Mongolian culture in most respects reflected the influence of China. For instance, there are Mongolian terms for the Chinese 60 year calendar cycle. On the other hand, significant other influences came into play. The writing system eventually adopted for Mongolian
was the alphabet brought by Nestorian Christian missionaries into Central Asia, which was used to write other Altaic languages related to Mongolian, like Uighur and Manchu. This script is deficient in letters for vowels, which always made it an ambiguous way to write these languages. Under Soviet influence, 
Mongolian now 
is mostly written in the Cyrillic alphabet. In religion, Mongolia also went its own way, adopting the Vajrayana Buddhism, or Lamaism, of Tibet. This may have contributed to the military decline of Mongolia, since a large part of the population committed to monasticism does not make for anything like the nation of fierce warriors that stormed across Asia in the 13th century. Thus, Manchu China conquered Mongolia for the first time in its history in 1696. It remained part of China until 1911, when the fall of the Manchus enabled the Mongols, like the Tibetans, to assert their independence. The Chinese, however, enforced their claim to Mongolia by an invasion in 1919. This was successful, but with Soviet help the Chinese were driven out in 1921. Mongolian independence, at least from China, was henceforth under the protection of the Soviet Union. But this also, naturally, made Mongolia subject to Russian experiments in Communism. Stalin's collectivization of agriculture was extended to Mongolia, with the forced settlement of nomads. Many of them, consequently, moved to Chinese Inner Mongolia to escape. Since 1990, Mongolia, like other post-Soviet states, has been struggling to develop a normal life and government free of police state measures and Russian domination.
Map shows the conquests of Chingiz Khân as divided at his death among his four sons. Jochi, the eldest son had, however, already died; so his sector was actually divided between his own sons, Batu (the Blue Horde), Orda (the White Horde), and Shiban, later united into the Golden Horde, the most durable of the Mongol regimes. Tuli (Tolui), the youngest son, was given the homeland of Mongolia. And it was the sons of Tuli, after the conquest of Russia, who carried out the greatest subsequent conquests, of the Middle East and China.
| The Great Khâns, the Yüan Dynasty,  ,of China, 1206-1368 | |
|---|---|
| Temüjin Chingiz Khân/Qaghan Genghis Khan T'ai Tsu | 1182- Great Khân, 1206-1227 |
| Chin Empire attacked, 1211-1216; Qara-Khitaï overthrown, 1217-1218; Khawarizm Shâh thrown out of Transoxania, 1219-1222; Hsi-Hsia overthrown, 1226-1227 | |
| Ögedei Khân T'ai Tsung | 1229-1241 |
| Khawarizm Shâh overthrown, 1231 Chin overthrown, 1230-1234 | |
Töregene Khâtûn  | regent, 1241-1246 |
| Güyük Khân Ting Tsung | 1246-1248 |
| Oghul Ghaymish | regent, 1248-1251 |
| Möngke Khân Hsien Tsung | 1251-1259 |
| Southern Sung invaded, 1257-1259 | |
| Qubilai Khân Shih Tsu | 1260-1294 |
| 1280 | |
| Southern Sung conquered, 1267-1279 | |
| Temür Öljeytü Khân Ch'eng Tsung | 1294-1307 |
| 1295 | |
| Qayshan Gülük Hai-Shan Wu Tsung | 1307-1311 |
| 1308 | |
| Ayurparibhadra Ayurbarwada Jên Tsung | 1311-1320 |
| 1312 | |
| Suddhipala Gege'en Shidebala Ying Tsung | 1320-1323 |
| 1321 | |
| Yesün-Temür Tai-ting Ti | 1323-1328 |
| 1324 | |
| Arigaba Aragibag T'ien-shun Ti | 1328 |
| Jijaghatu Toq-Temür Wen Tsung | 1328-1329 1329-1332 |
| 1330 | |
| Qoshila Qutuqtu Ming Tsung | 1329 |
| 1329 | |
| Rinchenpal Irinchibal Ning Tsung | 1332-1333 |
| Toghan-Temür Uqaghatu Qaghan Hui Tsung, Shun Ti | 1333-1370 |
| 1333 | |
| Mongols expelled from China, 1368 | |
Northern Yüan,  , Dynasty, Mongoliaafter the Yüan, 1368-1628 | |
| Ayushiridara Biliktü Qaghan Chao Tsung | 1370-1379 |
| Togus-Temür Usaqal Qaghan | 1379-1389 |
| Engke Soriktu | 1389-1393 |
| Elbek | 1393-1400 |
| Gun Timur | 1400-1403 |
| Oljei Timur | 1403-1411 |
| Delbeg | 1411-1415 |
| Eseku | 1415-1425 |
| Adai Qa'an | 1425-1438 |
| Esen Toghan Tayisi | 1438-1440 |
| Tayisung Qa'an | 1440-1452 |
| Chinese Emperor captured at T'u-mu, 1449 | |
| Esen Tayisi | 1452-1455 |
| Molon Khan Togus | 1452-1454 |
| Maqa Kurkis | 1454-1463? |
| Mandughuli | 1463?-1467 |
| Bayan Mongke | 1467-1470 |
| civil war, 1470-c.1485 | |
| Dayan Khan | 1479-1543 |
| Altan Khan | 1543-1583 |
| Devastating raids into China, 1550; converted to Buddhism by the Dalai Lama, 1578 | |
| rebellion, Mongolia breaks up | |
| Kudeng Darayisun | 1547-1557 |
| Tumen Jasaghtu | 1557-1592 |
| Sechen Khan | 1592-1604 |
| Ligdan Khan | 1604-1634 |
| Tumed | |
| Senge Dugureng | 1583-1587 |
| Gartu | 1587-? |
| Ombo Khan | ?-1628 |
| Manchurian conquest, 1628 | |
| Khalka | |
| Layiqur | 1580?-1637 |
| Subadi Jasaghtu Khan | 1637-1650 |
| conquest of Tibet, 1642 | |
| Norbu Bishireltu Khan | 1650-1657 |
| Wangshugh | 1657-1662 |
| ? | 1662-1670 |
| Chenggun | 1670-1686 |
| Shar-a | 1686-1688 |
| Manchurian occupation, 1688-1691 | |
| Tshedbanskyabs | 1691-1732 |
| Manchurian conquest, 1732 | |
| Complete Manchurian Conquest, c.1696 (1628-1732) | |
as far as we know, didn't have a tradition of believing such a thing, Genghis launched a campaign that came closer than any other such effort in history to realizing its goal. What Genghis accomplished himself was mostly to absorb kingdoms in Central Asia that most people would not have heard of anyway, but his sons and grandsons accomplished the conquests of China, Russia, Korea, Iran, and Iraq -- just to mention the most famous places. The abolition of the Islâmic Caliphate in Baghdad affected the whole subsequent history of Islâm. Devastating defeats were also inflicted on Poland, Hungary, and Turkey, but growing feuds between increasingly more estranged cousins began to divert energies from more distant permanent conquests. Sometimes, as in the invasions of Japan, extraordinary circumstances, in that case the "Divine Wind" (kami kaze) typhoons, foiled Mongol conquest. But the ultimate enemy of the Mongols was the Mongols themselves. Whereas the average length of a generation of European royalty from Charlemagne to Queen Elizabeth (about 40 generations) was nearly 30 years, the Mongol generations turned over in only about 20 years. The Chingizids tended to drink themselves to death; and once no longer centered on the steppe, they lost their military edge. Only the Golden Horde ("horde" from orda, "army") retained a steppe base and steppe culture, consequently lasting more than three centuries, rather than less than 90 years as with both the Ilkhâns in the Middle East or the Yüan Dynasty in China.
I had some problems with reconciling the Mongolian dates and names [The Mongols, David Morgan, Basil Blackwell, 1986, and The New Islamic Dynasties, Clifford Edmund Bosworth, Edinburgh University Press, 1996, which do not give Chinese names] with the Chinese list of Yüan emperors [Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary, Harvard University Press, 1972, p. 1175, which does not give the Mongolian names]. This is now cleared up by Ann Paludan's Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors [Thames & Hudson, London, 1998, pp. 148-157]. Two Emperors did not reign long enough to be acknowledged by Chinese historians. Also, Chinese sources list Ming Tsung before Wen Tsung (or Wen Ti, in Mathews') because the second reign of the latter is counted. After Togus-Temür, I have only found a list of rulers for Mongolia in Bruce R. Gordon's Regnal Chronologies -- though Gordon actually doesn't list Togus-Temür, but only "Biliktu," with slightly different dates. Now I discover that "Biliktu" refers to the brother and predecessor of Togus-Temür, Ayushiridara, whose name I had not seen at all peviously but I now see attested in the Nihon Kodaishi Daijiten, or Dictionary of Ancient Japanese History, on CD-ROM [2006], which provides the genealogy, and at the Chinaknowledge website of Ulrich Theobald -- the word "Qaghan," proper Mongolian for "Khân," is used in titles given by Theobald. Gordon's "Usaqal" then turns out to be Togus-Temür himself.
Altan Khan looks like the last vigorous and effective Mongolian ruler, striking blows against China that deeply discomfited the Ming government. Yet rebellions began early in Altan Khan's reign that he was never able to put down; and his direct successors rulled a state (Tumed) that simply shared in the breakup of the country. Mongolia would no longer be a threat to China, but Manchuria would soon conquer China (1644-1683) and Mongolia (1628-1732) as well. The most effective of the fragmented kingdoms seems to be that of Khalka. Since Mongol authority was asserted over Tibet in 1642, I assume that the Khans of Khalka were responsible. This gave the Manchus a pretext for claiming authority over Tibet after their conquest of Mongolia.
As noted above, classical Mongolian was written in an alphabet ultimately derived from the Syriac alphabet brought by Nestorian missionaries, as transmitted by way of Uighur and adopted under Genghis Khân. 
This was actually a poor way to write Mongolian, since such alphabets do not represent vowels. As it happens, Qubilai Khân requested that the Tibetan 'Phags-pa, a nephew of the Mongol Regent of Tibet, develop an alphabetic writing system for Mongolian. The system he developed was made official and compulsory in 1269. Despite the inadequacies of the Uighur alphabet, the system of 'Phags-pa did not catch on. Official documents using it survive, but the older script survived and returned to dominance until the Cyrillic alphabet was adopted in Communist Mongolia. With other post-Soviet states turning to traditional alphabets or the Latin alphabet, it would be a nice touch for Mongolia to revive the 'Phags-pa system.
| The Chaghatayid or Jagataiïd Khâns of Mughulistân | |
|---|---|
| Chaghatay/Jagatai | 1227-1244 |
| Qara Hülegü | 1244-1246 1251-1252 |
| Yesü Möngke | 1246-1251 |
| Orqina Khâtûn | 1252-1260 |
| Alughu | 1260-1266 |
| Mubârak Shâh | 1266 |
| Baraq Ghiyâth adDîn | c.1266-1271 |
| Negübey | 1271-1272 |
| Buqa/Toqa Temür | 1272-1282 |
| Du'a, Duwa, Tuva | c.1282-1306 |
| conquers domain of Qaidu, 1306 | |
| Könchek | 1306-1308 |
| Taliqu | 1308-1309 |
| Kebek | 1309, c.1320-1326 |
| Esen Buqa | 1309-1320 |
| Eljigedey | 1326 |
| Du'a Temür | 1326 |
| Tarmashîrîn 'Alâ' adDîn | 1326-1334 |
| Buzan | 1334 |
| Changshi | 1334-1338 |
| Yesün Temür | c.1338-1342 |
| Muḥammad | c.1342-1343 |
| Qazan | 1343-1346 |
| Danishmendji | 1346-1358 |
| Buyan Quli | 1358 |
| Shâh Temür | 1359 |
| Tughluq Temür | 1359-1363 |
The situation in Mughulistân (Turkistan and Sinkiang, including the Tarim Basin, in Central Asia) seems confused. Other sources ascribe a reign to Qaidu, son of the Great Khân Güyük; and grandson of the Great Khân Ögedey, but he is not listed by Bosworth's New Islamic Dynasties. At the same time, Bosworth lists Qara Hülegü as the son of Mö'eüken, who is listed as an otherwise unknown, to me, son of Chingiz [p.248]. Similarly, other sources affirm that Jagatai-ids return to power by 1309, but Bosworth's list takes no note of this and simply continues with descendants of Chaghatay and Mö'eüken. This is perplexing. The answer appears to be that Qaidu detached his own domain, to contest the Great Khânate, in the Dzungaria (Junggar) Basin and through part of Mongolia to the north-east, ruling from 1260/64-1301/03. He was succeeded by his son, Chapar, who briefly ruled 1301/03-1306. Chapar was defeated by the proper Chaghatayid Khân, Du'a, eliminating the division within Mughulistân.
This event is of independent interest, since Du'a's name also appears as Tuva, a name that apparently stuck in a small mountainous area north-east of the Altai Mountains. The Republic of Tuva (capital Kyzyl) was independent for a short period after the fall of the Russian Empire, before being conquered by the Bolsheviks. The Republic even issued stamps that came to the attention of the great physicist, and youthful stamp collector, Richard Feynman. The Tuva Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Russian Republic in the Soviet Union, claimed to contain the geographical center of the Continent of Asia, with a monument to mark the spot. It was also closed to foreigners. Nevertheless, Feynman spent the last few years of his life trying to arrange a trip there. Unfortunately, he died very shortly before permission for his visit arrived (1988). As with some other derivatives of Mongol states, we discover that the modern Tuvan language (Tuvinian) is actually more closely related to Turkish than to Mongolian.
The end of the Chaghatayids is as obscure as these other issues. Mughulistân is displaced from Transoxania by the Timurids, Uzbeks, and Kazakhs. In Sinkiang (Xinjiang), domains of the Turkic Uighurs took over until Manchu conquest in 1754-59.
| The Khâns of the Golden Horde | |
|---|---|
| The Khâns of the Blue Horde | |
| Batu | 1227-1256 |
| Russia conquered, 1236-1239; Europe invaded, 1239-1242; Poles & Teutonic Knights defeated at Liegnitz, Hungarians crushed at the River Sajó, April 1241; Hungary occupied, 1241-1242 | |
| Sartaq | 1256-1257 |
| Ulaghchi | 1257 |
| Berke | 1257-1267 |
| Möngke Temür | 1267-1280 |
| Töde Möngke | 1280-1287 |
| Töle Buqa | 1287-1291 |
| Toqta | 1291-1313 |
| Muḥammad Özbeg | 1313-1341 |
| Tînî Beg | 1341-1342 |
| Jânî Beg | 1342-1357 |
| Berdi Beg | 1357-1359 |
| Period of anarchy, 1357-1380; union with White Horde, 1378 | |
| The Khâns of the Golden Horde | |
| Toqtamısh | 1377-1395, d. 1406 |
| 1378/1380, union of White Horde & Blue Horde into the Golden Horde; sacks Novgorod & Moscow, 1382; expelled from Saray by Tamerlane, 1395 | |
| Edigü | Vizir, 1395-1419 |
| Temür Qutlugh | 1395-1401 |
| Shâdî Beg | 1401-1407 |
| Pûlâd Khân | 1407-1410 |
| Temür | 1410-1412 |
| Jalâl adDîn | 1412 |
| Karîm Berdi | 1412-1414 |
| Kebek | 1414-1417 |
| Yeremferden ? | 1417-1419 |
| Ulugh Muḥammad | 1419-1420, 1427-1433 |
| Khân of Kazan, 1437-1445 | |
| Dawlat Berdi | 1420-1422 |
| Baraq | 1422-1427 |
| Kazakhs, 1422-1428 | |
| Sayyid Aḥmad I | c.1433-1435 |
| Küchük Muḥammad | c.1435-1465 |
| Aḥmad | c.1465-1481 |
| 1480, Ivan III refuses tribute; independence of Russia | |
| Shaykh Aḥmad | 1481-1498, 1499-1502 |
| Murtaḍâ | 1481-1499 |
| Defeated and annexed by the Khâns of the Crimea, 1502 | |
| The Khâns of the White Horde | |
|---|---|
| Orda | 1226-1280 |
| Köchü | 1280-1302 |
| Buyan | 1302-1309 |
| Sâsibuqa ? | 1309-1315 |
| Ilbasan | c.1315-1320 |
| Mubârak Khwâja | 1320-1344 |
| Chimtay | 1344-1374 |
| Urus | 1374-1376 |
| Blue Horde, 1364-1375 | |
| Toqtaqiya | 1376-1377 |
| Temür Malik | 1377 |
| Toqtamısh | 1377-1395 |
| 1378-1395 | |
| 1378, union of White Horde & Blue Horde into the Golden Horde | |
In light of these events, it is chilling (as it were) to remember that the Mongols conquered Russia during the winter. The Mongols liked winter. Frozen rivers and marshes meant that they could ride right over barriers that in the spring or summer would have slowed them down. Their tough Central Asian ponies knew how to dig down through the snow to eat the frozen grass beneath. This all made for a terror unknown to the Russians before or since. What the Russians then called their Mongol conquers was the "Tartars" -- invaders come from Tartarus, the deepest part of Hell. However, this was a deliberate modification of the Persian word tâtâr, which just meant a kind of Turk, though the Mongols, of course, were not Turks. But then, as the Mongols appeared out of nowhere from the Steppe, arriving from origins far beyond the knowledge of Russians or Persians, no one really knew who they were or where they were from. To Europeans, they seemed like the Scourge of God.
Eventually, the Golden Horde weakened and broke up into the Khânates of Astrakhan, Kazan, and Crimea. Remnants of the Golden Horde passed in 1502 to the Crimea, which, as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire (as of 1475), held out the longest against Russian power. Thus, independent Hordes survived in Russia for three centuries, and the Crimea for more than two more. This original durability, far beyond the other Mongol Khânates, may be due to the fact that only the Golden Horde remained centered on the steppe. For so long as nomadic military tactics held an advantage, the Golden Horde benefited from it. The day of the nomad had to pass before the Russians gained the upper hand. Crimea survived thanks to the very non-nomadic power of the Ottomans. Russian expansion east would then not be through the steppe but in the Taiga, the dense forestland.
The map at right shows the situation in 1483. Moscow has just ceased paying tribute to the Golden Horde (1480). The successor Khanates to the Horde are already in place. As noted, the Crimea is already a vassal of the Ottomans. Although it would be the Crimean Khâns who finally overthrew the Horde, Astrakhan would acquire the lion's share of the remaining lands of the Horde. Timurids and the White Sheep (Aq Qoyunlu) Turks dominate the Middle East and Central Asia.
Note that Shiban, as a son of Jochi, originally had his own division of the Horde (an ulus, "patrimony"), as seen in the map above. When Toqtamısh moved west to unify the Golden Horde, the Shibanids expanded south and grew into the Khânate of the Özbegs or Uzbeks, perhaps named after the Khân of the Blue Horde, Muḥammad Özbeg (1313-1341). Thus, on the map of 1483, the Uzbeks have become conspicuous. Their line is given below, as their realm (and the Kazakhs) succeeded to most of Central Asia until the coming of the Russians. There was also another son of Jochi, Toqa Temür, who had descendants from who some later Khâns may have descended. This may have included the founder of the Golden Horde proper, Toqtamısh, whose parentage is uncertain.
For a long time I displayed nothing here on the descent of the White Horde or the Golden Horde. Now, however, this has been provided by a correspondent in the Netherlands, who organized information from a French genealogy site, with some reference to RootsWeb, where there is a discussion of the descent of Toqtamısh. I have revised some of this information, especially for the Golden Horde proper, on the basis of The New Islamic Dynasties, by Clifford Edmund Bosworth [Edinburgh University Press, 1996, p.252-254]. The Blue Horde and White Horde are shown together above at right, ending with Toqtamısh who unites them. Below are the Khâns of the Golden Horde. Some small differences of dates and names remain between the the genealogical diagrams and the tables of rulers above. I allow these to remain to indicate the certainties with the history -- one uncertainty is exactly when the Blue Horde was absorbed by Toqtamısh, variously given as 1378 and 1380. It is noteworthy that, according to Bosworth, the founders of the Khânates of Kazan and Astrakhan were rival cousins in the two Golden Horde lines descended from the Khâns of the White Horde. The Golden Horde itself, however, was ended by the unrelated Giray Khâns of the Crimea.
| The Khâns of the Crimea | |
|---|---|
| Ḥâjjî Giray I | 1449-1456 1456-1466 |
| Ḥaydar Giray | 1456 |
| Nûr Dawlat Giray | 1466-1467, 1474-1475 1476-1478 |
| Mengli Giray | 1467-1474, 1475-1476 1478-1514 |
| Vassals of the Ottoman Empire, 1475; conquest of Golden Horde, 1502 | |
| Muḥammad Giray I | 1514-1523 |
| Ghâzî Giray I | 1523-1524 |
| Sa'âdat Giray I | 1524-1532 |
| Islâm Giray I | 1532 |
| Ṣâḥîb Giray I | 1532-1551 |
| Dawlat Giray I | 1551-1577 |
| Muḥammad Giray II | 1577-1584 |
| Islâm Giray II | 1584-1588 |
| Ghâzî Giray II | 1588-1596, 1596-1608 |
| Fatḥ Giray I | 1596 |
| Toqtamısh Giray | 1608 |
| Salâmat Giray I | 1608-1610 |
| Muḥammad Giray III | 1610, 1623-1624, 1624-1627 |
| Jânî Beg Giray | 1610-1623, 1624 1627-1635 |
| 'Inâyat Giray | 1635-1637 |
| Bahâdur Giray I | 1637-1641 |
| Muḥammad Giray IV | 1641-1644, 1654-1666 |
| Islâm Giray III | 1644-1654 |
| 'Âdil Giray | 1666-1671 |
| Salîm Giray I | 1671-1678, 1684-1691, 1692-1699, 1702-1704 |
| Murâd Giray | 1678-1683 |
| Ḥâjjî Giray II | 1683-1684 |
| Sa'âdat Giray II | 1691 |
| Ṣafâ' Giray | 1691-1692 |
| Dawlat Giray II | 1699-1702, 1708-1713 |
| Ghâzî Giray III | 1704-1707 |
| Qaplan Giray I | 1707-1708, 1713-1716, 1730-1736 |
| Dawlat Giray III | 1716-1717 |
| Sa'âdat Giray III | 1717-1724 |
| Mengli Giray II | 1724-1730, 1737-1740 |
| Fatḥ Giray II | 1736-1737 |
| Salâmat Giray II | 1740-1743 |
| Salîm Giray II | 1743-1748 |
| Arslan Giray | 1748-1756, 1767 |
| Ḥalîm Giray | 1756-1758 |
| Qırım Giray | 1758-1764, 1768-1769 |
| Salîm Giray III | 1764-1767, 1770-1771 |
| Maqṣûd Giray | 1767-1768, 1771-1772 |
| Dawlat Giray IV | 1769, 1775-1777 |
| Qaplan Giray II | 1769-1770 |
| Ṣâḥîb Giray II | 1772-1775 |
| Shâhîn Giray | 1777-1782, Russian vassal, 1783-1787 |
| Bahâdur II Giray | 1782-1783 |
| 1783, Russian annexation by Catharine II the Great | |
| The Khâns of Kazan | |
|---|---|
| Ulugh Muḥammad | 1437-1445 |
| Maḥmûd | 1445-1462 |
| Khalîl | 1462-1467 |
| Ibrâhîm | 1467-1479 |
| 'Alî | 1479-1484 1485-1487 |
| Muḥammad Amîn | 1484-1485 1487-1495 1502-1518 |
| Mamûq Siberian Khân | 1495-1496 |
| 'Abd alLaṭîf | 1496-1502 |
| Shâh 'Alî Khân of Qâsimov | 1519-1521, 1551-1552 |
| Ṣâḥîb Giray | 1521-1524 1546 |
| Ṣafâ' Giray | 1524-1531, 1533-1546, 1546 |
| Jân 'Alî | 1531-1533 |
| Ötemish | 1549-1551 |
| Yâdigâr Muḥammad | 1552 |
| 1552, Russian conquest by Ivan IV | |
These lists are derived entirely from The New Islamic Dynasties, by Clifford Edmund Bosworth [Edinburgh University Press, 1996, pp.252-260].
| The Khâns of Astrakhan | |
|---|---|
| Qâsim | 1466-1490 |
| 'Abd alKarîm | 1490-1504 |
| Qasay | 1504-1532 |
| Aq Köbek | 1532-1534 1541-1544 |
| 'Abd alRaḥmân | 1534-1538 |
| Shaykh Ḥaydar | 1538-1541 |
| Yaghmurchi | 1544-1554 |
| 1554, Russian conquest by Ivan IV | |
| Darwîsh 'Alî | Russian vassal, 1554-1557 |
There are surviving Crimean Tartars. Stalin became suspicious that they had collaborated with the Germans in World War II, so he deported all of them to Siberia. They are back now, but still rather out of place in the area. They are thus as much living fossils of history as the 16th century Gothic speakers, and not at all comfortable with the annexation of the Crimea by Vladimir Putin. The Russians are back.
| The Il Khâns | |
|---|---|
| Hülegü/Hülägü | 1256-1265 |
| Middle East invaded, conquered, 1255-1260; Abbasid Caliph killed, 1258; defeat by Mamlûks, 'Ain Jalut, 1260 | |
| Abaqa | 1265-1282 |
| Aḥmad Tegüder | 1282-1284 |
| Arghûn | 1284-1291 |
| Gaykhatu | 1291-1295 |
| Baydu | 1295 |
| Maḥmûd Ghâzân | 1295-1304 |
| Muḥammad Khudâbanda Öljeytü | 1304-1316 |
| Abû Sa'îd 'Alâ' adDunyâ wa dDîn | 1316-1335 |
| Arpa Ke'ün | 1335-1336 |
| Mûsâ | 1336-1337 |
| Muḥammad | 1337-1338 |
| 1338-1353, period of several rival successor states, like the Jalâyirids, followed by the Timurids | |
It may be that a serious effort to conquer Egypt was never launched by the Îlkhâns because the military resources of Mongolia, which had in part been directed at Europe under the Great Khân Ögedei and at the Middle East under Möngke (Hülegü's brother), were entirely drawn off by Qubilai (Hülegü's other brother) for the conquest of China. Certainly, the kind of sustained and punishing campaign that the Song had to face in China was never directed against the Mamlûks.| The Jalâyirids | |
|---|---|
| Shaykh Ḥasan-i Buzurg Tâj ad-Dîn | 1340-1356 |
| Shaykh Uways | 1356-1374 |
| Ḥusayn I Jalâl ad-Dîn | 1374-1382 |
| Sulṭân Aḥmad Ghiyâth ad-Dîn | 1382-1410 |
| Shâh Walad | 1410-1411 |
| Maḥmûd | 1411, 1421-1425 |
| Uways II | 1411-1421 |
| Muḥammad | 1421 |
| Ḥusayn II | 1425-1532 |
| Conquest by Qara Qoyunlu, 1432 | |
| The Qara Qoyunlu, or Black Sheep Turks | |
|---|---|
| Bayram Khôja | Vassal of Jalayirids, 1351-1380 |
| Qara Muḥammad | 1380-1389 |
| Independent, 1382 | |
| Qara Yûsuf | c.1390-1400, 1406-1420 |
| Occupation by Tîmûr, 1400-1406 | |
| Iskandar | 1420-1438 |
| Jahân Shâh | 1439-1467 |
| Timurid Vassal until 1449 | |
| Ḥasan 'Alî | 1467-1469 |
| Abû Yûsuf | 1469 |
| Conquest by Aq Qoyunlu, 1469 | |
| The Aq Qoyunlu, or White Sheep Turks | |
|---|---|
| Qutlugh Fakhr ad-Dîn | c.1360-1389 |
| Aḥmad | 1389-1403 |
| Qara Yoluq 'Uthmân Fakhr ad-Dîn | 1403-1435 |
| 'Alî Jalâl ad-Dîn | 1435-1438 |
| Ḥamza Nûr ad-Dîn | 1438-1444 |
| Jahângîr Mu'izz ad-Dîn | 1444-1457 |
| Uzun Ḥasan | 1457-1478 |
| Sulṭân Khalîl | 1478 |
| Ya'qûb | 1478-1490 |
| Baysonqur | 1490-1493 |
| Rustam | 1493-1497 |
| Aḥmad Gövde | 1497 |
| Alwand | Diyâr Bakr & Azerbaijan, 1497-1502, d.1504 |
| Muḥammad | Iraq & Persia, 1497-1500 |
| Sulṭân Murâd | Persia, 1500-1508, d.1514 |
| Zayn al-'Âbidîn | Diyâr Bakr, 1504-1508 |
| Ṣafawid conquest, 1508 | |
| The Timurids | |
|---|---|
| Tîmûr-i Lang Tamerlane | 1370-1405 |
| Defeats, captures & imprisons Bâyezîd, battle of Ankara, 1402 | |
| Pîr Muḥammad | 1405-1407 in Kandahar |
| Khalîl Sulṭân | 1405-1409 in Samarkand, d.1411 |
| Shâh Rukh | 1505-1409 in Khorasân, 1409-1447 in Transoxania East & West Iran |
| Ulugh Beg | 1447-1449 in Transoxania & Khurasan |
| Bâbur I | 1449-1457 in Khorasân |
| 'Abd alLaṭîf | 1449-1450 in Transoxania |
| 'Abdallâh | 1450-1451 |
| Abû Sa'îd | 1451-1469 in Transoxania & Iran |
| Maḥmûd | 1457-1459 in Khorasân |
| Abû Sa'îd | 1459-1469 in Khorasân |
| Ḥusayn Bâyqarâ | 1469-1506 in Khorasân |
| Sulṭân Aḥmad | 1469-1494 in Transoxania |
| Maḥmûd | 1494-1495 in Transoxania |
| Baysonqur | 1495-1497 in Transoxania |
| Mas'ûd | |
| Bâbur II, the Great Moghul | 1498-1500, 1500-1501 in Transoxania, d.1530 |
| 'Alî | 1498-1500 in Transoxania |
| Özbeg conquest of Transoxania & Farghâna, 1501 | |
| Badî' al-Zamân | 1506-1507 in Khorasân |
| Özbeg/Uzbek conquest of Khorasân, 1507 | |
Tamerlane was only partly Mongol and never claimed to be one. But he tended to use Mongol puppet figureheads and did create the last serious nomadic empire. A devoted Moslem, his conquests and massacres were nevertheless almost entirely directed against fellow Moslems. Poor little Georgia had to bear most of his wrath against Christians.
Despite what must seem the superfluous slaughter and pointless terror of Tamerlane's campaigns, his was the only historic empire actually founded on the region of Transoxania and cities like Samarkand and Bukhara. This brought a period of higher culture and architecture to the area. The style of architecture, indeed, passed to the Moghuls. The splendor of the Taj Mahâl thus owes more than a little to the ferocious Tamerlane.
The region of Farghâna included a small Timurid principality. The Özbeg conquest of the region (1501) sent the heir, Bâbur, heading for Kabul (1514) and India (1526), where he founded the Moghul Empire.
| Shibânid Özbegs/Uzbeks | |
|---|---|
| Abu'l-Khayr | 1438-1468 |
| killed by Kazakhs, disintegration, 1468-1500 | |
| Muḥammad Shıbâni Shah Beg Özbeg | 1500-1512 |
| Köchkunju Muḥammad | 1512-1531 |
| Abû Sa'îd Muz.affar ad-Dîn | 1531-1534 |
| 'Ubaydallâh Abû'l-Ghâzî | 1534-1539 |
| 'Abdallâh I | 1539-1540 |
| 'Abd al-Laṭîf | 1540-1552 |
| Nawrûz Aḥmad, Baraq | 1552-1556 |
| Pîr Muḥammad I | 1556-1561 |
| Iskandar | 1561-1583 |
| 'Abdallâh II | 1583-1598 |
| 'Abd al-Mu'min | 1598 |
| Pîr Muḥammad II | 1598-1599 |
| succession of Toqay Temürids | |
If the Timurids had been more Turkish than Mongol, they were succeeded by rulers who were at least of Mongol patrimony, the Shibânid Khâns of the Özbegs or Uzbeks -- Turkish tribes, but perhaps named after the Khân of the Blue Horde, Muḥammad Özbeg (1313-1341). Moving first south into the lands of the old White Horde, they then displaced the Timurids in Transoxania and northern Afghanistan, in part under the pressure of the Kazakhs. Although often fragemented, the Khânate and its successors, with the Kazakhs, dominate Central Asia until the arrival of the Russian Empire. Uzbekistan, of course, is one of the successor Republics to the Soviet Union.
| Kazakhs | |
|---|---|
| Koirijaq Oglun | c.1394-1422 |
| Borrak/Boraq | 1422-1428 |
| Golden Horde, 1422-1427 | |
| killed by Abu'l-Khayr of the Uzbeks | |
| Girai/Karai | c.1428-1440 |
| Jani Beg | 1440-1480 |
| independent of Uzbeks, 1456 | |
| Muryndyk | 1480/88-1509/11 |
| Qasim/Kasim | 1509/11-1518 |
| Mimash | 1518-1523 |
| Tahir | 1523-1530/33 |
| Boydas | East, 1526/38 |
| Togim | South, 1526/38 |
| Uziaq Ahmad | North, 1526/35 |
| Haqq Nazar/Aq Nazak | unites horde, 1538-1575/80 |
| Shigai | 1575/80-1582 |
| Tawakkul/Tawekel | 1575/86-1598; 1586, all Kazakhs |
| Yesim | 1598-1628 |
| Jahangir Khan | 1628-1652 |
| Ablaigirim | 1628-36; d.c.1650 |
| vacant, 1652-1680 | |
| Tawke | 1680-1715/18 |
| Kaip | 1715-1718 |
| Bulat | 1698-1731 |
| Abu-i-Hayr | 1717/28-1748 |
and the mountains to the south-east of there. This is reflected in the modern map of the region, with an independent Kazakhstan north of Uzbekistan. The modern caital, Alma Ata, is far to the south-east, near the border of Kirghizia. One complication of Kazakh history seems to be that the Horde periodically, and then permanently, splits into Lesser (west), Middle (north, east), and Elder (south) Hordes -- and evidently the Kirgiz also. These were all, of course, Turkish peoples, with initially the Mongol derived rulers. Today the Turks of the region are distinguished, with the modern states, into Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kirgiz (in Kirghizia), and Turkmen (in Turkmenistan, south of the Oxus, an area that is mostly desert, though with the historic city of Merv, now Mary). The whole area, of course, has been characterized with the geographical expression Turkistan. In the 18th century, the Lesser and Middle Horde came under Russian influence. They were conquered by 1824. The Elder Horde and Kirgiz were conquered in 1854.
| Toqay Temürids, Jânids | |
|---|---|
| Jânî Muḥammad | 1599-1603 |
| Bâqî Muḥammad | 1603-1605 |
| Walî Muḥammad | 1605-1611 |
| Imâm Qulî | 1611-1641 |
| Nadhr Muḥammad | 1641-1645 |
| Balkh only, 1645-1651 | |
| 'Abd al-'Azîz | 1645-1681 |
| Ṣubḥân Qulî | 1681-1702 |
| 'Ubaydallâh | 1702-1711 |
| Abu'l-Fayḍ | 1711-1747 |
| figureheads of Mangıts, 1747 | |
| 'Abd al-Mu'min | 1747-c.1750 |
| 'Ubaydallâh | 1751-1752 |
| Abu'l-Ghâzî | c.1758-1789 |
| Mangıts of Bukhara | |
|---|---|
| Muḥammad Raḥîm Atalıq | 1747-1758 |
| Dâniyâl Biy Atalıq | 1758-1785 |
| Shâh Murâd Amîr-i-Ma'ṣûm | 1785-1800 |
| Sayyid Ḥaydar Tora | 1800-1826 |
| Sayyid Ḥusayn | 1826-1827 |
| 'Umar | 1827 |
| Naṣr Allâh | 1827-1860 |
| Muz.affar ad-Dîn | 1860-1886 |
| Russian conquest, 1868 | |
| 'Abd al-Aḥad | 1886-1910 |
| Sayyid 'Âlim Khân | 1910-1920 |
| overthown by Bosheviks, 1920 | |
The Mangıts were from an Uzbek tribe who became chief ministers, Atalıqs, to the Jânids. Like many other such arrangements, the power of the ministers overwhelmed and then overthrew that of their masters. The domain became the Khânate of Bukhara (Bokhara). The arrival of the Russians reduced the power and the domain of the Khâns, but their rule, or misrule, actually continued. Nothing fundamentally changed until the Russian Revolution. A "People's Republic of Bukhara" overthrew the Khân, who went into exile in Afghanistan. Rather than tolerating local self-determination, of course, the Bolsheviks forcibly reconstituted as much of the Russian Empire as possible. 
Today, however, Bukhara finds itself in an independent Uzbekistan (whose capital is Tashkent). Two other Uzbek Khântes, Khiva and Khoqand (around Tashkent), shared space with Bokhara, until similarly attached to Russia. Khoqand was abolished in 1876, while Khiva survived, like Bukhara, until 1920.
These lists (except for the Kazakh Khâns) are derived from The New Islamic Dynasties, by Clifford Edmund Bosworth [Edinburgh University Press, 1996] and the Oxford Dynasties of the World, by John E. Morby [Oxford University Press, 1898, 2002, pp.270-276 & pp.288-292].
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The many successors of the Seljuks in Anatolia are
4. the Oghullar of Rûm
|
Aydın Oghulları Sarukhân Oghulları Menteshe Oghulları Germiyân Oghulları Ḥamîd Oghulları Tekke Oghulları Jândâr Oghulları Qaramân Oghulları Eretna Oghulları Dulghadır Oghulları Osmanli Oghulları |
, oghullar, or "sons." In modern Turkish, "son" is oğul, with a breve on the g, which means that the o is lengthened and the gu lost. Lar is the regular plural suffix. In the Turkish grammatical construction, we get the name of the domain or dynasty and then 
, Oghulları, "its sons." In the map above, 
for the year 1361, based on The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History [Colin McEvedy, 1992, p.93], we have a unique political fragmentation of both the Balkans and Anatolia. This is about the only time since the Hellenistic Age, and the last time thereafter, that Anatolia has consisted of such a small number of states, mostly Turkish but with Greeks, Armenians, and Crusaders holding on in a few places. Every single realm on the map, except for Epirus, is covered by a separate treatment here. Thus we have Romania under the Palaeologi, Bulgaria under the Terters, Serbia, Wallachia & Moldavia, Trebizond, Hungary, the Golden Horde, Georgia, the Jalayirids, the White Sheep Turks, the Black Sheep Turks, the Mamlûks, Lesser Armenia, Cyprus, Rhodes under the Hospitallers, Achaea & the Cyclades and Naples under the Anjevians, Athens under Sicily, Crete and other places under Venice, and Chios and other places under Genoa. Epirus had recently existed under its own Despots, been attached to Romania, and then drifted out of control under local Albanian princes. It would not be strongly unified until George Castriota, or Skanderbeg, temporarily drove the Turks out between 1443 and 1463. Note that the city of Philadelphia (modern Alashehir) is an isolated possession of Romania within the Beylik of Germiyân. It held out until falling to the Ottomans in 1390.
These lists are all from Clifford Edmund Bosworth's The New Islamic Dynasties [Edinburgh University Press, 1996, pp.220-238]. McEvedy may have overlooked one small state of oghullar, and when I figure out how the map would need to be modifed, it may be added.
| Aydın Oghulları BEGS (BEYS) OF I.ZMI.R/SMYRNA | |
|---|---|
| Family of Aydın Oghlu Muḥammad Beg | |
| Captures Ephesus, 1304 | |
| Muḥammad Beg, Mubâriz ad-Dîn Ghâzî | 1308-1334 |
| Umur I Beg, Bahâ' ad-Dîn Ghâzî | 1334-1348 |
| Captures Smyrna (I.zmir); naval defeat at Adramyttion, 1334; naval defeat by Venice & Romania, loss of harbor of Smyrna, 1344 | |
| Khiḍr | 1348-c.1360 |
| 'Îsâ | c.1360-1390 |
| Annexation by Bâyezîd I, 1390 | |
| Mûsa | 1402-1403 |
| Restoration by Tîmûr, 1402 | |
| Umur II | 1402-1405 |
| Junayd | 1405-1426 |
| Annexation by Murâd II, 1426 | |
| Ṣarukhân Oghulları BEGS (BEYS) OF MANISA/MAGNESIA | |
|---|---|
| Ṣarukhân Beg | c.1313-c.1348 |
| Ilyâs Fakhr ad-Dîn | c.1348-1357 |
| Isḥâq Chelebi Muz.affar ad-Dîn | 1357-c.1388 |
| Khiḍr Shâh | 1388-1390, 1404-1410 |
| Conquest by Bâyezîd I, 1390 | |
| Orkhan | 1402-1404 |
| restoration by Tamerlane, 1402; annexation by Meḥmed I, 1410 | |
The Ṣarukhân Oghulları ruled immediately north of Aydın, in what had been Greek Magnesia. They shared the fate of Aydın in Ottoman conquest, restoration, and conquest again. This pattern continues with most of the Oghullar below.
| Menteshe Oghulları BEGS (BEYS) OF MILAS/MILETUS | |
|---|---|
| Menteshe Beg | c.1280-c.1296 |
| Mas'ûd | c.1396-c.1319 |
| Orkhan Shujâ'ud-Dîn | c.1319-c.1344 |
| Ibrâhîm | c.1344-c.1360 |
| Musa | c.1360-1375 |
| Muhammad, & Tâj ud-Dîn Aḥmad | c.1360-1391 |
| Conquest by Bâyezîd I, 1391 | |
| Ilyâs Muz.affar ad-Dîn or Shujâ'ud-Dîn | 1402-1421 |
| restoration by Tamerlane, 1402 | |
| Layth and Aḥmad | 1421-1424 |
| annexation by Murâd II, 1424 | |
| Germiyân Oghulları BEGS (BEYS) OF PHRYGIA | |
|---|---|
| Ya'qûb 'Alî Shîr | c.1299-c.1327 |
| Muḥammad Chakhshadân | c.1327-c.1363 |
| Sulaymân Shâh | c.1363-1387 |
| Ya'qûb II Chelebi | 1387-1390, 1402-1411, 1413-1428 |
| Conquest by Bâyezîd I, 1390; restoration by Tamerlane, 1402; occupation by Qaramânids, 1411-1413; annexation by Murâd II, 1428 | |
| Ḥamîd Oghulları BEGS (BEYS) OF PISIDIA | |
|---|---|
| Dündâr Beg Falak ad-Dîn | c.1301-1324 |
| Occupation by Il Khâns, 1324-1327 | |
| Khiḍr Beg | 1327-1328 |
| Isḥâq Najm ad-Dîn | 1328-1344 |
| Muṣṭafâ Muaz.affar ad-Dîn | c.1344-? |
| Ilyâs Ḥusâm ad-Dîn | ?-c.1374 |
| Ḥusayn Kamâl ad-Dîn | c.1374-1391 |
| Conquest by Bâyezîd I, 1391 | |
| Tekke Oghulları BEGS (BEYS) OF PAMPHYLIA | |
|---|---|
| Yûnus | 1321-? |
| Maḥmûd | ?-d.1324 |
| Khiḍr sinan ad-Dîn | 1327-c.1372 |
| Muḥammad Mubâriz ad-Dîn | c.1372-c.1378 |
| 'Uthmân Chelebi | ?-1391, 1402-1423 |
| Conquest by Bâyezîd I, 1391; restoration by Tamerlane, 1402; annexation by Murâd II, 1423 | |
| Jândâr Oghulları BEGS (BEYS) OF SINOPE & PAPHLAGONIA | |
|---|---|
| Yaman Jâdâr Shams ad-Dîn | 1292-c.1308 |
| Sulaymân I Shujâ'ud-Dîn | c.1308-c.1340 |
| Ibrâhîm Ghiyâth ad-Dîn | c.1340-1345 |
| 'Âdil | 1345-c.1361 |
| Bâyazîd Kötörüm Jalâl ad-Dîn | c.1361-1384 |
| Sulaymân II Shâh | 1384-1385 |
| Isfandiyâr Mubâriz ad-Dîn | 1385-1393, 1402-1440 |
| Conquest by Bâyezîd I, 1393; restoration by Tamerlane, 1402 | |
| Ibrâhîm Tâj ad-Dîn | 1440-1443 |
| Ismâ'îl Kamâl ad-Dîn | 1443-1461 |
| Qızıl Aḥmad | 1461-1462 |
| annexation by Meḥmed II, 1462 | |
| Qaramân Oghulları BEGS (BEYS) OF GALATIA | |
|---|---|
| Qaramân Nûr ad-Dîn or Nûra Ṣûfî | c.1256-1261 |
| Muḥammad I Shams ad-Dîn | 1261-1278 |
| Güneri Beg | 1278-1300 |
| Maḥmud Badr ad-Dîn | 1300-1307 |
| Yakhshı | 1307-c.1317 |
| Ibrâhim I Badr ad-Dîn | c.1317-1344/49 |
| Aḥmad Kakhr ad-Dîn | 1344/49-1349 |
| Shams ad-Dîn | 1349-1352 |
| Sylaymân | 1352-1361 |
| 'Alâ'ud-Dîn | 1361-1398 |
| Conquest by Bâyezîd I, 1398 | |
| Muḥammad II | 1402-1419, 1441-1423 |
| Restoration by Tamerlane, 1402 | |
| 'Alî | 1419-1421, 1423-1424 |
| Ibrâhîm II Tâj ad-Dîn | 1424-1464 |
| Isḥâq | 1464-1465 |
| Pîr Aḥmad | 1464-1475 |
| annexation by Meḥmed II, 1475 | |
The Qaramân Oghulları were a vigorous state and stood a good chance of becoming the dominant successors of the Seljuks. They even became the heirs of the Seljuk capital of Konya (Iconium). However, they were still no match for the the Ottomans. They lost Ankara (Angora), the ancient capital of Galatia, in 1354, and fell altogether to Bâyezîd in 1398. Restored by Tamerlane, they had to go through the experience all over again.
| Dulghadır Oghulları BEGS (BEYS) OF TAURUS | |
|---|---|
| Qaraja ibn Dulghadır al-Malik az-Z.âhir Zayn ad-Dîn | 1337-1353 |
| Khalîl Ghars ad-Dîn | 1353-1386 |
| Sha'bân Sûlî | 1386-1398 |
| Muḥammad Nâṣir ad-Dîn | 1398-1442 |
| Sulaymân | 1442-1454 |
| Malid Arslan | 1454-1465 |
| Shâh Budaq | 1465-1466, 1472-1479 |
| Shâh Suwâr | 1466-1472 |
| Bozqurd 'Alâ'ud-Dawla | 1479-1515 |
| 'Alî | 1515-1521 |
| annexation by Süleymân I, 1521 | |
Of all the Oghullar, the Dulghadır Oghulları, sharing the Taurus with Lesser Armenia, held out the longest against the Ottomans, with help as vassals of the White Sheep Turks and the Mamlüks. Even after conquering the Mamlûks and pushing into Mesopotamia, Selim the Grim seems to have tolerated them, though they didn't last long into the reign of Süleymân the Magnicient.
| Eretna Oghulları BEGS (BEYS) OF SIVAS/CAPPADOCIA | |
|---|---|
| Eretna 'Alâ'ud-Dîn | 1336-1352 |
| Muḥammad I Ghiyâth ad-Dîn | 1352-1366 |
| 'Alî 'Alâ'ud-Dîn | 1366-1380 |
| Muḥammad II Chelebi | 1380 |
| Succession of Qâḍî Burhân ad-Dîn Oghulları, 1380 | |
| Aḥmad Qâḍî Burhân ad-Dîn | 1380-1398 |
| killed by White Sheep Turks, 1398 | |
| 'Alî Zayn ad-'Âbidîn 'Alâ' ad-Dîn | 1398 |
| annexation by Bâyezîd I, 1398 | |
The Eretna Begs were succeeded by their own Vizir, Qâḍî Burhân ad-Dîn, who founds his own, short-lived Oghullar. Killed fighting the White Sheep Turks, he was briefly followed by his son before his commanders surrendered the domain the Ottomans.
There were other Oghullar states that briefly followed the ones given here, and some earlier Seljuk domains that were for a time rivals of Rûm, but the representatives of the year 1361 certainly convey the idea of the complexity of the period, before a uniformity of Ottoman government was imposed that continues, in effect, down to the present day. The fragmentation of the Oghullar is reminiscent of the period of the Reyes de Taifas (mulûk aṭ-Ṭawâ'if) in Spain. However, none of the Spanish states was ever able to predominate, and Islamic Spain only survived against the Reconquista as long as outside power, the Almoravids and Almohads, contributed their strength. Without them, Islamic Spain collapsed. With the Oghullar, however, not only did one of them, the Ottomans, predominate, but they grew into one of the great empires of history, surviving into the 20th century.
