Abd al-Rahim Biy

Abd al-Rahim Biy was born around 1700 in the Ferghana Valley, then part of the Bukhara Khanate. The sources give his birth only approximately, placing it between 1697 and 1700. He was the eldest son of Shahrukh Biy, founder of the Uzbek Ming dynasty, who ruled Ferghana in 1709–1721, and of Nozik Oyim.

He took power after his father’s death around 1721 (some works say 1722) and became the second ruler of the Ming line. His reign fell at a time when the Bukhara Khanate was weakening, and the Ferghana rulers used the moment to extend their lands.

During his rule Khujand and Andijan became part of the state. With the ruler of Khujand, from the Uzbek Yuz clan, Abd al-Rahim at first tried to reach terms peacefully, but the man refused to negotiate. Kokand became the permanent capital, where a new fortress was built and large-scale construction was carried out.

Historians name him as the first Ming ruler to be compared with Amir Timur and styled sahibqiran, the “lord of the auspicious conjunction”. To bring Samarkand under his control he allied with the Kenagas rulers of Shahrisabz; Samarkand was taken in 1732, but it could not be held for long.

In 1733 Abd al-Rahim was killed in a conspiracy; according to Wikipedia this happened in Khujand. Power passed to his brother Abd al-Karim Biy, who fell under the influence of the Ashtarkhanids of Bukhara. After his death the state lost the lands he had conquered.

His years in power are regarded as an important stage in the formation of the Kokand Khanate: under him the state grew beyond the Ferghana Valley and Kokand acquired the role of political centre that it kept into the nineteenth century.