Qaraunas

The Qara'unas were bands of robbers attributed to the Mongols . Century nomadized in the Hindu Kush and Sistan . Around 1300 Ghazna was their unofficial capital.

history

Around 1229 various Mongolian troop leaders settled in the Hindu Kush and undertook raids to India in the following decades . The troops they recruited (mostly local) formed the core of the later Qara'unas army. When the Mongolian Empire was divided into different spheres of interest, the Chagatai Khan Algui (ruled 1260–1264 / 6) prevailed as the ruler of the Hindu Kush around 1262 . Some of the Qara'unas subordinated themselves to Ilchan Abaqa (ruled 1265–82) in 1279 and later supported his son Arghun (ruled 1284–91) in the power struggles when he ascended the throne.

Around 1303 the historian Raschid ed Din mentions some princes of the Chagatai as leaders of the Qara'unas army. Particularly well known is Qutlugh Khoja, a son of Khan Du'a, who minted his own coins and in 1299 led a large army against the Delhi Sultan Ala ud-Din Khalji (r. 1296–1316). In addition, several emirs are described as independent leaders. An outstanding example here is the Emir Kazagan (r. 1346-1357), who defeated and killed the Chagatai Khan Kazan (ruled 1330 / 1343-1346) in 1346 and from then on administered the western part of the Khanate (under the nominal rule of a Khan appointed by him) . Kazagan's grandson Hussain was defeated in 1370 by his rival Timur Lenk (r. 1365 / 70–1405), whereupon the Qara'unas disappeared from history as an independent group.

Today's Hazara , an ethnic group of (partly) Mongolian origin, are considered to be their descendants.

The Qara'unas are often mentioned in the same breath as the Nikudarian , leaderless Mongolian troops of unknown origin, who in the 13th century also acted as robber gangs and sometimes cooperated with the Qara'unas.