ABSTRACT
Shortly after the death of Möngke Qa’an in 1259, an autonomous Mongol khanate emerged in Central Asia, which at various times comprised the territories of Mawarannahr (in modern Uzbekistan), the Ferghana Valley, the Helmand River (in modern Afghanistan), the Yeti Su (eastern Kazakhstan), the Qobaq Plain, and the towns of the Tarim and Turfan basins (all in East Turkistan, modern Xinjiang, PRC). This region was referred to as the ‘Middle Empire’ or ‘Middle Mongol State’ and was ruled by the descendants of Chinggis Khan’s second and third sons, Chaghadai and Ogodei. Fourteen documents discovered in Turfan, written by the Chaghadai chancellery, also indicate the presence of a large number of Uyghur officials, who served the rulers of the Middle Empire until its dissolution in the middle of the fourteenth century. The Uyghurs must have been ubiquitous at the Chaghadai court, as the Uyghur language was used for chancellery documents of the Middle Empire well into the fourteenth century.
