Qocho[[File:Man of Gaochang (高昌國, Turfan) in 番客入朝圖 (937-976 CE).jpg|thumb|Man of Gaochang (高昌國, Turfan) in "Entrance of the foreign visitors" (番客入朝圖) (937–976 CE)]] Qocho or Kara-Khoja (), also known as Idiqut, ("holy wealth"; "glory"; "lord of fortune") was a Uyghur kingdom created in 843, with strong Chinese Buddhist and Tocharian influences. It was founded by Uyghur refugees fleeing the destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate after being driven out by the Yenisei Kirghiz.
YuebanYueban () (Middle Chinese: */jiuᴇt̚-pɣan/ < Late Han Chinese: */jyat-pɑn/), colloquially: "Weak Xiongnu", was the name used by Chinese historians for remnants of the Northern Xiongnu in Zhetysu, now part of modern-day Kazakhstan. In Chinese literature they are commonly called Yueban. The Yuebans gained their own visibility after disintegration of the Northern Xiongnu state, because unlike the main body of the Northern Xiongnu, who escaped from the Chinese sphere of knowledge, the Yueban tribes remained closer to China.
Rouran KhaganateThe Rouran Khaganate, also Juan-Juan Khaganate (), was a tribal confederation and later state founded by a people of Proto-Mongolic Donghu origin. The Rouran supreme rulers used the title of "khagan", a popular title borrowed from the Xianbei. The Rouran Khaganate lasted from the late 4th century until the middle 6th century, when they were defeated by a Göktürk rebellion which subsequently led to the rise of the Turks in world history.
ShatuoThe Shatuo, or the Shatuo Turks (; also transcribed as Sha-t'o, Sanskrit Sart) were a Turkic tribe that heavily influenced northern Chinese politics from the late ninth century through the tenth century. They are noted for founding three, Later Tang, Later Jin, and Later Han, of the five dynasties and one, Northern Han, of the ten kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Northern Han would later be conquered by the Song dynasty.
BasmylThe Basmyls (Basmyl; Basmals, Basmils, Basmïl, , Middle Chinese ZS: *bɣɛt̚-siɪt̚-miɪt̚/mɣiɪt̚/miᴇ; also 弊剌 Bìlà, MC *bjiejH-lat) were a 7th- to 8th-century Turkic nomadic tribe who mostly inhabited the Dzungaria region in the northwest of modern-day China. Originally a forest people, Basmyls eventually grew in importance and played a prominent role in the Turkic politics from the 6th century. At one point Basmyls even overthrew the Second Turkic Khaganate's dynastic clan and briefly held the Khaganate with the help of Karluks and Uyghurs, who later turned against Basmyls.
Mongol invasions and conquestsThe Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastation as one of the deadliest episodes in history. In addition, Mongol expeditions may have spread the bubonic plague across much of Eurasia, helping to spark the Black Death of the 14th century. The Mongol Empire developed in the course of the 13th century through a series of victorious campaigns throughout Eurasia.
KhanateA khanate or khaganate is the name for a type of historic polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. Khanates were typically nomadic Turkic, Mongol and Tatar societies located on the Eurasian Steppe, politically equivalent in status to kinship-based chiefdoms and feudal monarchies. Khanates and khaganates were organised tribally, where leaders gained power on the support and loyalty of their warrior subjects, gaining tribute from subordinates as realm funding.
KarluksThe Karluks (also Qarluqs, Qarluks, Karluqs, 𐰴𐰺𐰞𐰸, Qarluq, Para-Mongol: Harluut, Géluólù ; customary phonetic: Gelu, Khololo, Khorlo, خَلُّخ, Khallokh, قارلوق Qarluq) were a prominent nomadic Turkic tribal confederacy residing in the regions of Kara-Irtysh (Black Irtysh) and the Tarbagatai Mountains west of the Altay Mountains in Central Asia. Karluks gave their name to the distinct Karluk group of the Turkic languages, which also includes the Uzbek, Uyghur and Ili Turki languages.
Tiele peopleThe Tiele, also named Gaoche or Gaoju, were a tribal confederation of Turkic ethnic origins living to the north of China proper and in Central Asia, emerging after the disintegration of the confederacy of the Xiongnu. Chinese sources associate them with the earlier Dingling. The names "Chile" and "Gaoche" first appear in Chinese records during the campaigns of Former Yan and Dai in 357 and 363 respectively. However, the protagonists were also addressed as "Dingling" in the records of the Southern Dynasties.
KurultaiKurultai (kʊrʊlˈtaɪ; ) was a political and military council of ancient Mongol and Turkic chiefs and khans. The root of the word is Proto-Mongolic *kura-, *kurija- "to collect, to gather" from which is formed khural meaning "meeting" or "assembly" in Turkic and Mongolian languages. Khuraldai, khuruldai or khuraldaan means "gathering" or, more literally, "intergatheration". From this same root arises the Mongolian word khurim (хурим), which means "feast" and originally referred to large festive gatherings on the steppe but is used mainly in the sense of "wedding" in modern times.