Empire · 1225–1680 · Northern & Central Asia

Chagatai Khanate

The Chagatai Khanate was the Central Asian share of the Mongol Empire, given to Genghis Khan's second son Chagatai. It covered Transoxiana, the steppes of Semirechye and the oasis cities of the Tarim Basin.

Its khans kept their nomadic way of life longer than the other Mongol branches, and for decades they fought the Yuan and the Ilkhanate, often in alliance with the rebel prince Kaidu. Under Kebek and Tarmashirin the khans began to settle and adopt Islam, which provoked a revolt by the eastern nomads. By the 1340s the khanate had split into a western half in Transoxiana, soon dominated by Timur, and an eastern half known as Moghulistan, where Chagatayid khans ruled until the late 17th century, when the Dzungars took the Tarim Basin.

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Years

1225–1680

Capital

Almaliq; later moving royal camps and Qarshi

Greatest extent

1310, about 3.50 million km²

Region

Northern & Central Asia

Transoxiana, Semirechye, the Tarim Basin and the Afghan borderlands; c. 3.5M km² in 1310 (Taagepera 1997; Turchin, Adams & Hall 2006 give the same figure for 1350)