Fragmentation of the Kara-Khanid Khanate (1180s)

Timeline

1. 1181–1184Bukhara · BukharaThe western Kara-Khanid realm had already split into the Samarkand and Kashgar systems in the 11th century. In the early 1180s, the beks of the Transoxiana cities each acted independently, the khan's court lacked the power to integrate military and civil affairs, Western Liao suzerainty grew increasingly hollow, and local nobles and military commanders held real control of the cities.
2. 1185–1188Samarkand · SamarkandKhwarazm shah Tekish exploited the infighting of the western Kara-Khanids, capturing or forcing the submission of Samarkand, Bukhara, and other cities one by one. The former Western Kara-Khanid khanate became a Khwarazm vassal or even directly administered territory, and the khanate title became a local symbol.
3. 1189–1190Kashgar · KashgarThe Kashgar Kara-Khanid khanate east of the Tianshan was not directly conquered by Khwarazm but likewise fell into local fragmentation and struggles over the khanate. By 1190, the Kara-Khanid Khanate no longer existed as a unified political entity, and Central Asia and the lands north and south of the Tianshan entered a multipolar pattern of Khwarazm, Western Liao, and various local beks coexisting.