Subscribe to DeepL Pro to translate larger documents.

Visit www.DeepL.com/pro for more information.

Book Title: Turkish

Administrative History Unit No: 1

Unit Title: Administrative Structure in

Ancient Turks Author: Assoc. Prof. Dr.

Erkan Tural

Objectives

After completing this unit;

• will be able to evaluate the extent to which different lifestyles in Central Asia
determined the political and economic structure;
• will be able to give examples of the impact of geography on social structure;
• will be able to compare the first Turkish states in terms of both organization
and political process;
• will be able to distinguish which form of state can explain the political structure
established by the Central Asian Turks;
• The extent to which the dominant belief systems of the steppes can influence the form of governance
will be able to detect it;
• List the cornerstone concepts of ancient Turkish state logic;
• Identify and interpret that geography and social conditions shaped not only the
administration but also the military and justice organization

will be able to reach knowledge and skills.

Key Concepts

• State *Nomadic shepherding

• Federation *Turkish cosmogony
• Bodun * Kut
• Toy * Töre

Table of Contents

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE IN
ANCIENT TURKS
• Central Asia: Life & Geography
• Turks on the Field of History
• Social Origins of State
Organization
• Building Blocks of the Imperial
Administration
• Federation Army
• Nomadic Rite of Passage Keâmtliﾐiﾐi
Kaâmuﾐuﾐu
 1. CENTRAL ASIA: LIFE & GEOGRAPHY

Considering that the age of the earth is 4.5 billion years and the human adventure on
earth is about 50 thousand years (cro-magnon man), it can be argued that the history of the first
organized societies is much more recent (about 5000 years!). Nomadic states, which we will
study throughout our unit and which laid the foundations of the first administrative structures in
our history, were observed and recorded almost three thousand years ago on the borders of
agricultural societies such as China, India and Iran.

Archaeologists and historians who have conducted field studies on the period have
argued that understanding the place of nomads in world history, and especially in the history of
Central Asia, requires a closer examination of their relations with agricultural societies (Krader,
1993). While almost all of the information on the lives of the ancient Turks was obtained from
Chinese archives, the written products that have survived to the present day began to be given
with the transition to settled life.

Nomadic shepherding was both a way of life and a source of livelihood for the ancient Description [i1]: Sidewalking
Nomad
Turks.
w a s the basis of this economic-social structure. The most important reason why this economic- Shepherding First in the Neolithic
social structure lasted for centuries Period
(8000-5000 BC), a mode of production
There were many internal dynamic factors, most notably the traditions that held the society and life that emerged simultaneously
with the domestication of animals and
together. On the other hand, external dynamics, such as the economic division of labor and the the emergence of sedentary society.
control of the silk road, which were pressurized by the surrounding societies, also played an
important role.

The aforementioned division of labor was so wide in scope and varied in content that
until recently the world had never witnessed such an exchange relationship. While the nomads -
it should be recalled that the Bedouins of the Arabian peninsula brought a similar dynamism t o
their region - included livestock and animal products in the commercial cycle, the Chinese, in
return, tried to keep this circulation alive with agricultural products. The wars that marked the
political history of Central Asia also took place in this context. Any disruptions in circulation or
disagreements in negotiations over sharing determined the intensity of the wars. Nomads
crossing the Chinese border and engaging in plundering expeditions or, on the contrary, Chinese
intervention in conflicts within the nomads always stemmed from different perceptions in
material culture.

The diametrically opposed lifestyles l e d to spatial differentiation, which in turn led to

the differentiation of management systems. Agriculture i s intensive (intensive) while herding
is extensive (extensive). Nomads' herds are spread over vast territories, while agricultural
production is concentrated in much narrower concentrations. In short, the amount of land
needed to support a certain number of people in herding production is a hundred times larger
than that needed to support the same number of agriculturalists. The increase in the scale of
production also brought about ethnic diversity. For example, in Europe during the same period,
production was carried out within the same ethnic community (meaning th sarshi), while in Asia
ocn
eau Explanation [i2]: Autarky: A state
of economic self-sufficiency.
the division of labor that emerged over time resulted in the largest commercial exchange the
world had seen before the Industrial Revolution being divided among ethnic groups.

Book The Early State, ed. H. Claessen - P. Skalnik, Trans. A. Şenel, Ankara: İmge Yay.

Turn 1: Did nomadic societies in Central Asia have a closed, self-sufficient economic
structure?

Until the exchange, the most important determinant of state structure was geography.
The steppe, stretching over an area of about three thousand kilometers, nevertheless gave way in
many places to different but no less harsh landforms. For example, the Ural-Altai mountain
ranges, the Takla Makan and Gobi deserts limited the possibilities not only for people but also
for large organizations such as states. The inappropriateness of the steppe soil for agriculture
made it inevitable for the people of the geography to engage in animal husbandry. However, the
variability of climatic conditions and the limitation of the meadow areas required for animals
led to nomadism a s a lifestyle. For this reason, nomadic shepherd societies spent their lives in
an endless search for rainy and meadowy regions. The harshness of the geography and the
scarcity of resources i n v i t e d a struggle for sharing, which in turn invited a warlike character.
The horse became an indispensable part of nomadic life due to the vastness of the field of
struggle. The big-boned Taki and the small but lively Torpan breed horses have left their mark
on the fate of Turks from Central Asia to Europe. Steppe communities, who exhibited a superior
skill in the use of horses due to the distance of distances, instant weather changes and raids of
hostile tribes, stayed away from the type of house that did not fit their lives in any way for the
same reasons and made tents and horse carts their home. Life on horseback also determined the
nomad's diet. Meat and milk were the main foodstuffs. Dried meat, bacon, yogurt and koumiss
obtained by fermenting mare's milk were the mainstays of the meals. The Chinese envoy of the
time described the Hun society as follows;

"They eat their own flocks and drink milk and koumiss. They also wear the skins of their
animals. Their herds feed on grass. They themselves drink their milk. For this, they follow their
herds and go here or there according to the seasons. In times of danger, if necessary, everyone
will ride their horses and use their arrows. When the war is over and peace comes, everyone is
happy and comfortable again. The relations between the khan and the vizier are not simple. The
administration of a whole state is like a single body".

Amidst so many adversities, the nomad's survival depended on his ability t o own and
protect his herd. Therefore, while the sense of ownership developed in a short period of time,
the environment of disorder that dominated the steppe divided families into tribes and tribes into
It almost dragged them into tribes. The unity between families that came together for the
protection of pastures and herds or, on the contrary, for the plunder of the neighboring tribe's
pastures and herds did not last very long, and the loss of the goal or more profitable alliances
and alliances led families t o different attitudes. Endless expectations and goals prevented
organizations from becoming long-term structures and, as we will see below with
confederation-type states, it became almost impossible to establish permanent states on the
steppe (Sezer, 1979). We will discuss this process within the framework of Turkic communities.

2. TURKS ON THE STAGE OF H I S T O R Y

When Turkic communities first emerged is still a m a t t e r of debate among scholars. It

is known that Turkish was spoken between 3000-500 BC. Moreover, we come across lines in
Chinese sources that point to Turkish communities called "Tujue" at these dates. Agriculture
began to be practiced in the southern plateaus of C e n t r a l A s i a around 7000 BC, towns
and cities emerged in the 4000s, and livestock breeding began to be preferred over agriculture
due to the effects of the drought in the same period. The domestication of cattle, sheep and
goats took place in the 6000s, and the domestication of the horse, which would profoundly
affect the way of life of all Turkic peoples, took place between the 4000s and 2000s (Findley,
2006).

The developments that would lay the foundation of the first state organization, namely
the steppe empire, began to be seen in Chinese sources around 400 BC. At a time when drought,
endless conflicts between tribes and Chinese invasion movements intersected, Mete, the leader
of the Huns, declared his empire by gathering the surrounding tribes and clans under his
leadership (210 - 174 BC). The most important feature of these first political organizations,
which came together on the axis of loyalty to a person/dynasty rather than a tribe or clan, was
that they were highly disciplined and purely military. The transition from a maverick and
remarkably egalitarian style of tribes to a hierarchical and centralized system under the banner
of a leader took p l a c e in a long and bloody process. The title "kagan", instead of the Chinese
patented word "chanyü", was first used by the Huns immediately after this change. The word
"kagan", which appears as "ko-han" in Chinese sources, is not Turkish in origin.

Like the Emperor of China, the Hun Khan considered himself the "Son of Heaven". This
was such an effective and convincing characterization that it would become the main reference
point for almost all rulers, from principalities to empires, until Islam.

The kagan, who laid the foundations of the state, argued that he ascended to the throne
by the favor of the sky-god (tengri), and he reinforced the legitimacy of his cause with the oaths
he made the elders of the boduns swear at the assemblies he held during the year. Under the
Hun kagan w e r e t h e wise princes of East and West. These crown princes or dynasty
members with the title "Tu-ki" (righteous) were appointed to head the eastern and western
halves of the empire according to their proximity to the throne. Next in the Hun administrative
hierarchy w e r e the "ku-li" beys of the right and left, the commander-in-chiefs of the right and
left, the governors of the right and left, majors, captains and corporals. State
organization was identified with the society and had the appearance of an army constantly on the march
(Grousset, 2006; 46).

I t i s e s t i m a t e d t h a t approximately 1.5 million people lived in the geography

where Hun rule took root. They were regarded by the Chinese as barbarians, just as the Romans
characterized the peoples outside their borders. However, the stage of political and social
organization they reached or their economic products show that this definition is extremely
inadequate. Hun society consisted of a total of twenty-four tribes divided into two wings, right
and left. They had a very complex military organization and successfully used this trump card in
their political and commercial relations with neighboring states. Chinese chronicles mention
that the Huns cultivated millet. However, scholars argue that this data has no impact on the
dominant economic structure and that this production was outsourced to slaves. On the other
hand, the same circles expressed admiration for the craftsmanship of the Huns in their works.
Animal fighting figures and themes, high relief techniques, deer and ram figures rendered with
an overflowing fantasy and vitality were typical reflections of the stage they had reached. In
particular, the bronze reliefs, jade stones, silk weavings and colorful fabrics unearthed from the
surviving king's tombs are the best examples of the great exchange from China to the
Mediterranean mentioned at the beginning of the chapter (Raux, 2006, 116).

The events that brought the end of the Huns began to mature in the 40s AD and gained
momentum with the revolt of the tribes that made up the empire to the center. The Huns, who
rapidly moved away from their bright days due to both succession and internal conflicts, came
to the point of disintegration in a short time with the interventions of China. The disintegration
process of the empire, which had not established the principles of succession to the throne and
emerged as a federated state, would be experienced many times in both pre-Islamic and post-
Islamic Turkish states until the Fatih Codex, which introduced sharp principles to the state mind
and succession system.

It took 5 centuries for the Turks to appear on the scene once again as a state society.
Calling themselves Turks, the term "Tu-kiu" in Chinese chronicles came to refer to almost all
Turkish-speaking peoples. It is quite meaningful that this new people, who had established their
existence in a short time and decisively to the existing sovereigns, referred to themselves as
"Kök-Turk", that is, "blue-sacred". Because a s it is written in the Orkhon monument;

"When there was the blue Sky above and the dark Earth below, human beings were
created between them. My ancestors Bumin and Istemi Khan ruled over these human beings".

They believed that this presence had divine origins. The Gokturks, on the other hand,
believed that their ancestry traced back to the Huns. The fact that similar explanations are found
in Chinese records shows the high probability. Nevertheless, like many early civilizations, the
Gokturks chose to tell their genealogy through mythical elements. Motifs such as the founding
ancestors being raised by a she-wolf or their ability to melt mountains with their blacksmith Description [i3]: Yaﾐa Çıkﾏa: Asena:
skills are myths that are also e m b e d d e d in the collective memory. There was a strong The Gokturk founding dynasty
belonged to the "Asena" clan and the
otherworldly foundation underlying the understanding that engraved the wolf on the banner of family members claimed that they were
descended from the mythological she-
the state and dedicated special ceremonial days to it with the participation of the kagan, while at wolf "Asena".
the same time equating blacksmiths and shamans. State administration was marked by
Before turning to the striking religious organization, let us take a look at the activities of the
founding rulers and their successors.

When Bumin Khan wiped out the Avars, who dominated Mongolia, the Turks h a d a
new address. The region of northern Mongolia surrounded by rivers and forests, called Ötüken,
stood out as the main center of the empire from the very beginning. For this reason, the Turks
called the mountainous and forested area fed by the Orkhon River the "Blessed Ötugen Forest"
and the basin the "Ötugen place". The center of the Huns, the "city of dragons", the "Ötügen" of
the Gokturks, and the "Ordu-balıg" of the Uighurs were all founded and raised in this basin. As
Raux underlines, the fate of the region was intertwined with the destinies of those who lived in
it;

"There is no higher place than the forest of Ötüken. (...) The land that ensures the unity
of the empire is the forest of Ötüken. (...) O Turkish people, if you live in the forest of Ötüken,
you are the ruler of the eternal empire".

Bumin's glittering victory was overshadowed by his unexpected death the following
year. His son Mugan succeeded to the throne, and his uncle Istemi was appointed by Mugan to
head the Western territories. Despite his brilliant command and victories, Istemi's refusal to use
the title of "kagan" (he would prefer the title of yabgu!), while keeping the country away from
possible throne disputes, would expand the state's treasury and borders beyond expectations.
First by eliminating the remnants of the Avars and then a powerful branch of the Huns, the Ak-
Huns, who held the plateaus of Afghanistan in particular, they became neighbors of the S Description [i4]: Yaﾐa Çıkﾏa:
asaniids. The relations between the two states were friendly at first, and the Iranians, who left a Sassanids: Iranian state, also called
the Second Persian Empire, which
deep impression on all empires from Rome to Baghdad, influenced their new neighbors in many ruled from 224-651.
fields from administration to literature. The Turks forged alliances with the Sassanids, just as
they had with the Chinese, and they cemented these alliances through marriages. This tactic of
cooperation and rapprochement, which even the Ottomans would resort to much later, would
become a common practice in the art of administration.

The honeymoon period between the Sassanids and the Gok-Turks was short-lived due to
disputes over the sharing of Silk Road revenues. Istemi Yabgu's alliance with the Byzantines
against the Sassanids caused the conflict to spread over a wide geography. The first Turkish-
Byzantine negotiations began in Constantinople, where Gok-Turk envoys arrived in 576, and
after a series of exchanges of envoys, the groundwork for a solid alliance could be laid. The
Byzantine-Sassanid wars between 602 and 630 were the most tangible outcome of the
agreement. During this period, the Turks also pressed the Iranians, especially through the
Caucasus. Historians argue that these attritional wars actually benefited the Arabs and
facilitated the spread of Islam that would begin in the following decade. One way or another,
the Turks would stay away from these developments as they would turn to their own internal
problems during these years. From the third generation of the Gok-Turks onwards, relations
between the West and the East would become a thing of the past and the problems of succession
familiar from the Huns would be almost exactly the same except for the name changes.

The disapproval of the kings who succeeded Mugan's heir, Taspar, by the Western
yabgu led to civil war, and China's support for the Eastern Gok-Turks opened the door to
international war. By the 650s, clever maneuvering by Chinese bureaucrats led to the Gok-Turk
empire i n t o sweet memories. Once again, the price of h a v i n g federation-type empires but
not being able to enact the law of the throne was paid in captivity and destruction;

"I was a people who had built an empire (...), I had a khan (...). El-Kagan let what he
had be taken away from him and made his sons slaves and his daughters Chinese
chambermaids. Turkish nobles forgot their Turkish names. The Chinese nobles took Chinese
names and bowed down to the Chinese Khan".

The founding of the Second Gok-Turk, or Kutluk Empire as it is called in secondary

school textbooks, takes place amidst laments of despair carved in stone. In an example of the
kind of charismatic ruler-centered narratives one often encounters in Turkish history, between
680-691, Ilterish earned himself the title of kagan and embarked on victorious campaigns that
would once again make the Turks the rulers of Mongolia. The Oghuzes and Chinese were
subjugated and the forests of Ötüken were once again made the center of the empire. While his
successor Kapgan embarked on raids to China that brought booty and taxes, his son Bilge,
together with Tonyukuk, headed westward and put an end to the independence of the Kyrgyz
and Turgish and had himself declared "shad". Once again, the laws of succession that would
spell the end of the state were put into effect and Kapgan declared his son as the khan of the
western wing. The Sage's new neighbors were the Muslims, powerful representatives of the new
faith. The fierce struggles of the first quarter of the 700s had no winners. However, the long-
lasting and fierce revolts of the nomadic Karluks and then the Turgesh within the country
distracted the Western Gok-Turks from their goals and power.

In the East, the accession of an obscure ruler to the throne after Kapgan threatened tribal
ties that were prone to dissolution. The crisis was averted when Bilge's brother Kültegin
eliminated the existing ruler and his advisors in the East and had Bilge declared as the khan of
the East (716-717). Bilge's c o n s t a n t s t r u g g l e w i t h t h e Oghuzes, Karluks and
Chinese until his death in 734 shows that his legitimacy was questioned not only at home but
also abroad. When he was poisoned by one of his ministers, the third Turkic state came t o an
end. The fact that his children lacked their father's strength and Tonyukuk's wisdom led to the
establishment of another Turkic empire, the Uighurs, which emerged on the stage of history in
741 with a different character.

In the internal uprisings that prepared the end of the Qutluk state, the names of three
Turkic tribes were constantly mentioned. The Karluk, Basmil and Uighur Turks, after bringing
the Qutluks to their knees, began to struggle among themselves over the sovereignty of
Mongolia. The Uighurs, who easily subjugated the Basmils, chose to share the Mongolian
geography with the Karluks, as we see in the ancient Turkic states. The Uighur rulers, who
claimed the legacy of the ancient Turkic states, chose the forests of Ötüken as the center of the
throne, while the Karluks were shown as the rulers of the West and themselves as the rulers of
the East. After three years of rule of Kutluğ Bilge Kül Kagan, the founder of the state, Tengri
Bolmiş Ilteriş Bilge Kagan ascended to the throne with the titles "Emperor from heaven,
founder of the empire" (747). As Roux, who is well known for his work on the ancient Turks,
emphasizes, such extravagant epithets had never been u s e d by any Turkic sovereign before. It
is still debated which civilization influenced the Uighur kagans to use ornate expressions.
is an issue. However, it is known that in Iranian state etiquette, monarchs were given
exaggerated titles. Similarly, Ottoman statesmen, due to similar influences, characterized
themselves and their reigns with highly ornate titles.

In the Uighurs, the change was not only in state etiquette, but perhaps most importantly
in the belief system. When the Chinese turned to the Uighurs for help in the aftermath of an
internal rebellion, Ilterish took control of the rebellion by capturing Lo-yang and Shanghai, but
the Uighur occupation of these cities was continued by other claimants to the throne. The direct
contact of the Uighur rulers with Chinese culture led to the popularization of the Mani religion Explanation [i5]: Yaﾐa Çıkﾏa:
among the Turks, and after a while to its adoption as the official religion. The influence of the Manichaeism: A religion that blends
the teachings of Jesus Christ, Zoroaster
new religion on state organization was further enhanced by the inclusion of Mani priests in and Buddha.
decision-making bodies. The fact that governmental matters were always referred to the T h e b e l i e f system developed by Mani,
who lived in Persian Iran in the third
Manichaean clergy was widespread enough to be mentioned in Chinese chronicles. The century.

Karabalgasun inscription, although exaggerated, is very important as it draws attention to the

change in the mode of production;

"[W]hat a country with savage customs and a flood of blood has become a country
where vegetables are eaten, where people are killed is a place where doing good is encouraged
(...)".

Another difference of the Uighurs was that they changed the script they had seen from
the Iranians in the Maveraünnehir region according to their own language structure and
developed the "Uighur alphabet". Thus, while the written treasures of the environment and
ancient civilization were translated into Uyghur, the first original products in Turkish began to
be produced. The new alphabet was adopted to such an extent that all Turkic-Mongolian tribes
from the Altai to the Orkhon - and undoubtedly the state of Genghis Khan - had their
correspondence carried out by "bitigists", i.e. scribes. What distinguished the Uighurs from the
Turkic states and shepherd empires of the time was that they had settled down. Thanks to this
new way of life, they were not only able to realize the cultural breakthroughs mentioned above,
but also to reach a lifestyle that can be inferred from the way of life we are living today.
Chinese envoy Wang Yen-te's impressions of the city of Kao- ch'ang, the city of Uighur
princesses, are important in terms of putting our predictions into flesh and blood;

It does not rain or snow in Kao-ch'ang. It is also very hot here. The river from the Chin-
ling Mountains f l o w s all around the city, watering the fields and orchards and running the
water mills. The houses are whitewashed. There are many two-story buildings. People are
good-faced and skilled craftsmen. Rich people eat horse meat. The rest eat beef and wild goose.
Their musical instrument is the kopuz. They manufacture sable fur pelts, cotton cloth and
clothes embroidered with floral motifs. According to their customs, most of them ride horses
and shoot arrows. The Uighurs made vessels of silver and brass and filled them with water.
They practiced sports by squirting water at each other or throwing water at each other. They
enjoyed traveling. They also carried their musical instruments with them. There is a tower in the
city where the imperial edicts are kept. In this tower, the imperial edicts and letters are very
carefully placed and locked. There are no poor people in this land. People live long lives. They
generally live to be o v e r a hundred years old (İzgi, 1986).
 In 840, when the Uighurs failed in the face of the Kyrgyz and withdrew from the stage
of history, the state organization of the Turks had been completely transformed from that of
their ancestors, the Huns. Let us continue our discussion by mentioning the indispensable
elements of the new state etiquette in which sedentary life was adopted, institutions and the
division of labor emerged according to the work performed, and business was conducted
through writing.

Turn 2: The most important factors determining the success and longevity of the first Turkish states
Was it the wisdom and skill of the element kings?

Read the rest of the article and other parts of the book for free
You can obtain it from the link below;

http://eogrenme.anadolu.edu.tr/eKitap/HUK403U.pdf