226 wilkens
landmark for Mongol Buddhism and Uyghur Buddhist culture a mediator of
Buddhist terminology comparable to the influence that Tocharian Buddhism
exercised with regard to Uyghur Buddhism in its early phase.141 The Uyghurs
were equipped with various skills, which came in useful in a newly founded
empire, which spanned large parts of Eurasia. They had a long tradition of
translators,142 scribes and literati and were gifted traders. They had experi-
ence in dealing with a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. Through cen-
turies of cultural contacts with other peoples they had developed intercultural
competence.
But the situation of the Uyghurs under Mongol dominion was not always
easy. A period of great insecurity affected the Uyghur ruling house during
Qaidu’s (1235/6–1303) rebellion, which ended in 1302.143 First, the Uyghurs had
to leave Beš Balık (~1270–1275) in order to withdraw to Kara Kočo. The formerly
quasi-autonomous West Uyghur Kingdom came under strict Yuan control in
the late 1270s,144 but this was subsequently challenged by Qaidu’s army so that
large parts of Central Asia, including the former West Uyghur Kingdom, came
under his power. Later, in 1283, the ıdok kut Ne’üril Tegin and his entourage
was established by the Yuan in Yongchang (永昌) in Gansu.145 These events
certainly had a bearing on Buddhism in Beš Balık and Kara Kočo because royal
patronage was difficult to extend to these cities from exile,146 not to mention
the effects of the ensuing economic crisis.147 While the line of ıdok kuts in
Gansu remained under Yuan control and protection, the Chagataids installed
a new Uyghur ruling house in the Turfan region in the 1330s.148 Buddhism still
continued to flourish until the Chagatay Ulus disintegrated and the Moghul
ruler Tughluq Temür (1329/30–1363) embraced Islam in 1354. He was converted
141 See Kara, György, “Late Mediaeval Turkic Elements in Mongolian,” in De Dunhuang à
Istanbul: Hommage à James Russell Hamilton, ed. Louis Bazin and Peter Zieme (Turnhout:
Brepols, 2001), 73–119 and Shōgaito, Masahiro, “Uighur Influence on Indian Words in
Mongolian Buddhist Texts,” in Indien und Zentralasien: Sprach- und Kulturkontakt.
Vorträge des Göttinger Symposions vom 7. bis 10. Mai 2001, ed. Sven Bretfeld and Jens
Wilkens (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003), 119–143.
142 On Uyghur scholars who were active as translators during the Yuan period see de
Rachewiltz, “Turks,” 305 (endnote 50).
143 Qaidu was the son of Ögödei’s fifth son Qaši. See Biran, Qaidu, 19.
144 Biran, Qaidu, 42.
145 Allsen, “Yüan Dynasty,” 254–255.
146 On religious policy under Qaidu see Biran, Qaidu, 92–95.
147 On the decline in agricultural productivity and famines during Qaidu’s rebellion and its
aftermath, see Allsen, “Yüan Dynasty,” 257 and Biran, Qaidu, 57.
148 Allsen, “Yüan Dynasty,” 260.