The Kimek Khaganate (880-1035)

The Kimek tribes grew strong along the Irtysh after the Uyghur Khaganate fell, and in the late 9th century their chief took the title of khagan. According to the Persian writer Gardizi, the union included seven tribes, the Kipchaks among them.

The Kimek Khaganate stretched from the Irtysh to the Urals and north of the Aral Sea. Life rested on nomadic herding, the fur trade and winter camps along the rivers; the khagan's winter seat stood on the Irtysh.

In the early 11th century the lead within the union passed to the Kipchaks in the west. The Kimek Khaganate broke up and in its place arose the Dasht-i Kipchak, the "Kipchak steppe", a name that came to cover the whole steppe from the Black Sea to the Irtysh.