Ashina tribe: Difference between revisions
Ghirlandajo (talk | contribs) →History: tried to make some sense of the latest additions |
Undid revision 131092843 by Ghirlandajo (talk) Don't removed my source. |
||
| Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
== History == |
== History == |
||
It should be noted that the name '''Ashina''' had only first appeared in the 6th century under the Chinese accounts, and prior to that no other sources had related their history at all.<ref name=ashina/> For the part of their early blank history, some scholar conducts that between 265－460 the Ashina were incorporated into several late [[Xiongnu]] confederations.<ref>The [[Great Soviet Encyclopaedia]], 2nd edition. Article "Orhon Turks" ([http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/085/212.htm Орхонские тюрки]), by Sergei Klyashtorny.</ref> About 460 they were subjugated by the Rouran, who ousted them from [[Xinjiang]] into the [[Altay Mountains]], where the Ashina gradually emerged as the leaders of the early Turkic confederation, known as the [[Göktürk]]s. By the 550s, [[Bumin Khan]] felt strong enough to throw off the yoke of the Rouran domination and established the [[Göktürk Empire]], which flourished until the 630s and from 680s until 740s. The [[Orkhon Valley]] was the centre of the Ashina power. |
|||
About 460 they were subjugated by the Rouran, who ousted them from [[Xinjiang]] into the [[Altay Mountains]], where the Ashina gradually emerged as the leaders of an early Turkic confederation, known as the [[Göktürk]]s. By the 550s, [[Bumin Khan]] felt strong enough to throw off the yoke of the Rouran domination and established the [[Göktürk Empire]], which flourished until the 630s and from 680s until 740s. The [[Orkhon Valley]] was the centre of the Ashina power. |
|||
After the collapse of the Göktürk empire under pressure from the resurgent [[Uyghur]]s, branches of the Ashina clan moved westward to Europe, where they became the [[kaghan]]s of the [[Khazars]] and possibly other nomadic peoples with Turkic roots. According to Marquart<!--name spelling changed in 1922-->, the Ashina clan constituted a noble caste throughout the [[steppes]]. Similarly, the [[Tatar]] historian [[Zeki Validi Togan]] described them as a "desert aristocracy" that provided rulers for a number of [[Eurasia]]n [[nomadic empire]]s. |
After the collapse of the Göktürk empire under pressure from the resurgent [[Uyghur]]s, branches of the Ashina clan moved westward to Europe, where they became the [[kaghan]]s of the [[Khazars]] and possibly other nomadic peoples with Turkic roots. According to Marquart<!--name spelling changed in 1922-->, the Ashina clan constituted a noble caste throughout the [[steppes]]. Similarly, the [[Tatar]] historian [[Zeki Validi Togan]] described them as a "desert aristocracy" that provided rulers for a number of [[Eurasia]]n [[nomadic empire]]s. |
||
Revision as of 18:33, 15 May 2007
Ashina (Asen, Asena, etc.) was a tribe and the ruling dynasty of the ancient Turks who rose to prominence in the mid-6th century when their leader, Bumin Khan, revolted against the Rouran. The two main branches of the family, one descended from Bumin and the other from his brother Istemi, ruled over the eastern and western parts of the Göktürk empire, respectively.
Origin
According to the Xin Tangshu, the Ashina were related to the northern tribes of the Xiongnu. As early as the 7th century, four theories about their mythical origins were recorded by the Zhoushu, Suishu and Youyang Zazu:[1]
- Ashina was one of ten sons descended from a grey she-wolf.[2]
- Their ancestor was a man from the Suo nation, north of Xiongnu, whose mother was a wolf, and a season goddess.[2]
- The Ashina were mixture stocks from the Pingliang prefecture of middle Gansu.[3]
- The Ashina descended from a skilled archer named Shemo, who had once fallen in love with a sea goddess.[4]
These stories also have parallels to folktales and legends of other Turkic peoples, for instance, the Wusun and Kazakhs.
History
It should be noted that the name Ashina had only first appeared in the 6th century under the Chinese accounts, and prior to that no other sources had related their history at all.[1] For the part of their early blank history, some scholar conducts that between 265－460 the Ashina were incorporated into several late Xiongnu confederations.[5] About 460 they were subjugated by the Rouran, who ousted them from Xinjiang into the Altay Mountains, where the Ashina gradually emerged as the leaders of the early Turkic confederation, known as the Göktürks. By the 550s, Bumin Khan felt strong enough to throw off the yoke of the Rouran domination and established the Göktürk Empire, which flourished until the 630s and from 680s until 740s. The Orkhon Valley was the centre of the Ashina power.
After the collapse of the Göktürk empire under pressure from the resurgent Uyghurs, branches of the Ashina clan moved westward to Europe, where they became the kaghans of the Khazars and possibly other nomadic peoples with Turkic roots. According to Marquart, the Ashina clan constituted a noble caste throughout the steppes. Similarly, the Tatar historian Zeki Validi Togan described them as a "desert aristocracy" that provided rulers for a number of Eurasian nomadic empires.
Accounts of the Göktürk and Khazar khaganates suggest that the Ashina clan was accorded sacred, perhaps quasi-divine status in the shamanic religion practiced by the steppe nomads of the first millennium CE.
Notes
- ^ a b Xue, p. 39-85
- ^ a b Zhoushu, vol. 50[1]
- ^ Suishu, vol. 84[2]
- ^ Youyang Zazu, vol. 4[3]
- ^ The Great Soviet Encyclopaedia, 2nd edition. Article "Orhon Turks" (Орхонские тюрки), by Sergei Klyashtorny.
References
- Zongzheng, Xue (1992). "A History of Turks". Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press. ISBN 7-5004-0432-8.