“Descendants of Afrasiab” and Ilek-khans
In the surviving Eastern written sources, the Karakhanid dynasty is also referred to as the “descendants (or clans) of Afrasiab.”
According to Iranian beliefs, the mythical king of Turan (the land of the Turks) was Afrasiab. Therefore, the Samanids could refer to the population of the “Talas” biilik (domain) and the dynasty that headed it in this way. After all, the proto-Karakhanids were in close relations with the Samanid state, and thus, even at that time, similar Iranian representations about Turan (the land of the Turks) could have penetrated and taken root among them. Subsequently, this could have been established for the proto-Karakhanids, who also began to call themselves the “House of Afrasiab.”
Ilek-khans
Among the Karakhanid Turks, there was also the title Ilek-khan or Ilik-khan (Yelik-khan, Ilig-khan). All these forms represent dialectal variations of the same title, which could mean — people's khan, khan of the el, of the people (from Turkic — el, il, yel — people, some community (including — tribe, clan)), i.e., elik (il-lig, yel-lik), ellik, illig (yellig, yeldik), elik, yelik — in the meaning of — popular.
It should be noted that Ilek-khan or Ilik-khan (Ilig-khan, Ilek-khan) — in the sense of — khan of the el (of the entire Turkic people (Karakhanid Turks)), as well as the term — Ilek or Yelik (Iliv, Ilik) — in the sense of popular, head of the people (Turks), could be used (though perhaps less frequently) with the title Karakhan (in relation to representatives of the Karakhanid dynasty). However, for khans who were not from the Karakhanid dynasty, the title — Elik-khan or Ilik-khan (Yelik-khan, Ilig-khan) could be used in the sense of — khan of the el (one of the Turkic tribes or clans (elei)).