Yaglakar clan


The Yaglakar clan was the first imperial clan of the Uyghur Khaganate. Descendants of the Yaglakar clan would later establish the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom.

Origin

The clan was named after a mythical founder Yaglakar Khan or Buk Khan. Initially a part of Tiele Confederation, they carried the hereditary title elteber later as subjects of the Tang dynasty. The first known member of the clan was Tegin Irkin, although the New Book of Tang mentions his name as Shijian Irkin.

Chiefs of the clan

Khagans

By death of Yaoluoge Achuo in 795, the main line of the Yaglakar clan ceased to exist. However, successive khagans adopted the Yaglakar surname for prestige. The rest of the clan members were exiled to the Tang capital Chang'an. An epitaph was recently found in 2010 in Xi'an which belonged to one of the Yaglakar princes, Prince Gechuai, younger brother of Yaoluoge Dunmohe who died of cold fever on 11 June 795 and was buried on 28 June 795.
However, another line of the Yaglakar clan came to rule the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom in 890s.

Ganzhou Uyghur kings

The last member of the clan, Baoguo Qaghan, committed suicide in 1032 after the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom was annexed by the Western Xia. Yuri Zuev proposed that the Yaglakar clan survived and eventually became Mongolized under the name "Jalairs".