The Türgesh were one of the five tribes of the Üç Tuğlu, the eastern union of the Ten Arrows, with their territory in the Ili basin and, after 690, Suyab as their urban centre. In the contest between China, Tibet and the factions of the Ten Arrows the tribes chose the Türgesh Baga Tarqan Wuzhile, who ruled from 699 to 706, as their leader and passed his position to his son Saqal, who defeated the Tang in 708 and 709, declared himself khan, and perished together with his rival brother Zhenu, whom the eastern Göktürk had aided; when the eastern Göktürk withdrew in 715, one of Saqal’s generals, Sulu, ruled from 717 to 738, proclaimed himself khan, defeated the Muslim forces in 720 and 724, made peace with the Tang in 722 and received an Ashina bride, and was a brilliant politician and able general who manoeuvred between the great powers.[1] The Old Book of Tang says that every time he campaigned he distributed among his generals, officers and hordes all the booty he had taken, and that his subjects loved him and were entirely at his service; when he began to keep more for himself his popularity declined, and in failing health he was slain by the Baga Tarqan Kül Čur and Tumodu, leaders of the yellow tribes that claimed descent from Saqal, rivals of Sulu’s black tribes.[2] The Arab victory at Kharistan in 737 ended the Türgesh danger to Arab rule in Transoxiana; Kül Čur recognised Tang overlordship in 740 and perished in 744; the Karluks came about 745; the Türgesh joined the revolt of Čabïš of Tashkent in 750 and were quickly defeated, and after the Tang defeat on the Talas in 751 they were largely under Chinese control until the Karluks took Suyab in 766. The Kül Tegin inscription, from the other side, calls the Türgesh khan one of the Göktürk’s own stock who erred and died for it, and tells of the campaign across the Altai and the Irtysh on which the eastern Göktürk fell on the Türgesh in their sleep, killed their khan at Bolchu and took his realm, after which the Black Türgesh all submitted.[3]
References
- ^ Golden 1992
- ^ Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang); Golden 1992
- ^ Kül Tegin inscription
Sources
Literature
- Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
What links here9
- Polities
- Khazar Khaganate · Western Göktürk Khaganate
- Battles & Events
- Battle of Bolchu
Cite this article
Yavuz, Emre-E. “Türgesh.” Turkic Atlas, revised 12 September 2026. https://turkicatlas.business-5d4.workers.dev/ethnicities/turgesh/
Last revised: 12 September 2026