Karluks

a Turkic tribe consisting of three clans; it rose to eminence in the eighth century after the disintegration of the Turkic Kaganate. The tribe engaged in nomadic stock raising and hunting; gradually it shifted to settled farming. The Karluks inhabited the part of Semirech’e along the caravan route from Middle Asia to China. Between 757 and 766 they occupied the entire territory of the state of the Turgesi. The rulers of the Karluks made the city of Suab on the Chu River their capital. They ruled there from 766 to 940. Then the capital was transferred to the city of Koilyk in the valley of the Hi River. In 861 the Karluks captured Kashgar. In the tenth century they became part of the Karakhanid state; from this time, early feudal relations began to develop among the Karluks. In 960 the Karluks adopted Islam.