The Ghaznavids and the Karakhanids

In the mid-10th century the Karakhanid state (Khaganiya) was formed on the basis of a union of the Karluk, Yaghma, Chigil and other tribes; its rulers took the title “Karakhan”. Abdulkarim Satuk Bughra Khan (died 955) is regarded as its founder. In 992 Harun Bughra Khan took Bukhara; Nuh ibn Mansur asked Sebuktegin for help. In 999 Nasr Ilek-khan occupied Bukhara and ended the Samanids. Mahmud of Ghazna repelled the Karakhanid attacks of 1006 and 1008 and kept Khorasan. In 1038 Ibrahim Boritegin seized the Amu Darya lands and subdued Transoxiana, and the state split into an Eastern (Balasagun) and a Western (Samarkand) part. Provinces were ruled by ilek-khans or tegins, and the iqta system spread widely from the 11th century. Buildings of the time include the Kalon minaret and the Vobkent and Jarkurgan minarets. In 1137 near Khujand and in 1141 in a battle near Samarkand the Kara-Khitai defeated the Karakhanids, and the Western Karakhanids became dependent on the Kara-Khitai.