The Western Turk Khaganate and the local principalities

The Western Turk Khaganate stretched from the Altai to the Indus and was strongest in the first quarter of the 7th century. Its people were settled farmers, craftsmen and merchants along with nomadic herders; the settled part was culturally more advanced, and Sogdian merchants were especially influential in trade. Under Tong Yabghu Khagan (618–630) the administration was reformed: local rulers were given the title yabghu and became the khagan’s deputies, while tudun officials were sent to them for supervision. In 585–586 an uprising broke out in Bukhara under Abruy, a member of the khagan’s house; its causes were poverty, oppression and the growing dependence of kashovarzs who were losing their land. Frightened rich landowners asked the Turk khagan for help, and he sent an army under Sheri Kishvar (El Arslan) that crushed the uprising; Abruy was killed. The kadivars and servants were returned to their masters. The sources tell this story briefly, so its details should be treated with caution.