Bilge Qaghan
Bilge Kağan (683 or 684 - 734) was the khagan of the Second Turkic Khaganate. His accomplishments were described in the Orkhon inscriptions.
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[edit] Names
As was the custom, his personal name and the name after assuming the title Khagan were different. His personal name was : 阿史那默棘連, Ashǐnà mòjílián, a-shih-na mo-chi-lan) . His name after assuming the title was Bilge Khagan (or Bilge Qhagan). (Old Turkic: 
, Bilge qaγan,[1] 毗伽可汗, Pinyin: píjiā kěhàn, Wade-Giles: p'i-chia k'o-han, official title: 
, Teŋіriteg Тeŋiride bolmuš Türük Bilge qaγan,[2]
[edit] As a khagan
In 716, Qapaghan Qaghan the second khaghan of the khaganate was killed in his campaign against Toquz Oghuz and his severed head was sent to Changan.[3] Although his son Inel Qaghan succeded him, the legal claimant of the throne was his cousin Ashǐnà mòjílián. Mojilan's brother Kul Tigin and Tonyukuk carried out a coup d'état against Inel Qaghan. They killed Inel Qaghan and made Mojilan a khagan with the name Bilge Qaghan.[3]His name literally means "wise chieftain".
Bilge's khaganate spanned vast steppes from the Caspian Sea to Manchuria; he also invaded the western sections of the Chinese territories. After his death from poisoning, several stelae were erected in the capital area by the Orkhon River. These Orkhon inscriptions are the first known texts in the Old Turkic language. (Actually the popular name Orkhon inscriptions is out of date and most historians prefer the name Khöshöö Tsaidam Monuments inscriptions for the stelae of Bilge and Kul Tigin and Bain Tsokto for the earlier stelae of Tonyukuk.)
He was poisoned by Buyruk Chor[4] (梅錄啜/梅录啜, méilù chuò, mei-lu-ch'o). He didn't die immediately and he had time to punish the family of Buyruk Chor with death.[3]
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Bilge Qaghan
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| Preceded by Inel Qaghan |
Khagan of the Second Eastern Turkic Khaganate 717–734 |
Succeeded by Yiran Qaghan |
[edit] Sources
[edit] References
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia, Vol. II, pp16–17
[edit] Illustrations
[edit] External Links
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