Yabghu ( otk, 𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆, yabγu,Entr "𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆_ "𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆_[yabγu йабғұ"">abγu">"𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆_[yabγu йабғұ"in_"Ethno-Cultural_Dictionary"_''Türik_Bitig''_),_also_rendered_as_Jabgu,_Djabgu_or_Yabgu,_was_a_state_office_in_the_early_Turkic_peoples.html" ;"title="abγu йабғұ".html" ;"title="abγu">"𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆 [yabγu йабғұ"">abγu">"𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆 [yabγu йабғұ"in "Ethno-Cultural Dictionary" ''Türik Bitig'' ), also rendered as Jabgu, Djabgu or Yabgu, was a state office in the early Turkic peoples">Turkic states, roughly equivalent to viceroy. The title carried autonomy in different degrees, and its links with the central authority of Khagan varied from economical and political subordination to superficial political deference. The title had also been borne by Turkic princes in the upper
Oxus
The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...
region in post-
Hephthalite
The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during th ...
times.
The position of Yabgu was traditionally given to the second highest member of a ruling clan ( Ashina), with the first member being the Kagan himself. Frequently, Yabgu was a younger brother of the ruling Kagan, or a representative of the next generation, called
Shad
The Alosinae, or the shads,Alosinae Mahmud Kashgari defined the title Yabgu as "position two steps below Kagan", listing heir apparent Shad a step above Yabgu.Golden P.B., "Khazar studies", Budapest, Vol. 2, 1980, pp. 188–190,
As the Khaganate decentralized, the Yabgu gained more autonomous power within the
suzerainty
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is ca ...
, and historical records name a number of independent states with "Yabgu" being the title of the supreme ruler. One prominent example was the Oguz Yabgu state in Middle Asia, which was formed after the fragmentation of the Second Türkic Kaganate in the 740s. Another prominent example was the Karluk Yabghu, the head of the
which in the 766 occupied Suyab in the Jeti-su area, and eventually grew into a powerful Karakhanid state.
Etymology
There are at least several proposals regarding the origin of ''yabgu'':
* Yabghu might be a derivation from native Turkic root *''yap-'' "to do, to carry out; to come nearer to help" and so might mean "the assistant (of the khagan)".
* Others suggest that the word is a derivation of the early Turkic ''davgu''; however, the ''d'' /ð/ to ''y'' /j/ sound change happened late (e.g. not before (561 - 618 CE)).
* It is believed by some scholars to be of
Kushan
The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...
(Chinese: ''Guishuang '' 貴霜) political tradition, borrowed by the
Göktürks
The Göktürks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks ( otk, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, Türük Bodun; ; ) were a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) a ...
from an
Indo-European language
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Du ...
Harold Bailey
Sir Harold Walter Bailey, (16 December 1899 – 11 January 1996), who published as H. W. Bailey, was an English scholar of Khotanese, Sanskrit, and the comparative study of Iranian languages.
Life
Bailey was born in Devizes, Wiltshire, and rai ...
reconstructs *' ~ *', which means "gatherer of troops" or "troop-leader" and is from base ''yau-'', ''yū-'', and ''yu-'' "to bring together", cognate with
Avestan
Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...
''yavayeiti'', ''yūta'' and Old Indian ''yú-'' "companion" and ''yūthá-'' "group";
* Others, such as Sims-Williams, considered that the word ''yabgu'' in
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia ( Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turki ...
had been borrowed from
Old Chinese
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 12 ...
''i̯əp-g’u'' > ''xīhóu'', rendered in
Chinese characters
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...
as 翕侯 or 翖侯 Conversely, Friedrich Hirth suggested that ''yabgu'' was transcribed literary Chinese, with regard to Kushan and Turkic contexts, as ''*xiap-g’u'' > ''xīhóu''. It was equivalent to the title ''yavugo'' found on Kushan coins from
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...
, and the ''yabgu'' on ancient Turkic monuments. The second part of this compound Chinese word, ''hou'' ("g’u"), referred to the second-ranking of five hereditary noble ranks. Chinese sources do not make clear whether the title was a descriptive term used only in reference to foreign leaders, or whether it indicated an ally or subject of a Chinese empire;
* Another theory postulates a Sogdian origin for both titles, "Yabgu" and "Shad". The rulers of some Sogdian principalities are known to have title "
Ikhshid
''Ikhshid'' ( sog, xšyδ, ) was the princely title of the Iranian rulers of Soghdia and the Ferghana Valley in Transoxiana during the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods. The title is of Iranian origin; scholars have derived it variously from ...
";
*
Yury Zuev
Yuri Alexeyevich Zuev or Zuyev (russian: Юрий Алексеевич Зуев; 8 December 1932 – 5 December 2006) was a Russian-born Kazakh sinologist and turkologist.
Biography
Zuev was born in the Siberian city of Tümen in a whit ...
considered Yabgu to be a "true Tocharian" title.Zuev Yu.A., ''Early Türks: Essays of history and ideology'', Almaty, Daik-Press, 2002, p.31,
See also
*
Oghuz Yabgu State
The Oghuz Yabgu State (Oghuz il, meaning Oghuz Land, Oghuz Country, 750–1055) was a Turkic state, founded by Oghuz Turks in 766, located geographically in an area between the coasts of the Caspian and Aral Seas. Oghuz tribes occupied a vast ...
Tokhara Yabghus
The Tokhara Yabghus or Yabghus of Tokharistan () were a dynasty of Western Turk– Hephtalite sub-kings with the title "Yabghus", who ruled from 625 CE in the area of Tokharistan north and south of the Amu Darya, Oxus River, with some smaller remn ...
*
Shad (prince)
Shad ( otk, 𐱁𐰑, šad) was a state office in the early Central Asian Turkic states, roughly equivalent to governor. "Shad" could only be an appointee over a vassal tribe, where he represented interests of the preeminent Kagan. The name of ...