AHistoryIndependent states
The Karluk Yabghu State (742-840)
A state of the Karluk tribes in Zhetysu, remembered for changing sides at the Battle of Talas; the roots of the Karakhanids lie here.
The Karluks were Turkic tribes living west of the Altai, and their chief bore the title yabghu. In 742 they rose with the Uyghurs and Basmyls against the Second Turkic Khaganate, and after its fall they moved west into Zhetysu.
In 751 the Abbasid and Tang armies met near the Talas river. In the middle of the battle the Karluks went over to the Arab side and the Tang army suffered a heavy defeat. After this battle China's influence in Central Asia waned.
In 766 the Karluks took Suyab from the Türgesh and became masters of Zhetysu. When the Uyghur Khaganate collapsed in 840, the Karluk yabghu Bilge Kül Qadir Khan proclaimed himself khagan, and most historians date the beginning of the Karakhanid state to this event.
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Updated: November 10, 2026