The Göktürks bound themselves by oath before foreign rulers. Both the western and the Chinese sources record such oaths.[1] The western sources show the gestures and the curse. The Chinese sources show the covenant between two rulers and what became of it. The Kül Tegin and Tonyukuk inscriptions record no oath.[2]

Before Justin II

Maniakh, the leader of the Sogdians, came to the emperor Justin II as envoy of the Göktürk khagan.[3] The envoys asked for peace and for an alliance against the enemies of both states.[1] As they spoke, Maniakh and his companions raised their hands on high. They swore their greatest oath that they spoke with honest intent.[1]

They called down curses upon themselves, upon their khagan Sizabul and upon their whole people, if their claims were false and could not be fulfilled.[1] In this way, Menander writes, the Göktürks became friends of the Romans.[1]

The embassy of 576

In 576 the Roman envoy Valentinos reached the war camp of Türk-shad, whom Menander calls Turxanthos.[4] Valentinos asked him to confirm the treaty that his father had made with the emperor Justin.[5]

Türk-shad answered with a charge of deceit. He asked whether these were not the Romans who used ten tongues and lied with all of them. As he spoke, he put his ten fingers in his mouth.[6] The Romans, he said, deceived now him and now his runaway slaves, the Uarkhonitai, by whom he meant the Avars.[7] He threatened to kill the envoys at once and gave his reason: “To lie is foreign and alien to a Turk.”[7]

Türk-shad then bound himself. Valentinos left for the court of Türk-shad’s brother Tardush on Mount Ektel. Türk-shad swore that he would presently lay siege to Bosporus.[8] He sent Bochan with a very large force, and the city was taken.[9]

Oaths in the Caucasus

The Armenian History of the Caucasian Albanians records two oaths of the northern army that came to the Caucasus in the 620s.[10] The chronicle calls this army Khazar. Whether it was Göktürk is disputed. Heraclius asked Jebu Xak’an, the viceroy of the king of the north, for help against Persia.[11] To confirm the treaty, Jebu Xak’an sent about a thousand picked horsemen to the emperor. They swore mutual oaths with him, each according to his own law.[11]

Later Jebu Xak’an’s son Šat received the catholicos of Albania in his tent.[12] Šat promised that his army would stop its raiding. He swore on the life of his father that whatever the catholicos asked would be granted.[13]

Covenants with the Tang

In the Chinese histories the oath appears as a covenant between two rulers, 盟.[14] In 624 Ilig Khan and his nephew Töles came with their horsemen against the army of Li Shimin, the later emperor Taizong.[14] Li Shimin rode out with a hundred men and reproached Ilig. The Tang state and the khan had sworn not to betray each other, he said, and the khan had broken the agreement.[14]

Li Shimin sent word to Töles that the two of them had once sworn to help each other in need.[14] He asked why the bond of incense and fire, 香火之情, was gone.[14] The phrase is understood as an oath of friendship sworn over burning incense.[15] Ilig heard the words about incense and fire and began to suspect his nephew.[14] He drew back and asked for peace. Töles asked to become Li Shimin’s sworn brother.[14]

In 626 Ilig came with more than a hundred thousand horsemen as far as the Wei river before Chang’an.[14] The new emperor spoke with him across the water, and peace was asked for and granted.[14] Then the emperor went out to the west of the city. A white horse was killed, and he swore a covenant with Ilig on the Bian bridge. After that, Ilig led his army away.[16] The histories do not say whose rite the white horse was.[14]

The covenant after 626

The covenant was remembered after the khaganate fell. Ilig was brought to Chang’an as a captive in 630. Taizong told him that his crimes were not small.[14] The two had, however, sworn their covenant face to face at the Wei river. Therefore Ilig had committed no grave offence, and for that the emperor would not punish him.[14]

The Tang court did not judge the oath of the Göktürks as Türk-shad had. Töles, attacked by Ilig, asked the emperor for help. Taizong said that he had a covenant with Ilig and a compact of brotherhood with Töles.[17] His minister Du Ruhui answered that the barbarians had no good faith. The Tang kept the compact, he said, and the barbarians always broke it.[18] The emperor agreed and sent a general to hold Taiyuan against Ilig.[18]

Türk-shad held lying to be alien to his people. Du Ruhui held that the barbarians had long been without good faith. Both judgements were made by parties to the dealings they describe.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 10.1, p. 117
  2. ^ Kül Tegin inscription; Tonyukuk inscription
  3. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 10.1, p. 115
  4. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 19.1, p. 171–173
  5. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 19.1, p. 173
  6. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 19.1, p. 173–175
  7. ^ a b Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 19.1, p. 175
  8. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 19.1, p. 179
  9. ^ Menander Protector; Blockley 1985, fr. 19.1–19.2, p. 179
  10. ^ Movsēs Dasxurancʿi; Dowsett 1961, p. 87, 100
  11. ^ a b Movsēs Dasxurancʿi; Dowsett 1961, p. 87
  12. ^ Movsēs Dasxurancʿi; Dowsett 1961, p. 99–100
  13. ^ Movsēs Dasxurancʿi; Dowsett 1961, p. 100
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194
  15. ^ Mau-tsai 1958, Turkish edition, p. 185
  16. ^ Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194; Tongdian, juan 197; Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 215
  17. ^ Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 215
  18. ^ a b Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194; Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 215

Sources

Literature

  • R. C. Blockley, The History of Menander the Guardsman: Introductory Essay, Text, Translation, and Historiographical Notes (1985)
  • Charles J. F. Dowsett (trans.), The History of the Caucasian Albanians by Movsēs Dasxuranci (1961)
  • Liu Mau-tsai, Çin Kaynaklarına Göre Doğu Türkleri (1958, Turkish edition)

Related

What links here3

Institutions and Titles
Diplomacy of the Steppe Empires · The Iron Oath
Religions
Horse Sacrifice

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “The Göktürk Oath.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/institutions/gokturk-oath/

Last revised: 8 November 2026