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Sabuq Qara Khan

سبق قراخان

Sabuq Qara Khan, king of the Turks at Kashghar; the first of Turkestan's Turkic kings to accept Islam, taking the name Abd al-Malik — his realm Kashghar, Saqun and Khimo reaching the desert fringes toward China, he and his heirs answering the Samanids' levies in their wars.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Ruler
Era
Abbasid Fragmentation
Region
Persia & Central Asia
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Overview

Sabuq Qara Khan was the ruler of the Turks at Kashgar, and the first of the Turkish kings in Turkestan to embrace Islam. He was named Abd al-Malik, according to Ibn Khaldun 1.

His realm

Turkestan was under his rule, with Kashgar as its capital, together with Sagun, Khumu and the lands connected to them, as far as the desert that adjoins China. He and his descendants obeyed the Samanids and called upon them for their wars 1.

The records link him to the Qarakhanid state as one of its rulers, and describe him as the first Muslim king in Turkestan.

Connections

Explore the connections

Ruler of
Qarakhanid dynasty

People and things also explored

Bughra Khan al-Qarakhani· Ilig Khan Sulayman al-Qarakhani· Qarakhanid dynasty

Sources

  1. Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Sabuq Qara Khan”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/sabuq-qara-khan/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Bughra Khan al-Qarakhani

Bughra Khan of the Qarakhanid Turkic kings; drawn into the Samanid lands by Abu Ali ibn Simjur's tempting of him with Bukhara in that dynasty's collapse, he took their country piece by piece, routed Nuh ibn Mansur's armies and captured his commander Anj, entered Bukhara until Nuh's return — then, departing sick, died on the road in the year the text reads as 403 of the fourth century; pious, just, of good conduct, a Sunni-leaning honourer of scholars, succeeded by his brother Ilig Khan Sulayman.