Theme 2

1. Turkic kaganate formation. Western Turkic, Turkesh, Karluk and Oghuz

Accordingly, ancient Turkics had originated from non numerous people, who lived in South Altai at the head of Ashina in the V century. The Chinese called them “Tϋ -kϋ ”. Later historians interpreted it as “Turk”. The word “Turk” means “strong, intense”. The word “Ashina”means “wolf”, in mongol “Shinochino”. Generally, origin of Turkics is a major problem. Two legends about Turkic origin are in the Chinese source “Zhou name”. The name of the dynasty Ashina”. According to these legends the ancestors of the Turkic people were wiped out by their enemies. Only a ten-year old boy survived. Mutilated by his victors, he was rescued and fed by a she-wolf. When the boy grew up the she-wolf became his wife and gave birth to his ten sons. One of the sons was Ashina. Then he became a leader of a tribe to which he gave his name. Later they settled in the South Altai mountains and mined iron for Juan juans”. The possession of Turkic tribes had been mentioned for the first time in the Chinese sources in 542.

By the middle of the VI century the empire Wei split up into two parts – Western and Eastern. Ambassador Taizsu from Western Wei state arrived to Bumyn Horde in 545. Bumyn decided to take provocation. He made a request to Anagui to marry his daughter. It is reasonable that Anagui got angry when his slave asked the daughter for a wife. Then Bumyn started the war against the Juan juans, which finished with a victory of the Turkics in 552. Anagui committed a suicide. Bumyn took the title of “Il-khan” (kagane) and his wife “Hatun”. He united all Turkic tribes in one state-Turkic kaganate. But Bumyn died at the end of 552. His successor was his son Kara Eske, who was able to rule only a few months. After Kara Eske, his brother Mukan came to the power(553-572). Mukan’s successor was Taspar. The power of Turkics had extended in Central Asia, South Siberia, South-Western Manchuria, mongol tribes the Kidans and lands of Yenisei Kirgiz. At the same time the Turkics went to West. A Western trip headed a young brother of Bumyn Istemi.During the reign of Istemi and his successors Western Turkics reached from the upper lands of the Yenisei in Eastern Siberia in the North, to China and Iran in the South, from Korea in the East to the Black Sea in the West. The struggle for the power coincided with Jute in 582-583. The final outcome was a spilt of the Turkic kaganate into two independent kaganates – Eastern and Western in 603.According to the Chinese sources in the Western Turkic kaganate there were 28 titles. However, the amount of titles depended on the territory of the kaganate. The main population was the simple people – “budun”-“black budun”. The tribal union Nushibi consisted of 5 tribes and Dulu of 5 tribes as well. The best-known kaganes of the Western Turkic kaganate were Shegui (610-618) and Tong yabgu (618-630). At the end of the VII century one of the strongest Turkic tribes – Turkeshes occupied two military area (region): Vu-lou –the upper valley of the Ili river and Go-shan – to the west from the Ili river. Turkeshes were the fourth tribe in the structure Dulu. “The history of dynasty Tan” reported “that Turkeshes divided into clans of blacks and yellows”. The leader of the Turkeshes Uch-elig forcing out last representative of Ashina came to the power in 704, although a historian, professor A.Dauletkhan believes, that the time of formation of Turkesh kaganate is 692, when Turkeshes captured Sujab. In connection with the death of Uch-elig in 706, his successor Sakal came to the power and the army amount were 300 000. Remnants of Turkeshes troops led by the commander Suluk retreated over the Syr-Darya and went to Tokhoristan. The troops of the Eastern Turkic kaganate found themselves in the Sogda. There they participated in the battles against Arabs on the side of the Sogdians and retreated to Mongolia in 714.The Turkeshes strengthened their operations in the West. They activily entered into antiarabian struggle of Middle Asia states in 720es-30es of the VIII century. Suluk was killed by his commander. Death of Suluk and short reign of his son Tuhvarsen Kut-Chor (738-739) caused two decades of the powerful struggle between the “blacks” and the “yellows”. A large tribal union, repeatedly mentioned in runic inscriptions under the name Uch-Karluk (three tribes of Karluk), appears in the Chinese sources in the connection with the events of the first half of the VII century. They settled in the East in the highlands Otuken (Mongolia), in the East Turkestan the region Besbaliq, and settled in the South Tohoristan (North Afghanistan).The main part of the Karluk locating between the Eastern and Western kaganates always fought for their independence. After formation in 682 of the second Eastern Turkic kaganate, the Karluks were dependent on them. The first set out of the Karluk against Eastern Turkic refers to 711-712. According to ancient inscription in honor of Kultegin: “When Kultegin was 27, the Karluk people were (our) enemies”. The Karluks’ desire of independence led them to move to Zhetysu in 746. At the time, the political situation in Zhetysu was extremely aggravated. In 748 the Chinese troops captured Sujab. The battle at Atlakh is known in the history as “The Battle of Talas” (751). This battle had great historic importance in the lives of the people of Central Asia. It put an end to attempts of the Chinese to interfere into Central Asian affairs until the middle of the XVIII century. In 766 early feudal Karluks’ state was formed in the Zhetysu. The Karluk tribes settled in the vast territory of Kazakhstan –from the Zhungar Alatau to the middle course of the Syr-Darya and lived between the lakes Balkhash and Issyk-Kul, in the river valleys of the Shu, the Talas, the Ili.The supreme ruler had a title of Yabgu, but in 840 Bilge Kul Kadyr took a title of “Kagan”. The initial territory of the Oghuzes was Zhetysu. In the middle of the VIII century there was a fight of the Karluks and the Oghuzes for Turkesh heritage owing. The first news about the state of the Oghuzes appear in Arabic-language historical and geographical compositions. The capital of Oghuz state was Yangikent lying on a joint of important caravan tracks.The Supreme governor carrying the title " zhabgu" (" yabgu") was the head of the state. The wives of governors carried the title " hatun" and played a significant role in court life.The important place was taken also by military leaders. The commander-in-chief of armies — " subashi" leaned on a war council and actively interfered in political eventsWith blossoming of Oguz’s society the supreme power of a country government began to belong to great and small kurultais. Formation of an Oghuzes’ ethnic community was difficult and long. According to Mahmoud Kashgari (XI century) the Oghuzes divided into 24 tribes, out of them 12 tribes— the Bouzouks, 12 tribes — the Uchuks. The Oghuzes’ ethnic community formation of was a difficult and long process. The initial kernel of an early Oghuz group was formed in Zhetysu, however in the course of the movement to the west it considerably replenished at the expense of Southern and Western Kazakhstan territories nomadic and semi-nomadic population. The majority of Oghuzes’ tribes were settled in steppes at the Aral and Caspian seas, and also was concentrated across the Irgiz, the Ural, the Emba, the Uil. In the east separate groups the Oghuzes reached the coast of Balkhash lake where they possessed a fortress Gorguz. Historical and geographical materials give the chance to draw a conclusion that most compactly the Oghuzes lived in Priaralye, Northern Prikaspy, the bottom flow of the Syr-Darya. In the second half of the X century in a foreign policy of the state of the Oghuzes dominated rapprochement with Kievan Rus', directed against the Hazaria state. Being in the territory of important trade ways, Hazaria figured at the international exchange between the North and the South, Asia and Europe. The state of the Oghuzes under Shakhmelik's power in 1041 they took Khorezm. However two years later Shakhmelik dzhagbu fell into hands of Seldzhuks and was executed. It was the last governor of the Oghuzes. In the middle of the XI century owing to internal and external struggle Oghuz’s state fell.

2. Material and spiritual culture of the Turkics. 70The British scientist, historian, author of the local civilization theory A.Toinbi wrote that “The nomads’ society is the society which doesn’t have history”. In the second half of the VI century Zhetysu and South Kazakhstan entered into the structure of Turkic kaganate, after the disolution of Turkic kaganate this region entered into Western Turkic and the town Sujab was its capital. The Kazakhstan’s part of the Silk Road, if we move from the west to the east, went from Shash through the Turbat pass to Isphidzhab or Sairam. The name of this ancient town has been kept till our days.The first metropolis, which merchants met on the Silk Road in the valley of Talas was Zhuvikat. At the beginning the Silk Road was used to export Chinese Silk then the goods from the Byzantium Empire, Rome, Iran, India. Many medieval and contemporary authors have noted that the Turkic – speaking nations had the original religion – Tengrianism. This religious system was born in the depths of a nomadic society of Eurasia BC and has continued to maintain its position even today in the minds of the Kazakhs, despite recent attachment to Islam. Next but not less important were Yer-Sub and the female deity Umai – patroness of home and children. They were of higher triad of the Turkics’ deities. Along with their own beliefs in the VI-IX cc. religious system became a widespread among the Turkic tribes on Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan, created by other civilizations–Buddhism, Manichaeism, and Christianity. The origin of the Turkic runic alphabet, despite the efforts of several generations of Turkic studies, still remains a challenge. A few points of view about the origin of Turkic alphabet were formed in the science: 1)The theory about the origin of Turkic alphabet from Aramei alphabet. The author of this theory was V. Tomsen is the first of Turkic runic alphabet in 1893.2)The theory about an independent origin. a Russian orientalist N.A.Aristov found a resemblance to the Turkic tamgas in 29 out of 38 signs of the Orkhon alphabet. 3)The theory about borrowing from the Sogdians. The author of this conception was Russian scientist S. Klyashtornyi. The ancient Turkic alphabet was discovered in the valley of the Yenisei river in the 20-es of XVIII century by German scientist I.Messershmidt and Swedish officer I. Accordingly generalizing cultural heritage of Turkic VI-IX cc. we can draw a conclusion, that ancient Turkics hadn’t been left outside of the world civilization, however, they introduced essential contribution to the world civilization. It is the prosperity of town culture, development of the trade and crafts, statehood, traditional form of military governance, religions, letters, language and towns culture and etc.