Everything about G Kt Rks totally explained
The
Göktürkler(s) or
Köktürkler(s) were a
Turkic people of ancient
Central Asia. Known in medieval
Chinese sources as
Tujue (突厥 Tūjué), the Göktürks under the leadership of
Bumin Khan (d. 552) and his sons succeeded the
Xiongnu as the main Turkic power in the region and took hold of the lucrative
Silk Road trade.
The Göktürk rulers originated from the
Ashina tribe, an
Altaic people who lived in the northern corner of the area presently called
Xinjiang. Under their leadership, the Göktürks rapidly expanded to rule huge territories in north-western
China,
North Asia and
Eastern Europe (as far west as the
Crimea). They were the first Turkic tribe known to use the name "Turk" as a political name.
The state's most famous personalities other than its founder Bumin were princes
Kül Tigin and
Bilge and the General
Tonyukuk, whose life stories were recorded in the famous
Orkhon inscriptions.
Etymology
The name
Tujue (like that of
Ashina) appeared in Chinese sources relatively late, the first record being dated
542 meaning "strong" or "powerful". Kök-Türks is said to mean "Celestial Turks", but this is contested. Alternate meanings are "Blue Turks", and "Numerous Turks"; as
kök meant both "sky" and "blue" in the Köktürk language, and a similar sounding word stands for "root". This is also 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 dynasty probably derives from the
Khotanese Saka term for "deep blue",
āšše(i)na. The name might also derive from a
Tungusic tribe related to
Aisin.
According to the ancient
East Asian
cosmology outlined in the theory of the
Five Elements (五行 Wǔ-xíng), to which the Turks have also ascribed since ancient times, the color blue is a symbol representing the eastern direction, and it's associated with good omens. The Guardian Deity of the Eastern Direction is the
Azure Dragon. Thus, it wouldn't be surprising if the Göktürks had chosen to call themselves "Blue Turks" in the primary sense of "East Turks", with all the associated connotations of "first," "rising," "dawning," "auspicious," and so forth. Göktürk is pronounced .
Origins
Four hundred years after the collapse of northern
Xiongnu power in
Inner Asia, leadership of the
Turks was taken over by the Göktürks after rebelling against the
Rouran. Formerly an element of the Xiongnu nomadic confederation, the Göktürks inherited their traditions and administrative experience. From
552 to
745, Göktürk leadership bound together the
nomadic Turkic tribes into an empire, which eventually collapsed due to a series of dynastic conflicts. The great difference between the Göktürk Khanate and its Xiongnu predecessor was that the Göktürks' temporary
khans from the
Ashina clan were
subordinate to a
sovereign authority that was left in the hands of a council of tribal chiefs. The
Khanate received missionaries from the
Buddhists,
Manicheans, and
Nestorian Christians, but retained their original
shamanistic religion,
Tengriism. The Göktürks were the first Turkic people to write
their language in a
runic script.
First unified empire
The Turks' rise to power began in
546 when
Bumin Khan made a pre-emptive strike against the
Uyghur and
Tiele tribes who were planning a revolt against their overlords, the
Rouran. For this service he expected to be rewarded with a Rouran princess,
for example marry into the royal family. Disappointed in his hopes, Bumin allied with the
Wei state against Rouran, their common enemy. In
552, Bumin defeated the last
Rouran Khan,
Yujiulü Anagui. He also subdued the
Yenisei Kyrgyz and the
Khitans of Western
Manchuria, was formally recognized by China, and married the Wei princess Changle.
Having excelled both in battle and diplomacy Bumin declared himself Il-
Qaghan ("great
king of kings") of the new Göktürk empire at
Otukan, the old
Xiongnu capital, but died a year later. It was his son
Mukhan who consolidated his conquests into an empire of global reach. Bumin's brother
Istämi (d.
576) was titled
yabghu of the west and collaborated with the
Persian
Sassanids to defeat and destroy the
White Huns, 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 Turks into
Eastern Europe. In 576 the Göktürks crossed the
Cimmerian Bosporus into the
Crimea. Five years later they laid siege to
Tauric Chersonesus; their cavalry kept roaming the steppes of Crimea until 590. As for the southern borders, they were drawn south of the
Oxus River, bringing the Ashina into conflict with their former allies, the Sassanids of Persia. Much of
Bactria (including
Balkh) remained a dependency of the Ashina until the end of the century. The name refers to "ten arrows" that were granted by the khagan to five leaders (
shads) of its two constituent tribal confederations,
Tulu and
Nushipi, whose lands were divided by the
Chui River. The son of Ilteriş,
Bilge, was also a strong leader, the one whose deeds were recorded in the Orkhon inscriptions. After his death in
734 the empire declined. The Göktürks ultimately fell victim to a series of internal crises and renewed Chinese campaigns.
When
Kutluk Khan of the
Uyghurs allied himself with the
Karluks and
Basmyls, the power of the Göktürks was very much on the wane. In 744 Kutluk seized Ötükän and beheaded the last Göktürk khagan Özmish Khan, whose head was sent to the Chinese court. In a space of few years, the Uyghurs gained mastery of Inner Asia and established the
Uyghur Khaganate.
Rulers
First Göktürk Empire
Western Qaghans
Ashina Tuwu
Interim claimants of Eastern Tujue throne
Qilibi Khan 639 - 644 (Tang vassal)
Chebi Khan ~646 - 649
Ashina Nishoufu 679-680
Ashina Funian 681
Second Göktürk Empire
Ilteris Sad (Idat) 682-694
Qapagan Khaghan (Mo-ch'o) 694 - 716
Inäl Khan 716
Bilgä Khan 716 - 734 (murdered)
Kul Tigin Khan 716 - 731 (co-ruler with Bilge)
Yollug Khan 735 -
Icen Khan - 744
Etimis Khan 744-747 (in exile)Further Information
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