Tun Baga Tarkhan or Alp Qutlugh Bilge Qaghan — was the fourth leader of

Uyghur Khaganate The Uyghur Khaganate (also Uyghur Empire or Uighur Khaganate, self defined as Toquz-Oghuz country; , Tang-era names, with modern Hanyu Pinyin: or ) was a Turkic empire that existed for about a century between the mid 8th and 9th centuries. It ...

Background

There is an uncertainty regarding Tun Baga Tarkhan's relation to ruling Yaglakar clan. His father's name is absent from Chinese documents. However an epitaph was found in 2010 in

Xian Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

that belonged to one of the Uyghur princes, Prince Gechuai (, 葛啜王子), who died of cold fever on 11 June 795 and was buried on 28 June 795. Luo Xin, historian at

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

, proposed that he was in fact a younger brother of Yaoluoge Dunmohe. The epitaph stated that the Prince's father's name was Chabish Tegin (车毗尸特勤), Luo Xin established him as the prince who fought against

An Lushan An Lushan (; 20th day of the 1st month (19 February) 703 – 29 January 757) was a Chinese military general and rebel leader during the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion which devastated China and kill ...

in 757. So, according to him, Tun Baga Tarkhan was a nephew to Bögü Qaghan, as well as grandson of Bayanchur. Li Bi also considered him as cousin of Bögü Qaghan.

Life

His exact birth date is unknown. He earlier participated in Uyghur army against

under military title ''Alp Tutuq'' in 757. He was a chief minister in Uyghur court and perhaps one of supporters of Pugu Huai'en's revolt in 764–765. However he later switched to Tang side after his death. His uncle Khan Tudun was also a minister. He was a fervent anti-Manichaean, therefore adoption of

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

by Bögü was unfavorable according to him. Bögü's new plan on invading Tang dynasty due to pressure from Manichaean clergy caused him to establish his own anti-war faction. He appealed to khagan, saying:''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

''
vol. 217a
/ref> Unable to accomplish his task, he murdered Bögü and his followers among him in 779/780, went on to declare himself a qaghan.

Reign

He was invested with Chinese title Wuyi Chenggon Qaghan () from Emperor Dezong on 28 July 780. His first order was to repeal protection of Manicheans and

Sogdia Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemen ...

ns living in China. This also rendered Uyghurs in China defenceless. His uncle Tudun was thus murdered on 7 September 780. His body was brought back to Uyghur capital in 782 when the embassy was greeted by Tun Baga's new chancellor (İl Ögesi in

Old Uyghur Old Uyghur () was a Turkic language spoken in Qocho from the 9th–14th centuries as well as in Gansu. History Old Uyghur evolved from Old Turkic, a Siberian Turkic language, after the Uyghur Khaganate broke up and remnants of it migrated ...

) Inanchu Bilge (頡千逝斯) of Xiedie (𨁂跌) clan, who would later rise to be an important member of khaganate. Tun Baga demanded blood money from Dezong in order to not to start a war later.

Marriage to Princess Xian'an

As an effort to obtain an alliance, Tun Baga sent an emissary to

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

for a marriage proposal on 2 October 787. Emperor Dezong hated the Uyghurs, ever since several of his attendants were tortured and killed by Bögü Qaghan in 762 while he was still a prince and therefore refused. Only after repeated attempts by Li Bi that that grudge should not be borne against the current khagan as well as repeated analyses of how crucial the Huige alliance would be did Emperor Dezong agree — particularly after Li Bi, who had strong friendships with both khagan and the Uyghur chancellor Inanchu Bilge extracted promises from khagan to submit to Tang as a subject as a matter of formality. Emperor Dezong was pleased, and subsequently, the treaty was cemented with the betrothal of Emperor Dezong's daughter Princess Xian'an to khagan. Marriage ceremony was well documented in

. Delegation of men consisted of 1000 people and was headed by chancellor Inanchu Bilge, women delegation was led by Kutluk Bilge Konchuy, khagan's younger sister. Qaghan also asked Emperor to change Chinese name for Uyghurs - Huihu (回鶻) to Huihe (回紇). He also received a new Chinese title Changshou Tianqin Qaghan () along with the princess who was created Zhihuiduan Zhengshou Xiaoshun Khatun () on 30 November 788.

Death

He died in December 789 and succeeded by his son. According to Luo Xin, he as posthumously renamed Bögü Bilge Tengri Qaghan ({{Langx, otk, 𐰋𐰇𐰏𐰇:𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰀:𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃:𐰴𐰍𐰣).

Family

He was married to Princess Xian'an, daughter of

Emperor Dezong of Tang Emperor Dezong of Tang (27 May 742According to Li Kuo's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'', he was born on the ''guisi'' day in the 4th month of the 1st year of the ''Tianbao'' era of Tang Xuanzong's reign. This date corresponds to 27 May 74 ...

on 30 November 788. He had at least two sons from other wives: # Külüg Qaghan - Ruled

in 790 # Another son whose name was not preserved. He also had at least two younger brothers: * Prince Gechuai (or Qari Chor) - born in 776, died in 795 in

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 ...

. * Apa Chor (was alive in 795)

References

789 deaths 8th-century monarchs in Asia Yaglakar clan Tengrist monarchs Regicides Uyghur khagans