Bayanchur Khan

Bayanchur Khan
Khagan [1]
Reign Uyghur Khaganate: 747–759
Predecessor Guli Peilo
Successor Bogu Khagan ( 759-779 ) Qutlug tarqan sengün [2]
Born 713 CE[3]
Died 759 CE[4]
Spouse Elbilge Katun [5]
Full name
Eletmish bilge [6]
Father Guli Peilo
Mural of Uyghur Khagan, VIII century CE
Uyghur Khaganate in its greatest extension in 820 CE

Bayanchur Khan (known also as Moyanchur Khan[7]) (Chinese: 藥羅葛磨延啜; pinyin: Yàolúogě Mòyánchùo),[8] was an Uyghur khagan from 747 to 759 AD. His official titles were Tengrida Bolmish  : [9] and El Etmish Bilge Qaghan : [10] ("born on Heaven state settled wise ruler"). His Tang Dynasty-invested title was Yingwuweiyuanpiqiejuo Khan (英武威遠毗伽闕可汗) or Yingwu Khan (英武可汗) in short. He was succeeded in the Uyghur Khaganate by his son Bogu Tekin (759-779 AD)[11]

Biography

Bayanchur succeeded his father, Guli Peilo,[12] ( Kutlug Kul Bilge Khagan ) who had headed the rebellion against the Göktürks ( "Blue" Kuk Turk ), annihilated them and had established in 744 the Uyghur Khaganate ( known as third uyghur " El " or khaganate ). Guli Peilo died in 747.[13]

Bayanchur Khan or Qagan belonged to the ruling Yaglakar tribe (Old Turkic language: , Jaγlaqar) of the on-uyghur confederation of ten tribes ( known as northern alliance ) and toquz-oghuz confederation of nine tribes ( known as southern alliance ). At that time both allied confederations adopted a name, Uyghur , which composed of two elements: Uy or Uymysh ("to bond", "bonded") and Ghur ("the people"), i.e. " United people " or " free confederation of people (Erkin Budun ), voluntarily bound into an alliance ".[14]

Shad Bayanchur, who was Commander of troops on the East and collector of taxes from eastern tribes (Toles ), was declared Khagan in 747[15] but it took three years for him to consolidate just new-born Uyghur El because his eldest brother Tai Bilge Tutuq :,[16] who was announced as Yabgu [17] or Commander of troops on the West and collector of taxes from western tribes (Tardush ) by his father not long before his death, rebelled against him, being supported by Qarluks , Basmyles , Tatars , Uch Iduk people (3 Saints, Trinity people or Nestorian Christians, Christianity in its Nestorian heresy was spread among part of Basmyles), Kidans (Sakiz Oguz Eight Oguz=Kidans)[18] and common people ( Kara Budun )[19] who declared Tai Bilge as Khagan. This caused a civil war in which Pagan Khagan Bayanchur, who was not tolerant to religions other than his own shamanistic beliefs,[20] fought "day and night"[21] with both internal and external enemies who hit him in coordinated attacks. But Bayanchur Khan had Yaglakar veterans of his father under his command, who just recently crushed Gok Turks and by 750 he managed to get free of all enemies.[22] He announced his own sons as Yabgu and Shad for Tardush and Toles people.[23] To be the head of Tardush chieftains or Begs the head of 5,000 soldiers Alp Ishbara Sengun Yaglaqar was appointed.[24] To be the head of Toles chieftains or Begs the head of 100 soldiers Urungu was appointed.[25]

In 751, Bayanchur established the new capital in the Orkhon Valley on the left side of Orkhon River and named it Ordu-Baliq or, more properly, Urgin- Baliq .[26] Seat of the Council of nine ministers,[27] who represented 9 Tokuz-Oghuz tribes, was established there, number 9 considered sacred in the Uyghur Khaganate.[28] Among nine "Great Ministers" (Ulug Buyruq )[29] six were "External" (Tashi Buyruq ) and three "Internal" ( Ich Buyruq ). Also, counsel of " Six Beks " (Alti Beg ), who represented six Tiele tribes Bugu, Hun, Bayirqu ,[30] Tongra ,[31] Syge and Kibi , was established in the city, these 6 Tiele tribes were incorporated into Uyghur El as equals. Total number of representatives in the Court (Ordu or Urgin} was 60.[32] Appointed head of the Court was Inanchu Baga Tarkhan ,[33] Grand Buyruk or Minister was Bilga Tay Sengun ,[34] the head of 500 security guards of the Court was Oz Inanchu .[35] Ordubaliq was built with help of the invited Chinese (Tabgach ) and Sogdian ( Sogd ) builders at the foot of the sacred Otukan where Qut Tagh ("Mountain of Happiness") was located. The city had city walls made of brown bricks and was probably ringed with a rectangular moat. There was a detached citadel fortified by walls with two gates and watch towers, where the Khagan and his nobles lived with their families.

About seven years later, Ordu-Baliq was followed by Baybaliq ("Rich City"), which also was built by Sogdian and Chinese builders,[36] a trading and administrative nexus on the Selenga (Selenga ) river. Its construction and strategic location was a result of the empire's expansion north to Lake Baikal ( Baikul "Rich Lake" ).

In October 756 Bayanchur Khan came to Tang China to rescue Tang Dynasty from collapse during the An Lushan Rebellion and to quell the rebels. This military expedition was preceded by the Treaty of Peace and Alliance enacted with the newly ascended Emperor Suzong of Tang, who took a Uyghur princess in marriage while Bayanchur himself was given a Chinese princess, Ninguo, as his bride. In December 756 Bayanchur combined 4,000 of his selected cavalry with Tang forces and launched military operations against the rebels. These operations were successful and in autumn of 757 the joint forces liberated the Tang Dynasty capital Chang'An from rebel control. in December 757, after assisting in expelling rebels from the second Tang capital Luoyang, expeditionary Uyghur troops under command of eldest son of Bayanchur Khan Kutlug Bilga Yabgu returned home. In recompense for their assistance, the Uyghurs received tribute from China in the form of 10,000 rolls of silk. A later (762 CE) treaty included the annual exchange of horses from the Uyghur Khaganate for rolls of silk cloth from Tang China; each horse being the equivalent of 40 rolls of silk. In exchange for 20,000 rolls of silk, the Uyghurs were obliged to supply 500 selected horses. This type of concealed annual tribute amounted to reparations for saving the Tang Dynasty from annihilation.[37]

Bayanchur Khan erected a number of Bitig Tash (stone steles) during his lifetime bearing Runic Turkic inscriptions to preserve the memory of Uyghur Els for future generations (literally: for thousands years, tens of thousands days carved my thoughts on stone; Bing yiliq, tuman kunlik bitigimin bilgumin bunta yashi tashka yaratidim :::).[38] The most famous such stele is the granite stele inserted into a tortoise-shaped plinth,[39] on which Bayanchur Khan had described not only current events, but also made references to the previous Uyghur Els or First and Second Uyghur Khaganates. The First Uyghur El was ruled by three prominent Uyghur khagans and lasted for about 200 years (" Three Khagans governed... two hundreds years" Olurmysh Uch Khagans...Iki Yuz Yil ... ).[40] After an interregnum of about a century, another foreign power ruled the Uyghurs on the Orkhon River( Qalmisi Budun On-Uyghur, Tokuz-Oghuz uza yuz yil olurup  :  :  :  : "Remaining people of On-Uyghur, Tokuz-Oghuz they 100 years ruled").[41] The Uyghurs then rebelled and the Second Uyghur El was founded by the Yaghlaqar clan around 605 CE, establishing the beginning of the Yaghlaqar Dynasty which remained in power for about 400 years (the last Yaghlaqar Khagan of the Uyghur Ganzhou Kingdom in Gansu was killed by the Tanguts in 1028 CE). This polity existed for about 80 years and collapsed when the ruling Bazh Khagan was killed by the Gokturks in 688 CE which inaugurated a period of about 50 years of Gokturk rule over the Uyghurs. A rebellion was launched against the Gokturks in 741 CE (year of Snake, Yilan Yil ) by the Yaghlaqars who fled to Ganzhou in Gansu after the Bazh Khagan's death and then returned to the Orkhon Valley a half-century later, this time united with other Tokuz-Oghuz tribes and they overthrew all their enemies.

Bayanchur Khan died soon after completion of his successful expedition against hostile tribes in the Sayan Mountains in the summer of 759 CE (Year of Boar, Zin Yil ), during a feast devoted to this victory. Por-Bazhyn (Kasar Korug [42] in Uyghur runic inscriptions, summer residence of Khagan inside of protected area Korug,[43] name Kasar possibly related to one of the tribes of former On-Uyghur northern confederation) was among seventeen brick forts erected on the places of former fenced military outposts (Chit ), that had been set during that and the previous khagan's expeditions (in 750,[44] 751, 756, 758) in Tuva with permanently stationed garrisons to guard the sources of the Yenisei River and the northern borders of the Khaganate. Most forts were connected with one other by stone defensive walls stretching for hundreds of kilometers. This feature was later known as Chengiz Khan's wall. Remnants of 14 forts, known as the Shagonar cities, were discovered in the 1950s, but were not investigated and were engulfed in the 1970s by the waters of reservoir of the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam on the Yenisei River in Khakassia. The purpose of these expeditions was a neutralization of the emergent and rapidly growing threat from the North, e.g., the Kyrgyz tribes, a threat which proved to be fatal in 840 CE, when the Uyghur Empire finally collapsed.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Tariat Inscription" in Mongolia, line 1.
  2. ↑ "Tariat Inscription" in Mongolia, line 14.
  3. ↑ "Tariat Inscription" in Mongolia, line 20(total) or East Side, line 5 Sakiz Otuz yashima Yilan Yilka Turk Elin anta bulgadim, anta artatdim ::::::" In the age of 28 (according to Uyghur system of counting 8 to 30 meant 28) in the year of Snake (741) I disturbed and destroyed the realm of Turks." (If Bayanchur was 28 in 741 CE, he was born in 713 CE).
  4. ↑ "Tes Inscription" in Mongolia, line 5
  5. ↑ "Tariat Inscription" in Mongolia, line 1.
  6. ↑ "Tariat Inscription" in Mongolia, line 1.
  7. ↑ Rene Grousset, The Empire of The Steppes, 1970, p.567: From Chinese transcription Mo-yen-cho, Schlegel has postulated a Turkic name Moyun-chor; whereas, as Pelliot notes, the equivalent would more probably be Bayan-chor (Pelliot, "A propos des Comans," JA [1920], p. 153). The Uigur title of this prince is Tangrida qut bulmysh il etmish bilga qagan. In the Orgötü valley, between the Orkhon and the Selenga, his tomb has been found, and on it an inscription still in ancient or "runic" Turkic.
  8. ↑ E.g., Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 53.
  9. ↑ "Tariat" or "Terkhin" Inscription in Mongolia, line 1
  10. ↑ "Tariat Inscription", line 1
  11. ↑ Enthronement of Bogu Khagan was mentioned in "Tes Inscription", composed in 761 or 762 on the stone stele (reddish granite) by his order. It contains 22 lines of inscription on all 4 sides of the stele and unlike " Tariat " and "Selenege Stone" Inscriptions it was not inserted into Turtle, but was installed on the top of clay Pyramid, flat on the top. It describes these events on lines 4 and 5 : Aginturty Uyghur Khanim tutukty " My Uyghur Khan was raised up on felt cover (i.e. was declared Khagan)" . Eletmysh Khanim yashi tegi uchdi, ugli, yabgum, Khagan bolti. "My Eletmish Khan aged died (literally:flew away), his son, my Yabgu, became Khagan". ::: :
  12. ↑ This is a Chinese transcription of the title. His real-life Uyghur name is unknown, while the official titles were El Tutmish, Kutluk, Bilge, Kul Qaghan, i.e., "state gained", "glorious", "wise", and "mighty ruler".
  13. ↑ Bayanchur Khagan himself described this event on "Selenge Stone" Inscription on line 12: Anta kisra akanim Khagan uchdi, " Back then my father, Khagan, died (literally:flew away)". ::
  14. ↑ Element " Ghur " can be found in the word " Ghurkhan "- the karakhitai Khan, elected by Council of tribes in accordance with consensus and in the word " Khur + Altai " (Kurultai) - political and military Council of all Altai tribes since around the 3rd century AD.
  15. ↑ "Tariat Inscription" put the year of his enthroning as 758 in lines 29,30 (Total) or lines 5,6 on South Side of Stele (Kusgu yilqa...Khagan etadi ... " On the year of Mouse (748) ...was declared Khagan ".
  16. ↑ "Selenge Stone Inscription", line 17.
  17. ↑ "Selenge Stone Inscription", line 12 Yabgu etadi : Announced as Yabgu.
  18. ↑ "Selenge Stone Inscription", line 13
  19. ↑ "Selenge Stone Inscription", line 12
  20. ↑ Shamanistic beliefs of Yaghlaqars included elements of mysticism, associated with cult of Qut or sacred energy, that brings happiness. Death of two Uyghur Els was blamed on loss of this energy. Shamanistic rituals included manipulations with some magical things, it was rumored that with them Yaghlaqars could change weather conditions, these "magical things" were kept strictly inside the clan and knowledge of them was not shared with anybody. Traveller from Samanid Empire Tamim Ibn Bahr, who visited Ordubaliq in 821, wrote about "rain stones" in the Khagan's residency.
  21. ↑ "Selenge Stone Inscription", line 13 Sungisdim...shanchidim kun...tun ...:... Led cavalry...thrusted spears, day...night.
  22. ↑ "Tariat Inscription", West line 4 of stele Tort bulungdaqi:budun:kuch berur:yaghim:bulyoqbolti :::: " On all four sides of country people are giving their services to me, all my enemies are annihilated ".
  23. ↑ "Selenge Stone Inscription", line 19 Iki uglima Yabgu Shad ati bertim Tardush Toles budunka bertim anchip :::: "I two sons announced Yabgu and Shad and gave them Tardush and Toles people thus".
  24. ↑ "Tariat Inscription", line 7 (total) or West line 7 of stele Tardush beglar...bashi...besh bing er bashi Alp Ishbara Sengun Yaghlaqar :......: " The head of Tardush begs... the head of 5,000 soldiers Alp Ishbara Sengun Yaghlaqar."
  25. ↑ "Tariat Inscription ", line 7 (total) or West line 7 of stele. Urungu yuz bashi, ulug Urungu... Toles beglar.. bashi ......::: "The head of 100 soldiers Urungu, great Urungu... the head of Toles begs".
  26. ↑ "Selenge Stone", line 34, El Urginin anta urgin etdim Established horde of El there.
  27. ↑ Tokuz Buyruq " Nine ministers" "Tes" Inscription, line 21
  28. ↑ Chinese and local sources indicate that upon arrival to Uyghur capital Ordubaliq Tang princesses had to be circled nine times around Palace by 9 ministers before admission to Khagan, possibly it was related to the tribe organization of Uyghurs of Third Uyghur El.
  29. ↑ "Tariat Inscription", line 6 Ulug Buyruq tokuz bolmish "There were 9 Great Ministers".
  30. ↑ "Tariat Inscription", line 13
  31. ↑ "Tariat Inscription", line 12
  32. ↑ "Tariat Inscription", line 6. Tengrida bolmish Eletmish Bilga Khanim ichreki buduni altmish :::: "My heaven born Eletmish Bilga Khan had 60 Court people"
  33. ↑ "Tariat Inscription",line 6 total, West Side, line 6 Ich Buyruq bashi Inanchu Baga Tarkhan "The head of ministers of the Court was Inanchu Baga Tarkhan"
  34. ↑ "Tariat Inscription", line 6
  35. ↑ "Tariat Inscription",line 6 Bish yuz bashi kulug ongi Oz Inanchu: "The famous head of 500 guards was Oz Inanchu".
  36. ↑ "Selenge Stone Inscription", line 41 Sogd Tabgachka Selengeda Baybaliq yapiti bertim :::: I ordered Sogdians and Chinese to build Baybaliq on Selenga.
  37. ↑ An Lushan Rebellion (755-763) was an apocalyptic event for China. Tang China census of 754 put population of Tang Empire at 52 millions 880 488 souls, census of 764 put population of Tang Empire, greatly reduced in size, at 16 millions 900 000 souls. Although it reflects the loss of territories, nevertheless it points out to catastrophic losses of human lives during Rebellion. Imperial Tang Army, proud of Tang Dynasty, that numbered more than 1,000 000 before Rebellion ( biggest Army in the World at the time) in which many of its prominent Commanders decided to participate on rebel side, seized to exist, only militia and mercenaries were left and entire country was laid in ruins.
  38. ↑ "Tariat Inscription" in Mongolia, second and third lines, composed by Uyghur author Boka Tutam (as sign on the Turtle base stated which bears the royal Tamga or Stamp of Yaglaqars as well) in 752-753 years ( started in the "Year of Dragon" Ulu Yil and completed in the "Year of Snake" Yilan Yil ) by the order of Bayanchur Khan.
  39. ↑ "Tariat" or "Terkhin" stele, consist of 30 lines of Uyghur Orkhon Runic Script on all 4 sides of stele, now broken in 3 parts, all parts are being kept in Mongolian Institute of Archeology, while Turtle is on the entrance of Mongolian Academy of Sciences in the capital city of Ulan Bator of Mongolia.
  40. ↑ "Tariat" or "Terkhin" Inscription in Mongolia, line 16th. Name of two Great Khagans were Bumin and Yolug ,name of third is unknown. "Tes" Inscription put period of ruling of 3 Great Uyghur Khagans in 300 years in line 8th.
  41. ↑ "Selenge Stone" or "Shine Usu Stele" or "Moyanchur Monument" in Mongolia, line 3rd. Selenge Stone consist of 50 lines of inscription engraved on all 4 sides of granite stele, inserted into Turtle. Narrator is Bayanchur Khan, composed in 759 CE, not long before his death.
  42. ↑ "Selenge Stone" Inscription in Mongolia, line 20th. Also mentioned in "Tes" Inscription, line 19th, as Western Summer Headquarters of Bogu Khagan ( Kasar Korug Qonti, Chit tikdi, Urgin yaratdi, yayladi Settled in Kasar Korug, Chit ( Outpost with flags ) raised, Palace built, spent summer ) , while Eastern Summer Headquarters were located in Elser ,line 20th.
  43. ↑ Mahmud Kashgari wrote in XI century that Korug was a place where ruler could hide for a certain period of time.
  44. ↑ "Selenge Stone" Inscription, line 19 Bars Yilka Chik tapa yoridim, ekinta ay tort yigirmika Kemda tokidim ::::::: " In year of Leopard (750) made campaign against Chiks, on the second month, fourteenth day (literally: four to twenty), defeated on Kem (Yenisei River)."
  45. ↑ Inscription El etmish Bilge kagan (Tariat // Terh). The "Turk bitig" site (in English)

References

Lev Gumilev. Ancient Turks. Kyzyl, 2004.
Turghun Almas. The Uyghurs ("Uyghurlar"). Almaty, Kazakhstan, 1992 (In the Uyghur language. Published originally in China, then banned with all issues being seized. Republished in Almaty)

Preceded by
Guli Peilo		 Khagan of the Uyghur Khaganate
747–759		 Succeeded by
Qutlugh tarqan sengün
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