A nomadic people belonging to the eastern branch of the Turkish tribes (or Tölöš Turks; Altaic language family), called Huige 回紇 until 788 (also called Yuange 袁紇, Weige 韋紇, Wuge 烏紇, later Weiwur 畏兀兒 or Uihur, today Weiwur 維吾爾). In the year 627 the Huihe chieftain Pusa 菩薩 – after forging an alliance with the Syr Tarduš (Chinese: Xueyantuo 薛延陀) – defeated the Eastern Turks (Chinese: Dong Tujue 東突厥). With the help of the Tang 唐 armies, the Huihe chieftains could get rid of the domination of the Syr Tarduš. Their territory north of the Gansu corridor was administered as protectorate (duhufu 都護府). After the resurrection of the Eastern Turk realm, the tribes of Huihe, Qixin 契芯, Hun 渾, and Sijie 思結 migrated more to the west into the area of modern Gansu, passing some areas that were already for hundreds of years inhabited by Chinese, and thereby took some cultural influences of the Chinese with them. Together with the Qarluq (Chinese: Geluolu葛邏祿), the Huihe finally defeated the Eastern Turks and established their own empire of the Later Turks (Chinese: Hou Tujue 後突厥) their ruler being Qutlugh Bilgä köl Qaghan (Chinese: Guduolu Piqie Que Kehan 骨咄祿毗伽闕可汗) in the capital of Qara-Balghasun in modern Inner Mongolia. The empire of Qutlugh Qaghan lasted until 840. The state administration was patterned after the Tang model, with chancellors, commissioners, generals, and so on. Under the power of the Huihe Qaghan, many Turkish peoples (pugu 僕固) were united in a federation, the Huihe themselves were divided into nine tribes. Trade and political relations to the Tang court were very intensive, and Huihe troops supported the Tang emperor in subduing the rebellion of An Lushan 安祿山 in 755. The last years of the Huihu khanate are characterized by wars with the Tibetian Tubo (Tufan 吐蕃) empire, and after 840 the realm disengaged. Some tribes of the Huihe migrated to the west, founding small khanates in modern Gansu, Shazhou 沙州, Gaochang 高昌 (Turfan), and Qiuci 龜茲 (Kucha), their federations are known as the Xizhou Uighurs 西州回鶻 in the Tarim Basin and the Yellow Head Uighurs 黃頭回紇 in the Qaidam Basin. The Uighurs of the Yuan period 元, called Weiwur 畏兀兒, were centered around Helahuo prefecture 合剌火州 (modern Turfan) and Beshbalik 別失八里 (Beiting 北庭, modern Jimsar 吉木薩兒). The Uighur ruler of this period had the title iduq-qut, the chieftain Barshu Arte Dijin 巴而術阿而忒的斤 fought against the Western Liao (Xiliao 西遼) and submitted to the Mongols. During the resistance against the rebellion of Qaidu 海都 and Du'a 篤哇 against the Yuan Dynasty (see Mongol empires), Yuan troops were garrisoned within the territory of the Weiwur. The most important economical and cultural center of the Uighur territory is the Turfan oasis that is famous not only for the average agricultural products, but especially for cotton, sesame, melons and grapes. Turfan is also known for the rich work in printing products in several languages and scripts, like Syrian, Mongolian, Tibetian, Chinese, and Tangut. The Uighur territory was an important stage in the east-west trade, and the population of this area had contact with many religions, like Buddhism, Manicheism, Nestorian Christianty, and Islam. The modern descendants of the Huihe are the Uyghurs (Weiwuerzu 維吾爾族) in Xinjiang.