Muqan Qaghan

Muqan Qaghan[1] (Old Turkic: 𐰱𐰆𐰮𐰣𐰮𐰍𐰣 Muqan qaÎłan,[2] Chinese:æœšæĄżćŻæ±—/æœšæ†ćŻæ±—, Pinyin: mĂčgǎn kěhĂ n, Wade-Giles: mu-kan k'o-han or æœšæ±—ćŻæ±—, mĂčhĂ n kěhĂ n, mu-han k'o-han, personal name: 阿ćČé‚Łç‡•éƒœ, āshǐnĂ  yĂ ndƍu, a-shih-na yen-to, Sogdian: mwx’n x’γ’n, Ruanruan: MuÉŁan QaÉŁan) was the second son of Bumin Qaghan and the third khagan of the GöktĂŒrks who expanded their khaganate and secured the borders against the Hephthalites.

Muqan Qaghan æœšæĄżćŻæ±—
Ashina Yandou 阿ćČé‚ŁäżŸæ–€
Third Qaghan of the First Turkic Khaganate
Reign553 – 572
PredecessorIssik Qaghan
SuccessorTaspar Qaghan
Died572
IssueApa Qaghan
Empress Ashina
Yangsu Tegin
HouseAshina
FatherBumin Qaghan
ReligionTengrism

Reign

His accession to power was followed by finishing off remnants of Rouran. Around the new year 554, after defeat of YujiulĂŒ Kangdi at the hands of GöktĂŒrks, the remnants of Rouran, which by that point was near its end, surrendered to Northern Qi to seek protection from Gökturks attacks. Emperor Wenxuan personally attacked Muqan Qaghan, fighting his army off and then created YujiulĂŒ Anluochen as the new khagan of Rouran, settling the Rouran people within Northern Qi territory, at Mayi (马邑, in modern Shuozhou, Shanxi).

Eventually last khagan of Rouran YujiulĂŒ Dengshuzi was executed by Emperor Gong because of Gökturks' pressure.

In fall 563, Northern Zhou entered into an alliance treaty with GöktĂŒrks against Northern Qi, part of which involved a promise that Emperor Wu would marry the daughter of Muqan Qaghan. In winter 563, the joint forces of Northern Zhou and Gökturks launched a two-prong attack on Northern Qi, with the northern prong attacking Northern Qi's secondary capital Jinyang (晉陜, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) and the southern prong attacking Pingyang (ćčłé™œ, in modern Linfen, Shanxi).

In spring 565, Emperor Wu sent his brother Yuwen Chun (ćź‡æ–‡çŽ”), Yuwen Gui (ćź‡æ–‡èČŽ), Dou Yi (ç«‡æŻ…) and Yang Jian (æ„Šè–Š) to lead a ceremonial guard corps to Tujue to welcome back Muqan's daughter for marriage to him. However, when they arrived at Qaghan's headquarters, he turned against the treaty and detained Yuwen Chun and his attendants.

In spring 568, a major storm at GöktĂŒrks' headquarters inflicted substantial damage, and Muqan Qaghan took it as a sign of divine displeasure at his rescission of the marriage agreement with Northern Zhou. He therefore returned Yuwen Chun, along with the daughter he promised Emperor Wu, back to Northern Zhou. Emperor Wu personally welcomed her and created her empress.

Campaigns in West

His uncle Istemi autonomously ruled the far-west region in his name. GöktĂŒrk army destroyed Hephtalite power in 557 near Bukhara.[3] The northern part of the Oxus river was annexed to the GöktĂŒrks and southern part to Sassanid Persia.

Legacy
Map of the GöktĂŒrk Qaghanate at its greatest extent in 570, which is during Muqan Qaghan's reign.

This expansion also pushed against the Avars who were driven toward the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire and eventually toward the Danube. Other tribes of the Central Asia, such as the eastern Bulgars were also displaced.[4]

Muqan's reign marked the pinnacle of Sogdian cultural influence in the GöktĂŒrk Empire. Sogdian culture was transmitted by merchants from Turpan who worked as ambassadors and advisers. The Sogdian language and script were used to govern the empire.[5] The importance of Sogdians cannot be understated in keeping the early Turks safely outside of the Chinese cultural sphere. The Sogdian language and script were used to administer the empire, because it was the only written language in the cities under his control.

Muqan Qaghan was friendly to Buddhist people, and is credited with being the first to introduce Buddhism to the TĂŒrks.[6][7] He promoted the construction of a TĂŒrkic Buddhist temple in the Chinese capital city of Chang'an. Despite his promotion of Buddhism in China, it is not known if he himself converted to Buddhism, and it is also uncertain whether or not a substantial number of TĂŒrks were Buddhists during his reign.[8]

He expanded the GöktĂŒrk Qaghanate and secured the borders against the last of the Rouran people. He conquered the Töles tribes in the west, the Kitans in the east and the Kyrgyz in the north. Thus, he expanded his state to all the former Xiongnu territory.

After Muqan's death in 572 the title of Qaghan passed to his younger brother Taspar.

Physical appearance

According to Chinese sources, Muqan Qaghan's appearance was strange: his face was over one chi wide, his complexion was completely red, and his eyes were lapis blue.[9][10][11] He was characterized as being "tough and fierce", and he was regarded as brave and knowledgeable by the historians.

Family

His daughter Empress Ashina was the wife of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou. His son Apa Qaghan claimed the throne after death of his uncle Taspar unsuccessfully while his other son Yangsu Tegin was ancestor of later Western Turkic Qaghans.

References
  1. Gary Seaman, Daniel Marksm, Rulers from the steppe: state formation on the Eurasian periphery, Ethnographics Press, Center for Visual Anthropology, University of Southern California, 1991, ISBN 978-1-878986-01-6, pp. 96–97.
  2. Ethno Cultural Dictionary, TÜRIK BITIG
  3. "ᾮOSROW II – Encyclopaedia Iranica". www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  4. Bauer, Susan Wise (2010). The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 238–241. ISBN 978-0-393-05975-5.
  5. Roux 2000, p. 79.
  6. Durand-Guedy, David (2013). Turko-Mongol rulers, cities and city life. Leiden. p. 41. ISBN 978-9004257009.
  7. Kwanten, Luc (1979). Imperial nomads: a history of central Asia, 500-1500. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 45. ISBN 0812277503.
  8. Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Magyar TudomĂĄnyos AkadĂ©mia. 1972. p. 78. "During the reign of Muqan, the TĂŒrks were receptive toward Buddhism, but whether or not it was actually adopted by a substantial number of TĂŒrks or by Muqan himself is not known."
  9. Zhoushu, vol. 50 "狀èČŒć€šć„‡ç•°ïŒŒéąć»Łć°șé€˜ïŒŒć…¶è‰Čç”šè”€ïŒŒçœŒè‹„ç‘ ç’ƒă€‚"
  10. Beishi vol. 99 "狀èČŒć„‡ç•°ïŒŒéąć»Łć°șé€˜ïŒŒć…¶è‰Čè”€ç”šïŒŒçœŒè‹„ç‰ç’ƒă€‚"
  11. Balogh, Daniel (2020). Hunnic peoples in Central and South Asia sources for their origin and history. Groningen: Barkhuis. p. 83. ISBN 978-9493194052. "Sijin (Irkin) was also called Yandu. He had many extraordinary features. His face was more than a foot wide, his complexion was completely red, his eyes were like lapis lazuli [liuli]. By nature he was tough and fierce and regarded as brave and knowledgeable, and regarded military expeditions as his primary task."

Sources
  • Roux, Jean-Paul (2000). Histoire des Turcs (in French). Fayard.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.