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Yu. A. Zuev Ethnic History of Usuns
Yu. A. Zuev The Strongest Tribe - Ezgil
Yu. A. Zuev Tamgas of vassal princedoms
Yu. A. Zuev Ancient Türkic social terms
|Ogur and Oguz||
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|Section 1 (cont.) Türgeshes and Kang|
A first mention of the term Türgesh (in a combination Türk Türgish yir "Türkic and Türgesh country") is focused on the events of the 629, and is included in the Uigur translation of the Biography of Chinese Buddhist pilgrim to India Süan-tszan, composed by a monk Huei-li [Gabain, 1935, p. 159-160, 1949, p. 56-57, notes].
In 651 a tribe
Türgesh-Halach (Türgish-Halach, ch. Tutsishi-He-loshi) was enumerated as fourth of five tribes of
the left (eastern) wing of the Western Türkic Kaganate [Lu Sui (Xu Liu), ch. 1946, p. 1446, f. 5à,
Ouyang Xiu , ch.
215á, p. 1506, f. 5á, Chavannes, 1903, p. 34, 60]
(collectively, the five tribes of the left/eastern wing
of the Western Türkic Kaganate are known as Nushibi - Translator's Note).
The tribes of the left wing were coaching east from the river Ili. In 657, right
after suppression of the anti-Tang revolt of Aru-kagan (Ch. Helu
< γa-luo < *aru, compare Türkic, aru "pure", "true") and
correspondingly the fall of the Western Kaganate, Tan's a court undertook division
its lands into districts.
Türgeshes consisted of two tribes (Ch. bu) (bu 部 = branch) [Bichurin, 1, p. 292: generations]. On the lands of the first tribe Soge Mohe was founded a Tutuk district Valu. On the lands of the second tribe Alishi was founded a Tutuk district Pure/White mountain Tsze-shan [Ouyan Sü, ch. 215b, p. 1507, f. 7à].
The term Ñ14369, 7272 Soge (< sak-kat < saqal) does not mean a Türkic "beard", but is a Türkic transmission of the Manichaean name Sakla (skl'). In the Mani teaching this name is carried by the creator of Adam and Eve. The word Ñ8428, 13865 Mohe (< mak-γa < baγa) ascends to the to Avestan baγa "god". The combination *Sakla-baga means "Sakla-god". (By an improbable concurrence, Skl' is also an endoethnonym of a regal Scythian tribe, and it also survived as Esegel in the Bulgarian Kama-Itil interfluvial, and as Sekler in the Hungarian Transylvania. Must be some kind of selective Skl influenza impacting only horse breeders and kumis drinkers - Translator's Note)
The word Ñ5042, 4873, 12466 Alishi (< a-lyi-sie < arish) - Arysh is Türkic "pure", "sacred".
Probably, both tribes constituted a two-member confederation called Halach in the Huei-li message of 651. The two-tribe composition of Halaches-Kalaches is confirmed by the Sogdo-Türgesh legend about a Black prince Shu conveyed by Mahmud Kashgari, in which to the gathering center for a far-off campaign came two Halach people with loads on their backs [Kashgari Mahmud, 3, p. 422].
Relicts of this condition survived in the mythic legend of the Persian version of
the "Oguz-name", also known in German and Russian translations [Jahn, 1969, Shukürova,
1987]. Neither Türgesh, nor Halach/Qalach are mentioned
directly. Is only given a "Mongolian" etymology of the name kalsan-ku for
aged people (compare ancient Türkic qal "old man") [Shukürova,
1987, p. 32]. Another etymology of the term Kalach comes from
a two-element word (kal+ach) and is variously interpreted: "remain"
(from qal- "to remain", "to remain hungry", ach "hungry"), "remain
and open" (verb ach "to open") [Kononov, 1958, p. 46, 89, Minorsky,
1937, p. 286, 346-348]. In reality, the Halach word Halach/Kalach
ascends to ala, alach, alacha "motley", "piebald" (see above
The prothetic consonant h-(> q-) in the beginning of the words in
ancient Türkic time was typical for many Türkic languages,
and first of all for the Halach language [Ðîððå, 1983, p. 112-120].
In this version of "Oguz-name" the location of the "old men" caste was Ak-kaya ("White/Pure rock") district. It says "Ak-kaya in Persian means a pass in the white (sefid) mountains near Almalyk" [Shukürova, 1987, p. 32]. Chinese source names only one residence for one of the two Halach tribes, the mountain (or mountains) called Arysh Ñ14379 Tsze "Pure" [alternatives: Malyavkin, 1989, p. 164].
Terms Uchjile and Shato
In the credo of Light, as the Mani doctrine was called, the concepts "white" and "pure" are important. At the very end of the 7th century became famous the name of the Türgesh leader Ñ7696, 13905, 8068 Uchjile/Yuychjile (< uo/iwo-tsiet-lak), also Ñ7696, 3270, 8068 Ushele/Yuyshele (< uo/iwo-ziet-lak) who became a Kagan. The attempts of reconstruction in the form Uchlig and Uch-elig (the first by the author, and the second by S.G.Klyashtorny) are possible, but incorrect. The paragraph about Shato tribe Ñ6836, 12026 in the "General description" begins with the words: "Shato are the leaders of the Türgeshes [who are] from northwestern foreigners" [Chjen Tsiao, ch. 29, f. 13à]. The transcription Shato (<sa-d'a) ascends to the initial "shada" of the Türkic-Manichean texts from Turfan [Haneda, 1932, p. 3] and the ancient Indian "shada" (compare Avest. shata) "hundred".
The regal surname of the Western Türkic initially Manichean Chigil
tribe (< compare Persian chihil "forty") was Shato (Persian ~Shada "Hundred"),
they founded a Hou-Tan state (923-936) in the Northern China, and adopted a
Chinese surname Li. Its famous founder Li Keün was from
the "Dragon" tribe [Malyavkin, 1974, p. 100, Li Fan, ch. 425, p.
3458-3459]. A cult of dragon was predominant at the Shato Türks. The
annals even noted the Shato were praying "following the old traditions
of the northern custom" near the Thunder-mountain, at the Dragon Gate
[Se Tszüichjen, ch. 32, p. 225, f. 4b].
The Yenisei monuments of the ancient Türkic writings, a part of which certainly reflects the Kyrgyzes' Manichaeism state status, sometimes called the Kyrgyz state "tängri-el" - a "country of gods", i.e. paradise, for which a presence of the "yüz er" - "hundred monk men" consortium is typical. In the second monument (S.E.Malov translation) instead of "yüz er" was written "shada er", followed by a Chinese epithet "ulung", which ascends to the Chinese Ñ12272 lun (long < liώong) "dragon": "I left the divine El, [I left] the dragon's hundred men" - tüngri el ulung shada erimke adyryldim [Malov, 1952, p. 37, E, 14, line 3]. The Türkic equivalent of the term is also documented. The "Common Mirror" says: "Shato is initially (or from the root, ch. ben) a Chjuse tribe" [Syma Qian, ch. 223, p. 7169]. The transcription Ñ9188, 3538 Chjuse (< t'siu-zia) reflects the Türkic jüz "hundred"
Chigils-Shato were Manichaeans, and the "hundred" is not always a military unit, but also a religious category yüz er "hundred monk men", found for example in a number Enisei monuments of the ancient Türkic writings with Manichaean content. And the yüz er, compared with otuz oglan or otuz er, is a higher level category. This leads to re-interpret the name of the Türgesh Kagan, and to read it Yuzlik (~Yüzlig) "With a hundred monk men". The previous existence of the Oguz institute of yuzliks is indicated by a blunted record in the "Turkmen Genealogy" [Kononov, 1958, p. 52, 94, line 565].
The first two hieroglyphs (Ñ7696, 3270) of the transcription
Uchjile/Yuychjile denote "black substance", "black
attribute". It is not without a reason. The "black essence"
of the historical Türgesh Yuzlik links him
with the image of the epic "Black/Pitch-black stallion" (or "Black husband") Siavarshana/Siyavush
in "Avesta" and "Shahname", who came to Kang
with a hundred noble young men, and with the "Black prince" Shu (Shav)
with a forty young men retinue on the right bank of the Hodjent river
(Syr-Darya in the Hodjent area), i.e. in the Kang in the Sogdian-Türgesh
version of this myth recorded by Mahmud Kashgari [Zuev, 1998, p. 71-77]. The black color in
this myth should be understood as an indication of the chtonic nature, of the terrestrial origin of
the image which personified the deity of the dying and resurrecting nature. In
the Manichaeism everything terrestrial and material (including the
zone of mixed Light and Darkness, Truth and Lie, where belongs a man) is
germinated by the world of Darkness (Türkic Kara).
The king of that world is a Dragon.
The Türgesh Yuzlik descended from the tribe Sakal-baga, located in the land identified with hieroglyphs Ñ1069, 11888, and in the beginning he was its tutuk commander. The first hieroglyph Ñ1069 of this combination has a dual sound: u (< uet) and wa (< uət) [see Kang-si tszydyan, 1958, p. 131]. The second hieroglyph Ñ11888 lu (< luo) means " imperial authority", "throne". The pronunciation is also in two ways: ulu (<uet-luo < *ulu) and walu (< uət-luo < *walu).
The real fall of the Western Türkic statehood should be attributed
to the time of suppression the anti-Tang rebellion of Helu-Kagan and establishment of the Tang's
"protectorate" in the "Western Territory" in the 656-658.
Switching to the Tang side, the subsequent Western Türkic Kagans in most cases
were only nominal Kagans, they had no access to the territory of the tribes formally
subjected to them. Searching for the ways to restore their
position on the most of the Trade Road, the Tang court took a
deceitful course. In 679 to the Jeti-su came, under a pretense of a diplomatic embassy
heading to Persia, a Tang detachment led by Pei Sintszyan. With the mission
ostensibly was a successor to the Persian throne. The leaders of ten
tribes, led by Kagan Tugchi, were seized by the punitive forces upon
their coming to Suyab with a visit on the occasion of the forthcoming enthronization the Persian
prince. The annals say "From that time the western surnames have
weakened totally, and subsequently the people of both parts
(i.e. Dulu and Nu-shibi) with every coming day began to separate and dissipate
more and more".
In those years a new military-political force came on the stage in Jeti-su, headed by Nezuk-irkin and a Türgesh Chykan-ulug (Ch. Chjihan-khulu), aiming to purge the Tan's viceroy from Suyab and to create a new Kaganate. The nominal head of the western wing (Türkic on-shadapyt) *Borishad, with a Kagan name Huselo (compare Persian Khusrau), unnoticeably left the political stage, he was still a "Kagan", bore the Tang title "commander-in-chief of the pacification army in the west", but "did not dare" even to think about returning back to Jeti-su, where the groups of the rebel force was already completely dominant. The Menchi viceroy Huselo gathered 60-70 thousand of the remaining people, and left to the Tan's lands [Syma Guan, ch. 200, Du Ü, ch. 199, Naito, 1987, p. 307-309].
That part of the Türgeshes had the horde court in the city on the bank of the Ili river Ñ7968, 5845 Guniue (< kiwong-ngiwät < *Küngüt) Kungut, identified with the later Kuldja [Naito, 1987, p. 69-72, 265, 271, Tsen Chünmian, 1958, p. 191: Almalyk; Malyavkin, 1989, p. 310]. In the 11th century Mahmud Kashgari also knew in this area a district "__" Küngüt, and even visited it [MKM, 1, p. 159; 3, p. 149]. He gave two versions of pronouncing this word, Küngüt and "__" Kengüt, coinciding with the versions of the discussed above names for the country Kang: Küngü, Kängü, with Sogdian plural suffix -t.
Following are cited some events from the Kungut history. In 651 the area (?) is mentioned in connection with
the anti-Tang of the uprising Western Türkic Aru-Kagan [Lü Süy,
ch. 4, p. 40, f. 3a]. In 662 (a tribe?) Guniue allied with Tibetians
faced the Tan an army south from Kashgar [Van Tsinjo, ch..
449, p. 5324, f. 10b]. The next year (area?) Guniue was attacked by
a expeditionary army of the Ansi viceroy Gao Syan [Ouyan Sü, ch. 3,
p. 33, f. 6b]. In 665 the state (go) Sule (Kashgar) and
Guniue together with Tibetians invaded Hotan [Van Tsinjo, ch. 995,
p. 11687, f. 15b]. In 673 the rulers (van) of the states Guniue and
Sule ask with the request for sumission [Lü Süy, ch. 5, p. 47, f.
In the following years a group from Guniue, Tibet and a tribe Emyan conquered Sule, but under a threat of Tang intrusion "came to the court" [Syma Guan, ch. 202; Tsen Chünmian, 1958, p. 186]. Active economic relations of Guniue with the Kucha state are noted [Sintszyan, 1983, p. 333-334]. In 699 came a news that the city Guniue became a secondary court of Türgesh Yuzlik-Kagan.
About the pre-Kagan the period of the
Yuzlik life is only known that he was a Buga- tarkan in "state" of the
puppet Kagan of the right wing Khusrau (Khuselo). In 699 he received
a rank of the "commander-in-chief of the pacification army in the
west" [Ouyan Sü, ch. 215b, p. 1508, f. 8à]. The annalistic version
of this rank differs from its official one, which probably is
reflected in the text of the "Primary turtle", as has noted
A.G.Malyavkin, the task of the army is stated there specifically:
"suppression and pacification of Suyab" [Van Tsinjo, ch. 964, p.
11341, f. 10b]. "At that time the military might of Yuzlik extremely
increased; Huselo did not dare to come back (to Suyab); with sixty -
seventy thousand of his tribesmen he moved to the Tang lands. He
died in Chanan". The New edition "History of Tang dynasty" story
about Yuzlik: "The Türgesh Yuzlik [was also a leader] of a separate
tribe of the western Türks. After, was crushed and humiliated Aru-(Kagan),
the Kagans of two groups (i.e. Dolu and Nu-shibi) first of all
joined the imperial service, and the barbarians did not have (true)
sovereigns. Yuzlik depended from Huselo, he was [his] Baga-tarkan.
Huselo ruled severely, and people ttook to dislike to him. Yuzlik,
on the contrary, managed to calm the subjects. IHe enjoyed their
respect and trust; all barbarians subordinated and joined him;
gradually their coachings increased. And then he established posts
of twenty Tutuk (dudu) leaders; every Tutuk had seven thousand
soldiers. He gathered forces northwest of Suyab.
Attacking little by little, he has taken hold of Suyab, transferred there his court and began living there. He named the valley of the river Suyab a Great Court, and the city of Guniue on the river Ili a Small Court. In the east his possession were adjacent with northern Türks, and in the west with Sogdaks (Hu), directly in the east were districts Si-Chjou (Turfan) and Tin-Chjou (Beitin, Beshbalyk). He took hold of all lands belonging to Huselo" [Ouyan Sü, ch. 2156, p. 1508, f. 8b, Bichurin, 1, p. 296, Chavannes, 1903, p. 79].
Se Tszunchjen believes that the former court of Yuzlik was in Guniue, on the river Ili [Se Tszunchjen, 1992, p. 642-643], though the statement "northwest from Suyab (city or valley of the river Chu?)" point to the area of Syr- Darya or Talas Kang (versus Ili). Maybe, the pronouncement of Kungut as a Small court was dictated by an idea of "pankangism". As the Small court, Kungut is named only once, but it is known that "younger brothers" of the Türgesh dynasts ruled in Talas. According to al-Idrisi work, the residence of the Azgish (~"Az kishi" “Az people", Azes) people ruler was fortress Ika in a valley of the river Ili [Agadjanov, 1969, p. 63]. But from the analysis of the Big runiform inscriptions of Mongolia, the Azes were Kara-Türgeshes from the Talas valley. The Talas ruler controlled the city Yigyan-kent belonging to the Kagan’s nephew on the maternal side, there was a Manichaean monastery, and at the same time it was an demesne of the widowed and sitting Türgesh Katun queens. Therefore, probably the small court of the Türgesh Kagans was in Talas, the records about it ascend to the turn of the eras.
Moisei Horensky's (7th century) work "Armenian geography"
next to Alans mentioned a tribe Ashtigor (< *Ash/As+Tigor/Tokar) [Patkanov,
1883, p. 30, Marquart, 1903, p. 169-171]. This two-component ethnonym is
a late version of the binomials Ottorocorra, Attacori and others, i.e. Uechji (Pin. Yuezhi) of the
Noting the existence of the tribes Se (Sak) and Uechji (Pin. Yuezhi) (Asi and Tochar) in the Usun country (Asman), Chjan Tsian (Pin. Zhang Qian) did not know that their main area immediately before the start of the "Bactrian storm" was Kangju in the basin of Syr-Darya. Strabo listed tribes Ases or Asians, Tochars and Sakarauks or "White Sakas" as conquerors of Bactria, coming from Yaksart. Three centuries after the "storm", the Ptolemy "Geography" (6, 2, 6) mentioned Tochars and Yati/Asi, living along Yaksart. B.I.Vainberg writes: "Per Ptolemy, in the middle course of Syr-Darya are recorded "Tochar" people, near (downstream) of the confluence of its tributaries. It can be concluded that in the defeat of Greko-Bactria participated only a part of the Tochars, and a significant number of them remained in the traditional places, in the Tian Shan, near Yaksart and within and on the borders of Sogd" [Vainberg , 1999, p. 255].
One more path of the Uechji (Pin. Yuezhi) migrations through Kangju is through the country of Yantsai, which stretched from Aral to
the Northern Caucasus. There the Moisei Horensky Ash/As-Tigor tribe was replaced with Duhsas
(< *Duhs+As). Known now only in the fragments of the Arabian writer Al-Jehani's lost work,
Ibn Ruste description around 870es informed that Duhsases
reigned over four Alanian tribes [Karaulov, 1971, p. 51, Czegledi,
1983, p. 51-52]. The Tigors (~Tochars) did not disappear from the ethnic map of
this region, Digors live with the western Ossets - Alans until
present [Maenchen-Helfen, 1945, p. 80], in the Middle Ages the tribe Düger was one of significant
tribes of the Oguz-Turkmen [Rashid ad-Din, 1965, p. 120], and during relatively
modern times the Aral Sea continued to be called Daukara, i.e. "Tocharian" [Tolstov 1950, p. 49-50]. A
compiler of the Assyrian Sinnaherib inscription (681 BC) used a phonetic
version of the term Tochar, Tuhusu [Umnyakov, 1946 , p. 311], which
is reflected in the archaic Duhs/Tuhs. Hence, Duhs-Ases are the same
As-Tigors with rearranged components.
About an origin of Türgesh Kaganate founders the written sources are silent. It can be discussed only relying on some available indirect data. A Persian author Gardizi used the work of a pioneer of the Arab historical prose Ibn Muqaffa for existing in his time some unique in their degree of authenticity messages about Türks. The historical news in that work in a significant part were gathered from Pahlevi records and legends.
The Pehlevi texts were destroyed and were already forgotten in the first centuries of Islam domination as containing Zoroastrian heresy.
I would not find:
All fruits were collected
In this garden.
At the end of chapter of 17, the Gardizi composition "Zain al-ahbar" states that Türgeshes consist of
two tribes: Tuhsi and Azi [Bartold, 1973, p. 41].
After the first publication of this text (1897), in connection with
discovery and deciphering of the ancient Türkic runiform
inscriptions, discovery and introduction of scientific study of "Hudud
al-alam" ("Borders of the world") manuscript of an unknown author,
"Divan lugat at-turk " ("Dictionary of Turkic languages") by Mahmud
Kashgari and others, their real reading became clear: Tuhsians and Azians, Tuhsi and Azi. The
Azi lived between Suyab and Uzket
[Martinez, 1982, p. 143].
The sequence of the ethnonyms inside the binomials were changing, in the spelling Attacor, Ashtigor the ethnonyms At, Ash/As are in the first place. This tradition goes back to the Gansu period, when the lunar and gynocratic Uechji (Pin. Yuezhi) (Uti/Ati/Asi) tribe was dominating and incorporated the Tochar tribe. This situation quite correlates with the words of Pompeus Trogus in "Prologue": "Asians kings of Tochars" (reges Thocarorum Asiani). With time the the relative importance of the female and male brotherhood changed in favor of male's, which startted to dominate. Probably, the rise of the male (?) Tocharian brotherhood was much helped by the attraction of the archaic name Duhs/Tuhs/Tuhsi (compare with Tuhusu) that by then had a two-thousand-year history. This change took place on the banks of the Syr-Darya. The carriers of these ethnonyms had a rich common history. But in the Northern Caucasus they spoke East - Iranian language, and in the Kangju they spoke in Türkic. In the 11th century Mahmud Kashgari, who can be called a founder the comparative linguistics, distinguished the group of the Türkic-lingual tribes that have or had before their own language, from the group of tribes with pure Türkic language. This second group also included Tuhsi [Kashgari Mahmud, 1, p. 66].
In the 576 to the Türks arrived a Byzantian embassy led by Valentine. Historian Menandr writes that the Byzantian ambassadors "reached the territory where were military signs of Turksanf, one of Türkic princes... After arrival to Turksanf, who the travelers to that side encounter before other princes, Valentine was introduced to him" [Menandr, 1861, p. 418]. The distorted name of Turksanf corresponds to Tuksan (see section 2). He is called a son of Dizabul (Sir-yabgun) and brother of Tardu. The reference to the terms of kinship in relation to historical persons can also be taken in the sense of political stratification.
The first coins of the Türgesh Kagans were minted in the 700-715 with a legend bγy tώrkysh
γ'γ'n pny "Divine (or of Lord) Türgesh Kagan's coin", without
indication of the tribal (Tuhsian) affiliation of the ruler. In the 716 the Türgesh (Tuhsian) throne
was usurped by an Azian Süljük from the Kara-Türgeshes, who minted emphatically Tuhsian coin: on the
obverse bγy tώrkysh γ'γ'n pny "Divine (or Lord) Türgesh Kagan's money",
and on the reverse tγώrkysh γωβω "Tuhsian Sovereign (yabgu)" [Smirnova, 1981, p. 59-61, 397-410].
The Karluk's "capture" of the Jeti-su in the 766 deprived the Tuhs/Tuhsi tribe of the Kagan royal privilege, but their leading position (including toward the Azes) continued. "Hudud al-alam" has a chapter devoted to the description of the Tuhs province.
"Hudud al-alam" reads "To the east of her, it is said , is the border of Chigils, in the south are Halluhs (Karluks) and their mountainous abodes, in the west is a part of Khirkhizes (Kyrgyzes), north from her are Chigils. Their area is much more pleasant than that of Chigils. Their wealth is in horses, sheep, yurts and various furs. In the winter and in the summer they coach between pastures, fields and meadows. Lazina (al-Aziya, i.e. Az) and F.rakhia (F.rāhia)(?) are two tribes (kavm) of the Tuhses, each of them owns a small territory, and have two settlements named after these tribes. Suyab is a large settlement with 20 thousand warriors. Biglilig (Bīglilig) is a large settlement, called in Sogdian S.m.knā. Its dihkan is *Yynal Beg-Tegin. He leads 3 thousand warriors. Urkat is located between two settlements of the Tuhses. People in it are few, but the place is pleasant, and its inhabitants are rich" [Minorsky, 1937, p. 99].
Commenting on this paragraph, V.F.Minorsky noted that for the first time (?) the term Tuhs is
mentioned in one of the Sogdian "old letters" in the form Txs ych (*Tukhsich),
where the ending -ich or -ch is the Iranian suffix of origin. The Tuhses
of that text mainly lived along the northern bank of the river Chu, and
on the eastern slopes of the mountain watershed between the basins
of the rivers Chu and Ili. The Persian text was translated from
Arabic, and that was reflected in the spelling of the word "__" Lazina,
which in the original text was written "__" al-Aziya, i.e. Az. The Azes of
the "Hudud it al-alam" composition are the Azes of the ancient
Türkic inscriptions and Muslim writers [Minorsky, 1937, p. 300-302].
Ibn Hordadbeh in his list of the Türkic peoples mentions a tribe Azgish
(< *Az + kish "Az people", "people of Azes") between Türgeshes and
Kypchaks [Velihanova, 1986, p. 66].
Mahmud Kashgari tells about Azgish location in Uzkend [Kashgari Mahmud, 1, p. 122]. Al-Idrisi steted that the residence of Azgish was in the city Ika located in the Ili river valley [Agadjanov, 1969 , p. 65].
The Rus annals reflected the ethnonym As (in the form Asupa: As + upa/oba "tribe") in the form of a proper name. Under a year 1103 was recorded: "... And from the army of the prince were killed 20: Ourusoba, Kchiy, Arslanapa, Kitanopa, Cuman, Asupa... " [Ipatiev annals, 1962, p. 279]. The term As is widely represented in the modern Türkic ethnonymy [Potapov, 1969, p. 160-168, Kuzeev, 1973, p. 228-230, 232, 466].
The first news about Toksoba are found exclusively in the
context of the Rus princely internecine strives: "And then came to
him (to prince Svetoslav) [his] friends Kipchaks, Toksobans, and he
appointed Sudimir, Kochebich and Goren to them, and send them
against Smolnyans, and faught with Upper Ugrs" [Collection, 1949, p. 40].
Another record relates to the year 1152: "And went Yuryi with
his sons, and with Rostovians and with Suzdalians.., and also Kipchaks, Orplüevs and Toksobans, and all
Kipchak land, everybody from between Volga and Dniepr" [Collection, 1949, p. 56].
annalistic story about a campaign of the Sever (Suvar) prince Igor
Svyatoslavich in the 1185 against Kipchaks, from an unknown
manuscript, was found in the A.F.Malinovsky papers, one of the first researchers
of the "Tale of the Igor campaign". Among the Kypchak leaders, resisting the Rus princeses, is
named Tokosbich [Dmitriev, 1960, p. 195].
According to another, also unknown manuscript used by V.N.Tatishchev
to write his "Russian History", the Kypchak prince Konchak was a Tuskobich [Tatischev, 3, p. 139]. Both variations
of the name are distorted, they ascends to Toksoba(n)/Tuksoba(n),
with Slavic patronymic (affix -ich) rendition of the Kypchak name Toksoba/Tuksoba.
A Polish orientalist A.Zajaczkwski pointed to the descriptions by the eastern writers about the Tuhsi tribe and the term oba meaning "tribe" (country, place to live, encampment, etc., akin to IE's root in "habitat", "obituary" etc. The connection can't be missed - Translator's Note). He suggested that the real proto-type of the annalistic Toksoba was Tuhsi + îbà (~Toksy + îbà) meaning "Toksu tribe" [Zajaczkwski, 1949, p. 41]. Russian scientist N.A.Baskakov suggested that it corresponds to Tokus + îbà "nine clans" [Baskakov, 1984, p. 74], but the American researcher P.B.Golden rejected reconstruction with numeral tokus "nine", and proposed connecting the origin of the word Toksoba with the name of the Türgesh tribe Tuhs/Tuhsi, who had the ruling ("royal") clan Sharukan "dragon" [Golden, 1979-1980 , p. 306-307].
The symbol of the Türgesh Tuhses during the Yuzlik and Sakal rule was a dragon Ulu, originating in the Uechji (Pin. Yuezhi) antiquity. The tamga of Toksobans or their ruling clan is still unknown. The Tuhsian tamga on the coins is or [Smirnova, 1981, p. 60, fig. 35 : 1, 2], identical with the tamga of the 8th century Edizes , and similar with the Türks-Ashtaks tamga [Van Pu, ch. 72, p. 1306, Zuev, 1960, p. 132], has a direct parallel on the coins Uechji (Pin. Yuezhi) - Kushan kings in the tamga images of three and four headed dragon Ajdahak (compare Fig. 5 incl.) [Akishev, 1984, p. 109]. The "Sharukan's city" of the Kipchaks-Toksobas also had the name Snake's (Zmiev - Translator's Note) and Scale (Cheshuev - Translator's Note)[Ahinjanov, 1989, p. 133-134].
The Muslim writers Ibn Haldun and Abu Hajan articulated that the Tugs-oba/Toks-oba
tribe were a Kypchak tribe [Golden, 1979-1980, p. 306-307, Caferoglu, 1931, p. 106, Marquart, 1914, p. 157,
Tiesenhausen, 1884, p. 540-542]. Until recent times, the memory about Toksoba endured as
an eponym Toksoba in the Bashkir genealogies [Kuzeev, 1973, p. 120-121] and in
the onomastics of the Siberian Tatars [Tumasheva, 1987, p. 46]. The Kazakhs
even preserved the ethnonym itself. A branch of a clan Baibaksy in
the Kazakh Junior Juz is called Toksoba [Vostrov, Mukanov, 1968, p. 94-95].
The distinction of Ili's Kang was that it was an integral part of the Syr Darya's Kang. In the Middle Ages the river Syr-Darya was called Seyhun. A Chinese transcription of this word was Ñ14585, 4324 Syhun (< si-khue) [Tsen Chünmian, 1958, p. 184]. As the travel guide describes, the city Guniue (Kungut) also was in the valley of river Seyhun (Syhun) flowing into Ili: "... crossing Wagon (translated to Russian "Telejnaya" = Wagon's - Translator's Note) mountain (Talki Pass), you come to the city Guniue (Kungut) and cross the valley of river Syhun (Seyhun) and [pass] city Chjishi-li (settlement Djebshid - lit.), [and then] cross the river Ili" [Ouyan Sü, ch. 40, p. 281, f. 11b, Chavannes, 1913, p. 13].
One of phonic versions of the transcription Uechji (Pin. Yuezhi) was yati/yasi, coincident with ancient Indian jati "[moon]-eremite". This word left traces in the place names in the valley of the rivers Ili and Syr-Darya. Yasy is a name of a high-mountainous plateau near Turgen of the Almaty province, there is a branch of the astrophysical observatory. But Yasy also is a former name of (the city) Turkestan.
Lineal descendants of the Uechjies, the tribes Az and Tuhs, these "Uechji (Pin. Yuezhi) in Kang", became an ethnopolitical foundation at creation of the Türgesh Kaganate. As V.Kotwicz believed, the term Türgesh consist of the base Türk and a Türkic affix of similarity -esh, and has a meaning of "similar to Türk", "co-Türk". It is totally identical to the nominal term Turkmen (Türk + Sogdian affix of similarity -myn ,-men) [Kotwicz, 1949, see objection in Amanjolov, 1999, p. 120-122]. The Türkic tribes of not Türkic dynastic mythological system were designated Turkmens (for example, Uigurs, Karluks, Kalaches and a number of other tribes were designated Turkmens), only later this word gained a meaning of a specific ethnonym. Participation of Sogdians in many processes of historical and cultural nature in the territory of the Central Asia can not be denied.
|Sogdak, Küngü, Tarban|
In political and geographical sense the medieval Sogd was a country in the Zeravshan and Kashkadarya valleys. By the 7th-8th centuries the Sogdian possessions in the Central Asian interfluvial from a language standpoint were Bukhara oasis (Ch. An), Ustrushana (Ch. Tsao), Kesh (Ch. Shi), Chach with Ilek (Ch. Shi-lo), Maymurg (Ch. Mi) and Samarkand Sogd (Ch. Kan). The Sogdian language was widely used in Chach (modern Tashkent) and in the Jeti-su cities. Sogd was on the intersection of the main East - West trade road, connecting Mediterranean with Pacific coast, and Sogdo-Persians were the main operators in its whole extent. In the depths of Eurasia and in the countries of the Far East, from the words of the trading Sogdians, whose numerous colonies and city-states were densely spread along all branches of the trade road, Sogd was known about, however they were called in each separate case, Scythian, Silk, Sable, Glass or something else [for example see Akishev, 1999]. The Chinese common designation for the Sogdo-Persians in the 6-9th centuries was Ñ5848 Hu. The Sogdian (Hu) colonies were recorded in the E. Baikal area [Gohman, 1968], on Amur river [Van Tsinjo, ch. 972, p. 11421, f. 13b], on the Pacific coast [Shavkunov, 1985], etc. The Sogdian trading colonization of Eurasia and China within the walls began in 4-3rd centuries BC. The first Sogdian loans to the Chinese language belonged to that time [Henning, 1948, p. 606, 1965, p. 46].
In one of the most ancient Sogdian documents (the letter ¹ 2 of the complete set of " Old letters "),
the dated 197 AD, is given a clear picture of the wide trading exploration by the Sogdians of
the Han China. Their trading colonies were in each significant city from Loyan
(Sogdian srγ) and Chanan (Sogdian 'khώmt'n) to the Tszütsüan (Sogdian cώccny, *Chuchan) [Harmatta, 1972, p. 152-165]. Once, the Tszütsüan area (modern District Tszütsüan in
the Gansu province, CPR) was a part of the of Uechji (Pin. Yuezhi) confederation central lands. In the second
century BC it was captured by Sünnu.
In the 104 BC there was founded a Chinese district Tszütsüan [Malyavkin, 1981, p. 155]. It was
an important point on the trade road with significant Sogdian population [Syan Da, 1957, p. 17, 31].
Mostly, they were from Bukhara (Ch. An).
Chinese received their first authentic news about the Türks (Sogdian tώrkyt) through one of them, a Sogdian of Bukhara origins by the name Nahband (Ch. Nopanto) [Harmatta, 1972à, p. 273], who became a trusted man at a the court horde of Tumen (Türkic Bumyn), the founder of the First Türkic Kaganate [Mori, 1967, p. 69-70]. From then on, the Sogdian traders invariably occupied important posts in the horde, and played considerable political role. The heads of the Sogdian colonies in the territory of the Kaganate were receiving the status of Iltebers [Mori, p. 71-89]. The Ilteber (Elteber, Eltuber) is a post and a rank of the ruler of a large subordinated tribe, appointed by Kagan [Golden, 1972, p. 49-50]. The following describes the position of the Sogdian consortiums in the Central Asian circle and its reflection in the texts of the ancient Türkic runiform monuments.
In the Kaganate, the Sogdian diasporas were going through with a Türkification process. As result of mixed marriages, sometimes Sogdians were gaining access in the highest spheres of power, and even gaining the noble (Kagan) surname Ashina (from the paternal tribal line?).
As noted M.Mori, one of the Sogdians bore a title Tegin
(Prince), signifying that he was, or was considered as, a son or a younger
brother of Kagan [Mori, 1967, p. 86]. Another Ashina tribesmen, a son
of Torug-shad and a relative of the powerful Il-Kagan (Seli), enjoyed love
and respect of the people and at the highest levels, but could not have
a hereditary title "Shad" because his face was typical Sogdian.
He was talented, and skilful in fortunetelling, so that when he subsequently
ended up as a "Kagan of Türks and Sogdians" south from the Gobi
desert, it found reflection in his title Ilbi-nezuk-elteber [Lü Süy, ch. 194à, p. 1439, f. 7à-8b].
There are many similar examples. From them follows a conclusion about
Sogdian gradual penetration and Sogdian partial naturalization into the local
life. A similar phenomena was already noted by science [Oransky, 1963, p. 83-84].
Frequently the Sogdian colonies outside of Sogd were called Suli/Sulik (from Sogdian sώγδyk "Sogdian") and Sogdak (from Sogdian sγδ'k) [Livshits, 1962, p. 80-81]. Sometimes (especially in the Chinese historiography) the Sogd itself was also designated so, the forms of hieroglyphic record of its name were investigated in detail by A.G. Malyavkin [1989, p. 221-223]. Quite often it used to mislead both annalists and modern researchers, who were not able to distinguish, for example, Sogd/Sogdak metropoly (mother country - Translator's Note) from the Sogdak colony in the Abzoya/Yantsai country [Zuev, 1995]. But the ancient Türkic runiform inscriptions of Mongolia precisely discriminate between them: the mother country was called Soγd (KTb, 52), and a colony was called Soγdaq (KTb, 31, BKb, 24, Tonyukuk, 46, Mogoin Shine Usu monument, 44, Terkh., 15). In the new ethno-linguistical environment the Sogdian adjective term sώγδyk/sώγδ'k "Sogdian" lost its previous attributive significance, it became a noun and began to follow the norms of the local language.
Sogdak was called the Sogdians' (Tats' ?) colony and trading port on the Crimea coast [Bartold, 1965, p. 489-490]. The term "Tat" survived as a self-name of the Crimean Tatars [Sevortian, 1966] ("Tat" was also a name of Jewish and converted Muslims in the Crimea-Caucasus area, with a colloquial exoethnonym "Mountain Jews" in the Caucasus, and Crimean Tatar "Karaims" in the Crimea, by now all successfully deported or exiled from their native land - Translator's Note).
Sogdak was a part of the Abzoya/Yantsai state located on the Caspian-Aral section of the trade road [Zuev, 1995].
Sogdak (Ch. Ñ9140, 5330 Su-te < siώok-dək) was called a district with Andarab city (Ch. Anala) in Tocharistan [Ouyan Sü, ch. 43b, p. 301, f. 8b, Malyavkin, 1989, p. 248, Chavannes, 1903, p. 68].
Sogdakians in the begining of the 8th century were called
the inhabitants of the northern part of the China Shaanxi province. The ancient Türkic
texts (KTb, 31, BK, 24) contain a story about 701 AD campaign of the Türkic army
in Alty-chub-sogdak area. This composite for a long time did not render a
satisfactory interpretation. A successful solution was found by S.G.Klyashtorny. He
established that the expressionalti chub soγdaq is a calque of the Chinese
name Liu-hu-Chjou "Six Sogdian districts" [Klyashtorny, 1964, p. 78-80, 93-94]. The subject
is a specific event in a specific place, during specific time, with participation of specific people.
A.G.Malyavkin criticized this identification [1989, p. 257-259], asserting an idea that alti chub soγdaq is a "collective name of all Sogdians who lived in the numerous colonies located along the trade roads in the Central Asia". Leaving to the judgment of experts the legitimacy of that assertion, note the important fact that both inscriptions address not the Sogd mother country, but the Sogdak colony of six administrative districts inside the Tang's border. The number of the Sogdak families could be significant or totally small down to few, but together in ethno-social sense they were taken as a distinct community.
Sogdak trading colony (alongside with Tabgach trading colony) also existed on the banks of the river Selenga in the Second Uigur Kaganate in Mongolia. The text of a monument of the Uigur Eletmish-Kagan from the Mogon Shine Usu districtin Northern Mongolia (Mogoin Shine Usu monument, 44) tells about a construction of the citiy Bai-balyk by the Sogdaks and Tabgaches on the bank of the Selenga river (tributary of lake Baikal). The word bai "rich" precisely corresponds with the Chinese fugui "rich, rich and noble". Under the name Fugui it is also mentioned on the right bank of Selenga in the Tszya Dan travel guide [Ouyan Sü, ch. 43b, p. 304, f. 15b]. The Chinese author, giving a Chinese calque of the Türkic name Bai-balyk ("Rich city", possibly connected with the name of Bukhara capital Pai-kent), did not utter a single word about any connection of its population with the Tabgach state (Tang, China). The text of a stele erected during the lifetime of same Kagan displays that the heads of the colonies Sogdak and Tabgach had Türkic names [Terh., 15; Klyashtorny, 1980, p. 91].
Sogdak term was transmitted in Tibetan as Sog dag, Sog po [Uray, 1979, 303, Naito, 1987, p. 301].
The chronicles of Liao (907-1125) and Tszin (1115-1234)
dynasties the term Sog po was transmitted by the Chinese
rendition Tszubu, Tszupu [Wittfogel, Feng Chia-sheng, 1949, p. 101-102].
With time this word became a name of Türko-Tatars and Mongols of the Inner
Mongolia [Van Govej, 1959, p. 834-850, Munkuev, 1975, p. 72, 176].
Mahmud Kashgari wrote "Sogdak are the people living in Balasagun. They are from Sogd, which is between Bukhara and Samarkand, but they look like Türks and have accepted their customs" [Kashgari Mahmud, 1, p. 437, Volin, 1960, p. 84]. And in another place, "Inhabitants of Balasagun speak Sogdian and Türkic. And also so do the inhabitants of Taraz and inhabitants of White city (Madinat al-Baida, Isfidjab, modern Sairam near Chimkent) " [Kashgari Mahmud, 1, p. 66, Volin, 1960, p. 83].
The Sogdian colonization of the Jeti-su was an important stage in
ethno-, cultural, politico-social history of the Jeti-su region.
Many pages in scientific editions were addressed to the Sogdian colonization
of the Jeti-su region [Klyashtorny, 1964, p. 122-134, Livshits, 1981].
A first written testimony about Sogdians in Talas belongs to 568 AD [Menandr, 1861, p. 371]. Interesting
data about it is contained in the records of Byan Tszi, who accompanied a
Buddhist Monk Chjen Süantszan (usually in the literature Süan-tszan) in his travels to India
through Jeti-su in 629 (Suyab, Talas, Isfidjab, Küngü, Nuchket,
Chach and further). "...City Talas circumference measures 8-9 li (about 3,5 km). The land, and
climate there are the same like in Suyab (modern fortress Ak-Beshim in the valley of river Chu)....
Traversing from it southwest about 200 li, [we] arrived to the city on the White river (Isfidjab, Ispidjab),
city circumference 6-7 li. Produce of the land and climate
there is much better than in Talas. Traversing from there southwest
about 200 li, [we] arrived to the city of Küngü (Ch. Gunüi
< Kiώong- ngiwo < Küngü ~Küngü). City is 5-7 li in circle.
Land there fertile, and woods magnificent and rich. From there south through 40 or 50 li [we] arrived to the
Nuchket (Ch. Nuchitszian) state. The Nuchket state in circumference more than 1000 li.
Land there is damp, suitable for agriculture, magnificent grasses and
woods, a lot of colors and fruit, and also grapes which is valued high.
There are one hundred cities, and each of them has a separate ruler. In their actions they do not depend one from
another. And though they are separated from each other by wild
tracts and are separated, commonly they are called Nuchket state.
Crosing from there to the west more than 200 li, [we] arrived to the Chach
state" [Zuev, 1960à, p. 91-92].
An inscription of Uigur Iltutmysh Tengri-khan from Kocho says the borders of his state extend from Shachjou (Sachiu) in the east to Nuch-Barshan in the west. In the explanation to its translation F.V.Müller identified Nuch-Barshan with Nuchket of the Buddhist records, and traced the western border of the Kocho princedom along Yaksart - Syr-Darya [Müller, 1915, p. 22, 26, compare Kamalov, 2001, p. 158-160]. Nuch-Barshan is known from the works of Muslim authors. In the "Book of roads and countries", composed mainly from the evidence of earlier authors, Ibn-Hordadbeh wrote that "from Chu valley east to the Upper Barshan on the border with the Chin (China) is 15 days for caravans along the pastures, and for Türks' mail 3 days of travel" [Velihanova, 1986]. He is echoed by Kudama ibn-Djafar [Volin, 1960, p. 74]. Idrisi also wrote about it [Minorsky, 1937, p. 295-296]. The exact position of the Upper Barshana was not established yet, but there are no reasons to identify it with Nuchket between Küngü and Chach.
In the characteristics of Nuchket, Byan Tszi repeats the words
stated by him about Suyab and about the country west from it.
"This city is 5-7 li in circle. In it are live intermixed merchants from different countries
and Sogdians-Hu... Directly west from it are some tens of single cities, and each of
them has a ruler. Though they do not depend one from another, but all of
them submit to the Türks. The country from the Suyab city to the Tszeshuann
state (Sogd with a capital in Kesh, modern Shahrisyabz)
is called Suli " [Zuev, 1960à, p. 91]. In both cases the subject
is the same country. In the Byan Tszi book it is called the Nuchket
state, named after a first border city on the way of the traveller
going from the east through Suyab-Talas-Isfidjab-Küngü. The western
end of that country is precisely indicated in the fragment about Suyab:
"to the Tszeshuann-Sogd" state.
The Sogd and that country are thus referred to as two different states (Ch. Ñ3078 go - "state"). The name of that state is also given as Suli, ascending to sώγδyk [Livshits, Khromov, 1981, p. 349]. So, the Suli (Sogdak) of the Chinese author is not the Sogd itself. That is further pointed out by annalistic record of 658 AD, which named the city Nu(ch)ket a district S9140, 11484 Su-i (< siwok-diək < soγdyq~soγdaq) - Sogdyk/Sogdak [Ouyan Sü, ch. 436, p. 301, f. 96, Tsen Chünmian, 1958, p. 150, Malyavkin, 1989, p. 304]. That means that the city Sogdak was 17-19 km of travel south from Küngü. Calling Nuchket Navchket, O.I.Smirnova wrote: "To the number of private specialized fairs which became customary in the pre-Muslim time belonged the fair in Navchkat, which took place once in three months. The Navchkat, located on the border with steppe, was one of the trade centers with nomads. Navchkat was located on the trade roads that connected the nomadic steppe with the rich agricultural areas of Sogd" [Smirnova, 1970, p. 146-147]. In the end of the 10th century a Persian author wrote: "From Nuchket come the boatmen who work on the banks of Parak (Chirchik) and Hashart (Yaksart)". W.W.Bartold concluded that Nuchket was on the place of the Chirchik station [Bartold, 1963, p. 231, Minorsky, 1937, p. 118].
Active trade always paved a road for war. The Silk Road was not an exception
to that rule. It was a road not only of trade and religious proselytism, but also of a war. Its separate
sections are mentioned in the description of intra-dynastic wrangles in
the Western Türkic Kaganate in the 641-642 AD, and connected with the
name of Torug-Kagan (Ch. Dolu). The cause for the conflict
was that Torug-Kagan hogged all the trophies wrung in a successful assault in
the west, causing a sharp discontent of the leaders in both the left and right wings of the
Kaganate. First he suffered a defeat from the leader of the left wing, from
the Ulug-ok "chancellor" tribe (Ch. Khulu-u) near the Chach
border. With the remnants of his army Torug hid behind the walls of
the queen's city Katunket, north from the river Chirchik. He was booted out from the queen's fort by the right
wing army headed by Kül-Erkin of the Ezgels (Ch. Asitszi) tribe. Torug-Kagan had found
his last safe haven in the city on the river Arys (White,
Isfidjab) [Ouyan Sü, ch. 215b, p. 1506, f. 5à, Chavannes, 1903, p.
58]. In the 708 the cavalry of the Eastern Türks moved by this road.
In 706 AD the Türgesh throne in Suyab was inherited by the son of the founder of the Türgesh state Yuzlik (Ch. Uchjile), former a Tutuk military commander of the Talas' Ulu district by the name Sakal (Ch. Soge < sak-kat < saqal). The annals mentioned a "younger brother" contender Ñ11322, 7979 Chjenu (< tsia-nuo, compare the name of a Sogdian of Bukhara origin Ñ12329, 10192 Chinu (< ts'iet-nuo) [Yao Weiyuan, p. 384]. Immediately after enthroning Sakal, who ruled in Suyab, had to transfer to Chjenu control over a part of the state. Judging by the events of the following years, that part was the Talas valley with a center in Talas, then a capital of the Türkic Manichaeism. It was the area of the Az tribe, whose origin ascends to the Uechjies of antiquity. Unhappy with the small size of his allotment, Chjenu addressed to the eastern Türkic Kapagan-Kagan (Mochjo) for military assistance .
Those were Second Türkic Kaganate crest years of the military power, expansion of its borders, and revival of
Türkic imperial ideology. All its neighbors became
potential objects of conquest and were preparing countermeasures. In
search of allies the Enisei Kyrgyzes sent an embassy to China, and the Tang
court warmly accepted it. The emperor Jung
(705-710) reminded the Kyrgyz envoy about relation of the Tang's
dynastic surname Li with the Kyrgyzes, who were reputed to be
descendants of their erstwhile Han ruler, a military commander Li
Lin. In turn, the Tang build new forts to strengthen
their border along the northern bend bank of the Huang He river.
But that danger had faded for a while. Rumors were circulating that "at this time (708) Mochjo with all his people attacked Türgeshes (Ch. Tutsishi)", "Mochjo with all his people attacked Türgesh's Sakal", "the lands south from Gobi desert became barren", but "the head is connected to the tail, and that disrupted plans to plunder in the south". Naito Midori has named this section in his research of the western Türks history "Türgesh campaign of Eastern Türks-Tutszüe in the 2-nd year of the Jing-lun period, 708". Like its predecessor of the Chinese historian Tsen Chünmian, it listed evidence that the inscription Ñ14299, 12272 for the Jing-lun period (707-710) in some cases (including the "History of the Tang dynasty") wrongly replaced by a similar in graphics Ñ14299, 15095 Jing-yun (710-711) [Tsen Chünmian, 1, p. 305, 2, p. 547, Naito, 1987, p. 357-362]. The second year of Jing-yun period would then correspond to 711. The difference in 2-3 years has a considerable implication in the chronology of the subsequent events. To that we shall add that in that publication of the New edition of the "History of the Tang dynasty" (Sin Tang shu), which N.Ya.Bichurin used for the Russian translation [Bichurin, 1, p. 272], the spelling of the Türgesh Kagan name Soge was made with signs for Moge. Coupled with the first aberration, it made the true picture unrecognizable.
In the edition in the "Bo-na" series of (used by Lu Maotsai
for German translation) the name Soge is reproduced correctly: "Before it,
in the middle years of the Jing-yun period (should be: in the second
summer of the period Jing-lun, 708 AD) Mochjo decimated Soge in the west" [Ouan Su, ch. 215à, p.
1503, f. 12b, Liu Mau-tsai, 1958, p. 221]. The Old edition reads
"Before that, in the middle years of Jing-yun period
(should be: in the second summer of the Jing-lun period, 708) Mochjo
in the head of his army defeated and decimated Soge in the west" [Lü Süy, ch. 194à, p. 1442, f. 13b]. But
in another place of that edition the date was indicated more
precisely: "Coming with twenty-thousand army, Mochjo in
the third summer (should be: in the second summer?) of the Jing-lun
period (709, should be 708?) punished Soge and took him prisoner"
[Lü Süy, ch. 1946, p. 1447, f. 7b, Chavannes, 1903, p. 44, compare
Liu Mau-tsai, 1, p. 169, 4, p. 611].
The Syma Guan work "Tszy Chji tun tszyan", distinguished by accuracy of dating, this event is dated by the second year of the Jing-lun period, 708 (Syma Guan, ch. 209). Establishment of real date of Eastern Türkic-Türgesh conflict is very important because researchers, using an erroneous date in the "History of the Tang dynasty" (711) at times are inclined to connect it with the Sogd anti-Arab uprising in 712-714.
Detour on the form of family, inheritance and subjectivity.
The events of that year were reflected in the runiform inscriptions of Mongolia. Two observations should precede the analysis.
The first observation.
In the ancient Türkic society, the vestiges of maternal clan were strong, its important attributes
were a collective ownership of the land and means of production, and a matrilocality of
marriage. The "brotherly family" form, genetically linked with the
maternal clan, was transitory from the matriarchal to the patriarchal family, where
the inheritance follows the descending line "father => son". The important and
visible principle in the transitory stage is the sequence of inheritance along the collateral line "senior brother -
younger brother" as the sons of one mother (in the classification
sense) [Torlanbaeva, 2002, p. 5-21]. The next link in the new
generation was the nephew of the "younger brother by the female line (compare
the custom of marrying the relatives by mother's line) [Potapov, 1957, p.
183]. The nephew is a son of the "senior brother", married to the daughter
of mother (also in the classification sense) and himself a "senior brother "
in relation to his future successor, the "younger brother". The male and female lines of inheritance are
re-united. Between the majority of the Türkic peoples the authority of rulers was transferred from the senior
brother to younger, and then and to the sons of the senior brother, and that was not caused by
the absence of his own sons [Bromlei, 1981, p. 202-210, Frye, 1974, p. 90, Bichurin, 1, p. 99, note 2].
The existence of such a system is easily verifiable even with a cursory examination of the Chinese records about the Türks - Tutszüe in the N.Ya. Bichurin's work.
The ancient Türkic texts also testify about it: "So famous Kagans
were they. After them their younger brothers became Kagans, and then
also their (the senior brothers') sons became Kagans " (KTb, 4-5). And in this sequence, according to the
traditions of the maternal law, the queen's tribe Ediz, known in the sources under its Manichaean name
Ashtak (Ch. Ashide) and Shir (lion), as a family was regarded an owner of the lands and of the people.
Its dynastic (Khatun) branch were Shir Türks, a chancellor (aiguchi "adviser") and
commander-in-chief Tonyukuk was their representative, his inscription, written during his lifetime, tied
them with the possession of the land: turk-sir bodun yeri "land of
Türk-Shir people" (Tonyukuk, 11, 60). The revival of the Türkic
state in the last quarter of the 7th century could not be imagined without a Kagan,
like the creation of a family is impossible without a man, or houses
without an owner. In search of a suitable candidate on this post the
Ashtaks had rejected two leaders from the "celestial-blue Ashina tribe (kok Türk) and
selected only a third applicant. It was Kutlug, who received a throne name Elterish. After
his death in 691 was raised a question about the successor,
about a change from the former system of "Kagan-katun" co-rule with a brotherly
family based on principles and equal participation of Kagan Ashinas and Khatun Ashtaks, to solely Kagan autocracy and
inheritance by a descending line "father => son" without Ashtaks' participation. This new ideological
creed is expressed in the words of the Chinese inscription on the Kül-Tegin monument: "The duty of the father
and the son is in sincerity and nobleness, while the relationship of the senior
brother with younger has no due unity " [Tsen Chünmian, 1958, p. 828].
Therefore the younger brother of Elterish, Mochjo (Kapagan), who occupied the throne, was declared to be a "thief of a throne", and after his death in 716 AD the Ashinian Kül-Tegin organized a bloody massacre of all Ashtaks who had state positions during Kapagan reign. Only Tonyukuk was spared and sent into exile, because his daughter Sebeg was a Katun, a wife of just enthroned Bilge-Kagan. It was an attempt to break a century-old tradition. Civil war was dawning in the state, and in the west was threateningly rising the anti-Ashinian star, Sülük-Kagan of Türgeshes. In the end Tonyukuk, who enjoyed wide respect regained his former position, and without his consent or steely "No!" no important affair of state was resolved. In the Bayin-Tsokto enclave he erected a stele describing his accomplishments together with the previous Kagans. The main idea of the stele is the idea of necessity, benefoits, and eternity of the Ashina (Kök Türk) and Ashtak (Türk Sir) co-rule of the "Kagan-Katun".
Kül-Tegin died on 27 February 731. The death of Bilge-Kagan
followed on 25 November 734. In the Husho-Tsaidam enclave
(Mongolia) were installed monuments in their honor. Both
inscriptions are made in the name of Bilge-Kagan, and represent two
versions of the same text [Kormushin, 1981, p. 139]. Both are
saturated with an idea of Kagan's autocracy. The openly different
angles in the positions of Tonyukuk and Bilge-Kagan
in the description and evaluation of the same events were
reflected like in a mirror. The overdue (by 15 years) denying
response, which these texts substantially are, mentioned Tonyukuk
and his actions only in passing, like he have not existed at all.
In addition to hushing up the figure of Tonyukuk, which is an utter distortion of
the course of events and their evaluation, the Bilge-Kagan text
deliberately distorts some events, their sequence, and the like. Therefore
the demagogic exclamation of Bilge-Kagan "Is there any falsehood in
my speech?!" (KTm, 10) should sound as a warning for a researcher.
And the second observation.
It is related to the dating events by the age of the hero in an inscription. S.G.Klyashtorny writes "A change in the age of someone is a conventional dating system for their exploits. Omissions are found when an age of a hero does not change, or a described event is a direct consequence of the preceding event" [Klyashtorny, 1964, p. 89-90]. In addition, the deliberate distortions in dating by the age of the memoriant (grammatically, "memoriant" to "memorial" is like "employee" to "employment" - Translator's Note), the clearly wrong locations where the events took place, the distortion of their sequence, these type of misrepresentations are designed to raise the role of the Kagan fraternity to an absolute, and to reduce the significance of the Khatun fraternity personified by Tonyukuk to zero. This involves the events of the 708 AD.
When the Türkic army was already based in the Altun mountain
taiga, Tonyukuk received a news from the agents of about the status in
Jeti-su. "From the Türgesh Kagan came a spy. The words of
the spy were "He says, we shall set out on a campaign
directly against the (Türkic) Kagan. If we would not start a campaign, he (will
defeat) us: its Kagan is a hero, and its adviser is
wise, in any case he will probably destroy us", - he says. He
said "The Türgesh Kagan set out on a campaign, the "ten arrows"
people all without exception went to a campaign", he said, "(among
them) is Tabgach army". On hearing these words, my Kagan said: "I
am going home! My Katun spouse has died, I want to perform funeral rites for her", - he said"
[Malov, 1951, p. 67-68, Tonyukuk, 29-31]. The Chinese stated that
the Türkic army has headed by Mochjo, and, hence, he was the Kagan named in that fragment. But it
also said that Mochjo "returned home" after "punishing"
the Türgeshes [Lü Süy, ch. 194b, p. 1447, f. 7b, Chavannes, 1903, p.
44]. Actually, as stated in the (Tonyukuk - Translator's Note) inscription,
he returned before the battle and not to prepare for a new, this time Sogdak
campaign, but for the funeral of his empress spouse.
The battle took place in the Boluchu district, which R.Giraud equates with Bulun-Tohoi in Dzungaria [Giraud, 1960, p. 179]. About his move Tonyukuk tells: "we fought... we captured their Kagan, we killed their Yabgu and Shad... The heads and people of "ten arrows" all came and submitted. When I was collecting the coming leaders and people, a small number of people escaped. I started leading the "ten arrows" army. We were fighting and driving them. Crossing the Pearl river (Yenchu, Syr-Darya - Translator's Note), Byangligyak mountain - the residence of Tinesi son... We pursued them to Temir-kapyg (Iron gate), we forced them to return. Inel-Kagan of the Arabs and Tochars... Then the whole Sogdian people led by Suk..." [Malov, 1951, p. 63-64, 69, Tonyukuk, 43-44].
A different picture is described in the Kül-Tegin inscription: (Kül-Tegin) with his own hands seized the Türgesh Kagan's orderly, the Tutuk of the Azes (!). We killed their Kagan, we subdued his tribal union. (But) a mass of the Türgesh people all migrated into the depth (of the country, i.e. submitted). We settled that people around Tabar (?). Returning to settle down the Sogdian people, we crossed the river Yenchu, crossed with the army to Temir-kapyg " [Malov, 1951, p. 32, 41, KTb, 38-39].
Both texts were investigated repeatedly. S.G.Klyashtorny brought a number of essential refinements to the S.E.Malov quoted translation, and offered his understanding of the text [Klyashtorny, 1964, p. 139-149]. In his opinion, these inscriptions the subject is two campaigns of Eastern Türks to the west [Klyashtorny, 1964, p. 139-143].
In his review of that book, V.P.Yudin wrote: "...a conclusion about two separate campaigns appear
strange from the point of view that the monuments of Bilge-Kagan, Kül-Tegin and
Tonyukuk inscription as a whole describe campaigns against
Kyrgyzes and Türgeshes as a single action of the Türks, and in
fact the campaign across Syr-Darya was a continuation of their general actions against
these peoples...For a statement about two campaigns across Syr-Darya the texts of the
main runiform monuments do not provide a sufficient base yet" [Yudin, 2001, p. 284].
It is important to note that both versions are describing the same campaign, and not two different campaigns. The differences in the plots are caused by the dynastic maneuvering discussed above. Pushing Tonyukuk away from participation in the Türgesh campaign, Bilge-Kagan in his text comes up with details negating Tonyukuk story as fictional. The method used is not to deny the events, but supplement them. The descriptions of both texts can be grouped in few sets:
1. Türgesh Kagan Sakal (Soge) was really "captured", i.e.
taken to captivity, but not killed, which is also confirmed by
the Chinese annals. In 709 (the third summer of the Jing-lun period, 7th moon) Soge send
an envoy to Chanan with a request for protection. The Emperor issued a decree in which Soge is
called "Tszin he van" - "Sovereign of the Gold river", i.e.
of the river in which lives a Dragon with the body of gold (the same title,
in memory of acceptance Manichaeism by the Uigur Kagan, on 2 August 763 was endowed Ulug
Tutuk, one of the supreme rulers of the Uigurs [Ouyan Sü, ch. 217à, p. 1523, f. 6à,
Mackerras, 1968, p. 40, compare Se Tszunchjen, 1992, p. 646]. Another of his names became a
title of a general of mounted guards "Türgesh Sheu Jung" ("Keeping
sincerity"). He was endowed with a name Gui-hua Kagan [Lü Süy, ch.
7, p. 59, f. 8à]. In the Manichaeism school of thought a Dragon is a king
of the Darkness world (Türkic Kara), of material world, and partly
of the World of Mix of the Good and Evil, with the head of a lion
and the body of gold. From that time his name Sakal, which ascends to the Manichaean Sakl' (creator of Adam and Eve),
disappears from the sources, until 715 or 716 he is known only under his secular name
Shou Jung [Tsen Chünmian, 1958, p. 369-370, 900-901].
2. In the Tonyukuk text (the initial - Translator's Note) engraving of one word had a mistake. In all accessible reproductions the damaged place looks za:budn. Reconstructing this combination, S.E.Malov added between the initial letters "z" and "a" letter "ch": z(ch)a. Transcribing the phrase on oq bägäläri buduny qop (43) kälti? jükünti. Käligmä bäglärin budunyn itip iygyp az(ch)a budun täzmis, he translated: "... Chiefs and people of "ten arrows" (43) all came and submitted. When I gathered the arriving chiefs and people, a small number of people fled". In the part za:budn, the second letter (à) was placed erroneously by a copyist or a carver. Then the combination is transliterated z:budng < (a)z: bod(u)ng "Az people", "people of Azes", and both sentences are translated: "... the Beks and people On Ok ("ten arrows") came in multitude and submitted. While I was organizing and gathering the arriving Beks and people, the people of Azes fled".
3. Türgeshes were Manichaeans and were called Kara-Türgeshes (Ch. hei-sin tutsishi "Türgeshes of black surname"). Therefore the sentence (KTb, 38) qara Türgish bodun qop ichikti should be translated "people of Kara-Türgeshes submitted in multitude". They were headed by qara qan (Ch. hei sin kehan "Kagan of black surname").
4. Judging by written sources, at least since 568 and until 738 the center of the Türkic Manichaeism, and then Kara-Türgeshes was Talas. The words following the quoted sentence ol bodunug tabarda qondurtirmiz "we settled that people at Tabar" are a deliberate distortion. In the following section "Manichaeism" is shown that the name of nonexistent location tbr (Tabar) substituted a similarly looking tls (Talas). In the context of the inscriptions "settled" does not mean "settled (in new place)", but "confirmed the former location". In 708 the Türkic cavalry, "settling" the Kara-Türgeshes, came to Talas, the road to the west from which run through the stations recorded still in the description of Chjan Tsian (Pin. Zhang Qian) travel: Talas - Isfidjab-Küngü-Nuchket (Sogdak) - Chach and then on (see section 2).
Forty years ago, translating Chinese story about Suyab, the
author of these lines assumed that Küngü of the Buddhist route corresponds
with the "Kengju" in the ancient Türkic texts [Zuev, 1960, p. 21].
In the 26th International congress of orientalists, a similar position was stated by the Hungarian scientist K.Tsegledi, this question was addressed in his research [Czegledi, 1983, p. 45-47]. He in particular noted the existence of the Persian form of a word (kungi), hiding (because of usual transmission of the Persian sound "g" by Arab "dj') in its Arabic form Kundji-dih (Ibn Hawkal Kundji-dih). The 982 composition "Hudud al-Alam" says "Between Isbidjab and (Yaksart, Syr-Darya) river bank are pastures (giy'a hv'ar) of all Isbidjab and some parts of Chach, Parab and Kundji-dih. There are a thousand tents of peaceful Türks... " [Minorsky, 1937, p. 119, 358]. The quotation is a Persian translation of an earlier Arabic expanded annotation for map of the world, and consequently the Persian text preserved the Arabic form of some terms. The records of the Chinese source about the "city" Küngü as the extreme point of Türkic possession on the western border with Sogdak coincide with the Arabo-Persian geography about the Kungi settlement (dih, deh), and the absence of umlaut (ü) in Kungi reflect the absence of it in the Persian. It leads to view the vocalization of the ancient Türkic k(?)ngü and to read it küngü~küngü, and moreover, in the texts of ancient Türkic monuments the vocalization of the first syllable by the vowel in the second syllable is not a rarity at all.
5. In the Tonyukuk text, the purpose of crossing the Pearl river (Yenchu, Syr-Darya) was in
pursuit of Kara-Türgeshes (Azes) and to bringing them back: "we pursued them, we
forced them to return". Bilge-Kagan states the task differently: "we
settled that people at Tabar (should be: Talas). And
set out again with a purpose to settle the Sogdak people (Soγdaq bodun). We crossed the
Pearl river, advanced with the army to the Temir-kapyg
(Iron Gate - Translator's Note)". Here, like in each line of
the Bilge-Kagan text, transpires invisible Tonyukuk text, and a desire to discredit it. For Tonyukuk, the
crossing of Syr-Darya was an end of the Türgesh campaign at the Temir-kapyg, after
which the "Sogdak people, led by Ashuk, came in multitude".
It is clear that in that episode the Sogdak is not a Sogd and Samarkand, but the Temir-kapyg, which cannot be a Buz-gala mountain pass in the Baisun mountains far to the south from Sogd. There were a number of mountain passes called "Iron gate" (Arab. Bab al-abvab, Persian Dai ahanin, Der-i ahenin, Derbend-i ahanin, Ch. Te-men, Türkic Temir-kapug, Demir-kapu, etc.) [Velihanova, 1986, Bartold, 1965, p. 218, 431-432, etc., Minorsky, 1963, p. 119, Hirth, 1899, p. 85-86], this name cannot serve as a unique reference point.
In the quoted lines from the "Hudud al-Alam" the names Parab (Farab) and Kundji-dih (Kungi-dih) are listed together, but separately. These are different districts. It is known that Farab is another name of Otrar [Bartold, 1965, p. 223, 355], which after the publication of the S.G.Klyashtorny book about ancient Türkic monuments [1964, p. 155-161] was compared with "Kängü Tarban". But this comparison requires a correction. The transfer of toponyms with paired combinations is not normal for the ancient Türkic texts, and the combination "Kengyu Tarban" cannot be invented as an exception, because it was created without taking into account the above point about the city Sogdak bordering on with Küngü, with exact localization of the Küngü.
Tarband/Tarban is known to many authors who recorded that at that
time it was continuously claimed by the rulers Chach, and
from time to time was included in it. In the letter to the Sogdian king Devashtich
his envoy Fatufarn wrote from Chach "... And, master, Tudun (civil ruler of Chach) entered into agreement (or "has
reconciled") with Tarband (frbnt) and, master, there he has received all lands"
[Livshits, 1962, p. 78, 79]. The Chinese annals written after 751 inform that even the city Talas was at that time
a "large fortress of the Stone kingdom" (i.e. Chach) [Zuev, 1960, p. 93.].
That situation ended with the Chach royal residence transferred to Tarband: "...And wrote the king of Sogd to the king of Shash (i.e. Chach), and he lived in Tarband...", stated the work of the Arabian writer al-Balazuri [Cited by: Klyashtorny, 1964, p. 157]. S.G.Klyashtorny cited a large and convincing material to identify Tarban with Otrar. It is possible now to state with sufficient confidence that the author of the ancient Türkic inscriptions viewed Küngü and Tarban as foreposts on the western borders of the Türkic possessions.
But that is not the end of the campaign description. "We pursued (Azes) to Temir-kopyg, we forced them to return", tells Tonyukuk, finishing his story about Türgesh
campaign. When the author of the inscription uses pronoun "we", it
should be understood that he personally participated in actions. In Kül-Tegin text this campaign
beyond Syr-Darya was "to settle the Sogdak (!) people (Soγdaq bodun)". It appeared to be unsuccessful, and then
the leaders "have repented" and "sent Kül-Tegin with few men" for further adventures, described
separately and seemingly without connection with these events. "Az people became enemy. We
fought at Kara-köl. He (Kül-Tegin) mounted white hero horse
Shalchy, attacked, seized Az' Elteber, Az people perished. When the tribes of my uncle Kagan
rebelled, and people started enmity and envy, we fought Izgil
people. Kül-Tegin mounted white hero horse Shalchy, attacked. The
horse fell there. Izgil people perished" [KTb, 43-44, Malov, 1951, p. 33, 42].
The description of the pursuit of Azes and their
subsequent return supplements the laconic words of Tonyukuk.
Azes fled to the Kara-köl. The Kara-köl lake and the Kara-köl gorge are
on the left bank of Syr-Darya, downstream of Otrar, two kilometers from the river. There are ruins of a
city with Türkic name Sütkent [Bartold, 1965, p. 383, Agadjanov, 1969, p. 74]. It was the city Sogdak
of the Türkic inscriptions, also similar to the terms Sogdak~Sütkent ("Milk City").
The word Izgil is usually transcribed by letters Ezgel < ezg(e)l ~ Ezgel. Its Chinese notation was Ñ5042, 14720, 1959 Asitszi and Ñ5042, 14720, 1972 Asitsze (< a-siet-kiet) [Harmatta, 1962, p. 140-141]. In the 563 this name bore the Türkic envoy to the Byzantine emperor, who demanded an end of relations with the Avars, the enemies of the Türks [Naito, 1987, p. 369-371].
The Chinese annals note that Ezgels were the first and fourth tribes in the right wing of the Western Türkic Kaganate [Chavannes, 1903, p. 34, 60]. One of the documents tells that in the 652, an Ezgelian (Asitsze) Nezuk-Erkin was appointed a Tutuk of the military district Thousand Springs (Tszyantsüan, Merke), and an Ezgelian Kül-Erkin was appointed a Tutuk of the military district Külyan (Tszüylan, modern (Russified) Kolan) [Naito, 1987, p. 36]. In the middle of the 7th century in these districts lived Ezgels.
A separate campaign to Sogd and Tocharistan, beyond the limits of the Kaganate, did
not happen. Right after the capture, the Türks moved again, caught up withAzes in
the Sütkent (Sogdak) area on the left bank of Syr-Darya, and turned back. The monuments do not describe another
campaign in the west. As to the "participation" of the Türks in the anti-Arab movement in
the Sogd in the 712-714, the real situation was described in the Fatufarn letter
cited above, which was sent to Chach asking for the
help in the struggle against the Arabs: "And master, I cannot
advance further, master, because the rumor goes that Kagan can't be found anywhere" [Livshits, 1962, p. 79].
* * *
The section has included a series of sketches about early Türkic
tribes and state type confederations, whose ideological views coincide in many respects
and have a common foundation, which ascends to the last centuries BCE. Such foundation was the
pantheon of the ancient confederations of Uechji (Pin. Yuezhi) (Ati/Asi) and Kangars (Kanga/Kungi/Kengü/Kangju and
alike) that left a trace in the ideological complexes of Ashtak Türks, Oguzes, Kypchaks,
Az-kishes, Kimeks, Kangly, etc. Certain features of it still are in
the folklore of the modern Türkic peoples. The tradition
of the ideological continuity is permeating the history of these peoples
from extreme antiquity until the new time.
|<= Previous||Contents||Continued =>|
In Russian => PDF
Yu. A. Zuev Ethnic History of Usuns
Yu. A. Zuev The Strongest Tribe - Ezgil
Yu. A. Zuev Tamgas of vassal princedoms
Yu. A. Zuev Ancient Türkic social terms
|Ogur and Oguz||
|© Yu.Zuev 2002|