Turkish Khanate 7th century CE

Instructor Pacas

The Gok Turks• Bumin’s son, Mughan Qaghan defeated the

Hepthalites, Khitan, and Kyrgyz Turks/Mongolic steppe federations.

• Bumin's brother Ishtemi was titled Yabghu of the west (title of junior to qaghan) and collaborated with the Sassanids Persians to defeat and destroy the Hephthalite, who were allies of the Rouran/Avars.

• This war tightened the Gok Turk's grip of the Silk Road and drove the Avars into Europe, were eventually the Turks pursued them, hoping to exterminate their former overlords once and for all.

Gok Turk Khanate

Gok Turks

The Split of the Khanate

• This first Turkic Khaganate split in two after the death of their fourth Qaghan, Taspar Qaghan in 584 CE.

• He had willed the title Qaghan to Mughan's son Ahina, but the high council appointed Ishbara Qaghan in his stead.

• Factions formed around both leaders.• Eventually there were no less than four

rivals that claimed the title of Qaghan.

• They were successfully played off against each other by the Sui and Tang dynasties of China creating fissures in the khanate.

• Ishtemi’s son Tardu Qaghan possed the most serious threat to Ishbara’s claim.

• Tardu declared himself independent from the Qaghan after Ishtemi’s death.

• Tardu lead his armies east to claim overall power of the Gok Turk Khanate.

Tardu vs. the Sui

• Ishbara Qaghan requested help from Emperor Sui Yangdi of China against his rival.

• Capitalizing on the Gok Turk civil war the Sui assisted him, hoping to weaken the Turks and eventually pacify their limes/frontier with the steppes.

• Tardu besieged Chang’an, the Sui capital in 601 CE.

The Sui and the Uighurs

• While Tardu was besieging Chang’an the Chinese had sent embassies to vassals of Tardu in the hopes of inciting them to revolt against their Gok Turk overlords.

• These embassies met with success and inspired other Turkic vassals of the Western Gok Turk Khanate to rebel against their overlords, particularly the Uighurs in 603 CE.

The Eastern and Western Khanates 600-681 CE

• The civil war among the Gok Turks left the khanate divided between east and west.

• The Eastern Gok Turk Khanate decided to turn against their former allies, the Chinese, during the later Sui Dynasty circa 615 CE and early Tang Dynasty circa 620’s CE.

• Shibi Qaghan 609-619 CE and Illig Qaghan 619-630 CE mounted expeditions against China which would eventually bring about the collapse of the Eastern Gok Turk Khanate in 630 CE.

626-627 CE• Illig Qaghan was extremely ambitious and

in 626 CE moved against Chang’an and forced the Emperor Taizong to pay tribute.

• It seemed that the Tang Dynasty was about to capitulate to the Eastern Gok Turk Khanate.

• However, in 628 inclement weather in the steppes particularly Mongolia zapped the strength of the Eastern Gok Turk Khanate as their herds died from starvation.

630 CE

• The Tang took advantage of this devastation to inspire the Uighurs to revolt against the Eastern Gok Turk Khanate.

• A combination force of Tang Chinese lead by Li Jing with Uighur allies defeated Illig Qaghan in 630 CE at the Battle of Yinshan.

• Illig was captured and brought to Chang’an and the Eastern Gok Turk Khanate collapsed.

• Much of the former Eastern Gok Turk Khanate territory and corresponding Turkic tribes were incorporated as vassals of the Tang Chinese.

Western Gok Turk Khanate

• The Western qaghan Shekeui and Tung Yabghu allied themselves with the Byzantines against the Sassanid Persians and succeeded in restoring the southern borders along the Tarim and Oxus rivers.

• In 627 CE Tung Yabghu, assisted by the Khazars and Emperor Heraclius, launched a massive invasion of Transcaucasia which culminated in the taking of Tblisi in modern Georgia.

• In 630 CE the Göktürk cavalry invaded Armenia and the general Chorpan Tarkhan successfully routed a large Persian force.

• However,Tung Yabghu's murder in 630 forced the Gök Turks to evacuate Transcaucasia.

Onogur Turkic Empire

• The Western Gok Turk Empire was revamped by Ishbara Qaghan 634-639 CE and renamed the Onogur (meaning ten arrows).

• The name refers to the "ten arrows" that were granted by the khagan to five leaders (shads) of its two constituent tribal confederations, the Dulo and Nushibi.

The fracturing of the Onogurs

• This new administration of the Onogurs paved the way for internal squabbling and eventually many of the tribes sought to break away.

• One of the Bulgarian Turk vassals under the leadership of Kubrat, broke away from the Onogurs and proceeded to move further west, his people eventually settling into former Roman Moesia, present day Bulgaria.

Cont’d• Tang Chinese military activity against the

Eastern Gok Turks spilled over into military action against the Onogurs weakening the Onogurs further until the Onogur Khanate collapsed completely in 657-658 CE.

• In its place the Khazar Turkic Empire 650-850 CE would emerge as overlords of the former Onogur/Western Gok Turk Khanate.

The Khazar Empire

• The Khazar Empire which lay in present day Russia and Ukraine was strategically situated to tap into the lucrative trade routes of the Silk Road.

• They became a powerful empire conducting business with the Caliphate and Byzantium throughout the 8th and 9th centuries CE.

Khazar Empire

Khazar Empire in 830’s CE

• Because of growing tensions between the Caliphate and Byzantium in the 9th century CE, the Khazars were constantly bombarded with missionaries from both monotheistic religions.

• Plus business dealings were often heated because Caliphate and Byzantium were often putting pressure on Khazars to convert to their respective religion and become military allies against the other super power.

830’s Cont’d

• The Khazars were traditional steppe nomads and worshipped Tengri.

• However being shrewd business men and knowing that problems with Byzantium and Caliphate were only going to increase and not wishing to alienate either group from their business enterprise chose instead to convert to Judaism circa 830 CE.

The End of Khazar Empire

• Internal power struggles left the Khazar Empire weakened and no longer able to effectively extend their sovereignty in the region.

• Subject tribes and people began to splinter off and challenge Khazar dominance.

• Of particular importance were the Volga Bulgars, the Magyars, and the Rus.

The Rus