Gayir Khan Inalchik Alp Derek

NOTE: It is unclear if Alp Derek was the son of Kadïr Buku Khan or his nephew, as Alp Derek is named as both in one passage.

• From History of Civilizations of Central Asia (vol.4,part-1), page 76, by M.S. Asimov and C.E. Bosworth:

Among these are the names Alp Kara Urani and Kadïr Buku Khan- the latter's daughter was married to the Khwarazm Shah Tekish. This princess (Terken Khatun) had a brother called Gayir Khan Inalchik, one of the pretenders to the title of supreme ruler of the western part of the Dasht-i Kïpchak. Inalchik, whose sobriquet was Alp Derek, contened for power with Kadïr Buku Khan (also known by the name of Kïran or Ikran), who considered himself to be the head of the Kïpchak of what is now southern and western Kazakhstan. The Khwarazm Shahs took every opportunity to stir upinternecine strife among the Kïpchak leaders in order to weaken them: they exploited the fierce struggle of the Kïpchak leaders for control of the town of Sïgnak (the main centre of the Kïpchak domains in the Syr Darya steppes) and the fierce disputes between Kadïr Buku Khan and his nephew Alp Derek.

In 1195 Tekish launched a campaign in the direction of Sïgnak against Kadïr Buku Khan. However, an event ocurred during the battle which was unforeseen by the Khwarazm Shah and which decided the fate of his military campaign. The rulers of Khwarazm had long been accustomed to recruiting Kïpchak for military service, and many nomad leaders held high posts and titles in their state. As has been mentioned above, Kïpchak from the Urani tribe formed a guard for the ruler of Khwarazm. During the campaign of 1195, however, the Kïpchak troops in the khwarazm Shah's army were reluctant to fight against their kinsmen, and at a decisive moment in the ensuing battle, they betrayed Tekish and went over to the side of Kadïr Buku Khan. The Khwarazm Shah was defeated, but eventually managed to subdue Sïgnak, using the forces of Gayir Khan Inalchik, who had been appointed governor of the town of Utrar. However, the anarchic nomads continued to chafe against control from Khwarazm. In 1215 they rose in rebellion in the neighbourhood of Jand and Sïgnak, but were severely defeated; the Kïpchak who survived the defeat were obliged to withdraw northwards into the steppes of what is now central Kazakhstan.

The campaign sof the khwarazm Shahs against the Kïpchak tribes of the Syr Darya and the Aral Sea Region weakened Kïpchak power and led to their dispersal across Central Eurasia, contributing to the political fragmentation of the Dasht-i Kïpchak. The Kïpchak were therefore unable to show effective resistance during the Chinggisid invasions at the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Dasht-i Kïpchak was conquered and incorporated into the vast Mongol empire.