Uyghur Khaganate

The Uyghur Khaganate (or Uyghur Empire or Uighur Khaganate or Toquz Oghuz Country) (Mongolian: Уйгурын хаант улс, Tang era names, with modern Hanyu Pinyin: traditional Chinese: 回鶻; simplified Chinese: 回鹘; pinyin: Huíhú or traditional Chinese: 回紇; simplified Chinese: 回纥; pinyin: Huíhé) was a Turkic empire that existed for about a century between the mid 8th and 9th centuries. They were a tribal confederation under the Orkhon Uyghur (回鶻) nobility, referred to by the Chinese as the Jiu Xing ("Nine Clans"), a calque of the name Toquz Oghuz or Toquz Tughluq.

The rise of Uyghurs in Mongolia

In the Gobi the Tang dynasty was supported by the Uighurs after the Uighurs left the control of the Western Turks due to the defeat by the Western Turks by Tang Taizong. In 627-628 a revolt of the Uighurs against the Turkic Khaganate weakened the Turks and the Turkic Uighurs fought against the Tibetans and Turks in alliance with the Chinese.

In 742, the Old Uyghurs, Karluks, and Basmyls rebelled against the ruling Göktürks. The Basmyls captured the Göktürk capital, Otukan, and the Göktürk king, Özmish Khan, in 744, effectively taking charge of the region. However, a Uyghur-Karluk alliance against the Basmyls was formed later the same year. The coalition defeated the Basmyls and beheaded their king. The Basmyl tribes were effectively destroyed; their people sold to the Chinese or distributed amongst the victors. The Uyghur leader became the khagan in Mongolia and the Karluk leader the yabgu.