Balacacaghun (Balasaghun) ^. The Boghra Khans (Ilak Khans) in the eighth century were the dominant power in Semiriechie and Kashgar, though these countries were then in the hands of the Tu Kiue. Afragiab is supposed to be their ancestor. Probably on the suggestion of the Sassanids, in the middle of the tenth century, Satok Boghra Khan who was reigning over the country from Issik-kul to Kashgar (Urdukand) embraced Islam and captured Bokhara ; his capital was Kashgar, but after his death in 993, it was transferred to Balasaghiin and his descendants took the title of Ilak Khan ; the last of them was killed by Mohamed Khwariszm Shah who was himself defeated by Chinghiz Khan ^. The Boghra Khans were the allies of the Tibetans, but when these lost their power, the Khans were at the mercy of their enemies the Uighiirs. To the causes of the decline of Chinese influence in Central Asia must be added the enterprise of the Tibetans. Under the Han, the tribes scattered throughout Tibet were known as the Ki'ang ; under the T'ang and the Sung it was called T'ufan= T'u po = T'u bod ; the Leao called it T'u po t'e. The historical period of Tibet begins at the end of the sixth century a.d. when the first king, Lunt sang, made inroads to India. Srong btsan sgam po, Lunt sang's son, married Bribtsun, daughter of Anguvarman, sovereign of Nepal in 639, and ^ [The exact site of Balasaghun in Central Asia is not known
Grenard thinks it is Tokmak ; Barthold says it must be looked for in the Russian territory of Semiriechie, probably on the Chu, where many ruins are seen to-day ; astronomical calculations would seem to show that B. was situated to the N.W . of Awliya- Ata, formerly Taraz on the Talas river ; in the year 1218, B. was captured without any resistance by Jebe Noyon, one of the generals of Chinghiz Khan, and the Mongols gave it the name of Ghubaliq ; it was in ruins in the fourteenth century. (Grenard, La legende de Satok Boghra Khan, J . As., Jan.- Fev. 1900 ; V. Bartold, Encyclop. de I'lslam.)] 2 [Elias-Ross, Tarikh-i -Rashidi, p. 287 n. ; Bretschneider, Med. Res., i, pp. 252-3. J
