Emergence of the Tiele The term Tiele appeared in Chinese literature from the 6th century to 8th century, and most scholars agree that Tiele is simply different Chinese characters used to describe the same Turkic word as Chile, although some scholars disagree on what the specific original Turkic word may be:
Tölöš ~
Töliš,
Türk, or
Tegreg ~
Tägräg. The name "Tiele" was first interpreted as "Tölis" by
Édouard Chavannes and
Vilhelm Thomsen, but this was pointed out as inaccurate in 1937 by Cen Zhongmian, as Tölis applied to the Turkic title of official (突利失
Tulishi) in the east that also came to be attached to the
Xueyantuo qaghan. Some scholars (Haneda, Onogawa, Geng, etc.) proposed that
Tiele,
Dili,
Dingling,
Chile,
Tele, &
Tujue all transliterated underlying
Türk; however,
Golden proposed that
Dili,
Dingling,
Chile,
Tele, &
Tiele transliterated
Tegrek while Tujue transliterated
Türküt, plural of
Türk. The appellation
Türük (
Old Turkic: 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰) ~
Türk (OT: 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰚) (whence
Middle Chinese 突厥 *
dwət-kuɑt > *
tɦut-kyat >
standard Chinese:
Tūjué) was initially reserved exclusively for the
Göktürks by Chinese, Tibetans, and even the Turkic-speaking
Uyghurs. In contrast, medieval Muslim writers, including like Ottoman historians like
Mustafa Âlî and explorer
Evliya Çelebi as well as
Timurid scientist
Ulugh Beg, often viewed Inner Asian tribes, "as forming a single entity regardless of their linguistic affiliation" commonly used Turk as a generic name for Inner Asians (whether Turkic- or Mongolic-speaking). Only in modern era do modern historians use term Turks to describe an ethno-cultural collection of various Turkic groups. In 546 the remainder of the Fufuluo, now called Tiele, rebelled and were defeated by
Bumin Khan at
Dzungaria. Around 250,000 of them were then incorporated into his army. In 552, Bumin Khan sent his army and defeated Anagui just north of the Chinese border. Two years before his death, he eliminated the remnants of the Rouran to the north and subjugated the Tiele. According to the
Book of Sui, the Tiele consisted of over 40 tribes divided into seven locations: The original manuscript contains no punctuation, so different scholars read and reconstruct the ethonyms differently. The Tiele were a large tribal group, however it is unlikely they would have been under unified leadership. References of the tribes in the remote areas west of the Pamir Mountains were sparse and mentioned only in passing, some tribes like the
Alans were probably erroneously added. By the end of the 6th century nothing more was known about them. Those tribes in the eastern areas (north of China and near Lake Baikal), such as the
Guligan, Duolange, Xijie and Baixi were being rewarded afterward, though a few like the Fuluo, Mengchen and Turuhe disappeared. Fuluo were possibly linked to the Fuli in the
Book of Sui, the Fuli in
Tanghuiyao and the Bökli-Çöligil in the
Kul Tigin inscription. According to some researchers (Onogawa, 1940; Duan, 1988; Lung, 2011; Davis, 2008; Tang, 2009; etc.), the
Göktürks' leading
Ashina clan were descended from the Tiele tribe by ancestral lineage. Like the
Göktürks, the Tiele were probably one of many nomadic
Turkic peoples on the steppe. However, Lee & Kuang (2017) state that Chinese histories did not describe the Ashina-led Göktürks as descending from the Dingling or belonging to the Tiele confederation. The Tiele were ruled by the Göktürks during the mid 6th century and early 7th century. Many of their tribal chiefs were expelled and some were killed during this period. When the
Göktürks' power peaked, at least 15 Tiele tribes were named: The Tiele allied themselves in a rebellion against the Göktürks during the turmoil between 599 and 603. This might have already started as early as in 582, when rumor was spread about a revolt in the north when a raiding campaign led
Ishbara Qaghan away from the capital. Among the rivals of Ishbara in the west was Tardu, son of
Istämi. He allied with Apa Khan, a kaghan at the northern Dzungaria and Khovd River, and declared himself independent. In 587 Baga Khan, heir of Ishbara, captured Apa with the help of the Chinese but died the next year on a campaign in the west. Later,
Dulan took over his reign and in 599 he, together with Tardu, launched a civil war against his son
Qimin, who sided with the Chinese. However, he was unsuccessful and was assassinated during his battles with the Chinese. His partner Tardu took over and launched a revolt against the Khaganate. In 603 he was revolted against by the Tiele tribes, provoked by the Chinese, and fled to the
Tuyuhun. Earlier, when Apa was captured, Nili took over from him, but he died after the defeat of Tardu in the east. His son
Heshana Khan succeeded him in the Western Khaganate, levying heavy taxes on the Tiele. To prevent a revolt he gathered several hundreds of chiefs and murdered them. In 605 an alliance among the Tiele under the Qibi and Xueyantuo tribes was formed to overthrow him. They captured most of the Dzungaria and defeated his occupying army, taking several important cities, including
Kumul, Karashahr and
Gaochang, pushing Heshana Khan further west to the lower
Ili River by 607. After victory, the Qibi chief Geleng was proclaimed as the kaghan by the tribes and the Xueyantuo chief
Yiedie Khan as subordinate kaghan. At the same year Geleng allied with the Chinese to defeat the Tuyuhun to resolve a conflict at
Dunhuang. In 611, Shekui, a kaghan from
Tashkent and grandson of Tardu, attacked
Chuluo and forced him to flee to China. The return of Shekui marked the end of the rebellion, although exactly when the rebels were put down is uncertain. One Chinese account indicated that the Gaochang kingdom still remained as their vassal until 612. They were most likely subdued after this year as Shekui restored order in the Western Khaganate. Failure to put down these uprisings led to a fatal division within the Ashina clan. Under the leadership of
Zhenzhu Khan in 628, grandson of Yishibo, the
Xueyantuo made their crossing over the Altai, and quickly founded a confederation with the rest of the Tiele in the east. The Xueyantuo founded a short-lived khaganate over the steppe under
Zhenzhu Khan, his son
Duomi Khan and nephew
Yitewushi Khan, the last of which eventually surrendered to the Chinese.
Chinese subjugation Shortly after 646, the Uyghur and the rest of the twelve Tiele chiefs (and subsequently the distant Guligan and Dubo) arrived at the Chinese court. They were bestowed either with the title of commander-in-chief (
dudu) or prefect (''
) under the loose control (jimi'') of the northern protectorate or "pacificed north", whose seat and name changed at certain times. The Uyghur were prominent among the Tiele tribes next to the Xueyantuo. Their name first appeared in 390 as
Yuanhe. Under the leadership of Pusa, son of chief Tejian, the Uyghur co-operated with the Xueyantuo to make a stand against the Eastern Khaganate. Soon after his death, his successor Tumidu formed a new alliance with the Chinese and turned against his former ally. Thereafter, Tumidu was granted a Chinese title like the rest of the Tiele chiefs, and carried the title of kaghan among the other tribes, who now annually donated furs to the Chinese to fulfill their tax obligations. In 648, Tumidu was murdered by his nephew Wuhe and another tribesman named Juluobo. Both were sons-in-law of the
Chebi Khan, the ruler of the Eastern Khaganate at the northern Altai, who now held hegemony over the surrounding tribes, including the Qarluq. This alerted the Chinese, and Wuhe was assassinated by a ruse upon receiving his uncle's position from the Chinese deputy in the north. Later Juluobo was detained by the Chinese. On November 17, Porun was granted his fathers title. Since their submission, the Tiele (mainly the Uyghur) had participated in several campaigns under Chinese leadership. Under the command of Ashina Sheer, Yuan Lichen, Gao Kan, Liang Jianfang, Cheng Zhijie,
Su Ding Fang and Xiao Siya this resulted in the capture of Chebi Khan in 650 and the end of the Western Khaganate in 657, except for a last campaign at
Goguryeo which probably killed Porun. During those campaigns, visits would be paid to restrain the tribes. In 658 such a visit was repelled, a revolt broke out in 660 starting with the Sijie, Bayegu, Pugu and Tongluo, and it was joined by the other 5 tribes later. The reason for this revolt is unclear, perhaps due to the Chinese repression of the surrounding tribes during the campaigns. Two years later the revolts were suppressed by the Chinese at the upper
Selenge River around
Khangai. The battle was short, and a massacre was said to be committed by the two leading commanders. According to one exaggerated account from
Tang Huiyao around 900,000 surrendered tribesmen were slaughtered, though it is certain that a large number of them were captured. After the event, a message was sent to the north to appease the restlest Tiele. In 669 similar unsuccessful revolts had been made by the Xueyantuo, but the details of these are vague. The last revolt was mentioned in 686, led by the Pugu and Tongluo to join with the Ashina clan, who had formed the
Second Turkic Khaganate under
Ilterish Qaghan in 682. They were immediately suppressed by an army dispatched from
Juyan. A number of them were moved to that region along with the seat of the protectorate under the jurisdiction of
Ganzhou. Earlier during the rebellion contact between the northern protectorate and the Chinese capital was cut off, and the only way to pass was through
Suzhou.
Rise of the Uyghur Khaganate After the disintegration of the Eastern Khaganate in 630, many Göktürk nobles were resettled either at the Chinese border or in the capital. Some went on to participate in frontier campaigns for the Chinese. In 679 a major rebellion was led by three Göktürk nobles. Among them, Ashina Nishufu, a direct descendant of Illig, was chosen as their kaghan. They were quickly subdued by the Chinese and their leader was betrayed and killed by his own troops. The rest of the Göktürks managed to escape and allied themselves with Ashina Funian for a new rebellion. Funian declared himself kaghan in 681, but his revolt did not succeed and more than fifty participants were executed on November 16 at the Chinese capital. The remaining rebellious Göktürks formed the Second Turkic Eastern Khaganate under Ilteris Sad and his 5,000 supporters. They were mostly active in the southern region bordering China at Mount Čoγay. Over the decade they held countless raids across the Chinese border. Exactly when or how the Tiele were subjected by China. However, during this period, a number of pro-Chinese Tiele groups who had earlier cooperated with the Chinese against them, such as Uyghur, Qibi, Sijie and Hun, escaped into the
Hexi Corridor and eventually resettled to
Liangzhou. According to the Tonyukuk and Kültigin
Orkhon script, the Göktürks made five out of forty-seven attacks on the Tiele who were led by Ilteris. Among them, four seem to have been mere raids while the last attack could be seen as their re-subjection on the northern steppe. The estimated date for the Tiele submission to the Göktürks would be around 687, probably without much resistance. The establishment of a second Göktürk capital at the foot of the sacred mountain Ötüken brought unrest to the Tiele tribes. After the Uyghur chief was killed, they were recruited for their annual raiding campaigns over the Chinese border after 694. These raids stopped in 708, as the Chinese constructed fortifications along the Ordos. Raids continued elsewhere as
Qapagan turned his attention to the west and the
Turgesh and
Qarluq tribes between 708 and 715. By this time, some of the Tiele had escaped into China and were settled in
Lingzhou and elsewhere, while others like the Bayegu had revolted in 707. These revolts continued until 716 and Qapagan, on his way back from suppressing revolts by the Uyghur, Tongluo, Baixi, Bayegu and Pugu, was ambushed and killed by a Bayegu tribesman named Xiezhilue on July 22. Two of the northernmost tribal allies, the Guligan and Dubo, did not participate in any of the revolts. Soon,
Bilge Khan took over and together with
Tonyukuk, began to appease the subjected Tiele. Tonyukuk was born in China and was described as a wise statesman in both Turkic and Chinese accounts. Meanwhile, a friendly relationship was built with the Chinese. Until the end of the Second Eastern Khaganate only one raid in 720 was made on the Chinese border. Bilge Khan started to call for a return of the former members of the Tiele tribes who had settled in China. He had risen in status among the tribal chiefs, especially the Uyghur within the Khaganate. During this period, many Tiele had betrayed the local Chinese authorities and fled to the north, in particular the five communities around Liang, Ling,
Xia,
Feng, and
Bingzhou, while minor insurgencies had occurred throughout the process. Among the returning Tiele tribes was the Uyghur, specifically the Yaoluoge, who had escaped into China and lived there until 727. The Yaoluoge were one of nine clans of the Uyghur, and had probably dominated for six generations since the fall of Xueyantuo. After Bilge Khan was poisoned, there were factional struggles within the ruling clan. Within a few years, an alliance was established between the
Basmyl, Uyghur and Qarluq. They overthrew the Göktürks and killed the kaghan. Most of the heirs were subsequently killed. At the same time the Basmyl chief, who was approved as kaghan, was overthrown by the allies. In 745 the exiled kaghan of the Göktürks was killed by a Uyghur chief named Qutlugh Boyla, son of Hushu. He founded the new
Uyghur Khaganate with the title of Qutlugh Bilge Köl Qaghan. The name "Tiele", and the "nine allies (of Tiele)" (九姓) or
Toquz Oguz (based on the interpretation of scholar Cen Zhongmian in the late 1950s) is not mentioned afterwards, and was probably replaced by the name
Huihu (Uyghur) in historic records. From then on the Uyghur consisted of seven former Tiele tribes and two new tribes, while eight former Tiele tribal names had now disappeared. ==See also==