The sifa, 俟發, was an office of the western Göktürks.[1] The Sui Shu names it together with the yanhongda. The two offices deliberated on the affairs of state. The other offices of the west were the same as in the eastern state.[1] The passage describes the west under Heshana. The Bei Shi repeats it word for word.[2]

The form of the word

The title appears only in that one sentence.[2] The Jiu Tang Shu lists the hereditary offices of the western Göktürks. It names the yanhongda but not the sifa.[3]

Some scholars take 俟發 to be a faulty abbreviation of 俟利發, silifa.[4] In the Zhou Shu, the silifa is the fourth of the great offices, after the yabgu, the shad and the tegin.[5] On this view, the council of the west included an office that the eastern list also knew, under a shortened name.

References

  1. ^ a b Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 84
  2. ^ a b Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 84; Bei Shi (History of the Northern Dynasties), juan 99
  3. ^ Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194
  4. ^ Chavannes 1903, p. 15
  5. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 50

Sources

Literature

  • Édouard Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-Kiue (Turcs) occidentaux (1903)

Related

What links here2

Institutions and Titles
The Twenty-Eight Ranks · Yanhongda

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Sifa.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/institutions/sifa/

Last revised: 8 November 2026