Western Turkic Khaganate 𐰆𐰣:𐰸:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣 On oq budun | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 581–742 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Greatest extent of the Western Turkic Khaganatec. 625, after theBattle of Bukhara (light brown), and their southern expansion as theTokhara Yabghus andTurk Shahis (lighter brown) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Khaganate(Nomadic empire)
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| Capital | Navekat (summer capital) Suyab (principal capital) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Sogdian (coinage, official)[1][2] Old Turkic[3][4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Tengrism Buddhism Zurvanism[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Khagan of the Western Khaganate | |||||||||||||||||||||||
• 587–604 | Niri Qaghan | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yabgu of the Western Khaganate | |||||||||||||||||||||||
• 553–576 | Istämi | ||||||||||||||||||||||
• 576–603 | Tardu | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Early Middle Ages | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 630[6] | 3,500,000 km2 (1,400,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheWestern Turkic Khaganate (Chinese:西突厥;pinyin:Xī Tūjué) orOnoq Khaganate (Old Turkic:𐰆𐰣:𐰸:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣,romanized: On oq budun,lit. 'Ten arrow people')[7][8] was aTurkickhaganate inEurasia, formed as a result of the wars in the beginning of the 7th century (593–603 CE) after the split of theFirst Turkic Khaganate (founded in the 6th century on theMongolian Plateau by theAshina clan), into a western and aneastern Khaganate.
The whole confederation was calledOnoq, meaning "ten arrows". According to a Chinese source, the Western Turks were organized into ten divisions.[9]
The khaganate's capitals wereNavekat (summer capital) andSuyab (principal capital), both situated in theChui River valley ofKyrgyzstan, to the east ofBishkek.Tong Yabgu's summer capital was nearTashkent and his winter capitalSuyab.
The Western Turkic Khaganate was subjugated by theTang dynasty in 657 and continued as its vassal, until it finally collapsed in 742. To the west, the breakup of the Western Turkic Khaganate led to the rise of the TurkicKhazar Khaganate (c. 650–969).
Thefirst Turkic Khaganate was founded byBumin in 552 on the Mongolian Plateau and quickly spread west toward theCaspian Sea. Within 35 years the western half and theEastern Turkic Khaganate were independent. The Western Khaganate reached its peak underTong Yabghu Qaghan (618–630). After Tong's murder there were conflicts between the Dulu and Nushibi factions and many short-lived Khagans, and some territory was lost. From 642 onward the expandingTang dynasty began to interfere. The Tang destroyed the Khaganate in 657–659.
TheGokturks and Mongols were the only two empires to rule both the eastern and centralsteppe. The Gokturks were the first steppe empire to be in contact with three great urban civilizations:Byzantium,Persia and China. Their expansion west from modern-dayMongolia is poorly documented.Lev Gumilyov[12] gives the following.Bumin gave the west to his younger brotherIstami (553–75). The campaign probably began in the spring of 554 and apparently met little resistance. They tookSemirechye and by 555 had reached theAral Sea, probably on a line from the lowerOxus, across theJaxartes, north of Tashkent to the western tip of theTian Shan. They drove before them various peoples:Xionites,Uar,Oghurs and others.[13] These seem to have merged into theAvars whom the Gokturks drove across theVolga River in 558, and who crossed the western steppe and reached Hungary by 567. The Turks then turned southeast.
Early Turkic Khaganates
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At this time theHephthalites held theTarim Basin ,Fergana,Sogdia,Bactria andMerv, with the Persians at approximately their present border.Khosrow I made peace with the Byzantines and turned on the Hephthalites. Fighting started in 560[14] The Persians won a victory in 562, and the Turks tookTashkent. In 565, the Hephthalites were defeated atQarshi and withdrew to Bactria, where fragments of this people remained until theArab conquest. The Turks demanded the tribute formerly paid to the Hephthalites and when this was refused, they crossed the Oxus, but thought better of it and withdrew. In 571 a border was drawn along the Oxus,[15] the Persians expanding east to Afghanistan, and the Turks gaining the Sogdian merchant cities and their control of theSilk Road.
Around 567–576 the Turks took the area between the Caspian and Black Seas. In 568 they took part of Bactria.
Istami was followed by his sonTardush (575–603). About 581 he intervened in the easternGöktürk civil war. In 588/89 the Turks were defeated by Persians nearHerat in theFirst Perso-Turkic War. In 599–603 he gained the eastern half of the Khaganate, but after his death the two halves were definitely split.Heshana Khagan (603–611) was driven out of Dzungaria and then defeated bySheguy (610–617), Tardush's grandson, who conquered the Altai, reconquered Tashkent and raided Ishfahan.
His brotherTong Yabghu Qaghan (618–630) ruled from the Tarim basin to the Caspian Sea, and metXuanzang.[citation needed] He sent men to fight the Persians south of the Caucasus, and also sent his sonTardush Shad to fight in Afghanistan, where he established theYabghus of Tokharistan, who themselves projected theTurk Shahis as far east as India.
In the year of Tong's death the Tang dynasty defeated and annexed the Eastern Khaganate. He was murdered by his uncleKülüg Sibir (630) withDuolu support. TheNushibi put Tong's sonSy Yabgu (631–33) on the throne. However, Nushibi quickly rebelled against Sy and enthroned Ashina Nishu asDuolu Khan (633–34), followed by his brotherIshbara Tolis (634–38). There was a Dulu-Nushibi conflict andYukuk Shad (638–42), son of the final eastern Khagan, was brought in.
The factions quarreled and the Nushibi andEmperor Taizong of Tang enthronedIrbis Seguy (642–51). The Tang dynasty demanded part of the Tarim Basin and then seized part of it until the war ended with Taizong's death. Irbis was overthrown by (Ashina Helu)Ishbara Qaghan (651–58) who, after about six years of war, was defeated atBattle of Irtysh River and captured by the Tang. After this there were several puppet Khagans. In 679–719 the old Gokturk capital ofSuyab was one of theFour Garrisons of Anxi. The Tang dynasty exercised control over the area until the time ofAn Lushan's rebellion (756).
The Tang campaigns against the Western Turks, were a series of military campaigns conducted during theTang dynasty against the Western Turkic Khaganate in the 7th century CE. Early military conflicts were a result of the Tang interventions in the rivalry between theWestern andEastern Turks in order to weaken both. UnderEmperor Taizong, campaigns were dispatched in theWestern Regions againstGaochang in 640,Karasahr in 644 and 648, andKucha in 648.
The wars against the Western Turks continued underEmperor Gaozong, and the khaganate was annexed after GeneralSu Dingfang's defeat ofQaghanAshina Helu in 657.
The Western Turks attempted to capture theTarim Basin in 670 and 677 but were repelled by the Tang. In 679, the Tang generalPei Xingjian led an army as far asTokharistan, as he was also escorting back to Persia the last Sasanian pretender to the throne,Narsieh. Pei Xingjian fought successfully against an invasion ofAnxi led by Western Turkic KhanAshina Duzhi, and numerous minor Turkic chieftains in the region then pledged their loyalty to theTang dynasty. Meanwhile, general Pei Xingjian lost interest in reinstalling the Persian King and left Narsieh in the Anxi Protectorate alone, although Narsieh was still able to maintain his many servants and a high quality of life, and would continue on to fight against the Muslim Arabs for twenty years. Upon returning to Tang, Pei was appointed the minister of rituals and Great general of the right flank guards.[21]
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In 679, Turkic chieftain Ashide Wenfu rebelled. Protectorate generalXiao Siye, a noble from Lanling Commandery, was defeated by Ashide. Pei then took over the command from Xiao and decisively won a battle against the Turks in an ambush. Ashide fled. Not long after the first defeat, Ashide Wenfu gathered his troops and united them with the troops of another chieftainAshina Funian. Pei saw the distrust and suspicions between the two chieftains and exploited this weakness by driving a wedge between them. Eventually, Ashina Funian murdered Ashide Wenfu out of the fear of Tang's revenge against him. When Funian was brought to the Tang court, he was executed regardless of the fact that he surrendered his troops. Pei had promised Ashina that he would not be put to death, however, the court did not respect Pei's promise. Due to this incident, Pei retired.[23] Ashina's death, according to New Book of Tang, was a scheme against Pei Xingjian by his very own clansmanPei Yan who was jealous about his victories in the West.
In 682, Pei was again put in charge of pacifying yet another Turkic rebellion against the Tang dynasty. However, he died of old age before the troops were sent out. The imperial court rewarded him the posthumous name Xian (獻) which means "Dedication", as well as the supreme military honorary title Taiwei (太尉).
The areas controlled by the Tang dynasty came under the dynasty's cultural influences and the Turkic influence of theethnically Turkic Tang soldiers stationed in the region. Indo-European prevalence in Central Asia declined as the expeditions accelerated Turkic migration into what is nowXinjiang. By the end of the 657 campaigns, the Tang had reached its largest extent. The Turks, Tibetans,Muslim Arabs and the Tang competed for control over Central Asia until the collapse of the Tang in the 10th century.
TheSecond Turkic Empire defeated the fragmented Western Turks in 712 and absorbed the tribes into the new empire.
During the late 6th century, the Turks consolidated their geopolitical position in Central Asia, as the lynchpin in trade between East Asia and Western Asia – in which Persia and Byzantium were the dominant powers.[27] For much of this period,Istämi ruled the Khaganate from a winter camp nearKarashar. A timeline of the westward expansion of the Turks under Istämi might be reconstructed as follows:
A first Turk legation (or embassy) to reachConstantinople visitedJustin II in 563. A Sogdian merchant namedManiakh [de] led a Turco-Sogdian legation to Constantinople in 568, pursuing trade and an alliance against the Avars and Persians. A Byzantine official namedZemarchus accompanied Maniakh on his return journey; and later left a pioneering account of the Turks. Maniakh now proposed to bypass the Persians and re-open a direct route north of theCaspian Sea. If trade on this route later increased (uncertain) it would have benefitedKhorezm and the Black Sea cities and might have had something to do with the later rise of theKhazars andRus' people.
The Turks' control of the Sogdian merchant cities along the Oxus from the late 6th century on gave the Western Turks substantive control of the central part of theSilk Road. A Chinese general complained that the:
"Turks themselves are simple-minded and short-sighted and dissention can easily be roused among them. Unfortunately, many Sogdians live among them who are cunning and insidious; they teach and instruct the Turks."
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Denis Sinor saw the Byzantine alliance as a Sogdian scheme to benefit themselves at the expense of the Turks. A related fact is that theEastern Turks extracted a large amount of silk as booty from the Chinese, which had to be marketed westward. Before 568, Maniakh, a leading merchant, visited theSassanian Persian court, in a bid to open up trade; this proposal was refused, apparently because the Persians wanted to restrict trade by and with the Byzantines. The members of a second Turk legation to Persia were reportedly[who?] poisoned. From 569, the Turks and Persia were at war, until the Turks were defeated near Merv; hostilities ceased in 571.
In 576, Valentinus led a Byzantine mission to aTurxanthos whose camp was west of the Caspian. Valentinus wanted action against the Persians and Turxanthos complained that Byzantium was harboring the Avars. Valentinus then went east to meetTardu. What caused this hostility is not clear. In 576–77 a Turk general called Bokhan and anUtigur called Anagai captured the Crimean Byzantine town ofPanticapaeum and failed at a siege ofChersonesus. This marks the westernmost extent of Turk power.
Amajor incursion into Bactria by the Turks, in 588–589, was defeated by theSasanians.The Turk-Byzantine alliance was revived in the 620s during thelast great Byzantine-Persian war before the Arab conquests. In 627Tong Yabghu Qaghan sent out his nephewBöri Shad. The Turks stormed the great fortress ofDerbent on the Caspian coast, entered Azerbaijan and Georgia, did a good bit of looting and metHeraclius who was besiegingTiflis. When the siege dragged on, the Turks left, and Heraclius went south and won a great victory over the Persians. The Turks returned, captured Tiflis and massacred the garrison. On behalf of the Byzantines, a Turk general namedChorpan Tarkhan thenconquered most of Armenia.
For the origin of the Onoq two contradicting accounts are given:[30][31]
In the beginning [after 552], Shidianmi [Istämi] followed the Shanyu [Qaghan] and commanded the ten great chiefs. Together with their 100,000 soldiers, he marched to the Western Regions and subdued the barbarian statelets. There he declared himself as qaghan, under the title of ten tribes, and ruled them [the western barbarians] for generations.
— Tongdian, 193 and Jiu Tangshu, 194
Soon [after 635],Dielishi Kehan [of the Western Göktürks] divided his state into ten parts, and each was headed by one man, together they made up the ten shads (設 she). Every shad is given an arrow by him, thus they were known as the ten arrows. He also divided the ten arrows into two factions, each consisted of five arrows. The left (east) faction consisted of fiveDuoliu tribes, headed by five churs (啜 chuo) separately. The right [west] faction consisted of fiveNushibi tribes, headed by fiveirkins (俟斤sijin) separately. Each took command of one arrow and called themselves the ten arrows. Thereafter, each arrow was also known as one tribe, and the great arrow head as the great chief. The five Duolu tribes inhabited to east of Suiye [water] (Chu River), and the five Nushibi tribes to the west of it. Since then, they called themselves as the ten tribes.
— Tongdian, 193 and Jiu Tangshu, 194
The first statement dates their origin back to the beginning of theFirst Turkic Qaghanate with Istämi, younger brother of Tumen (Bumen), who had brought with him the ten tribes, probably from the Eastern Qaghanate in Mongolia and travelled west to expand the Qaghanate. The exact date for the event was not recorded, and the shanyu here referred to might beMuhan Khan.
The second statement attributes it to Dielishi, who took over the throne in 635 and began to strengthen the state by further affirming the initial ten tribes and two tribal wings, in contrast with the rotation of rule between the Tumen (through Apa) and Istämi (through Tardu) lineages in the Western Qaghanate. Thereafter, the name "ten tribes" (十姓) became a shortened address for the Western Turks in Chinese records. Those divisions did not include the five[32][33][34][35] major tribes, who were active further east of the ten tribes.[36][37]
The earlier tribes consisted of eight primary tribes ruled by eight chiefs-in-command: the five[38] Duolu (咄陆) tribes, and the three[39]Nushibi (弩失毕) tribes. Syriac and Greek sources (John of Ephesus,Menander Protector) also confirmed that initially, the Western Turkic Khaganate were divided into eight tribes duringIstämi's lifetime and at his death.[40]
The ruling elites were divided into two groups and the relationship between the two groups were tense: the more aristocratic Duolu shads held the titlechurs,[41] and the lower-ranking Nushibi in west were probably initially made up ofTiele conscripts and their shads held the titleirkins.[42][43][44] During the reformation the more powerful Nushibi tribes such as A-Xijie and Geshu were sub-divided into two tribal groups with a greater and lesser title under a fixed tribal name, resulting in the attestedOn Oq & 十箭shíjiàn "ten arrows").
Turkic delegates appear together with Chinese envoys in the 7th century CE murals ofAfrasiab in Samarkand. The Chinese delegates (left in the mural) form an embassy to the king of Samarkand, carryingsilk and a string ofsilkworm cocoons. The Turkic delegates (right in the mural), are recognizable by their long plaits.[10] They do not carry presents, as they are simply escorting the Chinese envoys.[10]
The scenes depicted in the Afrasiyab murals may have been painted in 648–651 CE, as the Western Turkic Khaganate was in its last days, before its fall in 657 CE, and the Han Dynasty was increasing its territory in Central Asia.[24][47] They are recognizable by their longplaits.[10][45][48][49]
In the mural, the Western Turks are ethnic Turks,Nushibis, rather thanTurkicized Sogdians, as suggested by the marked East Asian features and faces without beards.[50] They are the most numerous ethnic group in the mural, and are not ambassadors, but rather military attendants.[50] Their depiction offers a unique glimpse into the clothing of the Turks of the 6–7th century CE.[50] They typically wear three or five longplaits, often gathered together into a one single long plait.[50] They have ankle-length monochromic sleeved coats with two lapels.[50] This fashion for the collar is first seen inKhotan nearTurfan, a traditional Turkic land, in the 2nd–4th century CE.[50] They have low black sharp-nosed boots. They wear gold bracelets withlapis lazuli or pearls.[50] On Western Turkic coins, "the faces of the governor and governess are clearly mongoloid (a roundish face, narrow eyes), and the portrait have definite old Türk features (long hair, absence of headdress of the governor, a tricorn headdress of the governess)".[51]
Bilge Khagan inscription, main side, 16:
powerful enemies kneel and proud ones to bow. The Turgesh kagan (and his people) was our Turk. Because of their unawareness and foolishness, for their being traitorous, their kagan had died; his buyruqs and lords, had died too. The On-Oq people suffered a great deal. In order the land (lit.: 'earth and water'), which was ruled by our ancestors, not to be left without a ruler, we organized Az people and put them into the order... was Barys bek.[8]
Bilge Khagan inscription, 1st side, 1:
I, Tengri- llike and Tengri born Bilge kagan Turkic. Hear my words. When my father, Bilge kagan Turkic, ruled, you, supreme Turk beks, lower Tardush beks, Shadapyt beks led by Kul Chur, the rest Tyules beks, Apa Tarkhan. Led by Shadapyt beks, Bairuks. Tamgan Tarkhan, Tonyukuk, Boila Baga Tarkhan, Buyruqs…, Inner Buyruqs, led by Sebek Kul Erkin, all Buyruq beks! My father.
Bilge Khagan inscription, 2nd side: 15:
From sons of Ten Arrows to wives, see this. Erected stone inscriptions…[8]
Tonyukuk inscription, main side, 19:[56]
I reached my army toShantung towns and the seas. Twenty three town were destroyed. All of them had left on Usyn-bundatu land.(?). Tabgaches’ kagan (China) was our enemy. The kagan of "Ten Arrows" was our enemy.
Tonyukuk inscription, main side, 30:[56]
... he might kill us". "So the Turkic kagan started out" – he said. "All Ten Arrows people started out" – he said. – "(among them) there is alsoTabgaches' (China) army". Having heard these words my kagan said: "I will be a kagan .."
Tonyukuk inscription, main side, 33:[56]
Three messengers came, their words were similar: "One kagan with his army went on campaign. The army of Ten Arrows people went on campaign too. They told that they would gather in the step of Yarysh". Having heard these words I told them the kagan. What to do?! With the reply (from khan)
Tonyukuk inscription, main side, 42–43:[56]
Killed there. We took to prison about fifty persons. That night we sent (messengers) to every nation. Having heard these words, beks and people of Ten Arrows all came and subdued. When I was settling down and gathering the coming beks and people a few people ran away. I led to campaign the army of Ten Arrows people.
| Yabgu | reign | father, grandfather | Regnal name (Chinese reading) | Personal name (Chinese reading) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Istämi | 553–576 | Ashina Tuwu, Ashina | Shìdiǎn mì Kèhán | 室點密 Shìdiǎnmì |
| Tardu | 576–603 | Istämi, Ashina Tuwu | Dátóu Kèhán | 玷厥 Dianjue |
| Kaghan | reign | father, grandfather | Regnal name (Chinese reading) | Personal name (Chinese reading) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niri Qaghan | – | Yangsu Tegin, Muqan Qaghan | Nílì Kèhán | 向氏 Xiàngshì |
| Heshana Khagan | 604–611 | Niri Qaghan Yansu Tegin | Chùluó Kèhán | 達曼 Daman |
| Sheguy | 611–618 | Tulu Tegin, Tardu | Shèguì Kèhán | 射匮 Shèguì |
| Tong Yabghu Qaghan | 618–628 | Tulu Tegin, Tardu | Tǒng yèhù Kèhán | 統葉 Tǒng yèhù |
| Külüg Sibir | 628–630 | Tardu, Istämi | Qūlìqí pí Kèhán | 莫贺咄 Mòhèduō |
| Sy Yabghu Khagan | 631–632 | Tong Yabgu Qaghan, Tulu Tegin | Yǐpí (shā)bōluō sìyèhù Kèhán | 阿史那咥力 Āshǐnà xilì |
| Duolu Qaghan | 633–634 | Bagha Shad, unknown | Duōlù Kèhán | 阿史那泥孰 Āshǐnà Níshú |
| Ishbara Tolis | 634–639 | Bagha Shad, unknown | Shābōluō Kèhán | 阿史那咥力 Āshǐnà Tóng |
| Yukuk Shad | 639–642 | Illig Qaghan, Yami Qaghan | Yǐpí duōlù Kèhán | 阿史那欲谷 Āshǐnà Yùgǔ |
| Irbis Seguy | 642–650 | El Kulug Shad, Ishbara Tolis | Yǐpí shèkuì Kèhán | 阿史那莫賀咄 Āshǐnà Mòhèduō |
| Ashina Helu | 651–658 | Böri Shad, unknown | Shābōluō Kèhán | 阿史那賀魯 Āshǐnà Hèlǔ |
| History of the Turkic peoplespre–14th century | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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{{cite web}}:External link in|ref=Fig. 3.73a Wall painting with Buddha teaching, probably from the Temple of the Pedestal, Eastern Group, Tumshuk-Tagh, Tumshuk, 51 x 75 em, Museum fiir lndische Kunst, Berlin (III 8716). Page 555-556: This is a famous work from Tumshuk (Fig. 3.73a) and has been variously dated. It is discussed by Bussagli (1963) where he dates it to the 6th century (?), by Hartel and Y aldiz ( 1982), no. 42, where it is dated to the 7th century, by M. Yaldiz (1987), pp. 107-109, where she relates it to T'ang 8th-9th century painting, Gies and Cohen (1995), no. 78 where it is dated to the 7th century. (...)Armor: This style does not appear to relate to the T'ang period 7th-9th century or later, where the military uniform and helmets, etc. are differently portrayed. (...) Overall, this painting appears to relate to 6th century works in Central Asia, especially ca. mid 6th century and to Sui and early T'ang works of China from ca. late 6th to early 7th century
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