Page 129 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

1906 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

sources also note their ruling clan (or tribe) as the Ashina cementing their ties. Bumïn destroyed the Rouran in 552
and place some of the latter’s early (fifth-century) history and took over their empire. A program of conquest
in the Gansu-Xinjiang region of northwestern China, immediately followed.
areas that were then populated byTokharian and Iranian While Bumïn (who died shortly after this) and his sons
peoples.The name Ashina appears to derive from an Iran- Golo (d. 553) and Muqan (or Mughan; reigned 553–
ian orTokharian term and is noted in an inscription writ- 572) consolidated their control in Mongolia, his brother
ten in Sogdian (the principal language of the Silk Road) Ishtemi (reigned 552–c. 576) extended Türk power to the
dating to 582, the earliest inscription known thus far western steppes and the Crimea, laying the foundations
from the Türk empire. Here, the Ashinas are paired with of the western Türk empire. Following old steppe princi-
theTürks, perhaps indicating that they were still two dis- ples of governance, the Türk empire was divided in two
tinct entities at this time.The Orkhon inscriptions subse- for administrative purposes.The supreme qaghan resided
quently make note of the KökTürk (inTurkic, kök means in the East; his counterpart in the West had slightly less
“sky, sky-blue”) which may refer to this earlier distinction. power. Their subjects now included the Sogdians who
The color blue was associated with the direction east in were the principal merchants of the Silk Road, various
Inner and East Asia. Hence, Kök Türk may also mean other Iranian sedentary and nomadic peoples of Central
“EasternTürks” or even “HeavenlyTürks” (as it has some- Asia, and a number of Turkic tribes that had earlier
times been rendered). None of the names of the early Türk migrated westward.
qaghans is of Turkic origin (qaghan is the Inner Asian title Allied with the Sasanid empire of Iran, Ishtemi crushed
for “emperor” first noted in the third century CE). the Hephthalite state (in modern Afghanistan), which
derived from a mix of Asian Avar and Hunnic elements,
Formation around 557. At about this same time, a people calling
of the Türk Empire themselves Avars, who had fled the Türk conquest, made
The Türks came to prominence as the older states around their appearance in the Pontic steppes and opened diplo-
them were crumbling.The Tuoba Wei dynasty (386–534 matic relations with Byzantium.The Türks under Ishtemi
CE), a semi-Sinicized dynasty of Altaic origins that had soon appeared, and the Avars, accompanied by some
controlled much of northern China, had divided into two subject tribes, retreated to Pannonia (modern Hungary).
warring rival states: the Eastern Wei (534–550), which Türk power now extended from Manchuria to the
was replaced by the Qi (550–557), and the Western Wei Crimea. The Avars remained safely ensconced in Pan-
(535–557), which was replaced by the Northern Zhou nonia until their state was destroyed by the Franks of
(557–581). In Mongolia, the Rouran (or Avars) were Charlemagne at the end of the eighth century. They fre-
increasingly caught up in internal dynastic strife and peri- quently raided Byzantine holdings in the Balkans, often
odic revolts of vassal peoples. Among the latter were the in conjunction with the Slavs, substantial groupings of
Türk-Ashina, who engaged in metalworking for their which began to settle in the region, giving rise to the
Rouran overlords. The Rouran qaghan Anagui (520– Southern Slavic peoples of today.
552) made an alliance with the Eastern Wei.The Western The Türks, having conflicting trade and political goals
Wei retaliated in 545 by opening communications to with Iran, broke with the Sasanids and established rela-
Bumïn, the Türk-Ashina leader.When Bumïn was refused tions with Constantinople in 568. Byzantium, having
a Rouran royal bride as reward for his role in suppress- recently established its own silk industry and no longer
ing a revolt of the eastern Tiele (a large union of Turkic as dependent on the Silk Road and Iran for this luxury
and Mongolic tribes that extended from northern Mon- good, was nonetheless anxious to have allies against Iran.
golia to the Pontic steppes in present-day Ukraine) in The Türks were seeking an outlet for the silk that they
551, the Western Wei sent off a princess to him, thereby were getting from China. The resulting Byzantine-Türk