The Earliest States of Eastern Europe
DG-2021, 337-367

On the Date of the Death of Ton Yabghu / Jabghu Qaghan (According to Chinese Sources)

V. V. Tishin

Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

 

Financing: project of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research No. 20-09-00095 A “Socio-political history of Afghanistan and Punjab: from the middle of the 1st millennium AD till the start of the Mongol invasion".

 

For citation: Tishin, Vladimir V. On the Date of the Death of Ton Yabghu / Jabghu Qaghan (According to Chinese Sources) // Drevneishie gosudarstva Vostochnoi Evropy (The Earliest States of Eastern Europe). 2021: Eastern Europe and the World of Islam. In honor of Tatjana M. Kalinina. Editors of the volume B.E. Rashkovskiy, E.V. Litovskikh, E.A. Melnikova. Moscow: Dmitry Pozharsky University, 2021. S. 337–367.

 

DOI: 10.32608/1560-1382-2021-42-337-367

 

Abstract: In the paper it is offered an overview of Chinese sources related to direct or indirect data on the death of Ton Yabghu / Jabghu Qaghan (= Ton Jabγu Qaγan). As it is known, there are two dates mentioned directly being in 628 and 630 A.D. Each of them has its supporters among scholars. It is also the tradition related to the biography of the Buddhist pilgrim Xuánzàng 玄奘, that added some contradictions to discussion. Discrepancies of the date of the beginning of his journey, found in the sources, and small number of other dates related to the initial stages of the journey make it difficult to reconstruct the chronology of the entire trip. Another difficulty is the ability to correlate the data of Chinese sources with the information of the Byzantine and Armenian sources containig parts that tell about the participation of the Western Türks as allies of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius in the campaign in the Caucasus in 626–628 A.D. against the Sassanian Empire.

Now, the question of identification the identification of the actors by the Türks can considered to be resolved, because, despite the discussions, the points of view, other than those involving the comparison of the commander of the Türkic forces during this campaign with the Ton Yabghu / Jabghu Qaghan, are much more based on assumptions. Such decisions, rather, contribute to the emergence of new issues than finding a compromise between the whole complex of sources.

The author of the article proposes a variant to reconcile the data of two sources chronologically closest to the described events are the narrative in Armenian source “History (of the country) Ałuank‘” by Movsēs Dasxuranc‘i and information of the Biography of Xuánzàng 玄奘. In the latter case, one should take into account a possible adjustment to the data of the beginning of his journey to be not in 8th month of the 3rd year of Zhēnguàn 貞觀 era (08.24–21.09.629 A.D.), but in the 4th month (29.04–27.05.629 A.D.). As a result, it is possible to assume the death of Ton Yabghu/Jabghu Qaghan in the period between second half of autumn and early winter 629 A.D.

This assumption is based on the correlation of the estimated time of the journey of a Chinese pilgrim from the capital of Tang Empire to the headquarters of the Western Türkic ruler, which is about 6 months, as well as both the information of Movsēs Dasxuranc‘i about the he invasion of the avant-garde of Türks in Persian Armenia a little later than 06.17.629 and the data of “Breviarium” by Nicephorus about sending the daughter of the Emperor Heraclius to the Türks.

Other Chinese sources, represented by official Histories of Dynasties and encyclopedic texts, although they were compiled on the basis of earlier materials, in each case provide secondary data inscribed in the context of certain events whose chronological localization varies with the full coverage of sources. The contradictions sometimes noted by researchers in particular details do not so much affect the overall reconstructed picture and can be overcome depending on various interpretations.

Keywords:
Western Türkic Qaghanate, Ton Yabghu / Jabghu Qaghan, Xuanzang, Sassanids, Chinese sources, diplomacy
References

Аристов Н.А. Западный Туркестан в VII столетии, по описанию китайского путешественника // Аристов Н.А. Труды по истории и этническому составу тюркских племен / Отв. ред. акад. В.МПлоских. Бишкек, 2003. С. 392–414. [Aristov N.A. Zapadnyi Turkestan v VII stoletii, po opisaniiu kitaiskogo puteshestvennika (Western Turkestan in the 7th century in the descrption of a Chinese traveller) // Aristov N.A. Trudy po istorii i etnicheskomu sostavu tiurkskikh plemen / Ed. by V.M. Ploskikh. Bishkek, 2003. P. 392–414.]

Бабаяров Г. Древнетюркские монеты Чачского оазиса (VI–VIII вв. н.э.). Ташкент, 2007. [Babayarov G. Drevnetiurkskie monety Chachskogo oazisa (VI–VIII vv. n.e.) (Ancient Turkic coins of the Chach oasis (6th–8th centuries A.D.)). Tashkent, 2007.]

Қазақстан тарихы туралы қытай деректемелерi: Эулеттiк тарихи жылнамалар / Қытай дерекмелерин аударған, түсiндiрмелерi мен ескертулерiн жазған БЕженханұлы, ЖОшан. ТIV. 2-бɵлiм. Алматы, 2006. [Qazaqstan tarikhy turaly qytai derektemeleri: Eulettik tarikhi zhylnamalar (Chinese Sources on the History of Kazakhstan. Old Chronicles) / Trans. by B. Ezhenkhanuly, Zh. Oshan. Vol. IV. Pt. 2. Almaty, 2006.]

Мовсес Каланкатуаци. История страны Алуанк / Пер. с древнеарм., предисл. и коммент. Ш.ВСмбатяна. Ереван, 1984. [Movses Kalankatuatsi. Istoriia strany Aluank (A History of the Country of Aluank) / Trans. by Sh.V. Smbatyan. Erevan, 1984.]

Новосельцев А.П. Хазарское государство и его роль в истории Восточной Европы и Кавказа. М., 1990. [Novosel’tsev A.P. Khazarskoe gosudarstvo i ego rol’ v istorii Vostochnoi Evropy i Kavkaza (Khazar State and its Role in the History of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus). Moscow, 1990.]

Тугушева Л.Ю. Уйгурская версия биографии Сюань-Цзана: Фрагменты из ленинградского рукописного собрания Института востоковедения АН СССР: Текст, транскрипция, перевод. М., 1991. [Tugusheva L.Yu. Uigurskaia versiia biografii Siuan’-Tszana: Fragmenty iz leningradskogo rukopisnogo sobraniia Institutata vostokovedeniia AN SSSR (Uighur Version of the Biography of Xuanzang: Fragments from the Leningrad Manuscript Collection of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences). Moscow, 1991.]

Чичуров И.С. Византийские исторические сочинения: «Хронография» Феофана, «Бревиарий» Никифора: Тексты, перевод, комментарий. М., 1980. [Chichurov I.S. Vizantiiskie istoricheskie sochineniia: Khronografiia” Feofana, “Breviarii” Nikifora: Teksty, perevod, kommentarii (Byzantine Historical Writings: “Chronography” by Theophanes’, “Breviarium” by Nicephorus: Texts, translation, comments). Moscow, 1980.]

Babayar G. Köktürk Kağanlığı Sikkeleri Kataloğu (The Catalogue of the Coins of Turkic Qaghanate). Ankara, 2007.

Babayar G. Batı Köktürk Kağanlığı’nın “Elbi İşbara Sır Cabgu-Kağan” ünvanlı sikkeleri // GLOBAL-Turk. 2017.  3–4. S. 105–115.

Bacot J., Thomas F.W., Toussaint Ch. Documents de Touen-Houang relatifs à l’histoire du Tibet. P., 1940.

Bielenstein B. Diplomacy and Trade in the Chinese World, 589–1276. Leiden, 2005.

Bíró M. Georgian Sources on the Caucasian Campaign of Heracleios // Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 1981. T. XXXV. Fasc. 1. P. 121–132.

Bombaci A. Qui était Jebu Xak‘an? // Turcica. Revue d’etudes Turques. 1970. T. 2. P. 7–24.

Cén Zhòngmiǎn. Xī tūjué shǐliào bǔ quē jí kǎozhèng [岑仲勉. 西突厥史料补阙及考证. (Addenda et Corrigenta to “Historical Materials on Western Türks”). Beijing, 1958. (a)

Cén Zhòngmiǎn. Tūjué jí shǐ [岑仲勉. 突厥集史. (History of Türks). Beijing, 1958. (b)

Chavannes É. Documents sur les Tou-kiue (Turcs) Occidentaux. P., 1903. Т. IV.

Chavannes É. Notes additionnelles sur les Tou-kiue (Turcs) Occidentaux // T’oung Pao. 1904. Ser. II. T. V. P. 1–110.

Czeglédy K. A korai kazár történelem forrásainak kritikájához // A Magyar Tudományos Akadémia I. Nyelv-És Irodalomtudományi Osztályának Közleményei. 1959. XV. évf. 3–4. szám. 107–128.

Czeglédy K. Herakleios török szövetségesei // Magyar Nyelv. 1953. XLIX. kötet. 319–323. o.

Dobrovits M. The Nomadic ally of Heraclius // Chronica. 2003. Vol. 3. P. 3–8.

Fei Jie, Zhou Jie, Hou Yongjian. Circa A.D. 626 Volcanic Eruption, Climatic Cooling, and the Collapse of the Eastern Turkic Empire // Climatic change. 2007. Vol. 81. № 3–4. P. 469–475.

Franke O. Geschichte des chinesischen Reiches: eine Darstellung seiner Entstehung, seines Wesens und seiner Entwicklung bis zur neuesten Zeit. Bd. II.: Der Konfuzianische Staat I. der Aufstieg zur Weltmacht. B.; Leipzig, 1936. Bd. III: Anmerkungen, Ergänzungen und Berichtigungen zu Band I und II. Sach- und Namen-verzeichnis. B.; Leipzig, 1937.

Golden P.B. Khazar Studies: An Historico-Philological Inquiry into the Origins of the Khazars. Vol. 1. Budapest, 1980.

Higgins M.J. The Persian war of the Emperor Maurice (582–602): A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of the Catholic University of America in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Washington D.C., 1939.

Erdal M. Helitbär and some other early Turkic names and titles // Turkic Languages. 2016.  20. P. 170–178.

Jeong Su-Il. The Silk Road Encyclopedia. Irvine, CA., 2016.

[Julien S.] Histoire de la vie de Hiouen-Thsang et de ses voyages dans l’Inde, depuis l’an 629 jusqu’en 645, par Hoeï-li et Yen-thsong, suivie de documents et d’éclaircissements géographiques tirés de la relation originale de Hiouen-Thsang / Traduite du chinois par S. Julien. P., 1858.

Kasai Yukiyo. Die alttürkischen Wörter aus Natur und Gesellschaft in chinesischen Quellen (6. und 9. Jh.). Der Ausgangsterminus der chinesischen Transkription tū jué 突厥 // “Die Wunder der Schöpfung”. Mensch und Natur in der türksprachigen Welt / Hrsg. B. Heuer, B. Kellner-Heinkele, C. Schönig. Würzburg, 2012. S. 81–141.

Kasai Yukiyo. The Chinese Phonetic Transcriptions of Old Turkish Words in the Chinese Sources from 6th –9th Century: Focused on the Original Word Transcribed as tū jué 突厥 // 内陸アジア言語の研究 [Nairiku ajia gengo no kenkyū] / Studies on the Inner Asian languages. 2014. Vol. XXIX. P. 57–135.

Kuwayama S. How Xuanzang Learned about Nālandā // China Report. 2012. Vol. 48, № 1–2. P. 61–88.

La Vaissère É., de. İlk Türk Hakanlıklarının Tarihi Üzerine Yeni Bilgiler // Ötüken’den İstanbul’a Türkçenin 1290 Yılı (720–2010), 3–5 Aralık 2010, İstanbul: Bildiriler (From Ötüken to İstanbul, 1290 Years of Turkish (720–2010), 3th–5th December 2010, Istanbul: Papers) / Yay.: M. Ölmez, E. Aydın, P. Zıeme, M.S. Kaçalin. İstanbul, 2011. S. 233–240.

La Vaissère É., de. Note sur la chronologie du voyage de Xuanzang // Journal Asiatique. 2010. Vol. 298.  1. P. 157–168. (a)

La Vaissère É., de. Oncles et frères: les qaghans Ashinas et le vocabulaire turc de la parenté // Turcica. Revue d’etudes Turques. 2010. T. 42. P. 267–277. (b)

La Vaissère É., de. Ziebel qaghan identified // Constructing the 7th Century / Ed. by C. Zuckerman. P., 2013. P. 761–768.

László F. A kagán és családja // Kőrösi Csoma Archivum. 1941–1943. Leiden, 1967. Vol. III. S. 1–39.

Liu Mau-Tsai. Die chinesischen Nachrichten zur Geschichte der Ost-Türken (T’u-küe). I. Buch. Texte; II. Buch. Anmerkungen, Anhänge, Index. Wiesbaden, 1958.

Lurje P.B. Personal Names in Sogdian Texts (Iranisches Personennamenbuch). ‎(Philosophisch-Historische Klasse. 808. Bd. (Iranische Onomastik. Vol. 8). Wien, 2010. Bd. II.: Mitteliranische Personennamen. Fasz. 8.

Malek H.M., Curtis V.S. History and Coinage of the Sasanian Queen Bōrān (AD 629–631) // Numismatic Chronicle. 1998. Vol. 158. P. 113–129.

Markwart J. Kultur- und sprachgeschichtliche Analekten // Ungarische Jahrbücher. 1929. Bd. IX, H. 1. S. 68–103.

Markwart J. Wehrot und Arang untersuchungen zur mythischen und geschichtlichen landeskunde von Ostiran. Leiden, 1938.

Marquart J. Ērānšahr nach der Geographie des Ps. Moses Xorenac‘i. Mit historisch-kritischem Kommentar und historischen und topographischen Excursen. B., 1901.

Marquart J. Historische Glossen zu den alttürkischen Inschriften // Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes. 1898. Bd. XII. S. 157200.

Marquart J. Osteuropäische und ostasiatische Streifzüge; ethnologische und historisch-topographische Studien zur Geschicte des 9. und 10. Jahrhunderts (ca. 840–940). Leipzig, 1903.

Menges K.H. [Rev. on] The History of the Caucasian Albanians, London Oriental Series, v. 8 by Movēs Dasxurançi, C.J.F. Dowsett // Central Asiatic Journal. 1963. Vol. VIII, . 1. P. 54–56.

Moravcsik Gy. Byzantinoturcica. 3. unv. Aufl. Bd. II. Sprachreste der Turkvolker in den byzantinischen Quellen. Leiden, 1983.

Pourshariati P. Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. L.; N.Y., 2008.

Pulleyblank E.G. A Lexicon of Reconstructed Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese, Late Middle Chinese, and Early Mandarin. Vancouver, 1991.

Shapira D.D.Y. Armenian and Georgian Sources on the Khazars: A Re-Evaluation // The World of the Khazars / Ed. by P. Golden, H. Ben-Shammai, A. Róna-Tas. Leiden; Boston, 2007. P. 307–352.

Shapira D.D.Y. On the Relative Value of Armenian Sources for the Khazar Studies: The Case of the Siege of Tbilisi // Studies on Iran and The Caucasus. Festschrift presented to Prof. Dr. G.S. Asatrian on the Occasion of his 60th Birthday / Ed. by U. Bläsing, V. Arakelova, M. Weinreich. Leiden, 2015. P. 45–62.

Stothers R.B. Cloudy and clear stratospheres before A.D. 1000 inferred from written sources // Journal of Geophysical Research. 2002. Vol. 107.  D23. Article 4718. P. 1–10.

Stothers R.B., Rampino M.R. Volcanic eruptions in the Mediterranean before A.D. 630 from written and archaeological sources // Journal of Geophysical Research. 1983. Vol. 88. Iss. B8. P. 6357–6371.

Tashakori A. Iran in Chinese dynastic histories: a study of Iran’s relations with China prior to the Arab conquest. Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts (Asian Studies); Australian National University(6). [Canberra], 1974.

Taşağıl A. Gök-Türkler I. 2. bk. Ankara, 2003. Gök-Türkler II (fetret devri 630681). Ankara, 1999.

The Armenian History Attributed to Sebeos / Transl., with notes by R.W. Thomson; hist. comment. by J. Howard-Johnston, with assist. from T. Greenwood. Pt. I: Translation and Notes. Pt. II. Historical Commentary. Liverpool, 1999.

The History of the Caucasian Albanians by Movsēs Dasxurançi / Transl. by C.J.F. Dowsett. L., 1961.

[Watters T.] On Yuan Chwang’s Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. / By T. Watters, edited after his death, by T.W. Rhys Davis and S.W. Bushell. L., 1904. Vol. I.

Zeki Velidi Togan A. Umumi Türk Tarihine Giriş. 3. bk. Cild 1. En Eski Devirlerden 16. Asra Kadar. İstanbul, 1981.

Zuckerman C. Au sujet de la petite augusta sur les monnaies d’Héraclius // Revue numismatique, 6e série. 1997. T. 152. P. 473–478.

Zuckerman C. Heraclius and the return of the Holy Cross // Constructing the 7th Century / Ed. by C. Zuckerman. P., 2013. P. 197–218.

Zuckerman C. La petite Augusta et le Turc. Epiphania-Eudocie sur les monnaies d’Héraclius // Revue numismatique, 6-e série. 1995. T. 150. P. 113–126.

Zuckerman Z. The Khazars and Byzantium – the first Encounter // The World of the Khazars / Ed. by P. Golden, H. Ben-Shammai, A. Róna-Tas. Leiden; Boston, 2007. P. 399–445.