Military organization and structure of the army in the Ḳara-Khitayan government

By the arrival of Burāḳ Ḥādjib to Kerman and conquesting this land in 619, a new government called Ḳara-Khitayan was established. A government that despite the turbulent conditions of Iran during the seventh century could last more than eight decades. Undoubtedly, one of the factors in the continuation of this government was the military organization and structure of the army. The present article through collecting library data and using the descriptive-analytical method seeks to answer the question of how was the military organization and crowd combination of the Ḳara-Khitayan army and what military tactics and martial equipment did they use? Findings of the study indicate that Burāḳ Ḥādjib and his successors pursued a dual policy. On one hand, due to the Mongol power in Iran, they tried to align their military organization with the Mongols and the Ilkhanate government. On the other hand, Burāḳ Ḥādjib, who had spent part of his life at the service of the Khwarazmian dynasty, tried to benefit from their experience in managing his military organization. Just as in the Khwarazmian government that the army was managed under the control of the minister, in the Ḳara-Khitayan period military affairs were also under the control of the minister, with this difference that in the Khwarazmian government a court called the Dīwān-i-‘Arḍ was under the control of military affairs’ minister whereas there was no dīwān in the Ḳara-Khitayan government.