"Moghulistan" is a Persian name and simply means "Land of the Moghuls" or Mongols (the term "Mughal" is Persian for "Mongol" and -istan means "land" in Persian) in reference to the eastern branch of the Mongolian Chagatai Khans who ruled it. The term "Moghulistan" occurs mostly in Soviet historiography, while Chinese historiography mostly uses the term "East Chagatai Khanate" (), which contrasts Moghulistan to the Timurid Empire. The Moghul Khans considered themselves heir to Mongol traditions and called themselves "Mongghul Uls", from which the Persian term "Moghulistan" comes. Ming Dynasty Mandarins called the Moghuls "the Mongol tribes () in Beshbalik". The Timurid exonym for Moghulistan was "Ulus-i Jatah".