Qarluq
/ˈkɑːr.lʊk/noun
A member of a medieval Turkic tribal confederation that occupied parts of Central Asia.
Did you know?The Qarluqs became one of the major ancestral components of the Karakhanid state, whose rulers helped establish Islam among influential Turkic dynasties.
Etymological Timeline
Early Medieval Period
Old Turkic
Qarluq
“Name of a Turkic tribal confederation; the precise original meaning is uncertain.”
8th Century
Chinese records
葛邏祿 (Geluolu)
“Chinese transcription of the Qarluq ethnonym.”
8th–9th Century
Arabic
Qarlūq
“Arabic form used for the Turkic confederation in Central Asian historical writing.”
10th–12th Century
Persian and Arabic
Qarluq / Karluk
“Name associated with a major Turkic political and tribal group in Transoxiana and the eastern Islamic world.”
19th Century
European scholarship
Karluk
“Academic and historical English spelling for the medieval Turkic people.”
Modern English
English
Qarluq
“A standard scholarly spelling for the historical Turkic confederation and its members.”