At an early date the entire tribe moved out of Mongolia and eventually settled in the area comprising the ulus of Chagatai Khan.

In the western part of the khanate (specifically Transoxiana and the bordering provinces), the khans had become rulers in name only, with real power in the hands of the local Turko-Mongol amirs after 1346.

Chief among their holdings were the towns Aksu, Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan[3] Their influence allowed them to select a Genghisid khan of their own choosing.

Qamar ud-Din proclaimed himself khan (the only Dughlat ever to do so) and, although he did not gain the support of many of the amirs,[7] managed to maintain his position in Moghulistan.

[10] According to the Tarikh-i Rashidi, Khudaidad had been an early supporter of Khizr Khoja and had hid him from Qamar ud-Din during the latter's purge of members of the house of Chagatai.

[11] He also divided Aksu, Khotan, and Kashgar and Yarkand amongst his family members;[12] this division of territory lasted until the time of Mirza Aba Bakr.

During the 15th century, Kashgar was recovered after it was temporarily seized by Timur's grandson Ulugh Beg;[13] on the other hand, Aksu was given over to the Moghul khans.

The international ports of Dulat (Dulata Kouan - 都拉塔口岸 in Chinese) in the Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of China was named after with the Dughlats, because of the historical inhabitant of Dughlats clans in this area in the past, the ports of Dulat was opened in 2003 with the agreement of governments of both Kazakhstan and China.

Beginning with the seizure of Yarkand, which was henceforth his capital, he conquered Khotan and Kashgar from other members of his family[15] and defied numerous attempts by the Moghul khans to force him into submission.

[19] This marked the end of Dughlat control over the western Tarim Basin cities, which were in the hands of the Moghul khans until they were conquered by the Dzungars in the late 17th century.

[23] Mirza Haider Dughlat in the Tarikh-i Rashidi constantly alludes to a distinct tribe or community of Moghuls in Mughalistan, however reduced in numbers, who had preserved Mongol customs, and from the incidental references to Mongolian phrases and terms, likely retained elements of the original Mongolian language, despite the growth of Islam and the growing use of the Turki language, the latter which Haider naturally spoke.