Ilaq

Ilaq is known to have existed prior to the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana, with archeological and numismatic evidence demonstrating that it was extant as far back as the sixth or seventh centuries. Bronze coins dating to this period contain Soghdian inscriptions which include the name Tunakand, an earlier form of Tunkath, and depict the image of a local ruler. Modern excavation projects have also revealed the site of a possible fire temple in Tunkath, suggesting that fire worship was practiced by the inhabitants of the region during the pre-Islamic era.^[4]

Ilaq presumably fell into Islamic hands during the conquest of Transoxiana in the eighth century, but no mention of it is made in accounts of the Muslim campaigns, possibly indicating that it was considered a part of Shash at the time.^[5] In the decades following the conquest it remained a border district, as it lay along the frontier separating the lands of Islam from those of the pagan Turks.^[6]

More is known about Ilaq in the ninth and tenth centuries, as relatively extensive information was provided about the region by geographers of that era. It was described as a large and prosperous province situated between the mountains and the steppe, with numerous towns and districts. A large number of mines were in operation in the region, which produced a significant quantity of silver, gold, and other minerals, and local coins were minted bearing the names Ilaq or Tunkath. The chief of the province, known as the dihqan-i Ilaq, resided in Tunkath and was considered to be a powerful individual. Religiously, the dihqan was known to be sympathetic to Isma'ili doctrines propagated by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Nasafi during the reign of the Samanid ruler Nasr ibn Ahmad (r. 914–943), while the people of the district largely adhered to the creed of those "in white raiment," presumably in reference to the eighth century rebel al-Muqanna'.^[7]

With the ascension of the Samanids in Transoxiana in the ninth century, Ilaq became subject to the amirs in Bukhara, and remained so until the last years of Samanid rule. In 992, in the same year as a major Qarakhanid raid into Transoxiana, the Ilaq mint began producing coins bearing the name of the Qarakhanid leader Harun or Hasan Bughra Khan, and the region became subject to the Turks, although the dihqans continued to hold power in Tunkath. Coins featuring the names Ilaq or Tunkath continued to be produced until the mid-eleventh century; after that, however, no further numismatic evidence exists, and the district likely became a part of Shash around this time.^[8]

• Barthold, W. (1928). Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion (Second ed.). London: Luzac & Co.
• Bosworth, Clifford Edmund, ed. (1970). Hudud al-'Alam: The Regions of the World, A Persian Geography, 37 A.H. - 982 A.D. Trans. Basil Collins (Second ed.). London: Gibb Memorial Trust. ISBN 978-0-906094-03-7.
• Bosworth, C. E. (2004). "Īlāḳ". In Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume XII: Supplement. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 411. ISBN 978-90-04-13974-9.
• Bregel, Yuri (2003). An Historical Atlas of Central Asia. Leiden and Boston: Brill. ISBN 90-04-12321-0. OCLC 52107926.
• Le Strange, Guy (1905). The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia, from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc. OCLC 1044046.
• Litvinsky, Boris A. (2004). "Ilaq". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XII: Harem I–Illuminationism. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 639–641. ISBN 978-0-933273-81-8.
• Al-Muqaddasi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad (2001). The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions. Trans. Basil Collins. Reading: Garner Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-85964-136-9.