Died no earlier than 1218. Military leader (khan) of the Naiman confederation, a Turkic tribal amalgamation.
In 1210, Kuchlug defeated the Karakitais. In 1211 he captured their gurkhan (head of state) and, on the ruins of the Karakitai state, founded his own state, which included the Khotan, Yarkand, Kashgar, Semirech’e, and Fergana regions. By his persecutions of Muslims, Kuchlug aroused the opposition of some of his subjects. In 1219 his state was destroyed by the Mongols.