The Orkhon Valley lies either side of the Orkhon River, in north-central Mongolia. For just under a century, between about 550 and 630 CE, it was under the control of a Turkic Khaganate, which split between a Western Khaganate and an Eastern one around 580;
[1]
the Eastern Khaganate included the Orkhon Valley, though it lasted only a few decades, between succumbing to a combination of internal rebellions and an invasion from Tang China, around 630 CE.
[2]
Like many of their predecessors in the region, the Turks were nomads: indeed, the Turkic general and counselor, Tonyukhukh, is believed to have once said, "If we build castles and give up our old customs, we shall be vanquished".
[2]
Both Western and Eastern khaganates were characterised by a four-tiered administrative hierarchy, whose members largely came from the ruling clan.
[3]
In the East, Sogdian was the language used for administrative purposes.
[4]
No population estimates specific to this polity could be found in the literature, though, according to McEvedy and Jones, at that time Mongolia and Siberia together likely had a population of no more than 500,000.
[5]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 285)
[2]: (Rogers 2012, 226)
[3]: (Rogers 2012, 225)
[4]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
[5]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978) McEvedy, Colin. Jones, Richard. 1978. Atlas of World Population History. Penguin Books Ltd. London.
| alliance with [---] |
| Tang Dynasty |
| continuity |
| UNCLEAR: [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Shiwei (mn_shiwei) [None] |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| Year Range | Eastern Turk Khaganate (mn_turk_khaganate_1) was in: |
|---|---|
| (583 CE 630 CE) | Orkhon Valley |
"There were no major urban centers; in fact, the Turkic general and counselor, Tonyukhukh, is credited with the quote, ‘‘If we build castles and give up our old customs, we shall be vanquished’’ (Tkachev 1987, p. 114). The Turkic leaders took this advice, although there is a report of a settlement built at a place called Dalee (Perlee 1961, p. 47; Rogers et al. 2005, pp. 812-813)."
[1]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 226)
"By 627 internal rebellions and a Tang invasion resulted in the dissolution of the first Turkic polity." [1] c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [2]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 226)
[2]: (Hosszú 2012, 285)
"By 627 internal rebellions and a Tang invasion resulted in the dissolution of the first Turkic polity." [1] "Tumïn’s brother Ištemi, ruled over the western part of the realm as subordinate kaghan—yabghu or yabghu kaghan—with a winter camp somewhere near Karashahr (Agni). This gradually became the de facto independent realm of the Western Turks, while *Tumïn’s successors reigned over the Türk, or Eastern Turks, and retained the full imperial dignity." [2]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 226)
[2]: (Beckwith 2009, 115-116)
"By 627 internal rebellions and a Tang invasion resulted in the dissolution of the first Turkic polity." [1] "Tumïn’s brother Ištemi, ruled over the western part of the realm as subordinate kaghan—yabghu or yabghu kaghan—with a winter camp somewhere near Karashahr (Agni). This gradually became the de facto independent realm of the Western Turks, while *Tumïn’s successors reigned over the Türk, or Eastern Turks, and retained the full imperial dignity." [2]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 226)
[2]: (Beckwith 2009, 115-116)
"The question may be asked whether all these groups spoke the same language. The Orkhon inscriptions, engraved in the mid eighth century, are certainly Turkic - we refer to their language as Old Turkic, but one may as well call it Türk - and there is no reason to believe that at least the bulk of those who were called Türk used a different language. For example, the Chiu T’ang shu clearly states that the languages spoken by respectively the Eastern and Western Turks are only "slightly different." There is, however, some evidence to show that the Turk state incorporated some non-Turkic peoples whose languages left traces in Turk proper names and even in the vocabulary of Turk." [1] "As witnessed by the Bugut inscription, the role of the Sogdians within the Turk state ensured a prominent status for their language. It is safe to assume that it was widely used in commerce and in other international contacts." [2] c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [3]
[1]: (Sinor 1990, 289-290)
[2]: (Sinor 1990, 291)
[3]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
"The question may be asked whether all these groups spoke the same language. The Orkhon inscriptions, engraved in the mid eighth century, are certainly Turkic - we refer to their language as Old Turkic, but one may as well call it Türk - and there is no reason to believe that at least the bulk of those who were called Türk used a different language. For example, the Chiu T’ang shu clearly states that the languages spoken by respectively the Eastern and Western Turks are only "slightly different." There is, however, some evidence to show that the Turk state incorporated some non-Turkic peoples whose languages left traces in Turk proper names and even in the vocabulary of Turk." [1] "As witnessed by the Bugut inscription, the role of the Sogdians within the Turk state ensured a prominent status for their language. It is safe to assume that it was widely used in commerce and in other international contacts." [2] c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [3]
[1]: (Sinor 1990, 289-290)
[2]: (Sinor 1990, 291)
[3]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
levels. Estimate from other, similarly sized/structured settlements in the region and elsewhere
levels.
1. Khagan as high priest
2. Ordinary shaman
"At the top, the kaghan ruled by heavenly mandate (kut), embodying and demonstrating heaven’s favor through successful performance of his functions as ruler.77 Prominent among these were ritual functions with shamanic overtones. The kaghan had to maintain control of Mount Ötüken and perform ancestral rites at the sacred sites there."
[1]
"Türk religious life, not extensively documented, was based on an ancient complex of beliefs widespread in Inner Asia.84 The term “shamanism,” although conventional, is a misleading name for this belief system. Shamans, male and female, served as religious specialists, who could communicate with the spirit world. They were called on, however, only for exceptional reli- gious or medical needs, not for routine religious practice. Their ability, real or reputed, to divine the future or conjure up storms on the battlefield made their services especially significant for rulers. However, the heroic, ecstatic quest that transformed an individual from sickness and alienation through initiation into a shaman capable of performing such wonders little resembled his or her neighbors’ usual religious observance."
[2]
"If there was a difference in spiritual emphases between dynast and ordinary nomad, it took the form of the greater devotion to Tengri, the supreme deity, in the politicized state cult, with the kaghan as high priest."
[3]
[1]: (Findley 2005, 43)
[2]: (Findley 2005, 45-47)
[3]: (Findley 2005, 48)
levels.
"Every male was an er, “man” and implicitly “warrior”; every young man had to earn his “warrior name” (er ati) through prowess in battle or the hunt; and an elite male, too, was an er bashi, or commander of so many men.82"
[1]
1. Khagan
2. Er Bashi. Commander3. Officer level (inferred)4. Er. Individual warrior
[1]: (Findley 2005, 45)
levels. At least 4 levels.
"Although the two Turk empires are distinct, they are combined here because of similar organization and their spatial and temporal proximity. For both, there were at least four recognized levels in the administrative hierarchy, almost all of whose members came from the ruling Ashina clan."
[1]
c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions."
[2]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 225)
[2]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
"The religious beliefs of the Türk focused on a sky god, Tängri, and an earth goddess, Umay.9 Some of the Turks—notably the Western Turks in Tokharistan—converted very early to Buddhism, and it played an impor- tant role among them. Other religions were also influential, particularly Christianity and Manichaeism, which were popular among the Sogdians, close allies of the Türk who were skilled in international trade. Although the Sogdians were a settled, urban people, they were like the Türk in that they also had a Central Eurasian warrior ethos with a pervasive comitatus tradi- tion, and both peoples were intensely interested in trade."
[1]
"Türk religious life, not extensively documented, was based on an ancient complex of beliefs widespread in Inner Asia.84 The term “shamanism,” although conventional, is a misleading name for this belief system. Shamans, male and female, served as religious specialists, who could communicate with the spirit world. They were called on, however, only for exceptional reli- gious or medical needs, not for routine religious practice. Their ability, real or reputed, to divine the future or conjure up storms on the battlefield made their services especially significant for rulers. However, the heroic, ecstatic quest that transformed an individual from sickness and alienation through initiation into a shaman capable of performing such wonders little resembled his or her neighbors’ usual religious observance."
[2]
[1]: (Beckwith 2009, 115)
[2]: (Findley 2005, 45-47)
"The religious beliefs of the Türk focused on a sky god, Tängri, and an earth goddess, Umay.9 Some of the Turks—notably the Western Turks in Tokharistan—converted very early to Buddhism, and it played an impor- tant role among them. Other religions were also influential, particularly Christianity and Manichaeism, which were popular among the Sogdians, close allies of the Türk who were skilled in international trade. Although the Sogdians were a settled, urban people, they were like the Türk in that they also had a Central Eurasian warrior ethos with a pervasive comitatus tradi- tion, and both peoples were intensely interested in trade."
[1]
"Türk religious life, not extensively documented, was based on an ancient complex of beliefs widespread in Inner Asia.84 The term “shamanism,” although conventional, is a misleading name for this belief system. Shamans, male and female, served as religious specialists, who could communicate with the spirit world. They were called on, however, only for exceptional reli- gious or medical needs, not for routine religious practice. Their ability, real or reputed, to divine the future or conjure up storms on the battlefield made their services especially significant for rulers. However, the heroic, ecstatic quest that transformed an individual from sickness and alienation through initiation into a shaman capable of performing such wonders little resembled his or her neighbors’ usual religious observance."
[2]
[1]: (Beckwith 2009, 115)
[2]: (Findley 2005, 45-47)
"In 568 the Greek Zemarkhos, ambassador of Justin II to the Western Turks in Sogdiana, then under Turk rule, met a Turk who offered him iron for sale. The historian Menander, reporting this event, added his own commentary to the effect that it was in this way that the Turks wanted to make it known that they had iron mines. When the famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Hsüan-tsang called on one of the rulers of the Western Turks he noticed an iron bedstead in place of the usual wooden one. He found the object so unusual that he deemed it worthy of a mention in his travel account." [1]
[1]: (Sinor 1990, 296)
"The inscriptions of the Orkhon, written in Turk in rune-type characters, contain a number of words not common to Turkic but with parallels in Samoyed or Ugric languages from which, directly or indirectly, they had to be borrowed." [1] "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [2]
[1]: (Sinor 1990, 291)
[2]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
"The inscriptions of the Orkhon, written in Turk in rune-type characters, contain a number of words not common to Turkic but with parallels in Samoyed or Ugric languages from which, directly or indirectly, they had to be borrowed." [1] "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [2]
[1]: (Sinor 1990, 291)
[2]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
"The inscriptions of the Orkhon, written in Turk in rune-type characters, contain a number of words not common to Turkic but with parallels in Samoyed or Ugric languages from which, directly or indirectly, they had to be borrowed." [1] "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [2]
[1]: (Sinor 1990, 291)
[2]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [1]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [1]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
c582 CE: "The First Turkic Khaganate officially split into the Western and the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. In the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Sogdian language and script was used for chancellery purposes and inscriptions." [1]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 285) Hosszú, G. 2012. Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Rovas Foundation.
No steel of a high quality until later. By the seventh century the "Sogdians and Turkic peoples "had their own sophisticated metallurgical industries." [1] "The other peoples who were heavily involved with arms production and trade with the Tibetans were the Turkic peoples and especially the Karluks, allies of the Tibetans during the eighth and early ninth centuries ... The Karluks ... were noted by Islamic geographers as producers and exporters of iron artifacts and weapons to Tibet and China." [2]
[1]: (Clarke 2006, 21-22) John Clarke. A History of Ironworking in Tibet: Centers of Production, Styles, and Techniques. Donald J LaRocca. ed. 2006. Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet. Yale University Press. New Haven.
[2]: (Clarke 2006, 22) John Clarke. A History of Ironworking in Tibet: Centers of Production, Styles, and Techniques. Donald J LaRocca. ed. 2006. Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet. Yale University Press. New Haven.
Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region. [1] and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings. [2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London.
[2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
long been in use in the region. Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region. [1] and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings. [2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London.
[2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
long been in use in the region. Majemir culture from 900 BCE is an example of one of the first iron-using cultures in the Altai region. [1] and by 300 BCE in the Ordos region of Mongolia iron was becoming much more frequently used for weapons and horse fittings. [2]
[1]: (Baumer 2012) Baumer, Christoph. 2012. The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. London.
[2]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 84) Nicola Di Cosmo. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
"It is no wonder that the skill required to produce steel swords over charcoal fires seemed supernatural. The same could be said for bow makers, who required great time and expertise to make the composite bows, which still set distance records exceeding those of European-style longbows “by humiliating margins.” [1]
[1]: (Findley 2005, 45)
Horses were the means of travel for mobile nomadic warriors since the establishment of cavalry forces by the mid-first millennium BCE
"Helmets were widely used, although just as much evidence suggests soft, perhaps padded, headgear was also common. All types of helmets typical of the eras in this discussion found expression among the nomads, often with stylistic changes made to suit the tastes of the new nomadic owner. Often, especially among the Turkic and Mongolian tribes, metal helmets had leather neckflaps attached." [1]
[1]: (Karasulas 2004, 30)