The second half of the first millennium is characterized by the formation and development of early feudal Turkic states over a vast territory of Southern Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central and Inner Asia. This period is referred to as the early phase of the Turkic era.
In the mid-6th century, the first Turkic state emerged in Central Asia, which held significant importance in the history of Kyrgyzstan. The victorious Bumin (died in 553) took the supreme title of juyan-juyane "ilig-kagan" (great kagan), and in 552, the Great Turkic Kaganate was formed in Central Asia. It lasted for about two centuries — until 744.
According to nomadic traditions, power passed to the kagan's brother Istemi, who, during Bumin's lifetime, conquered the valleys of Semirechye and the foothills of Central and Western Tien Shan — the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan. Istemi received the title "kagan of ten tribes." In 576, kagan Türksanf, having concentrated the necessary forces, attacked Byzantium and seized the Bosporus. In 580, the Turks invaded Crimea and surrounded Chersonesus. Thus, the Turkic kaganate, whose center remained in Tien Shan, transformed into a powerful Euro-Asian power. After the death of kagan Taspara (581), four brothers claimed the throne. The fierce struggle among them ceased only after the death of three of them. In 587, the heir of Istemi — Gardu Boke-kagan ascended the throne. After his death (603), the Turkic state split into two kaganates — Eastern and Western.
The subsequent stage in the history of Kyrgyzstan is inextricably linked to the Western Turkic Kaganate (603-704). It included Eastern Turkestan, the agricultural regions of Central Asia, and vast steppe areas of the Aral Sea and Northern Caucasus. The administrative-political center of the state was initially the city of Min-Bulak in the Talas Valley of Kyrgyzstan, and from 618, the city of Suayb (the ruins of the Ak-Beshim settlement near modern Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan). Under Ton-yabgu-kagan (618-630), the kaganate achieved certain successes in its political development and successfully resisted China. Ton-yabgu-kagan implemented an administrative reform aimed at equalizing the status of sedentary and nomadic feudal lords. For governance of the regions, he introduced the institution of governors-tutuks. After the death of Ton-yabgu-kagan, the kaganate quickly began to lose its power. In 704, in the city of Kulan (near the modern station of Lugovaya), the Türgesh killed the last 23rd kagan of the Ashina dynasty. The era of the Western Turkic Kaganate came to an end.
In the early 8th century, on the ruins of the Western Turkic Kaganate, the Türgesh State (704-766) emerged. The founder of the ruling dynasty was Üch-elig kagan (704-706) — the head of the yellow Türgesh. His residence was located in the city of Suayb. The kagan divided his lands into 20 districts, each of which was to provide an army of 7,000 men to the supreme ruler if necessary. The power of the Türgesh extended to Eastern Turkestan as well. The Türgesh achieved full independence under Chabyshchor Suluk (716-738), a kagan from the black Türgesh. After the death of this kagan (738), a long struggle began between the yellow and black Türgesh for the throne, and this civil strife significantly weakened the state. Rivals took advantage of this: in the mid-8th century, the Karluks seized power in the kaganate.
The Karluk State (766-940) succeeded the Türgesh Kaganate. According to historical sources, from the very beginning, the alliance of the three Karluk tribes was characterized by territorial and political disunity. Thus, one part of the Karluks in the second half of the 6th century or early 7th century controlled some regions of Tokharistan (a region of Eastern Turkestan). Their ruler held the title of "jabgu" and was subordinate first to the Western Turkic and then to the Türgesh kagan. The Karluks of Tokharistan played a significant role in the struggle against Arab invaders. Another part of the Karluks settled far to the east — in the Mongolian steppes.
The Karluks, playing an important role in defeating the Chinese invaders in the battle on the Talas River (751), strengthened their position in Semirechye. However, to establish political leadership, the Karluk leaders had to engage in a prolonged struggle. Only after 20 years, in 766, did the Karluks capture the cities of Suayb and Taraz. Most of the Oghuz left Semirechye and migrated to the shores of the Aral Sea, where they formed their own state. In the following years, the Karluks engaged in continuous struggles for hegemony in Semirechye.
The 10th-12th centuries are considered the era of economic and cultural flourishing of the Karakhanaid Kaganate in the territory of Tien Shan. The grandfather of the founder of the Karakhanid dynasty, Satuk Abd al-Kerim Karakhan, was the kagan of the Karluks, Bilge Kul Qadir-khan. This information suggests that the Karakhanid dynasty has Karluk roots. The system of governance in the Karakhanid Kaganate was complex and branched, with the state divided into holdings, each headed by representatives of the ruling dynasty. The rulers of the holdings had significant powers: they could even mint their own coins. This created favorable conditions for the intensification of feuds and raids against each other.
The Karakhanid state essentially consisted of two separate kaganates — Eastern and Western, whose rulers had their own titles and capitals.
The center of the Eastern kaganate was the city of Balasagun (near the city of Tokmok in Kyrgyzstan), later — Kashgar; the capital of the Western kaganate was Uzgen (southern Kyrgyzstan), later — Samarkand. In the late 11th — early 12th centuries, both the Eastern and Western Karakhanid kaganates experienced a crisis. As a result, the Karakhanid kaganates became vassals of the Seljuks, although they retained full independence in their internal affairs.
The ongoing feuds and wars with the Seljuks undermined the strength of the Karakhanid state. In the first half of the 12th century, the Karakhanids were captured by the Kara-Khitans led by Yelü Dashi — descendants of the ancient Mongols, belonging to the Tungus-Manchu group. The lack of order in the governance of the country and the desire of vassal domains to distance themselves from supreme oversight weakened the power of the Kara-Khitans. In 1208, the Naimans and Merkit tribes surged into their lands, fleeing from the destruction wrought by Genghis Khan on the Irtysh. The son of the Naiman khan Kuchluk switched allegiance to the Kara-Khitans and, gathering the remnants of his people, settled in Semirechye. Taking advantage of the absence of state governance, he attacked Uzgen in 1210 and seized the treasury, and a year later captured the kagan of the Kara-Khitans himself. However, Kuchluk's position was not stable. Uprisings in the cities of Eastern Turkestan lasted four years. The Naimans barely suppressed them only in 1214. In the west, the Khwarezmshah Muhammad was rapidly gaining power, while in the east, Genghis Khan was waiting for his moment.
A new stage began in the development of not only the Kyrgyz but also most of the peoples of Asia and Europe — the devastating Mongol-Tatar invasion was approaching. The state of the Kara-Khitans and Naimans, which had lasted for over 90 years, was swept away by the hordes of Genghis Khan pouring in from the east.
Since the governance of Turkic states in the territory of Kyrgyzstan reached its peak during the era of the Karakhanids, it is considered the golden age of Turkic civilization. Therefore, the main principles of governance developed in the Middle Ages in Kyrgyzstan can be well illustrated by the example of the Karakhanids.
The head of state was considered the kagan, who had hereditary unlimited power. The central apparatus of the kagan, like that of the Samanids, was divided into two parts: dergah (court) and divan (ministry, cabinet, office). The kagan had a hass-hajib (chief hajib — secretary, advisor), who also acted as an intermediary between the kagan and his subordinates. Many Turkic titles in the state gradually changed to Samanid ones. At the kagan's court, there were special positions: ashchy (responsible for the clothing and food of the kagan and his family), katchy bitigchi (scribes of laws), ylymga (office workers), kushchu (head of the falconry service), etc.
The central apparatus was subordinate to the chief yughursh — vizier. This position was second in the hierarchy after the kagan. The ministry of armed forces played a significant role among the Karakhanids. There were military positions: subashlar, isfahsalar — commanders-in-chief and commanders of individual branches of troops. The structural division of the army (cherik): ondok (ten warriors), juzduk (hundred warriors), mindik (thousand warriors) and tumon (ten-thousand corps).
In the Karakhanid state, the ministry of foreign affairs also played an important role (ambassadors bore a special title — yalavach or yalafar). There was a ministry of finance — mushrif, which included departments of tax collectors and observers. The tax collector was called imga. There was a court office — adiletik and a postal service office.
The state was divided into peoples and vilayets. Local governance was carried out by officials — bekters and tarkhans. These terms existed among the Karakhanids since the times of the early pre-Islamic Turks. At the head of settlements were aksakals — kekchin sakal and their assistants — chuban. Cities were governed by rais, as in the Samanid state.
The end of the 7th — the beginning of the 8th century in the historical development of Kyrgyzstan marks the era of the strengthening role of the Kyrgyz state on the political stage, a time of consolidation of its statehood. The Kyrgyz state had to be reckoned with by all more or less significant neighboring peoples. The Kyrgyz state at that time was led by the ajo (commander of the army) Barsbek. His reign is one of the brightest and most important pages in the history of the Kyrgyz people. Barsbek was able to elevate the foreign political significance of the Kyrgyz Kaganate to the level of China and the Turkic Kaganate. However, Barsbek fell in an unequal battle against the army of the famous Tonuyukuk and Kultegin in 716. After this, the Kyrgyz Kaganate temporarily lost its power, and the dominant position shifted to the eastern Turks, and by the end of the 8th century — to the Uyghurs.
In the early 9th century, the Uyghur Kaganate lost its grandeur. The Kyrgyz did not hesitate to take advantage of this situation. "The ajo called himself khan, and his wife Gelushakh (the daughter of the Karluk jabgu) was proclaimed khaness," Chinese sources reported in this regard. This important event in the history of the Kyrgyz occurred in 820. Gaining the support of the Karluks, the Kyrgyz declared their independence from the Uyghur Kaganate and thus entered the struggle for supremacy in Central Asia. This time their claims were based on real possibilities.
In 840, the Kyrgyz ajo, leading a hundred-thousand army, decisively defeated the Uyghur army and destroyed the capital of the Uyghur Kaganate, the city of Ordo-Balyk on the banks of the Orkhon River, to the ground. The kagan of the Uyghurs was also killed in battle. The surviving Uyghurs fled to China, to the other side of Baikal, and to Eastern Turkestan, leaving the Kyrgyz with lands and property. In 843, the Yenisei Kyrgyz, pursuing the Uyghurs led by Pan-Tegin, invaded Eastern Turkestan and captured the cities of Anxi and Besh-Balyk, and then reached the borders of Tien Shan and Semirechye.
The Kyrgyz also conducted successful military raids into Eastern Mongolia, Dzungaria, and beyond Lake Baikal.
The Kyrgyz great power state did not last long. In the first quarter of the 10th century, the majority of the Kyrgyz, leaving the steppes, returned to the Sayan Mountains. But this did not happen under pressure or attack from enemies. Long bloody battles took their toll. The already small Kyrgyz people suffered irreparable losses and were scattered over a vast area. Some settled in Tien Shan, another moved to Tibet. A third returned to the ancestral lands — Yenisei, as many farmers could not adapt to the semi-desert mountainous terrain of Central Asia. At the same time, throughout the 10th century, the Kyrgyz retained Altai and Dzungaria as a foothold for control over the oases of Eastern Turkestan.
The emergence of a powerful Kyrgyz Kaganate on the Yenisei played an important role in the historical process of development not only of the Kyrgyz but also of many other neighboring tribes. After the victory over the Uyghur Kaganate, the political system in the Kyrgyz state was improved, and a unified branched governance apparatus was formed.
The Kyrgyz state was ruled by a kagan, who concentrated all political, executive, and military power in his hands. The power of the kagan was inherited by his son (tegin, khanazada); if there was no son, then to his wife, younger brothers, or inals (nieces and nephews through the kagan's daughters).
In other words, the customs, traditions, and dynastic practices of the Kyrgyz were largely similar to those of other Turkic peoples.
The second official in the kaganate was the buyruk (advisor), whose responsibilities included issues of governance of the kaganate. The next levels of the hierarchical ladder were boyla and yargan. Boyla — the judge issued verdicts, yargan — the judicial executor carried them out. In making decisions on military and legal matters, the kagan was assisted by sanguns (zhanzhuns). The kagan, tegin, inal, buyruk, boyla, yargan, and sanguns were members of the supreme council of the kagan.
At the local level, governance was ensured by tutuks, tarkhans, biys (beks), and tyutyuns. Tutuks provided political leadership in districts or large tribal unions. They were usually heirs (khanazada) or relatives of the kagan. Tarkhans, like tutuks, were appointed by the kagan and commanded military forces in regions or tribes. Tarkhans and tutuks were directly accountable to the kagan for the state of affairs in their regions (taxes, state of troops, etc.). Biys (beks) governed large or several small tribes. Subordinate to the biys, tyutyuns managed small tribes, several dozens or hundreds of families.
In the following centuries, specifically during the period of Mongol domination, during the reign of Chagatai and Khaidu (13th-14th centuries), Moghulistan (15th century), state governance was organized according to the yasa of Genghis Khan. Many achievements and principles of the state system, reached during the period of the Karakhanids and the Kyrgyz great power, were lost.