Barlas edit
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برلاس
Country Moghulistan, Persia, India
Parent house Borjigin
Titles Khagan, Khan, Shah, Emir, Ghazi
Founding year AD
Ethnicity Turko-Mongol

The Barlas (Chagatay/Persian: برلاس - Barlās; also Berlas or Birlas) were a Turkicized12 Mongolian34 (Turko-Mongol) nomadic confederation in Central Asia and the chief tribe of the Timurids who ruled much of Central Asia, Iran, and South Asia in the Middle Ages.

Contents

Origins

The leading clan of the Barlas traced its origin to Qarchar Barlas,3 head of one of Chaghadai's regiments. According to The Secret History of the Mongols - a 13th century epic written during the reign of Ögedei Khan - Qarchar Barlas was a descendant of the legendary Mongol warlord Bodonchir (Bodon Achir; Bodon'ar Mungqaq) who was also considered the direct ancestor of Genghis Khan.5 Some of Genghis Khan's famous general were from this clan6.

Due to extensive contacts with the native population of Central Asia, the tribe had not only adopted the religion Islam,4 but also the Chagatai language - a Turkic language of the Qarluq branch, which was heavily influenced by Arabic and Persian7 and later evolved into the modern Uzbek language.89

Timurids and Mughals

Main articles: Timurid dynasty and Mughal dynasty

The 14th century conqueror Timur, the eponymous founder of the Timurid dynasty, was born into a noble family of the Barlas clan.10 One of his descendants, Zahir ud-Din Babur, later founded the Mughal Empire of South Asia.

Legacy

The Barlas family name is still used by some descendents of the Mughals in India and Pakistan.citation needed

See also

References

  1. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, "Timur", Online Academic Edition, 2007. Quotation: "Timur was a member of the Turkicized Barlas tribe, a Mongol subgroup that had settled in Transoxania (now roughly corresponding to Uzbekistan) after taking part in Genghis Khan's son Chagatai's campaigns in that region. Timur thus grew up in what was known as the Chagatai khanate." ...
  2. ^ G.R. Garthwaite, "The Persians", Malden, ISBN 9781557868602, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007. (p.148)
  3. ^ a b B.F. Manz, The rise and rule of Tamerlan, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1989, p. 28: "... We know definitely that the leading clan of the Barlas tribe traced its origin to Qarchar Barlas, head of one of Chaghadai's regiments ... These then were the most prominent members of the Ulus Chaghadai: the old Mongolian tribes - Barlas, Arlat, Soldus and Jalayir ..."
  4. ^ a b M.S. Asimov & C. E. Bosworth, History of Civilizations of Central Asia, UNESCO Regional Office, 1998, ISBN 9231034677, p. 320: "… One of his followers was […] Timur of the Barlas tribe. This Mongol tribe had settled […] in the valley of Kashka Darya, intermingling with the Turkish population, adopting their religion (Islam) and gradually giving up its own nomadic ways, like a number of other Mongol tribes in Transoxania …"
  5. ^ The Secret History of the Mongols, transl. by I. De Rachewiltz, Chapter I.
  6. ^ The secret history of the Mongols
  7. ^ G. Doerfer, "Chaghatay", in Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition 2007.
  8. ^ Allworth, Edward (1994). Central Asia: 130 Years of Russian Dominance, a Historical Overview. Duke University Press, 72. ISBN 0822315211
  9. ^ Khayrulla Ismatulla, "Modern literary Uzbek", Bloomington, Indiana University Press. 1995
  10. ^ René Grousset, The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, Rutgers University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-8135-1304-9 (p.409)