The Second Turkic Khaganate was a khaganate in Central and Eastern Asia founded by Ilterish of the Ashina clan of the Göktürks and lasted from 682 to 744. It was preceded by the Eastern Turkic Khaganate (552–630) and the early Tang dynasty period (630–682). The Second KhaganateElena Vladimirovna Boĭkova, R. B. Rybakov, Kinship in the Altaic World: Proceedings of the 48th Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Moscow, 10–15 July 2005, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006 , p. 225.Anatoly Michailovich Khazanov, Nomads and the Outside World, Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1984 , p. 256.András Róna-Tas, An introduction to Turkology, Universitas Szegediensis de Attila József Nominata, 1991, p. 29. was centered on Ötüken in the upper reaches of the Orkhon River. It was succeeded by its subject Toquz Oghuz confederation, which became the Uyghur Khaganate.
History Origin
Tang conquest of the Eastern Turks
After the Tang dynasty defeated the Eastern Turkic Khaganate in 630, the surrendered Turkic tribal chiefs and their people were organized into six prefectures under four area commands in the Ordos Loop (Guannei Circuit). Some of these were loose rein prefectures which retained their traditional tribal structure while others closer to Tang garrisons were directly governed by officials appointed by the Tang court. Later, protectorates were created in major military garrisons to oversee larger and more remote tribes. The Yanran Protectorate was created in 630 or 647 north of Wuyuan and west of Baotou to oversee the Ordos Loop. The Yanran Protectorate was renamed Hanhai Protectorate in 663 and renamed again to Anbei Protectorate (Protectorate General to Pacify the North) in 669. The Yunzhong Protectorate was created and renamed to the Chanyu Protectorate in 664, located northwest of Horinger and south of Hohhot.
Rebellions In 679, the Turk officials Ashide Wenfu and Ashide Fengzhi rebelled against the Chanyu Protectorate and backed Ashina Nishufu as their khagan. The Turk chiefs of 24 border districts joined them. Chief Administrator Xiao Siye of the Chanyu Protectorate, together with Hua Dazhi and Li Jingjia, were sent to combat the rebels. They won a battle but extended too far and were accosted by a snowstorm. Their camp was caught in a surprise attack by the Turks at night, forcing Xiao to retreat due to the loss of supplies and men. The next Tang general, Pei Xingjian, arrived at Shuo Prefecture and hid his soldiers in 300 supply carts while ordering the weak soldiers to escort the carts and lure the Turks into a trap. When the Turks took the bait and attacked the escorts, the hidden Tang troops ambushed them and forced them to retreat. The fleeing Turk troops were caught by Tang soldiers deployed in strategic locations. In the spring of 680, Pei Xingjian defeated Fengzhi's army at Heishan ("Black Mountain") and captured him. Nishufu was killed by his subordinate and his head was sent to the Tang emperor. The remaining Turk rebels continued to attack the Tang throughout 680 and 681.Sima Guang, Zizhi Tongjian, Vol. 202
Ashina Funian, a relative of Illig Khagan, the last ruler of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, proclaimed himself khagan in Xià Prefecture and united the forces of Ashide Wenfu. Pei Xingjian was appointed to campaign against the Turks again on 16 February 681. The vice commander, Cao Huaishun, was sent as a vanguard to attack the Turks but he failed to find the enemy before exhausting his troops. When he finally caught Wenfu to the north of the Great Wall, a minor clash occurred before the two sides disengaged. Meanwhile, Funian had kidnapped Cao's wife, children, and captured his supplies. On 9 June 681, Cao attacked Funian without success. The next day, Funian took advantage of change in wind and routed Cao's forces. However, when the Turk khagan returned to camp, he found that his wife and children had been kidnapped by Tang forces led by Cheng Wuting. Cheng led the forces stationed in Chanyu Protectorate to attack Funian while the Uyghurs and Toquz Oghuz tribes attacked Funian from the north. Funian and Wenfu surrendered to Pei Xingjian on 16 November 681. They were sent to Chang'an where they were beheaded in the marketplace along with 52 other Turk leaders. Tonyukuk and Bilge Qaghan blamed the failed uprising on the Turks for being disloyal and surrendering to the Tang. When they surrendered to the Tang emperor again, he was irritated by their revolt and threatened to kill all the Turks.Mihaly Dobrovits, TEXTOLOGICAL STRUCTURE AND POLITICAL OF THE OLD TURKIC RUNIC INSCRIPTIONS, p. 151
In the Orkhon inscriptions, Bilge Qaghan blamed the Chinese for sowing discord within the Turks and enslaving them:
Ilterish and Qapaghan
After the failures of the previous Turk leaders, a number of tribal leaders left for Ötüken in Mongolia, including Qutlugh (later Ilterish Qaghan), a grandson of Illig Qaghan. Qutlugh was named Ilterish Qaghan in 680 and with his original 200 men, they campaigned against other tribes, gathering the Turks around him. Within ten years, he had mounted 47 campaigns and fought 20 battles, uniting the steppes and engaging in raids on the Tang dynasty. He died in 692 and was succeeded by his brother, Qapaghan Qaghan, who continued to expand the Second Turkic Khaganate to incorporate more tribes.
In 696–697 Qapaghan subjugated the Khitans and sealed an alliance with the Kumo Xi (Tatabï in Turkic texts), which stemmed the advance of the Tang armies to the northeast, into the foothills of the Khingan, and secured the empire's eastern frontier. Between 698 and 701 the northern and western frontiers of Qapaghan's state were defined by the Tannu Ola, Altai and Tarbagatai mountain ranges. After defeating the Bayirku tribe in 706–707, the Türks occupied lands extending from the upper reaches of the Kerulen to Lake Baikal. In 709–710 the Türk forces subjugated the Az and the Chik, crossed the Sayan Mountains, and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Yenisei Kyrgyz. The Kyrgyz ruler, Bars beg, fell in battle, and his descendants were to remain vassals of the Göktürks for several generations. In 711 the Türk forces, led by Tonyukuk, crossed the Altai Mountains, defeated the Türgesh army in Dzungaria on the River Boluchu. Tonyukuk forced a crossing over the Syr Darya in pursuit of the retreating Türgesh, leading his troops to the border of Tokharistan. However, in battles with the Arabs near Samarkand the Türk forces were cut off from their rear services and suffered considerable losses; they had difficulty in returning to the Altai in 713–714. There they reinforced the army that was preparing to besiege Beshbalik. The siege was unsuccessful and, after losing in six skirmishes, the Türks lifted it.Klyashtorny, 1964, p. 35-40.
Raids on the Tang dynasty Qapaghan raided the Tang in 693 until the Khitans broke away from the Turks, after which he proposed an alliance with the Tang against the Khitans. He defeated the Khitans in 696 and continued to mount raids on the Tang in the same year. The Turks continued to raid the Tang dynasty in 698, 702, and 706, bringing them many captives and immense wealth. After 706, the number of raids on the Tang decreased. According to Thomas Barfield, this was because the Turks' main motive in raiding China was to extract wealth rather than conquest, and despite political weakness at the Tang court, the Turks' focus had shifted to the west after imposing favorable demands on the Tang.
According to Jonathan Karam Skaff, both the cause and cessation of raids by the Turks were due to the state of Tang border defenses. After Qapaghan had defeated the Khitans, he used their territory as a staging ground for massive raids on the Tang. The decline in raids was due to the re-establishment of previously neglected frontier garrisons along the Yellow River north of the Ordos Plateau. Wu Zetian appointed a new general, Xue Na, who halted the raids from 698 to 712 by improving frontier defenses. In 709, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang re-established major garrisons at the cities of Western Shouxiang, Middle Shouxiang, and Eastern Shouxiang along the north of the Yellow River. After 709, Qapaghan and Bilge Qaghan were limited to campaigns primarily against other nomadic tribes, causing dissatisfaction among their people that led to Qapaghan's assassination in 715.
Crisis
After Qapaghan's death, the empire erupted in civil war between the lineages of Qapaghan led by Inel Qaghan and Ilterish led by Kul Tigin. Kul Tigin, the son of Ilterish Qaghan, defeated Qapaghan's sons and killed all members of their lineage as well as Qapaghan's advisors with the exception of Tonyukuk. Kul Tigin enthroned his elder brother as Bilge Qaghan and together they spent most of their time re-conquering tribes that had broken away during the war. In 620, the Turks attacked the Tang and extracted a yearly tributary payment of 100,000 balls of silk as part of the peace negotiations. Bilge was assassinated in 734 and power passed to his son, Yollıg Khagan. Yollıg died within a year and his brother, Tengri Qaghan, succeeded him. Tengri was a young boy at the time and the empire entered a regency under his mother, Qutluğ Säbäg Qatun, who was a daughter of Tonyukuk. Tengri's uncles split the empire among themselves until Tengri was assassinated in 741. An alliance of former subject tribes including the Basmyls, Karluks, and Uyghurs destroyed the Second Turkic Khaganate in 744. In the aftermath, the Uyghurs defeated their allies and founded the Uyghur Khaganate ruled by the Yaoluoge clan.Liu 2006, p. 330-331
Fall
Kutlug I Bilge Khagan of Uyghurs allied himself with the Karluks and Basmyls. In 744 Kutlug seized Ötüken and beheaded the last Göktürk qaghan, Ozmish Qaghan. His head was sent to the Tang court.Grousset 114. In the span of a few years, the Uyghurs gained mastery of Inner Asia and established the Uyghur Khaganate. Kulun Beg succeeded his father Ozmish. The Tang emperor Xuanzong decided to destroy the last traces of the Turkic Khaganate and sent general Wang Zhongsi to Kulun's forces. Meanwhile, Ashina Shi was deposed by Kutlug. Wang Zhongsi defeated the eastern flank of the Turkic army headed by Apa Tarkhan. Although Kulun Beg tried to escape, he was arrested by the Uyghurs and was beheaded in 745. Most of the Türks fled to other Turkic tribes like the Basmyl. However, a group including Qutluğ Säbäg Qatun, Bilge Khagan's widow, and Tonyukuk's daughter, took refuge in the Tang dynasty. The Tang emperor legitimised her as a princess and she was appointed as the ruler of her people.L.M. Gumilev, (2002), Eski Türkler, translation: Ahsen Batur , , p. 441-564 (in Turkish)
Political and social structure
Under Ilterish, the traditional structure of the Turkic state was restored. The empire created by Ilterish and his successors was a territorial union of ethnically related and hierarchically co-ordinated tribes and tribal groups. They were ideologically linked by common beliefs and accepted genealogies, and politically united by a single military and administrative organisation (el) and by general legal norms (törü). The tribal organisation (bodun) and the political structure (el) complemented one another, defining the strength and durability of social ties. In the words of the Türk inscriptions, the khan controlled the state and was head of the tribal group (el tutup bodunïm bašladïm). The principal group in the empire was composed of twelve Turkic tribes headed by the dynastic tribe of the Ashina.Czeglédy, 1972, p. 275-281.
Economy