Tölis and Tardush

Tölis and Tardush are two peoples whom the Göktürk inscriptions name together, tölis and tarduš bodun.^[1] İlteriš, the founder of the Second Khaganate, organised them and gave them a yabgu and a shad.^[2] Some scholars understand them as the eastern and the western half of the realm.^[3]

In the inscriptions

The Kül Tegin inscription tells how İlteriš gathered a people that had lost its realm and its khan.^[4] He set it in order by the law of his forefathers. There he organised the Tölis and the Tardush and gave them a yabgu and a shad.^[4] The two names stand in line 13 of the east face, cut 𐱅𐰇𐰠𐰃𐰾 and 𐱃𐰺𐰑𐰆𐱁.^[5] A few lines later Bilge Khan says of himself that he was shad over the Tardush people when his uncle was khan.^[6]

The Bilge Khan inscription sets the two side by side at court.^[7] When Bilge Khan came to the throne, the Tardush begs stood “behind”, headed by Kül Čur. The Tölis begs stood “in front”, headed by Apa Tarkan.^[7]^[8] In the inscription of Tonyukuk, the khan orders an army out under İnel Khan and the Tardush Shad.^[9] Among the mourners at Kül Tegin’s funeral, the Kül Tegin inscription names a Tardush Inanču Čor, who came from the khan of the Kırgız.^[10]

East and west

The inscriptions orient themselves to the sunrise: “in front” is east and “behind” is west.^[11] The begs of the Bilge Khan inscription therefore place the Tölis in the east and the Tardush in the west.^[11] The Chinese report that Kapgan gave Bilge Khan the government of the west before his accession. This fits Bilge Khan’s own statement that he was shad of the Tardush.^[11] Seen this way, İlteriš organised the two halves of the restored state after the old order of the khans.^[11]

The Tölis have also been identified with the people the Chinese call Tiele.^[12] The identification rests on the likeness of the names alone.^[13]

The Chinese titles

達頭, Datou, is the title of Tardush. The Sui Shu calls him a paternal uncle of Ishbara and formerly the Western Khan.^[14] Some scholars take 達頭 to be a Chinese spelling of tarduš.^[15]

突利, Tuli, is the title of khans whom the Chinese histories place in the east.^[16] Ilig made his nephew Shibobi Tuli Khan and had him live in the east, where he ruled the Xi and other tribes.^[16] The earlier Tuli Khan was Rangan, who later became Yami. He had lived in the north and moved south in 597, when he married a Sui princess.^[14] Some scholars render the title 突利 as Töles.^[17] The Chinese texts give the title and the place of its holders. They do not give the meaning of the word.^[18]

References

^ Kül Tegin inscription; Tekin 1968, p. 385
^ Kül Tegin inscription; Tekin 1968, p. 373, 385
^ Thomsen 1896, p. 146–147
^ a b Kül Tegin inscription; Radloff 1894–1895, parts 1–3, p. 10–11
^ Kül Tegin inscription; Radloff 1894–1895, parts 1–3, p. 10
^ Kül Tegin inscription; Radloff 1894–1895, parts 1–3, p. 12–13
^ a b Bilge Khan inscription; Thomsen 1896, p. 130–131
^ Tekin 1968, p. 280
^ Tonyukuk inscription; Tekin 1968, p. 287
^ Kül Tegin inscription; Tekin 1968, p. 272, 335
^ a b c d Thomsen 1896, p. 147
^ Thomsen 1896, p. 146
^ Golden 1992, p. 94
^ a b Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 84
^ Thomsen 1896, p. 63; 131; Golden 1992, p. 63; 131
^ a b Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194; Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 215
^ Yavuz 2025, p. 374
^ Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194; Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 84

Sources

Kül Tegin inscription
Bilge Khan inscription
Tonyukuk inscription
Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 84
Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194
Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 215 (after Jiu Tangshu)

Literature

Wilhelm Radloff, Die alttürkischen Inschriften der Mongolei (1894–1895, parts 1–3)
Vilhelm Thomsen, Inscriptions de l'Orkhon déchiffrées (1896)
Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
Emre-E. Yavuz, The Gokturk Empire: 2nd Edition (2025)
Talât Tekin, A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic (1968)