Yaglakar

Rouran epoch Göktürk epoch Uyghur epoch Kirghiz epoch

Rouran First Göktürk Tang rule Second Göktürk Uyghur Kirghiz Huns Western Göktürk Türgesh Karluk Khazar

Rouran 400–554
First Göktürk 552–630
Tang rule 630–682
Second Göktürk 682–744
Uyghur 744–840
Kirghiz 840–924
Huns 370–469
Western Göktürk 552–659
Türgesh 699–766
Karluk 766–800
Khazar 650–969

The Uyghurs were the chief of the nine tribes of the Toquz Oghuz. They were themselves divided into ten sub-tribes. The Yaglakar was the first of those ten. Until 795 the khagans of the Uyghur Khaganate were drawn from it.^[1]

The house therefore stood at the head of a nested structure. A confederation of nine was led by one of its members, the Uyghurs. The Uyghurs consisted of ten sub-tribes and were led by one of those, the Yaglakar. Rule on this steppe was rarely a single throne. It was a seat at the head of a series of seats. After 795 the khagans came from the Ediz instead.^[2]

Old Uyghur runiform monuments name the dynasty several times as Yaglakar.^[3] On the Tariat stele the word stands at the end of a line that lists dignitaries of the Tardush, in the words ïšbara sengün yaglakar.^[4]

In 2021 a standing stone was found at Dövön in Govi-Altai province in Mongolia. It carries a tamga that its finders think may belong to the Yaglakar, a text in Uyghur script and a runiform text of two letters, read taš, “stone”.^[5]

The Uyghur emblem the site carries is drawn after the tamga associated with this house.

References

^ Mackerras 1972, p. 1
^ Mackerras 1972, p. 158
^ Klyaştornıy 1990, p. 137
^ Saadettin 1995, p. 75
^ Badam 2024, p. 33

Sources

Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194
Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 215 (after Jiu Tangshu)
Karabalghasun inscription
Tariat inscription

Literature

Colin Mackerras, The Uighur Empire According to the T'ang Dynastic Histories (1972)
Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
Gömeç, Saadettin, Terhin Yazıtı'nın Tarihi Açıdan Değerlendirilmesi (1995)
Sergey G. Klyaştornıy (Klyashtornyj), Orhon Anıtlarında Türklerin Krallık Soyunun Adı (1990)
Azzaya Badam, Moğolistan’da 2018–2021 Yılları Arasında Bulunan Runik Yazıtlar (2024)