Göktürks
Encyclopedia
Türük or 
Kök Türük or Türük; Celestial Turks) were a nomadic confederation of peoples in medieval Inner AsiaInner Asia
Inner Asia has a range of meanings among different researchers and in different countries. Denis Sinor defined Inner Asia broadly as the homelands of the Altaic peoples and the Uralic peoples .German makes a distinction between "Zentralasien", meaning Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang, and...
. Known in Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
sources as 突厥 (Modern Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Tūjué, Wade-Giles
Wade-Giles
Wade–Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Wade during the mid-19th century , and was given completed form with Herbert Giles' Chinese–English dictionary of 1892.Wade–Giles was the most...
: T'u-chüeh, Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese , also called Ancient Chinese by the linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties...
(Guangyun
Guangyun
The Guangyun is a Chinese rime dictionary that was compiled from 1007 to 1008 under the auspices of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Chen Pengnian and Qiu Yong were the chief editors....
): dʰuət-kĭwɐt), the Göktürks under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons succeeded the Rouran
Rouran
Rouran , Mongolia name Jujan or Nirun Ruanruan/Ruru , Tan Tan , Juan-Juan or Zhu-Zhuwas the name of a confederation of nomadic tribes on the northern borders of Inner China from the late 4th century until the middle 6th century...
as the main power in the region and took hold of the lucrative Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
trade. Gök means "sky" in modern Turkish.
The Göktürks became the new leading element amongst the disparate steppe peoples in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, after they rebelled against the Rouran Khaganate. Under their leadership, the Turkic Khaganate rapidly expanded to rule huge territories in Central Asia. From 552 to 745, Göktürk leadership bound together the nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic Turkic tribes into an empire, which eventually collapsed due to a series of dynastic conflicts.
Etymology
According to Chinese sources, the meaning of the word Tūjué was "combat helmetCombat helmet
A combat helmet or battle helmet is a type of personal armor designed specifically to protect the head during combat. Helmets are among the oldest forms of personal protective equipment and are known to have been worn by the Akkadians/Sumerians in the 23rd century BC, Mycenaean Greeks since 17th...
" (兜鍪; Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: dōumóu, Wade-Giles
Wade-Giles
Wade–Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Wade during the mid-19th century , and was given completed form with Herbert Giles' Chinese–English dictionary of 1892.Wade–Giles was the most...
: tou-mou), reportedly because the shape of the Jinshan (金山 jīnshān, Altai Mountains), where they lived, was similar to a combat helmet - hence they called themselves 突厥 (Tūjué / T'u-chüeh).
Göktürks is said to mean "Celestial Turks". This is consistent with "the cult of heavenly ordained rule" which was a pivotal element of the Altaic political culture before being imported to China. Similarly, the name of the ruling Ashina clan possibly derives from the Khotanese
Kingdom of Khotan
The Kingdom of Khotan was an ancient Buddhist kingdom that was located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim basin. -Early names:-Capital:...
Sakā
Saka
The Saka were a Scythian tribe or group of tribes....
term for "deep blue", āššɪna. The name might also derive from a Tungusic tribe related to Aisin
Aisin Gioro
Aisin Gioro was the family name of the Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty. The House of Aisin Gioro ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which established a republican government in its place. The word aisin means gold in the Manchu language, and "gioro" is the name of the place in...
.
The word Türk meant "strong" in Old Turkish
Old Turkic language
Old Turkic is the earliest attested form of Turkic, found in Göktürk and Uyghur inscriptions dating from about the 7th century to the 13th century....
.
Origins
The Göktürk rulers originated from the AshinaAshina
Ashina was a tribe and the ruling dynasty of the ancient Turks who rose to prominence in the mid-6th century when their leader, Bumin Khan, revolted against the Rouran...
clan, a tribe of obscure origins who lived in the northern corner of Inner Asia.
According to Book of Zhou
Book of Zhou
The Book of Zhou was the official history of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou, and it ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was compiled by the Tang Dynasty historian Linghu Defen and was completed in 636...
and History of Northern Dynasties
History of Northern Dynasties
The History of Northern Dynasties is one of the official Chinese historical works in the Twenty-Four Histories canon. It contain 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618, the histories of Northern Wei, Western Wei, Eastern Wei, Northern Zhou, Northern Qi, and Sui Dynasty...
, Ashina was a branch of Xiongnu
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...
s and according to Book of Sui
Book of Sui
The Book of Sui was the official history of the Chinese dynasty Sui Dynasty, and it ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was compiled by a team of historians led by the Tang Dynasty official Wei Zheng and was completed in 636.-External links:* of the Book of Sui,...
and Tongdian
Tongdian
The Tongdian is a Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text. It covers a panoply of topics from high antiquity through the year 756, whereas a quarter of the book focuses on the Tang Dynasty. The book was written by Du You from 766 to 801...
, they were "mixed Barbarians" (雜胡 / 杂胡, Pinyin: zá hú, Wade-Giles: tsa hu) from Pingliang
Pingliang
Pingliang is a prefecture-level city in eastern Gansu Province in China. Pingliang is famous for a local mountain range that includes Kongtong Mountain, a site sacred to Taoism and mythical meeting place of the Yellow Emperor and Guangchengzi, an immortal....
. Book of Sui reported that when Emperor Taiwu
Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei
Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei , personal name Tuoba Tao , nickname Foli , was an emperor of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei...
of Northern Wei
Northern Wei
The Northern Wei Dynasty , also known as the Tuoba Wei , Later Wei , or Yuan Wei , was a dynasty which ruled northern China from 386 to 534 . It has been described as "part of an era of political turbulence and intense social and cultural change"...
overthrew Juqu Mujian
Juqu Mujian
Juqu Mujian , named Juqu Maoqian in some sources, formally Prince Ai of Hexi , was the a prince of the Chinese/Xiongnu state Northern Liang -- with most Chinese historians considering him the last prince, although with some considering his brothers Juqu Wuhui and Juqu Anzhou to be princes of the...
's Northern Liang
Northern Liang
The Northern Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was founded by the Xiongnu Juqu family, although they initially supported the Han official Duan Ye as prince, they overthrew him in 401 and took over themselves....
on October 18, 439, Ashina's 500 families fled to the Rouran Khaganate. Within the heterogeneous Rouran Khaganate, the Göktürks lived north of the Altai Mountains for generations, they were engaged in metal-works. According to Denis Sinor
Denis Sinor
Denis Sinor was a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Central Asian Studies at the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University and a tenured lecturer at Cambridge University between 1948 and 1962, and was one of the world's leading scholars for the history of Central Asia. Sinor...
, their rise to power represented an 'internal revolution' in the confederacy, rather than an external conquest. According to Charles Holcombe, the early Tujue population was rather heterogeneous and many of the names of Göktürk rulers are not even Turkic.
First khaganate
The Göktürks rise to power began in 546 when Bumin Qaghan made a pre-emptive strike against the UyghurUyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
and Tiele
Tiele people
The Tiele or Tele , were a confederation of nine Turkic peoples living to the north of China and in Central Asia, emerging after the disintegration of the Xiongnu confederacy...
tribes who were planning a revolt against their overlords, the Rouran. For this service he expected to be rewarded with a Rouran princess, i.e. marry into the royal family. However Rouran kaghan Anagui
Yujiulü Anagui
Yujiulü Anagui khan of the Rouran with the title of Chiliantoubingdoufa Khan . He was succeeded by Yujiulü Tiefa.When Bumin Qaghan wanted to marry a princess of the royal family, Anagui sent an emissary to Bumin to rebuke him, saying, "You are my blacksmith slave...
sent an emissary to Bumin to rebuke him, saying, "You are my blacksmith slave. How dare you utter these words?". As Anagui's "blacksmith slave" (鍛奴 / 锻奴, Pinyin: duànnú, Wade-Giles: tuan-nu) comment was recorded in Chinese chronicles, some claim that the Göktürks were indeed blacksmith servants for the Rouran elite, and that "blacksmith slavery" may indicate a kind of vassalage system prevailed in Rouran society. According to Denis Sinor
Denis Sinor
Denis Sinor was a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Central Asian Studies at the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University and a tenured lecturer at Cambridge University between 1948 and 1962, and was one of the world's leading scholars for the history of Central Asia. Sinor...
, this reference indicates that the Göktürks were specialized in metallurgy, though it is unclear if they were miners or, indeed, blacksmiths.
Disappointed in his hopes, Bumin allied with the Wei
Western Wei
The Western Wei Dynasty followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei, and ruled northern China from 535 to 556.After the Xianbei general Yuwen Tai killed the Northern Wei emperor Yuan Xiu, he installed Yuan Baoju as emperor of Western Wei while Yuwen Tai would remain as the virtual ruler...
state against Rouran, their common enemy. In 552 (February 11 - March 10, 552), Bumin defeated the Rouran Khan Anagui in north of Huaihuang
Six Frontier Towns
The Six Frontier Towns , also known as Northern Frontier Towns , refers to six military towns that Northern Wei government built during Huangshi era and Yanhe era to prevent the southward invasion by Rouran...
(in present day Zhangjiakou
Zhangjiakou
Zhangjiakou, also known also by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province of North China, adjacent to Beijing to the southeast. Its administrative area has a population of 4.35 million, and covers...
, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
).
Having excelled both in battle and diplomacy Bumin declared himself Illig Qaghan of the new khaganate at Ötüken
Ötüken
Ötüken Old Turkic: , Ötüken yïš, , Mount Ötüken, 於都斤山, Linghu Defen, Book of Zhou, Vol. 50, Li Dashi, Li Yanshou, History of Northern Dynasties, Vol. 9, 都尉揵山, Liu Xu etc, Book of Tang, Vol. 199-II, 烏德鞬山/乌德鞬山, Ouyang Xiu etc, New Book of Tang, Vol. 93, 都斤山, Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda etc, Book of Sui,...
but died a year later. His son Muqan Qaghan defeated the Hephthalite
Hephthalite
The Hephthalites or Hephthalite is a pre-Islamic Greek term for local Abdali Afghans, who's famous ruler was Nazak Abdali . Hephthalites were a Central Asian nomadic confederation of the AD 5th-6th centuries whose precise origins and composition remain obscure...
(厭噠), Khitan
Khitan people
thumb|250px|Khitans [[Eagle hunting|using eagles to hunt]], painted during the Chinese [[Song Dynasty]].The Khitan people , or Khitai, Kitan, or Kidan, were a nomadic Mongolic people, originally located at Mongolia and Manchuria from the 4th century...
(契丹) and Kyrgyz (契骨). Bumin's brother Istämi
Istämi
Istämi was the ruler of the western part of the Göktürks, the Western Turkic Khaganate and dominated the Sogdians. He was the yabgu of his brother Bumin Qaghan in 553 AD...
(d. 576) was titled yabghu of the west and collaborated with the Persia
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
n Sassanids to defeat and destroy the Hephthalite, who were allies of the Rouran. This war tightened the Ashina's grip of the Silk Road and drove the Avars into Europe.
Istämi's policy of western expansion brought the Göktürks into Eastern Europe. In 576 the Göktürks crossed the Cimmerian Bosporus into the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
. Five years later they laid siege to Chersonesos Taurica; their cavalry kept roaming the steppes of Crimea until 590. As for the southern borders, they were drawn south of the Amu Darya
Amu Darya
The Amu Darya , also called Oxus and Amu River, is a major river in Central Asia. It is formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers...
(Oxus), bringing the Ashina into conflict with their former allies, the Sassanids of Persia. Much of Bactria
Bactria
Bactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...
(including Balkh
Balkh
Balkh , was an ancient city and centre of Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan...
) remained a dependency of the Ashina until the end of the century.
Civil war
Apa Qaghan
Apa Qaghan was son of Muqan Qaghan, declared himself qaghan of the Turkic Khaganate, in defience of the Toy, his claim of power came with the will of Taspar.The struggle between Ashina Shetu and Ashina Daluobian, was the...
, but the high council appointed Ishbara Qaghan
Ishbara Qaghan
Ishbara Qaghan was the first son of Issik Qaghan, grandson of Bumin Qaghan, and the fifth khagan of the first...
in his stead. Factions formed around both leaders. Before long four rival qaghans claimed the title of Qaghan. They were successfully played off against each other by the Sui
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....
and Tang dynasties
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
of China.
The most serious contender was the Western qaghan, Istämi's son Tardu
Tardu
Tardu was the second yabgu and the first khagan of the Western Turkic Khaganate.- Names :The regnal name in Turkic was Tarduš , Medieval Greek: Ταρδου, 達頭可汗/达头可汗, Pinyin: dátóu kěhàn, Wade-Giles: ta-t'ou k'o-han, personal name: 阿史那玷厥, āshǐnà diànjué, a-shih-na tien-chüeh)...
, a violent and ambitious man who had already declared himself independent from the Qaghan after his father's death. He now titled himself as Qaghan, and led an army to the east to claim the seat of imperial power, Ötüken.
In order to buttress his position, Ishbara of the Eastern Khaganate applied to the Chinese Emperor Yangdi
Emperor Yang of Sui
Emperor Yang of Sui , personal name Yang Guang , alternative name Ying , nickname Amo , known as Emperor Ming during the brief reign of his grandson Yang Tong), was the second son of Emperor Wen of Sui, and the second emperor of China's Sui Dynasty.Emperor Yang's original name was Yang Ying, but...
for protection. Tardu attacked Changan, the Sui capital, around 600, demanding from Emperor Yangdi to end his interference in the civil war. In retaliation, Chinese diplomacy successfully incited a revolt of Tardu's Tiele vassals, which led to the end of Tardu's reign in 603. Among the dissident tribes were the Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
and Syr-Tardush.
Eastern Turkic Khaganate
The civil war left the empire divided into eastern and western parts. The eastern part, still ruled from Ötüken, remained in the orbit of the Sui Empire and retained the name Göktürk. The qaghans ShibiShibi Khan
Shibi Khagan , 611 - 619 AD, succeeded Qimin Khan as the ninth khagan of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate...
(609-19) and Illig (620-30) of the East attacked China at its weakest moment during the transition between the Sui and Tang dynasties. On September 11, 615 Shibi Qaghan's army surrounded Emperor Yang
Emperor Yang of Sui
Emperor Yang of Sui , personal name Yang Guang , alternative name Ying , nickname Amo , known as Emperor Ming during the brief reign of his grandson Yang Tong), was the second son of Emperor Wen of Sui, and the second emperor of China's Sui Dynasty.Emperor Yang's original name was Yang Ying, but...
of Sui
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....
at Yanmen (in present day Dai County
Dai County
Dai County is under the administrative control of Xinzhou City, Shanxi. Also known as Daizhou in ancient texts.-References:*Romance of the Three Kingdoms/Chapter 2...
, Xinzhou, Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
).
In 626, Illig Qaghan takes advantage of the Incident at Xuanwu Gate
Incident at Xuanwu Gate
The Incident at Xuanwu Gate refers to an incident on July 2, 626, when Li Shimin the Prince of Qin, a son of Emperor Gaozu of Tang , in an intense rivalry with his older brother Li Jiancheng the Crown Prince and fearing that Li Jiancheng was about to kill him, set an ambush at Xuanwu Gate, the...
, drove on Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
. On September 23, 626 Illig Qaghan and his iron cavalries reached the bank of the Wei River
Wei River
The Wei River is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization....
at the north of Bian Bridge (in present day Xianyang
Xianyang
Xianyang is a former capital of China in Shaanxi province, on the Wei River, a few kilometers upstream from Xi'an. It has an area of...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
). On September 25, 626 Li Shimin (Emperor Taizong) and Illig Qaghan formed an alliance with slaying a white horse on Bian Bridge. Tang paid compensation and promise further tributes, Illig Qaghan ordered to withdraw their iron cavalries (Alliance of Wei River, 渭水之盟 or Alliance of Bian Qiao 便橋會盟 / 便桥会盟). All in all, 67 incursions on Chinese territories were recorded.
Before mid-October 627 heavy snows on the Mongolian steppe covered the ground to a depth of several feet, preventing the nomads' livestock from grazing and causing a massive dying-off among the animals. According to the New Book of Tang, in 628, Taizong mentioned that "There has been a frost in midsummer. The sun had risen from same place for five days. The moon had had the same light level for three days. The field was filled with red atmosphere (dust storm)."
Illig Qaghan was brought down by a revolt of his Tiele vassal tribes (626-630), allied with Emperor Taizong of Tang
Emperor Taizong of Tang
Emperor Taizong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Shìmín , was the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649...
. This tribal alliance figures in Chinese records as the Huihe (Uyghur).
On March 27, 630 a Tang army under the command of Li Jing
Li Jing
Li Jing , né Yaoshi , formally Duke Jingwu of Wei , was a general and one time chancellor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty...
defeats the Eastern Turkic Khaganate under the command of Illig Qaghan at the Battle of Yinshan (陰山之戰 / 阴山之战). Illig Qaghan fled to Ishbara Shad. But on May 2, 630 Zhang Baohiang's army got advance to Ishbara Shad's headquarter. Illig Qaghan was taken prisoner and sent to Chang'an. The Eastern Turkic Khaganate collapsed and was incorporated into the Jimi system
Jimi system
The Jimi system or Jimifuzhou was a self-rule administrative and political organization system used in China between the 7th century and 10th century. It originated in the Tang Dynasty, by the 650s it had reached to its peak and began to decline by the 740s...
of Tang. Emperor Taizong
Emperor Taizong of Tang
Emperor Taizong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Shìmín , was the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649...
said that "It's enough for me to compensate my dishonor at Wei River."
Western Turkic Khaganate
The Western qaghan Shekuei and Tung Yabghu constructed an alliance with the Byzantine EmpireByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
against the Persian Sassanids and succeeded in restoring the southern borders along the Tarim
Tarim River
The Tarim River is the principal river of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
and Oxus rivers. Their capital was Suyab
Suyab
Suyab was an ancient Silk Road city located some 50 km east from Bishkek, and 8 km west southwest from Tokmok, in the Chui River valley, present-day Kyrgyzstan.- History :...
in the Chui River valley, about 6 km south east of modern Tokmok
Tokmok
Tokmok ; , Tokmak) is a city of about 53,087 in northern Kyrgyzstan, east of the country's capital of Bishkek. Its geographical location is ; its altitude is 816 m above sea level. From 2004 until 19 April 2006 it served as the administrative seat of Chui Province...
. In 627 Tung Yabghu, assisted by the Khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
and Emperor Heraclius, launched a massive invasion of Transcaucasia which culminated in the taking of Derbent
Derbent
Derbent |Lak]]: Чурул, Churul; Persian: دربند; Judæo-Tat: דארבּאנד/Дэрбэнд/Dərbənd) is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, close to the Azerbaijani border. It is the southernmost city in Russia, and it is the second most important city of Dagestan...
and Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
(see the Third Perso-Turkic War
Third Perso-Turkic War
The Third Perso-Turkic War was the third and final conflict between the Sassanian Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate. Unlike the previous two wars, it was fought, not in Central Asia, but in Transcaucasia. Hostilities were initiated in 627 AD by Khagan Tong Yabghu of the Western Göktürks and...
for details). In April 630 Tung's deputy Böri Shad sent the Göktürk cavalry to invade Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, where his general Chorpan Tarkhan
Chorpan Tarkhan
Chorpan Tarkhan is recorded by Moses of Kalankatuyk as a Khazar general, "bloodthirsty and vile", who invaded and devastated Armenia in April 630 CE. He was most likely an officer in the army of the Western Gokturks led by Böri Shad in the wake of Ziebel's victory in the Third Persian-Turkic War...
succeeded in routing a large Persian force. Tung Yabghu's murder in 630 forced the Göktürks to evacuate Transcaucasia.
The Western Turkic Khaganate was modernized through an administrative reform of Ishbara Qaghan (reigned 634-639) and came to be known as the Onoq. The name refers to the "ten arrows" that were granted by the khagan to five leaders (shads) of its two constituent tribal confederations, Dulo
Dulo clan
The Dulo Clan or the House of Dulo was the name of the ruling dynasty of the early Bulgars.This was the clan of Kubrat who founded Old Great Bulgaria, and his sons Batbayan, Kuber and Asparuh, the latter of which founded Danube Bulgaria....
and Nushibi
Nushibi
Nushibi was a Chinese collective name for five tribes of the right wing in the Western Turkic Kaganate, and members of On oq confederation found in the literature about the Western Turkic Kaganate as Ten arrows Türks...
, whose lands were divided by the Chui River. The division fostered the growth of separatist tendencies, and soon the Bulgarian tribes
Old Great Bulgaria
Old Great Bulgaria or Great Bulgaria was а term used by Byzantine historians to refer to Onoguria during the reign of the Bulgar ruler Kubrat in the 7th century north of the Caucasus mountains in the steppe between the Dniester and Lower...
under the Dulo chieftain Kubrat
Kubrat
Kubrat or Kurt was a Bulgar ruler credited with establishing the confederation of Old Great Bulgaria in 632. He is said to have achieved this by conquering the Avars and uniting all the Bulgar tribes under one rule....
seceded from the khaganate. In 657, the eastern part of the khaganate was overrun by the Tang general Su Ding Fang, while the central part had emerged as the independent khaganate of Khazaria, led by a branch of the Ashina dynasty.
Emperor Taizong of Tang
Emperor Taizong of Tang
Emperor Taizong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Shìmín , was the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649...
was proclaimed Khagan of the Göktürks.
In 659 the Tang Emperor of China could claim to rule the entire Silk Road as far as Po-sse . The Göktürks now carried Chinese titles and fought by their side in their wars. The era spanning from 659-681 was characterized by numerous independent rulers - weak, divided, and engaged in constant petty wars. In the east, the Uyghurs defeated their one-time allies the Syr-Tardush, while in the west the Turgesh
Turgesh
The Türgesh, Turgish or Türgish were a Turkic tribal confederation who emerged from the ruins of the Western Turkic Kaganate...
emerged as successors to the Onoq.
Eastern Turks under the Jimi system
On May 19, 639 Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Tai zong at Jiucheng Palace (九成宮, in present day Linyou CountyLinyou County
Linyou County is a county of Baoji, Shaanxi, China....
, Baoji
Baoji
Baoji is a prefecture-level city in Shaanxi province, China.-Geography:The prefecture-level city of Baoji has a population of 3,716,731 according to the 2010 Chinese census, inhabiting an area of . The city itself has a population of approximately 800,000. Surrounded on three sides by hills,...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
). However, they didn't succeed and fled to the north, but were arrested by pursuers near the Wei River and killed. Ashina Hexiangu was exiled to Lingbiao. After the unsuccessful raid of Ashina Jiesheshuai, on August 13, 639 Taizong
Taizong
Taizong may refer to:*Emperor Taizong of Tang , Chinese emperor of the Tang Dynasty*Emperor Daizong of Tang , Chinese emperor of the Tang Dynasty...
instated Ashina Simo as the Yiminishuqilibi Khan and ordered the settled Turkic people to follow Ashina Simo north of the Yellow River
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
to settle between the Great Wall and the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
.
In 679, Ashide Wenfu and Ashide Fengzhi, who were Turkic leaders of Shanyu Protectorate (單于大都護府), declared Ashina Nishufu as qaghan and revolted against the Tang dynasty. In 680, Pei Xingjian defeated Ashina Nishufu and his army. Ashina Nishufu was killed by his men. Ashide Wenfu made Ashina Funian a qaghan and again revolted against the Tang dynasty. Ashide Wenfu and Ashina Funian surrendered to Pei Xingjian. On December 5, 681 54 Göktürks including Ashide Wenfu and Ashina Funian were publicly executed in the Eastern Market of Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
. In 682, Ashina Kutlug and Ashide Yuanzhen revolted and occupied Heisha Castle (northwest of present day Hohhot
Hohhot
Hohhot , is a city in north-central China and the capital of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, serving as the region's administrative, economic, and cultural centre....
, Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
) with the remnants of Ashina Funian's men.
Second Eastern Turkic Khaganate
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
s beyond the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
. By 705, they had expanded as far south as Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
and threatened the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
control of Transoxiana
Transoxiana
Transoxiana is the ancient name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgystan and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers...
. The Göktürks clashed with the Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
Califate in a series of battles (712-713) but the Arabs emerged as victors.
Following the Ashina tradition, the power of the Second Eastern Khaganate was centered on Ötüken (the upper reaches of the Orkhon River). This polity was described by historians as "the joint enterprise of the Ashina clan and the Soghdians, with large numbers of Chinese bureaucrats being involved as well". The son of Ilterish, Bilge, was also a strong leader whose deeds were recorded in the Orkhon inscriptions
Orkhon inscriptions
"Orkhon inscription" may refer to:*two monuments in the Orkhon valley, see Khöshöö Tsaidam Monuments*inscriptions in the Old Turkic "Orkhon alphabet" in general, see Old Turkic epigraphy...
. After his death in 734 the Second Eastren Turkic Khaganate declined. The Göktürks ultimately fell victim to a series of internal crises and renewed Chinese campaigns.
When Kul Bilge Qaghan of the Uyghurs allied himself with the Karluks and Basmyl
Basmyl
The Basmyls were a 7–8th century Türkic nomadic tribe who mostly inhabited the Dzungaria region in the northwest of the modern day People's Republic of China. According to literary sources, the terms Basmyls and Basmals are readily interchangeable...
s, the power of the Göktürks was very much on the wane. In 744 Kutluk seized Ötükän and beheaded the last Göktürk khagan Ozmysh Qaghan, whose head was sent to the Tang Dynasty Chinese court. In a space of few years, the Uyghurs gained mastery of Inner Asia and established the Uyghur Khaganate.
Custom and culture
Political systemThe Göktürks' temporary qaghan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
from the Ashina clan were subordinate to a sovereign
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
authority that was left in the hands of a council of tribal chiefs.
Peter B. Golden points out that there is the possibility that the leaders of the Göktürk Empire, the Ashina
Ashina
Ashina was a tribe and the ruling dynasty of the ancient Turks who rose to prominence in the mid-6th century when their leader, Bumin Khan, revolted against the Rouran...
, were themselves originally an Indo-European-speaking (possibly Iranian
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
) clan who later adopted Turkic, but inherited their original Indo-European titles. German Turkologist W.-E. Scharlipp writes that "a conspicuously large amount" of early Turkic titles are "in fact borrowings from Iranian
Iranian languages
The Iranian languages form a subfamily of the Indo-Iranian languages which in turn is a subgroup of Indo-European language family. They have been and are spoken by Iranian peoples....
", including "almost all of their titles".
Language and character
The Göktürks were the first Turkic people known to write their language in the Old Turkic script
Orkhon script
The Old Turkic script is the alphabet used by the Göktürk and other early Turkic Khanates from at least the 7th century to record the Old Turkic language. It was later used by the Uyghur Empire...
. Life stories of Kul Tigin
Kul Tigin
Kul Tigin Kul Tigin Kul Tigin (Old Turkic:, Kultegin, (闕特勒/阙特勤, Pinyin: quètèqín, Wade-Giles: chüeh-t'e-ch'in, ? - 575 AD) was a general of the Second Turkic Kaganate. He was a second son of Ilterish Shad and the younger brother of Bilge Kagan....
and Bilge Qaghan, as well as the chancellor Tonyukuk
Tonyukuk
Tonyukuk Tonyukuk Tonyukuk (Old Turkic: , Bilge Tuňuquq, died c. 724 AD, (暾欲穀/暾欲谷, Pinyin: tūnyùgǔ, personal name: Ashide Yuanzhen 阿史德元珍, āshǐdé yuánzhēn, a-shih-te yüan-chen) was the yabgu and commander-in-chief of four Göktürk khagans, the best known of whom is Bilge Khan. He played a major role...
were recorded in the Orkhon inscriptions
Orkhon inscriptions
"Orkhon inscription" may refer to:*two monuments in the Orkhon valley, see Khöshöö Tsaidam Monuments*inscriptions in the Old Turkic "Orkhon alphabet" in general, see Old Turkic epigraphy...
.
Religion
The Khaganate received missionaries from the Buddhists religion, which were incorporated into Tengriism
Tengriism
Tengriism is a Central Asian religion that incorporates elements of shamanism, animism, totemism and ancestor worship. Despite still being active in some minorities, it was, in old times, the major belief of Turkic peoples , Bulgars, Hungarians and Mongols...
. Later most of the Turks settled in Central Asia, Middle east and Africa adopted the Islamic faith.
See also
- Historic states represented in Turkish presidential sealHistoric states represented in Turkish presidential seal16 Great Turkish Empires is a historical discourse that was created in 1969 to explain the meaning of 16 stars of the presidential seal of Turkey. And it was inaugurated in 1985 with the presidential seal today...
- Qaghans of the Turkic khaganates
- Ethnic groups in Chinese historyEthnic groups in Chinese historyEthnic groups in Chinese history refer to various or presumed ethnicities of significance to the history of China, gathered through the study of Classical Chinese literature, Chinese and non-Chinese literary sources and inscriptions, historical linguistics, and archaeological research.Among the...
- Horses in East Asian warfareHorses in East Asian warfareHorses in East Asian warfare are inextricably linked with the strategic and tactical evolution of armed conflict. A warrior on horseback or horse-drawn chariot changed the balance of power between civilizations....
- KangjuKangjuKangju was the name of an ancient people and kingdom in Central Asia. It was a nomadic federation of unknown ethnic and linguistic origin which became for a couple of centuries the second greatest power in Transoxiana after the Yuezhi....
- Kangly
- KhazarsKhazarsThe Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
- Khöshöö Tsaidam Monuments
- Orkhon script
- Timeline of Turks (500-1300)
- Turkic peoplesTurkic peoplesThe Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
- History of the Turkic peoplesHistory of the Turkic peoplesThe Turkic people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common Turkish culture, descent, and speaking the languages of the Turkish language family as a mother tongue. Within suzerain Turkish states, Turkish people are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of Turkish ancestry...