When is the Kingdom of Qocho shown on the map?

The border data draws the Kingdom of Qocho AD 860–1138. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.

How large was the Kingdom of Qocho?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Kingdom of Qocho covered about 653,000 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 · Turkic khaganates and Islam

Kingdom of Qocho

drawn on the map AD 860–1138

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Shown on the map: AD 860–1138
Peak area: 653k km²
Region: Central Asia

Overview

Qocho (also Kara-Khoja; Chinese 高昌回鶻, "Gaochang Uyghurs") was a Uyghur kingdom founded in 843 in the Turfan oasis region of present-day Xinjiang, created by refugees from the Uyghur Khaganate after its destruction by the Yenisei Kirghiz in 840. It endured, mostly as a vassal, into the 14th century. The winter capital was Qocho/Gaochang (Idiqutshari) near Turpan; the summer capital was Beshbalik (Beiting/Tingzhou, modern Jimsar). Its rulers bore the title idiqut ("lord of fortune/holy wealth"). The project dates 843–1132 reflect the period of independence; from 1128/1132 Qocho was a vassal of the Qara Khitai (Western Liao), from 1209 of the Mongol Empire, and later of the Chagatai Khanate, ceasing to exist by the 1370s.

Origins and ethnolinguistic background

In 843 a Uyghur group under Pangtele migrated south and took Karasahr and Kucha from the crumbling Tibetan Empire; Tang recognition followed in 856. In 866 Pugu Jun took the title idiqut and captured Gaochang, Beshbalik, and Luntai from the Guiyi Circuit. The population mixed Old Uyghur-speaking Turks with the oasis' older inhabitants — Tocharians, Sogdians, and Chinese — whom the Uyghurs gradually absorbed. Peter Golden notes the Uyghurs adopted Sogdian scripts and faiths (Manichaeism, Buddhism, Church of the East Christianity) while supplanting the Sogdians as Silk Road merchants. The Old Uyghur alphabet, derived from Sogdian/Syriac script but written vertically in deference to prestigious Chinese, became the standard.

Chronology, government, territory

After clashes with the Guiyi Circuit (Qocho took Yizhou/Hami in 876; lost ground to the Jinshan kingdom in 904, recovered after 911), the kingdom settled into an agrarian oasis life by 887. From 981 the idiquts sent tribute to the Song as "Nephew Lion King," invoking the old uncle-nephew marriage diplomacy with the Tang. The kingdom's towns — Gaochang, Beshbalik, Kucha, Aksu, Karasahr — straddled the northern Tarim routes. By 1096 Qocho had lost Kucha, Aksu, and Tumshuk to the Kara-Khanids. In 1209 Iduq-qut Barchuk Art Tegin killed the Qara Khitai resident and submitted to Genghis Khan, becoming his adopted "fifth son"; Uyghur scribes then staffed the Mongol bureaucracy. The idiquts intermarried with the Mongol royal family for a century.

Religion, culture, economy

The ruling family was initially Manichaean — Qocho's king even threatened the Samanid Nasr II with retaliation against local Muslims if Manichaeans were persecuted in Khorasan (an episode recorded by Ibn al-Nadim) — but Buddhism was favored by the 960s and became dominant after Manichaean temples were converted in 1008. A Chinese envoy in 984 described over fifty Buddhist temples with Tang-granted name boards, an "Imperial Writings Tower" holding Taizong's edicts, and a Manichaean temple with Persian monks. Tang legacies ran deep: Chinese calendars, dictionaries (Qieyun, Yupian), and Tripitaka manuscripts were in use. The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves murals — funded by Uyghur patrons — are the era's artistic monument. The economy rested on irrigated oasis agriculture (noted for cotton, sables, and viticulture) and Silk Road trade.

Conflict, decline, legacy

Muslim Kara-Khanids waged what they regarded as jihad against the Buddhist Uyghurs; al-Kashgari's verse cycles celebrate victories over the "infidel tribes," and Bezeklik murals were later vandalized. Under Mongol/Yuan vassalage Qocho survived until the Muslim Chagatai khan Khizr Khoja (r. 1389–1399) forcibly converted Turfan and Hami — the end of Uyghur Buddhism. The name "Uyghur" itself fell out of use until revived in 1921. Qocho's manuscript legacy (Manichaean, Buddhist, Christian texts in half a dozen languages) remains foundational for Silk Road studies. Peak area ~653,000 km² (project data) matches its 10th-century extent across the northeastern Tarim Basin.

Common questions

What was the Kingdom of Qocho?: Qocho (also Kara-Khoja; Chinese 高昌回鶻, "Gaochang Uyghurs") was a Uyghur kingdom founded in 843 in the Turfan oasis region of present-day Xinjiang, created by refugees from the Uyghur Khaganate after its destruction by the Yenisei Kirghiz in 840. It endured, mostly as a vassal, into the 14th century.
When is the Kingdom of Qocho shown on the map?: The border data draws the Kingdom of Qocho AD 860–1138. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
How large was the Kingdom of Qocho?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Kingdom of Qocho covered about 653,000 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 Kingdom of Qocho?: After clashes with the Guiyi Circuit (Qocho took Yizhou/Hami in 876; lost ground to the Jinshan kingdom in 904, recovered after 911), the kingdom settled into an agrarian oasis life by 887. From 981 the idiquts sent tribute to the Song as "Nephew Lion King," invoking the old uncle-nephew marriage diplomacy with the Tang.
How did the Kingdom of Qocho end?: Muslim Kara-Khanids waged what they regarded as jihad against the Buddhist Uyghurs; al-Kashgari's verse cycles celebrate victories over the "infidel tribes," and Bezeklik murals were later vandalized. Under Mongol/Yuan vassalage Qocho survived until the Muslim Chagatai khan Khizr Khoja (r. 1389–1399) forcibly converted Turfan and Hami — the end of Uyghur Buddhism.
What did the economy and culture of the Kingdom of Qocho rest on?: The ruling family was initially Manichaean — Qocho's king even threatened the Samanid Nasr II with retaliation against local Muslims if Manichaeans were persecuted in Khorasan (an episode recorded by Ibn al-Nadim) — but Buddhism was favored by the 960s and became dominant after Manichaean temples were converted in 1008.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Qocho (Kingdom of Qocho) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Qocho
Wikipedia: Kara-Khanid Khanate en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara-Khanid_Khanate

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).

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