the anti-Bolshevik Turkestan (Kokand) Autonomy in 1917–18. Its irrigation legacy shaped Fergana's cotton agriculture, and its palace and madrasas remain landmarks of Uzbek heritage.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Khanate of Kokand en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanate_of_Kokand

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 27 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

See the Khanate of Kokand in its world

Open the atlas at 1793 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.

Open the map at 1793 →