Kul Tigin ([ Kultegin’s Memorial Complex, TÜRIK BITIG] 勤]], Pinyin: Quètèqín, Wade–Giles: chüeh-t'e-ch'in, 684–731) was a general and a Tegin of the Second Turkic Khaganate.
Etymology
Necip Asım (1921) initially gave his name as
köl, based on the etymology of Mahmud al-Kashgari, meaning "lake, sea".
Vasily Radlov rendered this word as
kül, and
Vilhelm Thomsen (1896), Malov (1951) and Tekin (1968) adopted this reading. Bazin (1956) and Hamilton (1962) rejected Radloff's reading and preferred the form
köl. However, Chinese sources used the Chinese character 闕 (
què). Therefore, this word should be read as
kül, not
köl.
Biography
Early years
Kul Tigin was the second son of
Ilterish Qaghan, the Second Turkic Khaganate's founder, and the younger brother of
Bilge Qaghan (born Ashina Mojilian), the fourth qaghan. He was seven when his father died.
During the reign of Qapaghan Qaghan, Kul Tigin and his older brother earned reputation for their military prowess. They defeated the Yenisei Kyrgyz, Türgesh, and Karluks, extending the kaganate territory to the Iron Gate south of Samarkand. They also subjugated all nine of the Toquz Oghuz tribes.
In 705, Turkic forces commanded by Ashina Mojilian entered Lingwu, defeating Shazha Chongyi (沙吒忠义). Kul Tigin commanded a unit in battle, in which he lost three horses.
In 711, he participated in Battle of Bolchu, which was disastrous for the Türgesh.Taşağil Ahmet.975161113X, Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi. 975161113X
In 713 he participated in subjugation of Karluks tribes with his brother and uncle.
As supreme commander
Upon the death of Qapaghan Qaghan, his son
Inel Qaghan attempted to illegally ascend to the throne, defying the traditional lateral succession, but Kül Tigin refused to recognize the takeover. He raised an army, attacked, and killed Inel,
Ashina Duoxifu and his trusted followers. He placed Mojilian on the throne as Bilge Qaghan, and took the title of shad, an equivalent of commander-in-chief of the army, for himself.
Death
He died suddenly on 27 February 731. A
stele in his memory, which included inscriptions in both
Orkhon script and
Chinese language, was erected at his memorial complex of
Khoshoo Tsaidam, at the present site of the Orkhon inscriptions.
[Sören Stark, Die Alttürkenzeit in Mittel- und Zentralasien (Nomaden und Sesshafte, Band 6), Reichert: Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 76–78] Kül-Tegin is also mentioned in the inscription erected in memory of his older brother Bilge Qaghan at the neighbouring site of Khöshöö-Tsaidam-1.
His burial ceremony took place in 1 November 731. He was posthumously renamed Inanču Apa Yarğan Tarqan () by Bilge Qaghan.
The head of the Kül Tigin sculpture in the Khöshöö-Tsaidam enclave in (Orkhon Province, in northern Mongolia) carries a bird with wings spread like an eagle, personifying a raven.[Yu. Zuev, "Early Türks: Sketches of history and ideology", Almaty, Daik-Press, 2002, p. 25, ] The head was found by the Czech archeologist Lumir Jisl during his 1957–1958 expedition to Mongolia.
Popular culture
He was portrayed by Ham Suk Hun (함석훈) in Korean TV Series
Dae Jo-yeong.
Notes
Sources
-
Talat Tekin, A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic. Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, vol. 69 (Bloomington/The Hague: Mouton, 1968)
-
新疆维吾尔自治区民族事务委員会、 新疆民族辞典， 乌鲁木齐：Xinjiang People's Press，1995 Xinjiang
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