Over the centuries, history has known many states that were distinguished during their heyday by greatness and military power, but which left the world stage for one reason or another. Some sunk into eternity without leaving a trace, while others have preserved memory in the texts of ancient manuscripts. One of these was the Uyghur Kaganate, which existed in the 8th-9th centuries on the territory of Central Asia.
People on "high carts"
Long before the Uyghur Kaganate appeared in Central Asia , the tribal union that entered it was well known in China. The first mention of it is found in written monuments of the Celestial Empire, created in the IV century. In them, the Uighurs are designated by the term pronounced “gaoguy”, which means “high carts”.
They got this name for their habit of moving on the steppe in carts with high wheels. The Chinese chroniclers described the Uyghurs as short, but unusually strong and hardy people, distinguished by extreme cruelty and greed. Their skill in horseback riding and bow ownership was also noted.
The formation of a new Kaganate
On the territory where the tribes of the Uigur Kaganate lived, or, in other words, the khanate that appeared in the middle of the VIII century, in other centuries there were three other early state nomadic formations. The first of these was the khaganate, created in 323 in the Khangai mountain range, located on lands belonging to modern Mongolia.
Having existed for no more than 200 years, he gave way to the second Kaganate, who also did not linger on the historical arena and in 603 was destroyed by tribes of Turks led by a leader from the Ashin clan. They included three tribal formations - Basmals, Karluks and Uyghurs. Being in constant communication with China, they not only became its allies, but also borrowed its advanced, at that time, administrative system.
The beginning of the history of the Uigur Khaganate is considered to be the year 745, when, as a result of an intense intertribal struggle, the clan leader from the Yaglakar clan named Bilge seized power (his image is shown below). He himself was a Uyghur, and for this reason the state created by him got its name, which went down in history.
The internal structure of the state of the Uyghurs
We should pay tribute to this ruler: he created the Uyghur Kaganate on the principles of quite democratic and fundamentally different from the customs of that barbarian era. Bilge entrusted the main administrative functions to representatives of ten clans that made up the Toguz-Oguz tribe, which became the leader, but not dominant in the state.
By force suppressing the resistance of the Basmals, he granted them the same rights as his tribal tribesmen. Even small nations, such as kibi, Tongra, Hun, butu and a number of others, were accepted into the common environment on an equal footing. When the Karluk’s twenty-year struggle against the Uyghur Kaganate ended, which continued intermittently after Bilge’s death, they were likened to Toguz-Oguzes, finding themselves at the same level of the social ladder.
This form of domestic organization provided him at first with sufficient stability. In this case, minorities had the same rights as the leading tribe of the Uigur Khaganate. The war with the Turks of other nomadic formations only strengthened this alliance.
For his bid, Khan Bilge chose a site located between the foot of the Hangam massif and the Orkhon river. On the whole, his possessions, bordering on China, covered Dzungaria in the west - the territory of Central Asia, significant in area, and in the east - part of Manchuria. The Uyghurs did not strive for further territorial conquests. By the middle of the eighth century, this steppe nation was already tired of past shocks.
Heir to supreme authority
After the death of Khan Bilge, which followed in 747, the supreme power in the Uyghur Kaganate passed to his son Mayanchur, but he had to defend his inheritance in a bloody struggle. The last period of his father’s reign was marked by the emergence of opposition in close circles, dissatisfied with the established order and waiting for an opportunity for rebellion.
Taking advantage of the death of the ruler, its leaders provoked a riot among the Basmals and Kurluks, thereby unleashing a civil war. Having no other opportunity to suppress the resistance, Mayanchur was forced to resort to the help of foreigners - Tatars and Kidonians. However, historians note that his ability to find compromise solutions in all difficult cases played an important role in the successful conclusion of the war.
Having thus affirmed his supreme power, Mayanchur set about arranging the state. He began by creating a mobile and well-trained army. This was of prime necessity, since the Uyghur Kaganate existed during the wars that constantly flared up throughout Central Asia. But, unlike his father, the young ruler did his best to expand his possessions.
Mayanchur Military Campaigns
So, at the beginning of 750, he captured the upper Yenisei, subjugating the Chik tribe living there, and in the fall defeated the Tatars who settled in Western Manchuria. The following year, the lands of the Kyrgyz, bordering the northwestern borders of the kaganate, were added to his conquests. Continuing the traditions of his father, Mayanchur gave representatives of the peoples conquered by him equal rights with other residents of the state.
An important stage in the history of the Uyghur Kaganate is the provision of military assistance to them by representatives of the Tang dynasty that ruled in China . The fact is that in 755, one of the prominent military leaders of the Chinese army An-Lushan raised a rebellion and at the head of a large detachment, formed mainly from the Turks, captured both the capitals of the Celestial Empire - Chang'an and Luoyan. As a result, the emperor had no choice but to ask for help from friendly Uigurs.
Mayanchur, responding to the call, twice sent an army to China, consisting of 5 thousand professionals and almost 10 thousand auxiliary contingent. This saved the Tang dynasty and helped it maintain power, however, it was necessary to pay with gold for the service provided by the Uighurs.
The emperor paid an even larger sum for his intercessors to quickly get out of the territory of the Celestial Empire and stop the robberies. The military operation to restore order in a neighboring country enriched the kaganate extremely and positively affected its economy.
Acceptance of the Manichaean Faith
The next important stage in the history of the Uyghur Kaganate began, according to the same Chinese annals, in 762, and it was connected not with military victories, but with the conversion of its population to the Manichaean faith. Her missionary was a missionary who spoke a Sogdian language that was understandable to the Uighurs and was met by them during a campaign in the Celestial Empire.
The religion of Mani, or otherwise Manichaeism, having arisen in the 3rd century in Babylon, quickly found its followers all over the world. Without going into the details of her creed, we only note that in North Africa, before the adoption of Christianity, the future Saint Augustine preached Manichaeism, in Europe it gave rise to the Albigoy heresy, and once in the Iranian world, it advanced up to the Far East.
Having become the state religion of the Uighurs, Manichaeism gave them a powerful impetus to advance along the path of civilization. Since it was closely connected with the culture that belonged to the more developed Sogdian state, located in Central Asia, the Sogdian language came into use along with Turkic and made it possible for the Uighurs to create their own national script. He also allowed yesterday's barbarians to join the culture of Iran, and then the whole Mediterranean.
Meanwhile, the traditions of the Uyghur Kaganate inherited from barbaric times, despite the beneficial influence of the new religion and established cultural ties, remained largely the same, and violence was the way to resolve many issues. It is known, in particular, that at different periods of time two of his rulers fell at the hands of the killers, and one committed suicide by being surrounded by a crowd of rebels.
Tuva as part of the Uyghur Kaganate
In the middle of the VIII century, the Uighurs made two attempts to seize territories belonging to Tuva, and tried to subjugate the Chik tribes living there. This was a very difficult matter, since they were in allied relations with their northern neighbors - the Kyrgyz - and relied on their support. According to most researchers, it was the help of neighbors that caused the failure that the Uyghurs and their leader Moyun-chur suffered during the first campaign.
Only a year later, as a result of the victory in the battle on the Bolchu River, the Uyghur army was able to overcome the resistance of the Chiks and their allies of the Kyrgyz. To finally gain a foothold in the conquered territory, Moyun-chura ordered the construction of a number of fortifications and defensive structures, as well as the establishment of military settlements there. Tuva was a part of the Uigur Kaganate until its fall, being the northwestern outskirts of the state.
Conflicts with the Celestial Empire
In the second half of the 8th century, relations between the kaganate and China significantly worsened. This became especially noticeable after the emperor Dejun came to power there (his image is shown below), who was very hostile to the Uighurs and did not consider it necessary to hide his antipathies. Idigan Khan, who ruled in the kaganate in those years, wishing to compel him to submission, gathered an army and attacked the northern regions of the country.
However, he did not take into account that over the years since the Uyghurs saved the Tang dynasty that ruled in China, the population of the Celestial Empire increased by almost a million inhabitants, and accordingly, the size of the army also increased. As a result, his military adventure ended in failure and only exacerbated mutual hostility.
However, shortly after this, the war with Tibet forced the Chinese emperor to turn to the Uyghurs whom he hated, and for a fee they put at his disposal a rather powerful contingent of troops. Holding back the forces of Tibet for three years and preventing them from attacking North China, the Uyghurs received a fair amount of gold from their employer, but, returning home after the end of the war, they encountered a completely unexpected problem.
The beginning of internal strife
When sending his troops on a campaign, Idigan Khan did not take into account that among the tribes that made up the population of the Khaganate, very many not only sympathize with the inhabitants of Tibet, but also have blood ties with them. As a result, returning victors from foreign lands, the Uyghurs were forced to suppress flames that broke out everywhere at home, started by the Karluks and Turges.
The kaganate warriors had no time to break their resistance, as the Kyrgyz revolted behind them, retaining autonomy until then, but taking advantage of political instability for complete separation. In 816, the situation created as a result of internal conflicts was seized by the Tibetans, who did not give up hope of revenge on the Uighurs for the recent defeat. Having guessed the time when the main forces of the kaganate, which participated in the suppression of the uprising, were on the northern borders of the state, they attacked the capital of Uigur Karakorum and, having plundered everything that could be carried away, they burned it.
Religious wars sweeping the kaganate
The subsequent disintegration of the Uyghur Kaganate, which occurred in the middle of the 9th century, was facilitated by the separatist sentiments that intensified every year among the tribes entering it. An important role in their escalation was played by religious contradictions, and it was the Uighurs who became the main object of universal hatred.
It is important to consider that the Uyghur Khaganate existed at a time when a process of changing faith was going on among the steppe peoples of Central Asia. Nomads borrowed religious worldviews mainly from Iran, Syria and Arabia, but this happened extremely slowly, without pressure from outside. So, among them, Nestorianism, Islam and theistic Buddhism (the direction of Buddhism that recognizes the Creator of the universe) gradually took root. In those cases when individual nomadic tribes fell into the dependence of stronger neighbors, they simply demanded payment of tribute and did not try to change the whole circle of their worldview.
As for the Uighurs, they tried by force to convert the peoples that were part of their state into Manichaeism, for many alien and incomprehensible due to the insufficient level of development at that time. They pursued the same policy with respect to the tribes, who, having become a victim of another raid, came under their influence. Not satisfied with only the tribute received, the Uighurs forced them to abandon their usual way of life and adopt Manichaeism, thereby breaking the psyche of their vassals.
The beginning of the death of the state
Such practice led to the fact that not only integrity, but also the very existence of the Uyghur were constantly threatened by an increasing number of external and internal enemies. Very soon, armed clashes with the Kyrgyz, Karluks, and even Tibetans took on the character of religious wars. All this led to the fact that by the middle of the IX century, the former greatness of the Uigur Kaganate was left in the past.
The weakening of the once powerful state was exploited by the Kyrgyz, who seized the capital Karakorum in 841 and stole the entire treasury located in it. Many researchers emphasize that the defeat of the Karakorum in its significance and consequences was comparable to the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Finally, the Uyghur Kaganate fell under the onslaught of the Chinese hordes, who attacked it in 842 and forced their former allies to retreat right up to the borders of Manchuria. But even such a prolonged flight did not save the dying army. Having learned that the Uighurs found refuge in the lands belonging to the Tatars, the Kyrgyz khan came with a large army and put to death all who could still hold weapons in their hands.
The sudden aggression from China pursued not only military-political tasks, but also aimed to defeat Manichaeism, which later opened the way for the spread of Buddhism. All religious books of mania were destroyed, and the property of the ministers of this cult was transferred to the imperial treasury.
The last act of drama
However, the story of the Uyghurs did not end there. After the defeat of their once powerful state, they nevertheless succeeded in 861, rallying around the last representative of the Yaglakar dynasty that had ruled earlier, to create a small principality in the northwestern part of China, in the territory of the Gansu province. This newly created entity became part of the Celestial Empire as a vassal.
For some time, the relations of the Uyghurs with their new owners were quite calm, especially since they regularly paid the established tribute. They were even allowed to hold a small army to repel the raids of the aggressive neighbors - the Karluk, Yagma and Chigili tribes.
When their own forces were not enough, government troops came to the rescue. But later, the Chinese emperor, accusing the Uyghurs of robbery and rebellion, deprived them of his protection. The Tungus close to the Tibetans took advantage of this in 1028 and, having taken possession of the lands of the Uyghurs, put an end to the existence of their principality. This concluded the story of the Uyghur Kaganate, briefly outlined in our article.