Qocho (Turfan)

After Ordu-Baliq fell in 840, part of the Uyghurs moved to the Turfan oasis and in the second half of the 9th century made Qocho their capital. The Uyghur kingdom of Qocho lasted until the 13th century, then submitted to the Mongols, while its Uyghur rulers kept their own administration for a long time.

Qocho was a city of writing and books: in the early 20th century German expeditions took from it thousands of manuscripts in Uyghur, Sogdian, Sanskrit, Chinese and other languages, along with Manichaean book paintings and murals. The Uyghur script and Uyghur scribes later laid the foundation of written administration in the Mongol state.