Ili River

The Ili River (Uyghur: ئىلى دەرياسى‎, ULY: Ili deryasi; Kazakh: Іле, İle; Russian: Или; Chinese: 伊犁河; pinyin: Yīlí Hé; Mongolian: Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river in northwestern China and southeastern Kazakhstan. It flows from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to the Almaty Province in Kazakhstan.

It is 1,439 kilometres (894 mi) long, 815 kilometres (506 mi) of which is in Kazakhstan. It takes its beginning in eastern Tian Shan from the Tekes and Kunges (or Künes) rivers. The Ili River drains the basin between the Tian Shan and the Borohoro Mountains to the north.

Flowing into Lake Balkhash, the Ili forms a large delta with vast wetland regions of lakes, marshes and thicket vegetation.

Etymology

Earlier mentions of Ili river is in Mahmud al-Kashgari's dictionary of Turkic languages, the Dīwānu l-Luġat al-Turk, written in 1072–74. In the book, author defines: Ili, name of a river. Turkic tribes of Yaghma, Tokhsi and Chiglig live on its banks. Turkish countries regard the river as their Jayhoun (Amu Darya) . The name is possibly originated from Uyghur word Il, means hook in English, resembling the river's geographical shape.

Ili River Treaty

The Ili River Treaty was a treaty between the warring eastern and western parts of the Western Turkic Kaganate that concluded the civil war between warring parties. It split the Western Turkic Kaganate into independent states, with a power structure that guaranteed participation of the constituent tribes in the governance of the their states.

The Ili river treaty of 638 CE is named after the Ili river, it formalized a division of the Western Turkic Kaganate (582-659 CE) into independent states with the border between two states fixed along the Ili river. The splinter resolved a conflict started with re-districting of 634 CE, which re-distributed the Kaganate lands between constituent tribes, with a strong bias on favor of the eastern tribes. A leading role in the conflict and ensuing war played Ezgil leader Kül-erkin, who initiated and participated in summoning the most important officials of the state to a kurultai to demote the Kagan Terish and to raise Yukuk-shad as a Supreme Kagan. After the treaty, the head of the Western Turkic Kaganate Terish-kagan (634-638) retained control of the eastern part of the Kaganate, and the western part was headed by Yukuk Shad of the royal Ashina clan, who became a Kagan of the "western surnames", with a throne name Yelbi-Turuk-Kagan. Separation of the Western Turkic Kaganate set a stage for the later emergence of the Turgesh Kaganate (699-766) of the Western Türks.