The Karakhanids (Qarakhānids) ruled in Central Asia from Bukhara to the Tarim Basin from the late fourth/tenth to the early seventh/thirteenth centuries. They were the first dynasty of steppe origin to rule a part of the Islamic world, establishing the first Turkic steppe polity in the Muslim world. Persian and Arabic sources refer to the dynasty using terms such as "Āl-i Afrāsiyāb" or "al-Khāqāniyya." Nevertheless, the term "Karakhanid" as an identifier for the dynasty does have some justification. The term "qara khān" is used as a