Bilge Qaghan (; ;
683 – 25 November 734) was the fourth
Qaghan of the
Second Turkic Khaganate. His accomplishments were described in the
Orkhon inscriptions.
Names
As was the custom, his personal name and the name after assuming the title
Qaghan were different. His personal name was recorded in Chinese characters as (). His name after assuming the title was ''Bilgä Qaγan''.
).
Early years
He was born in 683, in the early years of the khaganate. He campaigned alongside his father from early childhood. He was created as Tardush shad and given command over the western wing of the empire in 697 by
Qapaghan. He managed to annihilate
Wei Yuanzhong's army in 701 with his brother. He also reconquered
Basmyl tribes in 703. He also subdued
Yenisei Kyrgyz forces in 709, after their disobedience had to reconquer and kill their Qaghan in 710. He killed
Türgesh khagan
Suoge at
Battle of Bolchu.
In later years of
Qapaghan, he had to fight four battles in a year starting from 714, resubduing tribes and nearly was killed in an ambush from
Uyghur forces in 716.
Reign
In 716,
Qapaghan Qaghan, the second Qaghan, was killed in his campaign against the
Toquz Oghuz alliance and his severed head was sent to
Chang'an
Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
.
['']Old Book of Tang
The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
'', Vol. 194-I Although his son
Inel Khagan succeeded him, Bilgä's brother
Kul Tigin and
Tonyukuk carried out a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
against Inel Qaghan. They killed him and made him ''Bilgä'' ''Qaghan''.
His name literally means "wise king".
He appointed his brother
Kul Tigin to be Left Wise Prince, which made second most powerful person in realm. He re-subdued
Huige
The Uyghur Khaganate (also Uyghur Empire or Uighur Khaganate, self defined as Toquz-Oghuz country; , Tang dynasty, Tang-era names, with modern Hanyu Pinyin: or ) was a Turkic peoples, Turkic empire that existed for about a century between the mi ...
in 716. He also appointed his father-in-law
Tonyukuk to be Master Strategist.
New reforms and stabilization of the regime, caused tribes that fled Tujue to come back. Tang chancellor
Wang Jun, believing that the Göktürks who surrendered would try to flee back to the Göktürk state, suggested that they be forcibly moved into the heart of the empire to prevent them from doing so. Before Wang's suggestion could be acted upon, however, there was an uprising by the Göktürks who surrendered, under the leadership of Xiedie Sitai (𨁂跌思泰) and Axilan (阿悉爛).
Xue and Wang tried to intercept them and dealt them defeats, but they were able to flee back to the Göktürk state anyway. This defeat led to Xue Ne's retirement.
Religious policy
At some point in his life, he thought about converting to
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and settling in cities. However,
Tonyukuk discouraged him from this, citing the Turks' few numbers and vulnerability to Chinese attacks. While the Turks' power rested on their mobility, conversion to Buddhism would bring pacifism among the population. Therefore, sticking to
Tengrism was necessary for survival.
Later reign

In 720, Wang believed that the Pugu (僕固) and Xiedie tribes of the region were planning to defect to Eastern Tujue and attack with Eastern Tujue troops. He thus held a feast and invited the chieftains, and, at the feast, massacred them. He then attacked the Pugu and Xiedie tribes in the area, nearly wiping them out. He then proposed a plan to attack Qaghan along with the
Baximi,
Xi, and
Khitan.
Emperor Xuanzong also recruited
Qapaghan Khagan's sons Bilgä Tigin and Mo Tigin,
Yenisei Kyrgyz Qaghan Kutluk Bilgä Qaghan and Huoba Guiren to fight against Tujue.
Tonyukuk cunningly launched first attack on Baximi in 721 autumn, completely crushing them. Meanwhile, Bilgä raided
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
, taking much of the livestock. Later that year
Khitans, next year
Xi were also crushed.
In 726, his father-in-law and chancellor
Tonyukuk died.
In 727, he sent Buyruk Chor () as an emissary to
Xuanzong with 30 horses as a gift. He also warned him of
Me Agtsom's proposal of an anti-Tang alliance. This alarm proved to be true when Tibetan general
We Tadra Khonglo invaded Tang China in 727, sacked
Guazhou (瓜州, in modern
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
), Changle (常樂, in south of modern Guazhou County), Changmenjun (長門軍, in north of modern
Yumen) and Anxi (安西, modern
Lintan).
On 27 February 731,
Kul Tigin died, for which Qaghan mourned and ordered a great funeral ceremony.
In 733, he defeated rebellious Khitan tribes.
Death
Just after sending an emissary to
Xuanzong to gain heqin alliance, he was poisoned by Buyruk Chor.
He did not die immediately and he had time to punish the family of Buyruk Chor with death.
He died on 25 November 734, his burial ceremony took place on 22 June 735.
Family
He was married to
El Etmish Bilge Khatun,
Tonyukuk's daughter. He had several children:
*
Ashina Yiran (阿史那伊然)
*
Ashina Kutluk (阿史那骨咄)
* 2 unnamed sons who both became puppet Qaghans under
Kutluk Yabgu Khagan
* A daughter who was married to Suluk
*
Po Beg - submitted to Tang after 744.
Legacy
After his death from poisoning, several
steles were erected in
the capital area by the
Orkhon River. These
Orkhon inscriptions are the first known texts in the
Old Turkic language
Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic languages, Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating f ...
.
In popular culture
* Bilge Qaghan is portrayed by Kang Jae-ik in the 2006-2007
KBS TV series ''
Dae Jo-yeong''.
See also
*
Silver Deer of Bilge Khan
References
Sources
* Encyclopædia Britannica, Micropaedia, Vol. II, pp. 16–17
External links
Bilge Kagan Inscriptions complete text
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qaghan, Bilge
680s births
734 deaths
Deaths by poisoning
Göktürk khagans
Ashina house of the Turkic Empire
8th-century monarchs in Asia
Leaders who took power by coup