Kara-Kyrgyz and Balasagun
Balasagun
One of the capitals of the Karakhanid state was the city of Balasagun, located in the Chui Valley. The question of the origin and semantics of the name of this city is one of the complex and very interesting topics.
According to Mahmud of Kashgar (11th century), the term "sagun" was used among the Karluks, which was a title for noble people. It is known that among the ancient Turks, the word "balyk" (balyg) meant city, capital, residence, "as the Turks called the place where the government resided a city in the main, or as the Mongols did many centuries later; ...". It is very likely that the name Balasagun originated from the Turkic word "balyk" (balyg) — city, capital, residence and the term "sagun" (sagyn), i.e., balyk-sagun (balygsagyn), baliksagun (balyasagyn), balasagun (balasagyn) and could mean — the city of the ruler or nobility, or the main city. It is possible that the city of Balasagun received this name from the Karluks and initially belonged to them, although the term "sagun" (sagyn) — in the sense used by the Karluks, or close to it, could also have been used by other related tribes in the Chui Valley, and this city could have been referred to as Balasagun by other groups of the population in that region.
Kara-Kyrgyz
The Karakhanid Kyrgyz could also be referred to as kara-Kyrgyz. Among the ancient Turks, the color black represented the north and was associated with concepts such as supreme, great, powerful, and main. Therefore, it is not excluded that kara-Kyrgyz could mean — great, main, supreme Kyrgyz.
In "Kitab al-Kamil Fi al-Tarikh," by Ibn al-Athir, there is mention of a certain "emir named Hirkhiz, and with him a numerous army" in the "Indian regions." Hajib Hirkhiz is mentioned in connection with events related to the murder of Abd ar-Rashid by Hajib Torgul in Ghazni. It is possible that this emir was named Hirkhiz because he came from the Kyrgyz tribe or led an army that could have consisted of Kyrgyz. These assumptions (as well as the idea that "in the Indian regions" there were Kyrgyz who might have had an army) are quite reasonable.
