Kul Tigin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kul Tigin (Kül (Köl, Gül, Göl) Tigin (Tegin)[Prince Kul] Khan Bengü İnançu Apa Tarkan) 闕特勒 (685 - 731 or 732 CE]]) was a famous general of the Eastern Turkic Kaghanate. He was the second son of Ilteriš Šad and the younger brother of Bilge Kaghan (Mojilian 默棘连).
During the reign of Mochuo Qaghan (默啜可汗) Kul Tigin and his older brother earned reputations for their military prowess. Although they suffered a defeat at the hands of the Chinese Tang 唐 army, they defeated the Kirghiz, the Turgiš, and Karluks, extending the Kaghan's territory all the way to the Iron Gates (modern day Derbent in Dagestan). They also subjugated all nine of the Toquz Oghuz tribes.
Upon the death of Mochuo Kaghan, Mochuo's son ascended to the throne, but Prince Kul refused to recognize the succession. He raised an army, attacked, and killed Mochuo's son and his trusted followers. He raised his brother Mojilian to be Kaghan, took the title of Šad, an equivalent of commander-in-chief of the army.
In 731 Prince Kul fell ill and died. The Tang Emperor Xuanzong 玄宗 ordered artisans to erect a stele in memory of Kul Tigin which included inscriptions in both the Orkhon script and Chinese. Prince Kul is also mentioned on another monument erected to the memory of his older brother Bilge Kaghan.
[edit] REFERENCES
Talat Tekin, A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic. Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, vol. 69 (Bloomington/The Hague: Mouton, 1968)
新疆维吾尔自治区民族事务委員会、新疆民族辞典， 乌鲁木齐：新疆人民出版社，1995 [Xinjinag Uygur Autonomous District Minority People's Committee, Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Xinjiang Minority Peoples, Urumqi: Xinjiang People's Publishing Company, 1955]
