Editing History of Kazakhstan (section)

==Cuman-Kipchak period==
[[File:Cumania (1200) eng.png|thumb|260px|[[Cumania|Cuman–Kipchak confederation]] in Eurasia circa 1200]]
{{main|Cuman people|Dasht-i Qipchaq}}

In the eighth and ninth centuries, portions of southern Kazakhstan were conquered by [[Arabs]] who introduced Islam. The Oghuz Turks controlled western Kazakhstan from the ninth through the 11th centuries; and Turkic peoples of [[Kipchak people|Kipchaks]] and [[Kimak]]s, controlled the east at roughly the same time. In turn the [[Cuman people|Cumans]] controlled western Kazakhstan from around the 12th century until the 1220s. Since then, those vast lands are came to be known as [[Dasht-i Qipchaq|Dashti-Kipchak]], or the Kipchak Steppe.<ref name="curtistribal" />

During the ninth century the Qarluq confederation formed the [[Qarakhanid state]], which conquered [[Transoxiana]] (the area north and east of the [[Oxus River]], the present-day Amu Darya). Beginning in the early 11th century, the Qarakhanids fought constantly among themselves and with the [[Seljuk Turks]] to the south. The Qarakhanids, who had converted to Islam, were conquered in the 1130s by the [[Kara-Khitan]] (moved west from [[North China]]). In the mid-12th century an independent [[Khwarezmia|state of Khorazm]] along the Oxus River broke away from the weakening Karakitai, but the bulk of the Kara-Khitan lasted until the [[Mongol invasion of Central Asia|Mongol invasion]] of Genghis Khan from 1219 to 1221.<ref name="curtistribal" />