Chagatai Khanate

The Chagatai Khanate (also Chaghatai, Jagatai, Chaghatay or Ca'adai, c. 1227-1363 CE) was that part of the Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE) which covered what is today mostly Uzbekistan, southern Kazakhstan, and western Tajikistan. The khanate was established by Chagatai (1183-1242 CE), the second son of Genghis Khan (r. 1206-1227 CE). It was perhaps the one Mongol khanate that remained true to its nomadic roots but this also meant that it developed less in economic and cultural terms than the others. The administrative capital and best-known city was Samarkand, a hub for the camel caravans which crossed Asia. Constantly at war with its neighbours, the khanate rarely achieved any stability and was overtaken by the Mongol leader Qaidu II for three decades from 1272 to 1301 CE. In the latter decades of their rule, the Chagatai khans notably promoted Islam, but dynastic squabbles led to the state's split in two and their ultimate disintegration by 1363 CE.