Ashide (Chinese:阿史德;Middle Chinese: *ʔɑ-ʃɨXtək̚;Old Tibetan:A sha sde’) was one of the dominant clans ofTurkic Khaganate. This clan was also the conjugal clan of the Göktürk khagans'Ashina clan.
According to Zheng Qiao's 1161Comprehensive Records (vol. 29), Ashide descended from an ancientShǐshàn kèhán 始善可汗 (lit. "First GoodKhagan"), whose identity remains unknown.[1]
Yury Zuev reconstructedOld Turkic *Ashtak, further fromMiddle PersianAzdahāg, fromAvestan:Aži Dahāka "Serpent, Dragon", related toAzhdaha.[2] Earlier,H. W. Bailey noticed similarity with Iranian *xšaita ‘ruler’, cf. Sogd.xšēδ,axšēδ ‘ruler’.[3]
The Ashide's status as the Ashina's conjugal clan[4] is documented in theYouyang Zazu, which contains a myth that Ashina's ancestor Shemo fell in love with the sea-goddess west of the Ashide cave.[5]
The baga-tarkhan (military leader) of fourGöktürkkhagansTonyukuk and the mother of Chinese warlordAn Lushan were both of Ashide origin.
HistorianS. G. Klyashtorny said that originallyAshina and Ashide together were part of a dual system, well known among the Turkic andMongolic peoples.[6][7]
Ashide chiefs bore the title Irkin (Hanzi: 俟斤;Pinyin:Sijin) common to tribal leaders in the Turkic Khaganate. However, their particular position is determined by kinship with the dynasty; it was no coincidence that one of Irkin Ashide tegin held the title 'the prince of the royal family'. The Ashide clan did not have a single source. TheTang Shu mentioned Da Ashide and Bayan Ashide; their tamgas differ from tamgas of Ashide.[8]
To the end of the 7th-8th centuries, it was probably more correct to speak about Ashide as one of the tribes of the khaganate, which together with Ashina was the main military and political support of the Turkic dynasty. Ashide leaders initiated the liberation revolt of the Turkuts (679-682) against theTang dynasty.[9]
In 2015-2016, aFudan University (Shanghai) study headed by ethnogenomist Wen Shao-Qing (文少卿) in China, ran tests to determine the Y-DNAhaplogroup representatives from the aristocratic Turkic Ashide clan.
They found a subclade of the Ashide clan had the haplogroupQ1a-L53.[10]