Page 131 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

1908 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Arab strife allowed the western Türks to maneuver tains, forests, and other refuges. Earth, water, and fire
between China,Tibet, and the Arabs.The On Oq union, were also worshipped, and ancestor worship was prac-
however, continued to face problems of political insta- ticed. Some of the early qaghans were also attracted to
bility. The Turkic Qarluqs, a vassal subconfederation of Buddhism. This and other religions came to the Türks
the eastern Ashina, fled to the western Türk lands around through the Sogdians, who also brought them writing
745. When the Arabs and the Chinese clashed on the systems based on the Aramaic-Syriac alphabets. One or
Talas River (751, in Kazakhstan), the Qarluq defection to more of these alphabets were probably the source of the
the Arabs proved decisive. But China’s Tang dynasty runic scripts that spread across Turkic Eurasia. The Ork-
soon was caught up with domestic rebellions (the An hon inscriptions, carved by Chinese artisans, were writ-
Lushan Rebellion in 755) and the Arabs, who were seek- ten in one of the variants of this runic script.
ing to consolidate their hold over Sogdia and Khwarazm, The Türks brought under their rule a wide range of Tur-
withdrew from the steppe. By 766 the Qarluqs had kic and other Altaic peoples, Iranians, and Uralic and
made themselves masters of the western Türk steppes. Paleo-Siberian peoples.The steppe peoples practiced pas-
toral nomadism, and the Türks continued to live in felt
Governance, Religion, and tents and consume a diet that was high in dairy products
Society in the Turkic Empire (including fermented mare’s milk) and meat. For other
The Turkic empire followed the steppe imperial traditions goods they relied on trade or raiding the neighboring
first clearly articulated by the Xiongnu.The Rouran were sedentary states, especially China.They were vitally inter-
probably the immediate source for many of the titles asso- ested in trade, and with their Sogdian vassals they played
ciated with high office. Most of these titles were of foreign a major role in the unification of the Silk Road, one of the
origin (Iranian,Tokharian, Indian, Chinese).Typical of the major arteries of East-West commerce in the medieval
steppe tradition, the Türks adhered to the notion of the world. Their empire also set the pattern for subsequent
collective sovereignty of the ruling clan over the whole of steppe empires.
the empire. Any member of the Ashina could claim rule.
Peter Golden
An attempt to work out an orderly system of lateral suc-
cession (from brother to brother and thence to their sons) See also Steppe Confederations
proved unworkable. Conflict often preceded, accompa-
nied, and followed the elevation of a new qaghan.
Qaghanal investiture involved elaborate rites, including Further Reading
the ritual strangulation with a silk cord of the new Barfield, T. (1989). The perilous frontier: Nomadic empires and China.
Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
qaghan, who in a shaman-like trance, then stated the
Beckwith, C. (1987). The Tibetan empire in central Asia. Princeton, NJ:
length of his reign. The qaghan was often described as Princeton University Press.
heavenlike or Godlike, indicating an ideology that Chavannes, E. (1941). Documents sur les Tou-Kiue (Turcs) occidentaux
[Documents on the western Tou-Kiue (Türks)]. Paris: Librairie
stressed his sacral as well as temporal power. Upon his d’Amérique et d’Orient.
death, the qaghan “returned to the gods” (Moriyasu and De la Vaissière, E. (2002). Histoire des marchands sogdiens [History of the
Sogdian merchants]. Paris: Collège de France, Institut des hautes
Ochir 1999, 124). Nonetheless, the failure to work out
études chinoises.
an orderly and conflict-free system of succession proved Golden, P. B. (1992). An introduction to the history of the Turkic peoples.
fatal to the empire. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz.
Graff, D. A. (2002). Medieval Chinese warfare, 300–900. London:
The Türks worshipped Tengri, a supreme celestial deity Routledge.
also worshipped by the Mongols, and they were also Klyashtorny, S. G. (1994). The royal clan of the Türks and the problem
of early Turkic-Iranian contacts. Acta Orientalia, 47(3), 445–447.
practitioners of shamanism.There are scattered references
Kyzlasov,I.L.(1994).Runicheskie pis’mennosti evraziiskikh stepei [The runic
to Umay, a goddess of fertility, as well as to holy moun- scripts of the Eurasian Steppes].Moscow,Russia: Vostochnaia Literatura.