Kul Tigin
Encyclopedia
Tokuz-Oguzes
Toquz Oghuz is a political alliance of nine Turkic tribes. Toquz Oghuz consolidated within the Turkic Kaganate , and after its fragmentation preserved their union...
tribes.
Upon the death of Mochuo Kagan
Qapagan Khaghan
Qapaghan Qaghan or Qapghan Qaghan was the second Khaghan of the Second Eastern Turkic Khaganate during Wu Zetian's reign...
, Mochuo's son attempted to illegally ascend to the throne, defying the traditional Lateral succession
Order of succession
An order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
law, but Kül-Tegin refused to recognize the takeover. He raised an army, attacked, and killed Mochuo's son and his trusted followers. He raised his elder brother Mojilian
Bilge Khan
Bilge Qaghan was khagan of the Second Eastern Turkic Khaganate...
, who took the title Bilge (The Wise) Kagan
Kaghan
Kaghan is a small town and union council of the Balakot Tehsil, in Mansehra District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It has a reputation as a place of great natural beauty....
, and took the title of Shad
Shad
The shads or river herrings comprise the genus Alosa, fish related to herring in the family Clupeidae. They are distinct from others in that family by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. The several species frequent different areas on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea....
, an equivalent of commander-in-chief of the army for himself.
In 731 Kül-Tegin fell ill and died. A stele in memory of Kul Tigin, which included inscriptions in both the Turkic
Orkhon script
The Old Turkic script is the alphabet used by the Göktürk and other early Turkic Khanates from at least the 7th century to record the Old Turkic language. It was later used by the Uyghur Empire...
and Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, was erected at his memorial complex at the present site of Khöshöö-Tsaidam-2. Kül-Tegin is also mentioned in the inscription erected in memory of his older brother Bilge Kagan at the neighbouring site of Khöshöö-Tsaidam-1.
Prince Kül-Tegin descended from the "Gold (Kagan's) clan of the ancient Türkic dynastic tribe Ashina (Hot.-Sak. blue) called Shar-Duly (Middle Persian
Middle Persian
Middle Persian , indigenously known as "Pârsig" sometimes referred to as Pahlavi or Pehlevi, is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as a...
zarr duli "Golden bird Duli", i.e. "Golden/Red Raven"). All royal Oguzes
Oghuz Turks
The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....
traced their descent from this mythical bird Dulu
Dulo clan
The Dulo Clan or the House of Dulo was the name of the ruling dynasty of the early Bulgars.This was the clan of Kubrat who founded Old Great Bulgaria, and his sons Batbayan, Kuber and Asparuh, the latter of which founded Danube Bulgaria....
/Tulu. The headdress on the glabella part of Kül-Tegin sculpture in the Husho-Tsaidam enclave (Orkhon
Orkhon
Orkhon may refer to:* Orkhon River, Mongolia* Orkhon Valley, the landscape around that river* Orkhon Province, an Aimag in Mongolia* several Sums in different Mongolian Aimags:** Orkhon, Bulgan** Orkhon, Selenge...
, Northern Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
) carries a bird with wings spread like an eagle, personifying a Raven.