Uighur Turks Rule Central Asia
The Uighur Turks emerged as a significant political force in Central Asia during the sixth and seventh centuries, establishing an empire that would shape the region's history. Originally nomadic herders, the Uighurs transitioned to a more settled lifestyle under the leadership of Guli Peiluo, who led a successful rebellion against the Tuque rulers in 744, founding the Uighur Empire. The Uighurs built a capital city, Ordu Balik, which became an important administrative and commercial center, showcasing a blend of nomadic traditions with newfound urban influences. Under subsequent leaders, such as Moyanchuo, the Uighurs engaged in cultural exchanges with neighboring peoples, including adopting elements of the Sogdian culture and the Manichaean religion, which influenced their governance and trade practices.
The Uighur Empire became known for its relative political stability and adaptability, managing to control trade routes and facilitating cultural exchanges between the East and West. However, by the 840s, internal strife and external pressures from neighboring powers, including the Tibetans and Kirghiz, contributed to its decline. The Uighur Turks' historical significance lies in their role in stabilizing and uniting various tribes under a central authority, paving the way for future developments in Central Asian governance and culture. Their legacy includes the establishment of urban centers and the integration of diverse cultural influences, marking a crucial period in the region's history.
Uighur Turks Rule Central Asia
Date 744-840
Locale China, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
By consolidating their power over the Central Asian steppe in the second great Turkic empire, the Uighur Turks were able to introduce stable government systems to the region.
Key Figures
Guli Peiluo (Ku-li p’ei-lo, also known as Kutluk Bilgé Kül; d. 747), founder of Uighur Empire, r. 744-747Moyanchuo (Mo-yen-ch’o, also known as Bayan Chor; d. 759), son and heir of Guli Peiluo, who consolidated Uighur dominance in Central Asia and in relations with China, r. 747-759Mouyu (Mou-yü, also known as Bügü; d. 779), second son of Moyanchuo, who brought Uighur power to apex and converted Uighurs to Manichaeanism, r. 759-779Xie Yujiasi (Hsieh yü-chia-ssu; also known as Kutluk; d. 805), oversaw military, political, and Manichaean revival in Uighur Empire, r. 795-805
Summary of Event
In the sixth and seventh centuries, numerous peoples of Turkic ethnicity dominated the vast steppe regions to the north and west of China. Around 550, the Tuque (T’u-chüeh) established loose domination of the area stretching from Korea to Karashar. A confederation of nine western tribes known as the Tiele (T’ieh-le) broke away from Tuque control in the mid-seventh century and moved east to provide military aid to the government of the Chinese Tang Dynasty (T’ang; 618-907). In 647, the Chinese took the tribes under their official protection, but by the end of the century, the Tuque khaghan (ruler) Mochuo (Mo-ch’o) had again subjugated them. The Uighur (Uyghur) tribe, one of the nine Tiele, led a successful rebellion and overthrew Tuque rule. The leader was the Uighur Guli Peiluo of the Yaloge, one of the ten Uighur clans. He allied the Uighur with the Basmil and Kharlukh tribes and sent the severed head of the last Tuque khaghan to the Chinese emperor as proof of the coup. The Kharlukh and Uighurs soon turned on the Basmil, scattering them. The Kharlukh were next, and they, too, were forcibly absorbed into the new Uighur state. In 744, Guli Peiluo declared the founding of his Uighur Empire and his own position as khaghan.
The son of Guli Peiluo, Moyanchuo, finished off the Basmil and Kharlukh resistance and began the process of changing Uighur—and steppe—culture. Before 744, the Uighur were purely nomadic herders who lived in constant motion. They had no experience with farming or city life except through visits to China or the Iranian regions to the west. They were fierce horsemen and master mounted bowmen. However, Moyanchuo chose not to rule from horseback and established a brand new capital city, Ordu Balik (Karabalghasun), on the upper Orkhon River. Its centerpiece was the khaghan’s palace, on the flat top of which a golden tent was erected; a wall with twelve great iron gates surrounded the palace. The city itself was 4 by 1.5 miles (7 by 2.5 kilometers) in area and grew from empty grassland to thriving emporium virtually overnight. It was an administrative center, a major local and long-distance market center, and a hive of craftspeople of all sorts. The Uighurs were beginning to see themselves as rivals of the Chinese and consciously avoided imitating them. Ordu Balik and Bay Balik (Rich City), built on the Selenga River, were steppe cities without the form or feel of Chinese urban centers. In many ways, the Uighurs would look westward for models even as Moyanchuo married the Tang emperor’s daughter in 758.
Chinese losses at the Battle of Talas River (751) against a Muslim army in the west and in wars against Korea in the east spawned the rise of the Turkic/Sogdian general An Lushan, who united the northern Chinese and many Turks against the Tang. The rebellion began in December, 755, and by spring, four thousand Uighur horsemen led by Mouyu, second son and heir of Moyanchuo, were aiding the Tang government armies to great effect. After a year, An Lushan was assassinated, but the war continued under Shi Chaoyi (Shih Ch’ao-I) until 763. The rebels had taken both Chinese capitals of Chang’an (now Xi’an) and Luoyang, and with Uighur aid, both were taken. To the Uighurs, however, a captured city was a captured city, and a three-day sack should have been their reward. Chang’an was spared, but Luoyang was looted.
In 759, Mouyu had become khaghan on his father’s death. While in Luoyang for four months, Mouyu became strongly affected by the Manichaean religion, which was hated by the Chinese and adhered to by many Sogdians. On returning to Ordu Balik, he and his court debated the wisdom of converting to the western religion and abandoning their ancient Turkic nature-religion. His acceptance of Manichaeanism for his people alienated many, but he enforced it by using the Mongolian military measure of having one person in charge of nine: in this case, for preaching and practicing the new faith. This also meant much tighter ties with the Sogdian merchants and their western way of life. The Sogdians quickly filled important positions at court and gained great trade concessions within the empire.
To the Chinese, for whom the Uighurs were merely powerful barbarians, the Sogdian influence was entirely unwelcome. Even though the Uighurs continued to aid the Tang, as against the Tibetans in 764-765, anti-Uighur (and anti-Sogdian) violence in Chinese territory grew in frequency and brutality. In 779, on the death of Emperor Daizong (Tai-tsung, r. 762-779), Mouyu was convinced by the Sogdians at court to attack China. This drove the khaghan’s cousin and main minister, Dun Mohe (Tun Mo-ho), to assassinate Mouyu, many of his family, and as many Sogdian Manichaeans as he could. Ruling as khaghan (779-789), Dun reinstated the traditional Turkic religion and strengthened relations with the Chinese (he married a Chinese princess).
After Dun, Uighur power waned, and the position of the Yaloge clan became precarious, Tibetans got the best of them militarily in the west but were checked by General Xie Yujiasi of the Xiedie clan. When the khaghan died without an heir in 795, Xie Yujiasi took the position and began a new dynasty. Known as Kutluk (r. 795-805), he brought back the Sogdian/Manichaean influence and reestablished a strong central court. He also expanded Uighur domination to Sogdian Ferghana. His successor was Baoyi (Pao-i) khaghan (r. 805-821), under whose rule the Uighur economy prospered and whose court became noted for its luxury. Uighur tribesmen and their allies throughout the empire were directly governed by their tribal leaders, known as tutuk, who managed affairs among the nomadic folk and collected taxes for the khaghan’s court. As that court grew more detached from its roots, it lost something of the loyalty on which it based its power. Should the tutuk be lost, central authority would crumble.
The Chinese were none too happy with the Sogdian/Manichaean renaissance, the Tibetans were seeking revenge, and a new force of nomadic horsemen, the Kirghiz, was harassing the empire’s northern fringes. In 822, the Chinese refused an offer of Uighur cavalry support, a sign of both Chinese power and strained relations. By the later 840’, the strains were too great: A poor crop was followed by a livestock-killing freeze. A Uighur rebel helped the Kirghiz gain entry into Ordu Balik and kill the khaghan. The center was shattered, and the empire disintegrated.
Significance
Uighur domination of the steppe established important precedents and planted important seeds. Unlike the earlier Turks, the Uighurs were remarkably stable as rulers. Tribalism seems to have been subordinated to central rule, and mere assassinations replaced bloody civil wars marking transitions in political power. This facilitated the flow of goods and people between east and west through the empire. The Uighurs themselves demonstrated an adaptability rarely seen in the region before, as some built and peopled cities and others became agriculturalists. Similar flexibility and stability attended the experiment with Manichaeanism.
The Sogdian influence was important in enabling the Uighurs to insulate themselves from the Chinese and yet to develop the forms and institutions of civilized life. From the Sogdians, the Uighurs borrowed a script that would also serve the Mongolians half a millennium later. The steppe could be controlled, tolls and taxes collected, records kept, and stable government maintained from a capital city.
Bibliography
Barfield, Thomas J. The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, 221 B.C. to A.D. 1757. New York: Blackwell, 1992. Overview of the larger issue of Chinese relations with its border peoples that views Uighurs as a major stabilizing force in the region.
Christian, David. A History of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia. Vol. 1. New York: Blackwell, 1998. Provides a broad treatment of the region. Places Uighurs in the context of their Turkic heritage and traces the cultural effects of their contacts with Sogdians and Chinese during their imperial period.
Mackerras, Colin. The Uighur Empire According to the T’ang Dynastic Histories: A Study in Sino-Uighur Relations, 744-840. 2d ed. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1972. A concise introduction to Uighur history is followed by translations from contemporary Chinese histories of the period. Attention is clearly on relations with China, but this is the only work in English specifically on Uighurs.
Mackerras, Colin. “The Uighurs.” In The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, edited by Denis Sinor. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Short introduction to their history and culture during the imperial period.