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 had been under the control of a Turkic khaganate,
[1]
which had soon succumbed o a combination of internal rebellions and an invasion from Tang China, around 630 CE.
[2]
In the 680s, the Turks managed to establish a new khaganate, and for decades they were able to extract tribute from China; by 744, however, this new khaganate also collapsed, following a decade of in-fighting resulting from the assassination of the khagan Bilgee.
[2]
At its height, the khaganate
Like many of their predecessors in the region, the Turks were nomads. Moreover, like the previous Turkic khaganate, this second one was characterised by a four-tiered administrative hierarchy. At the top of this hierarchy there were the khagan and his kinsmen, followed by the khagan’s counsellors, who were responsible for military, administrative, diplomatic, and legal operations. Finally, like preceding nomadic empires in the region going as far back as the Xiongnu, this khaganate was divided into a western and an eastern portion, to facilitate both administrative and military organization.
[3]
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.
[4]
[1]: (Hosszú 2012, 285)
[2]: (Rogers 2012, 226)
[3]: (Klyashtorny 1996, 332)
[4]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978) McEvedy, Colin. Jones, Richard. 1978. Atlas of World Population History. Penguin Books Ltd. London.
| alliance with [---] |
| Uighur Khaganate |
| cultural assimilation |
| Succeeding: Uigur Khaganate (mn_uygur_khaganate) [continuity] | |
| UNCLEAR: [absorption] |
| loose | |
| confederated state |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| Year Range | Second Turk Khaganate (mn_turk_khaganate_2) was in: |
|---|---|
| (684 CE 744 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] "The centre of the Second Türk Empire shifted to the Ötükän mountains (now called the Khangai mountains), on the rivers Orkhon, Selenga and Tola." [2]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 226)
[2]: (Klyashtorny 1996, 331)
"In 691 Ilterish kaghan died and was succeeded by his younger brother, who assumed the title Kapagan kaghan (‘Conquering kaghan’; Mo-ch’o in Chinese sources). His reign (691-716) marked the apogee of the military and political might of the Second Türk Empire - and the beginning of its decline."
[1]
[1]: (Klyashtorny 1996, 333)
"Beginning in the 680s a new series of Turk successes resulted in the formation and rapid expansion of the second expansive polity. For decades the second Turkic polity raided Tang China to exact tribute. In 734 the famous khaghan Bilgee was assassinated and a variety of infighting among factions continued for a decade. By 744 an internal coalition emerged and defeated the last imperial elite and their troops." [1]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 226)
"The Türk uprising in 679-681 was at first unsuccessful, although it led, in 682, to the withdrawal of Kutlug-chor, one of the Türk leaders of the kaghan tribe of the A-shih-na, into the Gobi desert. Once they had established themselves in the Yin Shan mountains (Cˇug ̆ay quzï in ancient Turkic), Kutlugchor and his closest comrade-in-arms, Tonyuquq, succeeded in winning the support of most of the Türks and conducted successful military operations against the imperial forces in Shansi between 682 and 687. Kutlug-chor proclaimed himself Ilterish kaghan, and in so doing ushered in the resurgent Türk Empire. In 687 Ilterish kaghan left the Yin Shan mountains and turned his united and battle- hardened army to the conquest of the Türk heartlands in central and northern Mongolia. Between 687 and 691 the Tokuz-Oghuz tribes and the Uighurs, who had occupied these territories, were routed and subjugated; their chief, Abuz kaghan, fell in battle." [1]
[1]: (Klyashtorny 1996, 331)
"The Uighur polity began from an initial coalition of nine smaller groups. Together this coalition was responsible for the fall of the second Turkic empire." [1] "The Toquz Oghuz formed an important but turbulent subject population for the two TÜRK EMPIRES (552-630, 682-742). In 742, in cooperation with the Basmil near the Tianshan Mountains, and the QARLUQS in Zungharia, the Uighurs overthrew the second Türk Empire. Three years later the Uighurs drove out the Basmil and elevated Qulligh Boyla as the Qutlugh Bilge Kül Qaghan (744-47), establishing their capital, ORDU-BALIGH, in the ORKHON- RIVER-TAMIR region that had been the Türk Empire’s sacred center." [2] "The first Uighur rulers considered themselves continuers of the Türk tradition, and claimed legitimacy by linking themselves with Bumin Kaghan, the founder of the First Türk empire. The difference separating Türks from Uighurs must have been purely political. As is clearly shown by the inscriptions commemorating the deeds of their great men, Türks and Uighurs spoke the same language, used the same runic-type script and lived within the same geographic boundaries. Were it not for their name, the Uighurs would be indistinguishable from the Türks." [3]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 226)
[2]: (Atwood 2004, 560)
[3]: (Sinor 1998, 197)
"The Türk uprising in 679-681 was at first unsuccessful, although it led, in 682, to the withdrawal of Kutlug-chor, one of the Türk leaders of the kaghan tribe of the A-shih-na, into the Gobi desert. Once they had established themselves in the Yin Shan mountains (Cˇug ̆ay quzï in ancient Turkic), Kutlugchor and his closest comrade-in-arms, Tonyuquq, succeeded in winning the support of most of the Türks and conducted successful military operations against the imperial forces in Shansi between 682 and 687. Kutlug-chor proclaimed himself Ilterish kaghan, and in so doing ushered in the resurgent Türk Empire. In 687 Ilterish kaghan left the Yin Shan mountains and turned his united and battle- hardened army to the conquest of the Türk heartlands in central and northern Mongolia. Between 687 and 691 the Tokuz-Oghuz tribes and the Uighurs, who had occupied these territories, were routed and subjugated; their chief, Abuz kaghan, fell in battle." [1]
[1]: (Klyashtorny 1996, 331)
"It had a core of “inner tribes” (the ruling clan and its allies, including “in-law” tribes), a second tier of tribes that joined freely (retaining their ruling houses), a third tier of tribes that joined under constraint (and whose ruling houses were usually replaced by state officials), and finally tribute-paying sedentary populations. Subject populations retaining their own kings included the Sogdians, with their major centers at Bukhara and Samarkand and farflung merchant colonies, willing collaborators with a nomadic state that possessed the military power to force open the Chinese markets.76" [1]
[1]: (Findley 2005, 43)
"It had a core of “inner tribes” (the ruling clan and its allies, including “in-law” tribes), a second tier of tribes that joined freely (retaining their ruling houses), a third tier of tribes that joined under constraint (and whose ruling houses were usually replaced by state officials), and finally tribute-paying sedentary populations. Subject populations retaining their own kings included the Sogdians, with their major centers at Bukhara and Samarkand and farflung merchant colonies, willing collaborators with a nomadic state that possessed the military power to force open the Chinese markets.76" [1]
[1]: (Findley 2005, 43)
"The Türks spoke a dialect of Old Turkish belonging to the Oghuz family, close to modern Uighur, Uzbek, Türkmen, and Turkish, somewhat more distant from the Qipchaq family of Kazakh and Tatar, and quite far from the Oghur family of Chuvash and Old Bulghar. Although many other tribes also spoke close or identical dialects, the Türks’ imperial prestige gave a single name to the whole family of dialects." [1]
[1]: (Atwood 2004, 554)
in squared kilometers. "In 712 the Eastern Turks, under Köl Tigin (Kül Tigin), son of Elteriš, defeated the Türgiš kaghan, *Saqal. They reestablished the long-lost Eastern Türk dominion over the Western Turks, becoming by extension the overlords of Ferghana, Tashkent, and probably most of Sogdiana, in place of the Türgiš." [1]
[1]: (Beckwith 2009, 131)
levels.
1. Town
2. Camp
The second Khaganate had towns: "In contrast to the Mongols, however, the Turks encouraged the voluntary creation on their territory of large Sogdian colonies which engaged in agriculture, handicrafts and trade, and even founded towns (Pulleyblank, 1952; Kliashtorny, 1964:114-22)."
[1]
[1]: (Khazanov 1984, 256)
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.87"
[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?4. Er. Individual warrior
[1]: (Findley 2005, 45)
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]
"The administrative structure of the empire, which incorporated the tribal leaders, was more complex. At the head of the administration stood the kaghan and his closest kinsmen, who held the titles of shad and yabghu. The kaghan was surrounded by his counsellors (buyur), who discharged military, administrative, diplomatic and legal functions and bore titles such as tarkhan, chor and tudun. In order to facilitate the administration, the tribes were divided into two territorial groups, the Tardush (western) and the Tölish (eastern). The soldiery of these two groups composed the right and left wings of the army’s battle order, and they were led by the close kinsmen of the kaghan (the shads) and the most influential tribal leaders of each wing."
[2]
Khagan
Counsellors (buyur): titles are tarkhan, chor and tudun.
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 225)
[2]: (Klyashtorny 1996, 332)
"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)
"Mutual benefit was derived from the strength of the ties which were established. The qaghans, thanks to the Sogdians’ experience in trading and their connections, were able to start up the sale of war booty and tribute, particularly of silk. For the Sogdians Turkic power was no great burden. The strength of the Turks guaranteed their safe passage along trade routes, and the political influence of the Turks assisted them in opening up new markets." [1] -- opening up new markets i.e. sources of goods - which could be China - rather than market places
[1]: (Khazanov 1984, 256-257)
"Impoverished nomads who had lost their livestock were settled in winter quarters and in small, permanent settlements (balïqs), where they engaged in a primitive form of agriculture. They mainly sowed millet and built small forts (qurgans or kurgans) in which to store their grain." [1] Nothing here indicated that food storage structures were not privately owned.
[1]: (Klyashtorny 1996, 333)
"There are several major inscriptions in the Turkic runic script from Khoshoo Tsaidam but also from the Tuul, Ongi, and Selenge River basins." [1] "Further inscriptions of this kind are known to us; these historical and biographical texts are memorials or eulogies for the living, and they tell of the deeds of Türk kaghans and their retainers. They combine descriptions of events that involved the hero of the inscription (or his ancestors) with an exposition of the political beliefs and ideas of the author of the text; they may be seen as ‘declarations of intent’ and to some extent were used as propaganda (Figs. 3 and 4). Even more common were memorial inscriptions on rock faces, some of which proclaimed the author’s right to use the adjacent pasture or site (Figs. 5 and 6).9" [2]
[1]: (Rogers 2012, 226)
[2]: (Klyashtorny 1996, 340-341)
Political manifestos. "As the manifestos recorded in inscriptions dating from the kaghanate show, there were frequent appeals for unity between the begs and the people and for obedience to the kaghan." [1] "Further inscriptions of this kind are known to us; these historical and biographical texts are memorials or eulogies for the living, and they tell of the deeds of Türk kaghans and their retainers. They combine descriptions of events that involved the hero of the inscription (or his ancestors) with an exposition of the political beliefs and ideas of the author of the text; they may be seen as ‘declarations of intent’ and to some extent were used as propaganda (Figs. 3 and 4). Even more common were memorial inscriptions on rock faces, some of which proclaimed the author’s right to use the adjacent pasture or site (Figs. 5 and 6).9" [2]
[1]: (Klyashtorny 1996, 332)
[2]: (Klyashtorny 1996, 340-341)
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.”83" [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)