Tekin (1968) and Atwood (2013) etymologize the ethnonymTürgiş as containing a gentilic suffix-ş affixed onto the name of lakeTürgi-Yarğun, which was mentioned inKültegin inscription.[4][5][6]
By the 7th century, two or three sub-tribes were recorded: "Yellow"Sarï Türgesh tribeAlishi (阿利施) and the "Black"Qara Türgesh tribe(s) 娑葛 (Suoge < *Soq or *Saqal) - 莫賀 (Mohe < *Bağa).[7][8] To the Black Türgesh sub-tribe, Chebishi (車鼻施) (*çavïş, fromOld Turkic 𐰲𐰉𐰾 *çabïş[9] orSogdiančapīş "chief"[10]), belonged 8th century Türgesh chor and later khaganSuluk.[11][12][13][14] The Turgesh Khaganate also contained remnants of theWestern Turkic Khaganate: Suluk's subordinateKül-chor belonged to theDuolu tribeChumukun (處木昆), who lived south ofLake Balkash between Türgesh andQarluq.[15][16][17]Tang generalGeshu Han was ofDuolu Turgesh extraction[18] and bore theNushibi tribal surnameGeshu (阿舒).[19] Chinese historians, when naming the Duolu Turk tribes, might mentionKhalajes along with the Türgesh, under the common appellation 突騎施-賀羅施 (Mand.Tūqíshī-hèluóshī; reconstructedOld Turkic *Türgeş-Qalaç).[20]
A late-7th centuryUyghur chief was also surnamedTürgesh.[21]
Coin of the Türgesh Kaghans. Early–mid 8th century CE.Semirech'e.Obverse:Sogdian legend around central square hole.Reverse: Curvedtamgha around central square hole.[22]
Prior to independence, the Turgesh were ruled by a subordinatetutuk, latershad, of theWestern Turkic Khaganate's Onoq elites. Turgesh leaders belonged toDuolu division and held the titlechur. A Turgesh commander of theTalas district and the town of Balu possessed a name symbolizing some sacred relation to a divine or heavenly sphere. The first Turgesh KaghanWuzhile (Chinese transcription 烏質Wuzhi means "black substance") was a leader of aManichaean consortium known asyüz er "hundred men". He established the Turgesh Khaganate in 699. He had driven out theTang[23] protégéBöri Shad. In 703 he capturedSuyab and set up his authority on the territory fromChach toTurfan andBeshbaliq.[24] In 706 his sonSaqal succeeded him. Both khagans had a church rank ofYuzlik according toYuri Zuev.[25]
Saqal attacked the Tang city of Qiuci (Kucha) in 708 and inflicted a defeat on the Tang in 709. However Saqal's younger brother Zhenu rebelled and sought military support from theQapagan Khaghan of theSecond Turkic Khaganate in 708. Qapaghan Khagan defeated the Turgesh in 711 in theBattle of Bolchu, and killed both Saqal and Zhenu.[26] The defeated Turgesh fled toZhetysu. In 714 the Turgesh electedSuluk as their khagan.
From the west, the Türgesh were threatened by the conquering Arab armies, who crossed theSyr Darya (Jaxartes) several times in 714–715. This compelled Suluk to join battle with the Arabs, along with other Central Asian states, striving to retain their independence.[27]
In 722 Suluk married the Ashina Princess Jiaohe.[28]
In 724 CaliphHisham sent a new governor toKhorasan,Muslim ibn Sa'id, with orders to crush the "Turks" once and for all, but, confronted by Suluk on the so-called "Day of Thirst", Muslim hardly managed to reach Samarkand with a handful of survivors, as the Turgesh raided freely.[29]
Following his defeatSuluk was murdered by his relativeKül-chor. Immediately, the Turgesh Khaganate was plunged into a civil war between the Black (Kara) and Yellow (Sary) factions. Kül-chor of the Sary Turgesh vanquished his rival Tumoche of the Kara Turgesh. In 740 Kül-chor submitted to the Tang dynasty but rebelled anyway when he killed the Turgesh puppet sent by the Tang court in 742. He was then captured and executed by theTang in 744. The last Turgesh ruler declared himself a vassal of the recently establishedUyghur Khaganate. In 766 the Karluks conqueredZhetysu and ended the Turgesh Khaganate.[33]
^François THIERRY, "Three Notes on Türgesh Numismatics",Proceedings of the Symposium on Ancient Coins and the Culture of the Silk Road,Sichou zhi lu guguo qianbi ji Silu wenhua guoji xueshu yantaohui lunwenji 絲綢之路古國錢幣暨 絲路文化國際學術研討會 論文集, Shanghai Bowuguan, décembre 2006, Shanghaï 2011, 413–442.
^Tuqishi 突騎施, Türgiš from chinaknowledge.de –An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art
^History of civilizations of Central Asia. Dani, Ahmad Hasan., Masson, V. M. (Vadim Mikhaĭlovich), 1929–, Harmatta, J. (János), 1917–2004., Litvinovskiĭ, B. A. (Boris Abramovich), Bosworth, Clifford Edmund., Unesco. (1st Indian ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. 1992–1999. p. 346.ISBN8120814096.OCLC43545117.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Inaba, M. "Nezak in Chinese Sources?"Coins, Art and Chronology II. Ed. M. Alram et.al. (2010) p. 191-202
^Thierry, Francois (2006)."François Thierry, "Three Notes on Türgesh Numismatics "".Proceedings of the Symposium on Ancient Coins and the Culture of the Silk Road, Sichou zhi lu guguo qianbi ji Silu wenhua guoji xueshu yantaohui lunwenji 絲綢之路古國錢幣暨 絲路文國際學研討會 論文集, Shanghai Museum.
^Klyashtorny S.G., The second Türk Empire (682–745). In: History of civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. III. The crossroads of civilizations: 250 to 750 AD. Editor: B. Litvinsky. Co-editors: Zhang Guang-da and R. Shabani Samghabadi.UNESCO publishing, 1996. – Pp. 335-347. (here: 346.); V.A. Belyaev, S.V. Sidorovich, Tang Tallies of Credence Found at the Ak-Beshim Ancient Site. Numismatique Asiatique. A bilingual French-English review. Revue de la Société de Numismatique Asiatique n° 33, Mars 2020. p. 50.[1]
^Yu. Zuev,"Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology", Almaty, Daik-Press, 2002, p. 207, 209, 239,ISBN9985-4-4152-9{{isbn}}: ignored ISBN errors (link)
^History of Civilizations of Central Asia. UNESCO. 2006. p. 341.ISBN978-9231032110.
^Pylypchuk, Ya. "Turks and Muslims: From Confrontation to Conversion to Islam (End of VII century – Beginning of XI Century)" inUDK 94 (4): 95 (4). In Ukrainian
^Minorsky, V. "Commentary" on "§17. The Tukhs" inḤudūd al'Ālam. Translated and Explained by V. Minorsky. pp. 300–304
^Golden, Peter Benjamin (1992). "An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples: Ethnogenesis And State Formation in the Medieval and Early Modern Eurasia and the Middle East".Turcologica. 9. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.ISBN978-3-447-03274-2. p. 165
Asimov, M. S. (1998),History of civilizations of Central Asia, vol. IV:The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century Part One: The historical, social and economic setting, UNESCO Publishing
Barfield, Thomas (1989),The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, Basil Blackwell
Golden, Peter B. (1992),An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples: Ethnogenesis and State-Formation in Medieval and Early Modern Eurasia and the Middle East, OTTO HARRASSOWITZ · WIESBADEN
Skaff, Jonathan Karam (2012).Sui-Tang China and Its Turko-Mongol Neighbors: Culture, Power, and Connections, 580-800. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-973413-9.
Stark, Sören (2016)."Türgesh Khaganate". In McKenzie, John M.; Dalziel, Nigel R.; Charney, Michael W.; Doumanis, Nicholas (eds.).Encyclopedia of Empire. Vol. IV:S–Z. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell. pp. 2122–2127.
Xiong, Victor (2008),Historical Dictionary of Medieval China, United States of America: Scarecrow Press, Inc.,ISBN978-0810860537,ASIN0810860538
1These are traditional areas of settlement; the Turkic group has been living in the listed country/region for centuries and should not be confused with modern diasporas. 2State with limited international recognition.
1 Central Asian (i.e.Turkmeni,Afghani andIranian)Turkmens, distinct from Levantine (i.e.Iraqi andSyrian) Turkmen/Turkoman minorities, who mostly adhere to an Ottoman-Turkish heritage and identity.2 In traditional areas of Turkish settlement (i.e. formerOttoman territories).
![Approximate borders of Türgesh Khaganate (white line).[note 1]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aT%25C3%25BCrgesh_Khaganate%2c_borders.svg)
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