Qocho or Kara-Khoja (Chinese: 高昌回鶻; pinyin: Gāochāng Huíhú; lit. 'Gaochang Uyghurs'), also known as Idiqut ("holy wealth"; "glory"; "lord of fortune"), was a Uyghur kingdom created in 843, with strong Chinese Buddhist and Tocharian influences. It was founded by refugees fleeing the destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate after being driven out by the Yenisei Kirghiz. They made their winter capital in Qocho (also called Gaochang or Qara-Khoja, near modern Turpan) and summer capital in Beshbalik (modern Jimsar County, also known as Tingzhou). Its population is referred to as the "Xizhou Uyghurs" after the old Tang Chinese name for Gaochang, the "Qocho Uyghurs" after their capital, the "Kucha Uyghurs" after another city they controlled, or the "Arslan ("Lion") Uyghurs" after their king's title.
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👉 Qocho in the context of Mongol invasion of Central Asia
Mongol campaigns in Central Asia occurred after the unification of the Mongol and Turkic tribes on the Mongolian Plateau in 1206. Smaller military operations of the Mongol Empire in Central Asia included the destruction of surviving Merkit and Naimans (which involved forays into Cumania) and the conquest of Qara Khitai. These were followed by a major campaign against Khwarazm. Expansion into Central Asia began in 1209 as Genghis Khan sent an expedition to pursue rivals who had fled to the region and threatened his new empire. The Uyghur kingdom Qocho and leaders of the Karluks submitted voluntarily to the Mongol Empire and married into the imperial family. By 1218 the Mongols controlled all of Xinjiang and by 1221 all the territories of the former Khwarazmian Empire. In 1236, the Mongols defeated the eastern portions of Cumania and swept into Eastern Europe.
Qocho in the context of Turkic migrations
The Turkic migrations were the spread of Turkic tribes and Turkic languages across Eurasia between the 4th and 11th centuries. In the 6th century, the Göktürks overthrew the Rouran Khaganate in what is now Mongolia and expanded in all directions, spreading Turkic culture throughout the Eurasian steppes. Although Göktürk empires came to an end in the 8th century, they were succeeded by numerous Turkic empires such as the Uyghur Khaganate, Kara-Khanid Khanate, Khazars, and the Cumans. Some Turks eventually settled down into sedentary societies such as the Qocho and Ganzhou Uyghurs. The Seljuq dynasty invaded Anatolia starting in the 11th century, resulting in permanent Turkic settlement and presence there. Modern nations with large Turkic populations include Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, and Turkic populations also exist within other nations, such as Chuvashia, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan and the Sakha Republic of Siberia in Russia, Northern Cyprus, the Crimean Tatars, the Kazakhs in Mongolia, the Uyghurs in China, and the Azeris in Iran.
Qocho in the context of Old Uyghur
Old Uyghur (simplified Chinese: 回鹘语; traditional Chinese: 回鶻語; pinyin: Huíhú yǔ) was a Turkic language spoken in Qocho from the 9th–14th centuries as well as in Gansu.
Qocho in the context of Old Uyghur alphabet
The Old Uyghur alphabet was a Turkic script used for writing Old Uyghur, a variety of Old Turkic spoken in Turpan and Gansu that is the ancestor of the modern Western Yugur language. The term "Old Uyghur" used for this alphabet is misleading because Qocho, the Uyghur (Yugur) kingdom created in 843, originally used the Old Turkic alphabet. The Uyghur adopted this "Old Uyghur" script from local inhabitants when they migrated into Turfan after 840. It was an adaptation of the Aramaic alphabet used for texts with Buddhist, Manichaean and Christian content for 700–800 years in Turpan. The last known manuscripts are dated to the 18th century. This was the prototype for the Mongolian and Manchu alphabets. The Old Uyghur alphabet was brought to Mongolia by Tata-tonga.
The Old Uyghur script was used between the 8th and 17th centuries primarily in the Tarim Basin of Central Asia, located in present-day Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The script flourished through the 15th century in Central Asia and parts of Iran, but it was eventually replaced by the Arabic script in the 16th century. Its usage was continued in Gansu through the 17th century.