16 - Rainstones

The Oghuz Turks emerge in the new steppe world created by the Battle of Talas and the An Lushan Rebellion.  As refugees fleeing the East, the Oghuz arrive in the lands around the Syr Darya River - and promptly ally with the Khazar Khanate to drive the local Pechenegs out.  Now secure in their new homeland, the Oghuz build their first state - the Oghuz Yabgu State on the borders of the Abbasid Caliphate.  The interactions between the Oghuz and the Abbasids create a new steppe world, and will ultimately come to transform the Abbasid Caliphate as well.