Tariat inscriptions
Encyclopedia
Tariat inscriptions are on a stele found in on the north of Hoid Terhyin River, Doloon Mod district, Arkhangai Province of Mongolia
. (The names Terkhin and Terhyin are also used). The stele had been erected by Bayanchur Khan of Uyghur Khaganate in the middle of eight century. (A date between 753 and 760 seems to be the best estimate)
. They were one of the major powers of Asia. However in 848 they were defeated by the Kyrgyz and forced to move west to Gansu
and Xinjiang
(also called East Turkestan) provinces of modern China
.
. It is made of light gray granite.There are 30 lines of inscription on each side of the stele. The language is old Turkic
and the alphabet is Orkhon alphabet (Turkic runes) which was also used in the famous Khöshöö Tsaidam Monuments of Bilge Khagan and his brother Kül Tigin
of Turkic khaganatte in 732 and 735 Together with Bain Tsokto monument of Tonyukuk, these monuments are called Orkhon monuments. The narrator is Bayanchur Khan
of Uighur khaganate who reigned between 747-759.
seem to be the most important enemy, for their names has been mentioned several times . On the other sides of the stele, a brief history of Turkic peoples has been given. It is notable that the names of Bumin Khan
and İstemi
of Turkic Khaganatte (reigned roughly 200 years ago) were also mentioned in the inscriptions. This may mean that the power shift from the Turkic khaganette to (linguistically indistinguisable) Uighur khanatte was considered merely as a coup d’etat.
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
. (The names Terkhin and Terhyin are also used). The stele had been erected by Bayanchur Khan of Uyghur Khaganate in the middle of eight century. (A date between 753 and 760 seems to be the best estimate)
Unearthing
The archeolgists already knew the existence of this stele. Because it was mentioned in another Uighur stele found in 1909. But it took forty seven years to unearth the stele. Finally the stele was found by Mongolian archeologist T.Dorzhsuren in 1956. The finds are now exhibited in of Mongolian Archeology institute.Uighurs
Uyghur Khaganate replaced the Turkic Khaganate in Central Asia in 745. The founder is Kutluk Bilge Köl (745-747). Unlike their predecessors they were allies of Tang China and in the early days of the khaganate the khagans supported Chinese empreror against rebellious general An LushanAn Lushan
An Lushan was a general who rebelled against the Tang Dynasty in China.His name was also transcribed into Chinese as Āluòshān or Gáluòshān ,...
. They were one of the major powers of Asia. However in 848 they were defeated by the Kyrgyz and forced to move west to Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
and Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
(also called East Turkestan) provinces of modern China
Proc
Proc may refer to:* proc filesystem, a special file system in Unix-like operating systems for accessing process information* ALGOL 68#proc: Procedures* Proč, a village in eastern Slovakia...
.
The stele
The stele had been erected on a bixiBixi (tortoise)
Bixi , also called guifu or baxia , is a stone tortoise, used as a pedestal for a stele or tablet. Tortoise-mounted stelae have been traditionally used in the funerary complexes of Chinese emperors and other dignitaries. Later, they have also been used to commemorate an important event, such as...
. It is made of light gray granite.There are 30 lines of inscription on each side of the stele. The language is old Turkic
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
and the alphabet is Orkhon alphabet (Turkic runes) which was also used in the famous Khöshöö Tsaidam Monuments of Bilge Khagan and his brother Kül 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....
of Turkic khaganatte in 732 and 735 Together with Bain Tsokto monument of Tonyukuk, these monuments are called Orkhon monuments. The narrator is Bayanchur Khan
Bayanchur Khan
Bayanchur Khan , was an Uyghur khagan from 747 to 759 AD. His official titles were "Ay Tengrida Qut Bolmish" and "El Etmish Bilge Qaghan" . His Tang Dynasty-invested title was Yingwuweiyuanpiqiejuo Khan or Yingwu Khan in short...
of Uighur khaganate who reigned between 747-759.
The narration
Bayanchor Khan calls himself as El etmish Bilge Kagan. (Not to be confused with Bilge Kagan of Turkic khanatte who lived earlier). According to inscriptions on the east side, during the interregnum following the death of his father, Bayanchor had to fight against the tribes supporting his elder brother Tay Bilge Tutuk. Among these tribes TatarsTatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
seem to be the most important enemy, for their names has been mentioned several times . On the other sides of the stele, a brief history of Turkic peoples has been given. It is notable that the names of Bumin Khan
Bumin Khan
Bumin Qaghan or Illig Qaghan was the founder of the Turkic Khaganate...
and İstemi
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...
of Turkic Khaganatte (reigned roughly 200 years ago) were also mentioned in the inscriptions. This may mean that the power shift from the Turkic khaganette to (linguistically indistinguisable) Uighur khanatte was considered merely as a coup d’etat.