Abu'l-Khayr Khan

Abu'l-Khayr Khan (Turki/Kypchak and Persian: ابو الخیر خان; – 1468), also known as Bulgar Khan, was Khan of the Uzbek Khanate from 1428 to 1468, which united the nomadic Central Asian tribes.

He created one of the largest and most powerful Turkic states during the period of the 15th century. The Uzbek Khanate weakened in the decades following his death in 1468. He was succeeded by his son Sheikh Khaidar.

Biography Abu'l-Khayr was born around the year 1412. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan, through Jöchi's fifth son Shiban, and a bey/bek of the White Horde. Abu'l-Khayr and his family members loved literature and ordered translation of some from Persian to Turkic. At the time of his birth the ulus of Shiban had divided into separate nomadic groups, one of which was led by Jumaduq Khan. Abu'l-Khayr served in Jumaduq's army, and was taken prisoner when Jumaduq was killed in battle in 1427. after which he was proclaimed Khan of Western Siberia. The next four years were spent strengthening his control throughout the region. another tribe in the White Horde, and especially by Vaqqāṣ Bej, Edigü's grandson.

Abu'l-Khayr Khan died in 1468 (though some sources say 1469 or 1470). After Abu'l-Khayr Khan's death two separate lines of descent controlled the twin Uzbek states of Mawara al-Nahr and Khwarezm. In the first decade of the 16th century his grandson Muhammad Shaybani finally succeeded in the unification of the Uzbeks and established the short-lived Shaybanid Empire, centered in Samarkand.