ABSTRACT
Chinggis Khan’s first direct encounter with the Uyghurs came in 1208, when he was pursuing two rival steppe tribes, the Merkit and the Naiman. When Chinggis Khan defeated the Merkit and Naiman tribes in 1208, the Uyghur king Barchuq el-Tegin saw his victory as a good opportunity to shake off the increasingly harsh demands made of the Uyghurs by the Qara Khitai and to align his fortunes with the emerging Mongol powerhouse. The Uyghur king was allowed to govern his own state on behalf of the Mongols, without Mongol interference. Many Uyghurs were integrated into the Mongol government in career paths similar to Barchuq’s descendants. The society the Mongols constructed and supported in China was a hybrid affair that mixed traditional Mongol and Chinese elements.
