The Ülüş system was the administrative system of the historical Turkic and Mongolic states. The noun Üleş in Turkish means "share" and the verb "üleş-mek" means to share. [1] [2]
According to historian Halil İnalcık, the sovereignty didn't belong solely to the khagan (emperor), but to the members of the khagan's family. [3] Thus the khagan allocated each member of the family a share of the country. This share was called ülüş. According to Kürşat Kocak however, the ülüş practice included also high level state officials. [4] This resembles the fief system in Medieval Europe. It is stressed by Lev Gumilyov that it was not a European type feudalism. [5] According to Lev Gümiloy the system was developed by the Southern Xiongnu during the second century AD. [5] It was used by the First Turkic Khaganate, Uyghur Khaganate, Mongol Empire and other political powers of Central Asia.
In the First Turkic Khaganate (551-581) during the reign of Taspar Qaghan in 576, there were 8 üleşes (see Göktürk family tree). [5]