Western Turkic Khaganate

Onoq ("Ten Arrows") Western Turkic Khaganate
Khaganate
← 593–659 →   →   →   →
Greatest extent of the Western Turkic Khaganate after the Battle of Bukhara
Capital		Navekat (summer capital) Suyab (principal capital)
Languages		Turkic
Religion		Tengrism
Political structure		Khaganate
Historical era		Early Middle Ages
•	Established	593
•	Disestablished	659

History of the Turkic peoples Pre-14th century
Turkic Khaganate 552–744
Western Turkic
Eastern Turkic
Khazar Khaganate 618–1048
Xueyantuo 628–646
Great Bulgaria 632–668
Danube Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria
Kangar union 659–750
Turgesh Khaganate 699–766
Uyghur Khaganate 744–840
Karluk Yabgu State 756–940
Kara-Khanid Khanate 840–1212
Western Kara-Khanid
Eastern Kara-Khanid
Gansu Uyghur Kingdom 848–1036
Kingdom of Qocho 856–1335
Pecheneg Khanates 860–1091	Kimek Khanate 743–1035
Cumania 1067–1239	Oghuz Yabgu State 750–1055
Ghaznavid Empire 963–1186
Seljuk Empire 1037–1194
Seljuk Sultanate of Rum
Khwarazmian Empire 1077–1231
Delhi Sultanate 1206–1526
Mamluk dynasty
Khilji dynasty
Tughlaq dynasty
Golden Horde | [1][2][3] 1240s–1502
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo) 1250–1517
Bahri dynasty
Ottoman Empire 1299-1923
Other Turkic dynasties  in Anatolia Artuqid dynasty Saltuqid dynasty in Azerbaijan Ahmadili dynasty Ildenizid dynasty in Egypt Tulunid dynasty Ikhshidid dynasty in Fars Salghurid dynasty in The Levant Burid dynasty Zengid dynasty in Yemen Rasulid dynasty in China Later Tang

The Western Turkic Khaganate or Onoq Khaganate (Chinese: 西突厥; pinyin: Xi tūjué) was a Turkic khaganate formed as a result of the internecine wars in the beginning of the 7th century (593 – 603 AD) after the Göktürk Khaganate (founded in the 6th century in Mongolia by the Ashina clan) had split into two polities – the counterpart of the Western khaganate was the Eastern Turkic Khaganate.

At its height, the Western Turkic Khaganate included the later areas of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The ruling elite of the Western Turkic Khaganate were the Onogurs – an oğuz (literally "arrow"), a subdivision of the Turkic tribes. The name of the Onugurs is derived from the proto-Turkic Onoq ("ten arrows").

Initially, the Western khaganate sought friendly relations with the Eastern Roman Empire, in order to expand their territory at the expense of their mutual enemy, the Sassanid Persian Empire.^[4]

The Western and Eastern khaganates were reunited, as the Turkic Khaganate in 682.

History

For the origin of the Onoq two contradicting accounts are given:^[5][6]

In the beginning [after 552], Shidianmi [Istämi] followed the Shanyu [Qaghan] and commanded the ten great chiefs. Together with their 100,000 soldiers, he marched to the Western Regions and subdued the barbarian statelets. There he declared himself as qaghan, under the title of ten tribes, and ruled them [the western barbarians] for generations.

— Tongdian, 193 and Jiu Tangshu, 194

Soon [after 635], Dielishi Qaghan [of the Western Göktürks] divided his state into ten parts, and each was headed by one man, together they made up the ten she [shad]. Every she is given an arrow by him, thus they were known as the ten arrows. He also divided the ten arrows into two factions, each consisted of five arrows. The left [east] faction consisted of five Duoliu (Duolu) tribes, headed by five chuo [qur] separately. The right [west] faction consisted of five Nushibi (Ch. 弩失畢) tribes, headed by five sijin [irkin] separately. Each took command on one arrow and called themselves as the ten arrows. Thereafter, each arrow was also known as one tribe, and the great arrow head as the great chief. The five Duoliu tribes inhabited to east of Suiye [water] (Chu River), and the five Nushibi tribes to the west of it. Since then, they called themselves as the ten tribes.

— Tongdian, 193 and Jiu Tangshu, 194

The first statement dates their origin back to the beginning of the First Turkic Qaghanate with Istämi, younger brother of Tumen (Bumen), who had brought with him the ten tribes probably from the Eastern Qaghanate at Mongolia and left to the west to expand the Qaghanate. The exact date for the event was not recorded, and the shanyu here referred to might be Muhan Khan.

The second statement contributes it to Dielishi, who took over the throne in 635 and began to strengthen the state by further affirming the initial ten tribes and two tribal wings, in contrast with the rotation of rule between the Tumen (through Apa) and Istämi (through Tardu) lineages in the Western Qaghanate. Thereafter, the name "ten tribes" (十姓) became as a shortened address for the Western Turks in Chinese records. However it should be noted that those divisions did not include the five^[7] major tribes, who were active further east of the ten tribes.^[8][9]

The earlier tribes consisted of eight primary tribes ruled by ten chiefs-in-command, afterwards called the on (ten) oq (arrows) (十箭). They were the five^[10] Duolu (咄陆) tribes, and the three^[11] Nushibi (弩失毕) tribes. The relationships between the ten tribes and the ruling elites were divided into two groups. The more aristocratic Duolu tribes, who held the title qur, and the lower-rated Nushipi in west, who were probably initially made up of Tiele conscripts.^[12][13] During the reformation the more powerful Nushipi tribes such as A-Xijie and Geshu were sub-divided into two tribal groups with a greater and lesser title under a fixed tribal name.

In 619 the Western Turks invaded Bactria but were repulsed in the course of the Second Perso-Turkic War. During the Third Perso-Turkic War Khagan Tung Yabghu and his nephew Böri Shad joined their forces with Emperor Heraclius and successfully invaded Transcaucasia.

The khaganate's capitals were Navekat (the summer capital) and Suyab (the principal capital), both situated in the Chui River valley of Kyrgyzstan, to the east from Bishkek. The khaganate was overrun by Tang Chinese forces under Su Dingfang in 658-659 during the Tang campaign against the Western Turks.^[14]

See also

• Eastern Turkic Khaganate
• Onogurs
• Utigurs
• Bulgars
• History of Turkey
• Ishbara Tolis (Dielishi Qaghan )
• Old Great Bulgaria
• Göktürks
• Oghuz Turks
• Turks in the Tang military
• Turkic interregnum
• Turkic peoples
• Timeline of Turks (500-1300)
• List of Turkic dynasties and countries

References

1. Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2006). Peoples of Western Asia. p. 364.
2. Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2007). Historic Cities of the Islamic World. p. 280.
3. Borrero, Mauricio (2009). Russia: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present. p. 162.
4. Twitchett, David. The Cambridge History of China. Cambridge University Press, 1979. ISBN 0-521-21446-7. Page 223.
5. Xue, "A History of Turks", p. 271, 300.
6. Wang, "Political Relationship Between the Chinese, Tibetan and Arab", p. 28.
7. 1. Chuyue (处月, later as Shato) 2. Chumi (处密) 3. Gusu (姑苏) 4. Bishi (畀失) 5. Qarluq.
8. Xue, "A History of Turks", p. 271, 273, 275, 300-301.
9. Wang, "Political Relationship Between the Chinese, Tibetan and Arab", p. 29.
10. 1. Chumukun (处木昆) 2. Huluju (胡禄居) 3. Shesheti (摄舍提) 4. Tuqishi (突骑施) 5. Shunishi (鼠尼施).
11. 1. A-Xijie (阿悉结) 2. Geshu (哥舒) 3. Basegan (拔塞干).
12. Xue, "A History of Turks", p. 272, 314.
13. Wang, "Political Relationship Between the Chinese, Tibetan and Arab", p. 30-31.
14. Hans J. Van de Ven. Warfare in Chinese History. Brill Academic Publishers, 2000. ISBN 90-04-11774-1. Page 118.