Qazaghan's puppet

Bayan-Quli Khan Mausoleum in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, photographed by Dmitriy Page, 1-Feb-2007. Public Domain image via Wikimedia Commons.

By the mid-14th century, the Chaghatai Khanate, originally established by Chaghatai, the second son of Genghis Khan, had begun to fracture. Power often shifted from one local leader to another amid political instability and internecine strife. In this environment of weakened central control, military commanders and tribal leaders such as Qazaghan rose to prominence.

Amir Qazaghan, who likely belonged to the Qara’unas (or Negüderi) forces—Mongol troops stationed in the frontier zones—exploited the vacuum of power left by weakening khans. Around 1346, he successfully deposed the ruling Chaghatai Khan, Kazan Khan, and installed a succession of puppet khans while retaining real power in his own hands.

Rather than ruling openly as khan, Amir Qazaghan governed through figureheads drawn from the Chaghatai royal line, ensuring a veneer of legitimacy while he controlled military, fiscal, and administrative matters.

The Chagatai Khanate, with contemporary polities circa 1300, before the expansion of the Timurid Empire into Transoxiana from 1363. Image modified from a map from naturalearthdata.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This coin is in the name of Chaghatayid ruler Buyan Qulï Khan (AH 749-760; CE 1348-1359), a 7th-generation descendant of Genghis Khan, and one of the puppet khans who served Qazaghan. It is a 1/4 tanka on the Delhi Sultanate standard that was struck AH 757-758 (CE 1356-1357). Bayan-Qulï Khan held titular command of Samarkand (blue pin on map above) in the Zerafshan River valley in the north-eastern region of modern Uzbekistan about 250 km from the Afghanistan border.

Ref: Album A-2009 S; Wilkes 1996; Zeno 205703. The mint was Bazar (at the bottom of the obverse). Although there is no date, it was only struck AH757-758 by Amir Wali, ruler of Astarabad. It is struck in the name of Buyan Qulï Khan, written, for some inexplicable reason, as buyan 'ali khan. The mint name is given as Bazar, the court mint, which was generally located at or very close to Astarabad  (red pin on map above).

So why was a coin in the name of a Chaghatayid khan minted in Asterabad (red pin on map above)? Steven Album, in Checklist of Islamic Coins, writes:

"During the reign of Buyan Quli Khan (749-760), who was a mere figurehead set up by the effective power-that-be, the amir Qataghan, a number of Iranian rulers struck coins in the name of Buyan Quli, even though direct Chaghatayid influence in the region was inconsequential (#A2009 ff.)."

They must have seen some political value in aligning themselves with the Chagatayids and a descendent of the Great Khans.

Switching Sides

It is interesting to note that the year before the coin above was issued in the name of Buyan Qulï Khan, Amir Wali was acknowledging a different overlord: Jani Beg of the Golden Horde (Juchid).

This coin issued in AH756-757 a year earlier in the name of Jani Beg. Jani Beg died in AH 757. While Amir Wali recognized Jani Beg's overlordship, he was not a mere puppet. Regional rulers like Amir Wali maintained a degree of independence. Mongol rulers had tough family - Jani Beg was assassinated in 1357 by his own son, Berdi Beg. Berdi Beg reigned only 20-3 years before he too was assassinated - possibly by his uncle.

Following Jani Beg's death in AH 757 (CE1357), the Golden Horde experienced internal strife & a succession crisis, leading Amir Wali to shift his allegiance to the Chaghatay Khanate. This strategic realignment allowed him to assert greater autonomy and influence in the region amid the declining power of the Golden Horde.

The Deaths of Qazaghan & Buyan Qulï Khan

In 1358, Qazaghan was assassinated by 'Abdullah, his own son, who seized power for himself and had Buyan Qulï killed before being driven from Samarkand and subsequently dying.

-Beatrice Forbes, Manz, The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane, p 44.

Qazaghan's death triggered more instability, with internal conflicts, power fragmented. This paved the way for the rise of Timur (aka Tamerlane, see more in this post, The Children of Tamerlane).

References:

1. Asian Historical Architecture: Saif ed-Din Bokharzi & Bayan-Quli Khan Tombs, Bukhara, Uzbekistan

2. Manz, Beatrice Forbes, The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, Canto edition, 1999.

3. Album, Stephen. A Checklist of Islamic Coins. 3rd ed., Stephen Album, 2011.

4. Jackson, Peter. From Genghis Khan to Tamerlane: The Reawakening of Mongol Asia. Yale University Press, 2023. Kindle ed.