What We Know About The Ancient Göktürks?

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• published: 13 May 2015
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The Türks or the Kök Türks (Chinese: 突厥; pinyin: Tūjué), also known as Ashina/Açina Turks and sometimes as its Anatolian Turkish version Göktürks (Celestial/Blue Turks), were a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Inner Asia. The kök Türks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, succeeded the Rouran as the main power in the region and established the Turkic Khaganate, one of several nomadic dynasties which would shape the future geolocation, culture, and dominant beliefs of Turkic peoples. They were known in Middle Chinese historical sources as the tʰwot-küot (Chinese: 突厥; pinyin: Tūjué). According to Chinese sources, the meaning of the word Tujue was "combat helmet" (Chinese: 兜鍪; pinyin: Dōumóu; Wade–Giles: Tou1-mou2), reportedly because the shape of the Altai Mountains, where they lived, was similar to a combat helmet. The name Göktürk is said to mean "Celestial Turks". This is consistent with "the cult of heavenly ordained rule" which was a recurrent element of Altaic political culture and as such may have been imbibed by the Göktürks from their predecessors in Mongolia. Similarly, the name of the ruling Ashina clan may derive from the Khotanese Sakā term for "deep blue", āššɪna. The name might also derive from a Tungusic tribe related to Aisin. The word Türk meant "strong" in Old Turkic. Origins The Göktürk rulers originated from the Ashina clan, who were first attested to 439. The Book of Sui reports that in that year, on October 18, the Tuoba ruler Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei overthrew Juqu Mujian of the Northern Liang in eastern Gansu, whence 500 Ashina families fled northwest to the Rouran Khaganate in the vicinity of Gaochang. Peter B. Golden points out the possibility that the khaghans of the Turkic Khaganate, the Ashina, were themselves originally an Indo-European (possibly Iranian) clan who later adopted the Turkic language, but retained their tradition of inherited Indo-European titles. German Turkologist W.-E. Scharlipp points out that many common terms in Turkic are Iranian in origin. According to the Book of Zhou and the History of the Northern Dynasties, the Ashina clan was a component of the Xiongnu confederation, but this connection is disputed, and according to the Book of Sui and the Tongdian, they were "mixed barbarians" (雜胡 / 杂胡, Pinyin: zá hú, Wade–Giles: tsa hu) from Pingliang. Indeed, Chinese sources link many barbarians (hu) on their northern borders to the Xiongnu, just as Graeco-Roman historiographers called Avars, Huns and Magyars "Scythians". Such archaizing was a common literary topos, and implied similar geographic origins and nomadic lifestyle but not direct filiation. As part of the heterogeneous Rouran Khaganate, the Türks lived for generations north of the Altai Mountains, where they 'engaged in metal working for the Rouran'. According to Denis Sinor, the rise to power of the Ashina clan represented an 'internal revolution' in the Rouran confederacy, rather than an external conquest. According to Charles Holcombe, the early Tujue population was rather heterogeneous and many of the names of Türk rulers, including the two founding members, are not even Turkic. This is supported by evidence from the Orkhon inscriptions, where several non-Turkic lexemes, possibly representing Ungric or Samoyed words. Eastern Turks under the Jimi system On May 19, 639 Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Tai zong at Jiucheng Palace (九成宮, in present day Linyou County, Baoji, Shaanxi). However, they did not succeed and fled to the north, but were caught by pursuers near the Wei River and were killed. Ashina Hexiangu was exiled to Lingbiao. After the unsuccessful raid of Ashina Jiesheshuai, on August 13, 639 Taizong instated Ashina Simo as the Yiminishuqilibi Khan and ordered the settled Turkic people to follow Ashina Simo north of the Yellow River to settle between the Great Wall and the Gobi Desert.