The
Karluks (also
Qarluqs,
Qarluks,
Karluqs,
Old Turkic: , Qarluq,
Persian:
خَلُّخ (Khallokh), Arabic
قارلوق "Qarluq") were a prominent
nomadic Turkic tribal confederacy residing in the regions of Kara-Irtysh (Black
Irtysh) and the
Tarbagatai Mountains west of the
Altay Mountains in
Central Asia. They were also known as the
Gelolu (, customary phonetic:
Gelu,
Khololo,
Khorlo or
Harluut). They were closely related to the
Uyghurs. Karluks gave their name to the distinct
Karluk group of the
Turkic languages, which also includes the
Uyghur,
Uzbek, and
Ili Turki languages.
