Bilge Qaghan was the fourth Qaghan of the Second Turkic Khaganate. His accomplishments were described in the Orkhon inscriptions.
Tonyukuk was the baga-tarkhan and adviser of four successive Göktürk khagans – Ilterish Qaghan, Qapaghan Qaghan, Inel Qaghan and Bilge Qaghan. He conducted victorious campaigns against various Turkic and non-Turkic steppe peoples, such as Tölis, Xueyantuo, Toquz Oguz, Yenisei Kyrgyz, Kurykans, Thirty Tatar, Khitan and Tatabi as well as the Tang dynasty. He was described as a kingmaker by historians such as E. P. Thompson and Peter Benjamin Golden.
The Sogdian language was an Eastern Iranian language spoken mainly in the Central Asian region of Sogdia, located in modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan; it was also spoken by some Sogdian immigrant communities in ancient China. Sogdian is one of the most important Middle Iranian languages, along with Bactrian, Khotanese Saka, Middle Persian, and Parthian. It possesses a large literary corpus.
There are various kinds of Xinjiang coins produced throughout the history of Xinjiang using the styles of contemporary Chinese cash coins as well as Persian and Islamic coinages. As not many records exist from the ancient monarchies of Xinjiang the study of its coinage has determined when which rules reigned and the state of the economy based on metallurgical analyses.
Ordu-Baliq, also known as Mubalik and Karabalghasun, was the capital of the first Uyghur Khaganate. It was built on the site of the former Göktürk imperial capital, 27 km north-to-northwest of the later Mongol capital, Karakorum. Its ruins are known as Kharbalgas in Mongolian, which means "black ruins". They form part of the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site.
Mo-yun Chur (磨延啜) or Eletmish Bilge Qaghan was second qaghan of Uyghur Khaganate. His Tang dynasty invested title was Yingwu Weiyuan Pijia Qaghan or simply Yingwu Qaghan. He was also known as Gelei Qaghan. His official regnal name in Turkic was Tengrida Bolmish Eletmish Bilge Qaghan. He is mostly famous for ordering the erection of the Tariat Inscriptions.
The Uyghur Khaganate was a Turkic empire that existed for about a century between the mid 8th and 9th centuries. It was a tribal confederation under the Orkhon Uyghur (回鶻) nobility, referred to by the Chinese as the Jiu Xing, a calque of the name Toquz Oghuz or Toquz Tughluq.
The First Turkic Khaganate, also referred to as the First Turkic Empire, the Turkic Khaganate or the Göktürk Khaganate, was a Turkic khaganate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan and his brother Istämi. The First Turkic Khaganate succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the hegemonic power of the Mongolian Plateau and rapidly expanded their territories in Central Asia, and became the first Central Asian transcontinental empire from Manchuria to the Black Sea.
The Tariat inscriptions appear on a stele found near the Hoid Terhyin River in Doloon Mod district, Arkhangai Province, modern-day Mongolia. The stele was erected by Bayanchur Khan of the Uyghur Khaganate in the middle of the eighth century.
The history of the Uyghur people extends over more than two millenia and can be divided into four distinct phases: Pre-Imperial, Imperial, Idiqut, and Mongol, with perhaps a fifth modern phase running from the death of the Silk Road in AD 1600 until the present.
The Second Turkic Khaganate was a khaganate in Central and Eastern Asia founded by Ashina clan of the Göktürks that lasted between 682–744. It was preceded by the Eastern Turkic Khaganate (552–630) and the early Tang dynasty period (630–682). The Second Khaganate was centered on Ötüken in the upper reaches of the Orkhon River. It was succeeded by its subject Toquz Oghuz confederation, which became the Uyghur Khaganate.
Qocho or Kara-Khoja, also known as Idiqut, was a Uyghur kingdom created in 843, with strong Chinese Buddhist and Tocharian influences. It was founded by Uyghur refugees fleeing the destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate after being driven out by the Yenisei Kirghiz. They made their summer capital in Qocho and winter capital in Beshbalik. Its population is referred to as the "Xizhou Uyghurs" after the old Tang Chinese name for Gaochang, the Qocho Uyghurs after their capital, the Kucha Uyghurs after another city they controlled, or the Arslan (lion) Uyghurs after their king's title.
The Bugut inscription is a multi-lingual inscription first discovered in Ikh-Tamir sum of Arkhangai Province, Mongolia. The inscription is dated to 584 CE and was dedicated to Taspar Khagan the fourth Khagan of the Turkic Khaganate. The inscription is in the form of a monumental wolf-crowned stele 198 cm high that sits on a turtle base 47 cm high. The front, right and left side of the stele has a Sogdian inscription written with Sogdian alphabet. The back side has a possibly Ruanruan inscription written with Brahmi script. The original location of the inscription on the west bank of the Bayantsagaan river, a tributary of the North Tamir river, shows evidence of a walled complex. The wall embankment is 59mx30m with an inner moat 4.5m wide and 2m deep. In the center of the walled complex was a temple whose wooden pillars and roof tiles were still visible on the ground. Only a few brick fragments were found. The inscription itself was found within the walls on a square platform 7.5mx7.5m made of layered stones.
Bögü Qaghan or Tengri Qaghan was the third khagan of Uyghurs. He was the younger son of Bayanchur Khagan. His personal name was Yaoluoge Yidijian (藥羅葛移地健) and was titled Ulu Bilge Töles Shad during his father's reign. His subsequent regnal names upon inheriting the throne were Tarkhan Bögü Qaghan, Alp Külüg Bögü Qaghan, and finally Tengrida Qut Bolmish El Tutmish Alp Külüg Bilge Qaghan. He was posthumously renamed as Kün Tengrida Qut Bolmish El Tutmish Alp Külüg Bilge Qaghan by Baoyi Qaghan, stressing his adoption of the Manichean religion. Other titles granted to him were Yingyi Qaghan (英義可汗) - a Tang dynasty invested title and Zahag-i Mani - a Manichaean title.
Tun Baga Tarkhan or Alp Qutlugh Bilge Qaghan — was the fourth leader of Uyghur Khaganate.
Alp Qutluq Külüg Bilge Qaghan — seventh khagan of the Uyghur Khaganate and the first one from the Ädiz clan. His Tang invested title was Huaixin Qaghan.
Baoyi Qaghan or Alp Bilge Qaghan was the eighth ruler of Uyghurs. His personal name is not known, therefore he is often referred as his Tang dynasty invested title Baoyi which was invested on 22 June 808.
Zhangxin Qaghan or Alp Külüg Bilge Qaghan was the eleventh ruler of Uyghurs. His personal name was Yaoluoge Hu (藥羅葛胡). He succeeded his uncle in 833.
Qasar Qaghan was the twelfth qaghan of Uyghurs.
The Silver Deer of Bilge Khan is a 7th- or 8th-century silver and silver-gilt artifact extracted from the tomb of Bilge Qaghan, the burial complex of the fourth Qaghan of the Second Turkic Khaganate. It was discovered in 2001 during excavations carried out in Orkhon Valley, at the future Bilge Khan Monumental Grave Complex, located about 400 km (250 mi) from Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar, between the Orkhon River and Khosho Tsaydam Lake.
