Oghuz Yabgu State

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 Oghuz of the Syr Darya were a union of some twenty-two to twenty-five clans, led by a yabgu, a title they had received from the Göktürks.^[1] Islamic writers first mention them in al-Khwarazmi, who died in 850, and by then their leader already bore this title. The title may be tied to the rearrangement of 744, which also made the Qarluqs a people led by a yabgu.^[2] Where the Oghuz of the Syr Darya came from is a further question. There are two explanations of their origin. According to the first, they belonged to the Ten Arrows of the western Göktürks, the branch of the Nushibi on the Chu and the Talas, and not to the Nine Oghuz of the Orkhon.^[3] According to the second, the Nine Oghuz of the Orkhon moved west. Islamic sources report Oghuz coming to Transoxiana under the caliph al-Mahdi, and a raid of the Nine Oghuz on Ushrusana in 820 or 821.^[4] Ibn Fadlan travelled through their land in the early tenth century. He calls the yabgu “the king of the Guzz Turks” and names his deputy, the kül erkin, as well as the tarkhans and an army commander called Etrek.^[5] Another account adds a seal called tughrağ, writers, and a council in which the yabgu decided matters with the other chiefs.^[6] The ruler did not claim the dignity of khan.^[5] The Hudud al-Alam says that each tribe had its own chief because the tribes quarrelled with one another. It also places the yabgu’s winter quarters in the village of Dih-i Nau.^[5] In 921 a caravan of five thousand men travelled from Khwarazm into the lands of the Oghuz and the Bulgars. Muslim merchants left their goods in safety with Oghuz “friends”. No one could enter the Turkic lands without the guarantee of these friends.^[7] The Oghuz raided the Volga Bulgars, Khazaria and Samanid Transoxiana. In 965 they joined the Rus’ against the Khazar cities.^[8] Around 985 the Seljuk, an army commander of the yabgu or of the Khazar khan, quarrelled with his overlord and fled to Jand on the Syr Darya.^[9] His followers, led by Togrul and Chaghri, were later defeated by the yabgu Shahmalik and driven into Khurasan. In 1042 they drove Shahmalik out of Khwarazm.^[10]

References

^ Golden 1992, p. 206,207
^ a b c Golden 1992, p. 206
^ Sümer 1972, p. 24–25, 36
^ Sümer 1972, p. 24–25
^ a b c d Golden 1992, p. 209
^ Sümer 1972, p. 53–54
^ Togan 1981, p. 125
^ Golden 1992, p. 210
^ Golden 1992, p. 218
^ Golden 1992, p. 218,219
^ Golden 1992, p. 218–219
^ a b Golden 1992, p. 211

Sources

Literature

Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
Faruk Sümer, Oğuzlar (Türkmenler). Tarihleri, boy teşkilâtı, destanları (1972)
Zeki Velidi Togan, Umumi Türk Tarihine Giriş I (1981)