Like the Abars and Mukrins, the Turgesh (more correctly Turkesh, Chinese – Tukishi) did not belong to either the bodily, Chui, or the Turkic (Turkyut) group proper. The first information about the Turgesh dates back to the second quarter of the 7th century, when they were listed as part of the five Dulu tribes [1, p.289]. Then, when the Western Turkic Khaganate was conquered by the Chinese in 659, the Turgesh inhabited two military districts: Bu-low in the upper part of the Ili River valley, where the Sogde and Mohe clans lived, and Go-shan, west of the Ili River, where the Alishe lived [7, p.269]. The «History of the Tang Dynasty» speaks about the origin and ethnicity of the Turgesh only because they constituted a «special generation» in the Western Khaganate [1, p.296].
N.A. Aristov [31, p.27] and G.E. Grumm-Grzhimailo [7, vol. II, p.269] believe that the Turgesh came from Altai. The reason for this is the testimony of V. Radlov that among the Black Altaians there is a division of Tirgesh [32, p.213]. However, the sounds «tirgesh» and «turkesh» have similarities only to the Russian ear, but not to the Turkic, and the comparison based on accidental phonetic similarity is completely unconvincing. For N.A. Aristov, it was caused by his desire to withdraw all Turkic tribes from Altai. It is quite clear that such a trend is unacceptable for us, because there is no reason to look for the ancestors of the Turgesh among the black Tatars.
But political history gives us the key to explaining this sudden ethnonym.
In 635, in the system of the Western Khaganate, the five tribes of the Dulu union received equal rights with the Turkyuts. One of these tribes was the Turgesh.
The word «Turkesh» itself can be read as «Turk + yesh» [note 10], where «yesh» is a diminutive suffix (Telengit language), i.e. in translation it will mean «younger Turk», «little Turk» (a word formation similar to «Little Russia» and «Little Russia»). This name was given to the population of the Ili Valley as a sign of its affiliation with the dominant tribe, i.e. the Turkyut, and gradually the new administrative name replaced the old, tribal one.
Similar techniques are not uncommon in Asia. For example, the Torgouts are a Kalmyk tribe that descends from the closest relatives of Van Khan of Kerait, and their very name «torgout» means bodyguards [7, vol. II, p.570]. The Khazarians in Afghanistan were Mongols who were part of the thousand stationed there (). Finally, the Mamluks in Egypt, replenished at first only by buying slaves, seized power and turned into a kind of tribal group.
Nevertheless, the assumption that the Turgesh are descendants of the Abars would be a hypothesis if it were not for two facts that confirm it.
E. Chavannes proved that this is the Chinese translation of the name «Mukri», the one to which the Abars fled from the Turkyuts in 557 [15, p.230]. In the second half of the seventh century, the Mukri were fixed in the same place as in the middle of the sixth century, and in close symbiosis with the Soga and Alishe genera.
The second fact is closely related to the first. There are many cases in history that when many fugitives arrived somewhere, no matter how well they were received, there was often some antagonism between them and the old-timers. However, over time, it sometimes erased, and sometimes remained, If our assumption that the Turgesh were a people who arose from the mixing of Mukri and Abars is correct, then the difference between them should be observed even when they had already merged into one people. Indeed, the internecine war of the «yellow» and «black» clans tore apart the Turgesh more than any other modern people.
N.A. Aristov, noting the social background of this war, points out that yellow in Asia is a royal, aristocratic color, and black is generally low, the worst. When applied to tribes and clans, it means the younger part of the tribe, for example, the Kara-Khitan [31, p.28], N.A. Aristov also believes that the black clans are the Dulats and Kirghiz, subordinate to the Turgesh, but during this period the Dulats and Nushibi continue to exist along with the Turgesh [1, p.296]. Therefore, the «yellow» and «black» genera should be sought in the composition of the Turgesh proper. This is where they show up.
The founder of the Turgesh khaganate of Uchile was «mohe dagan» (tarkhan) [1, p.296], i.e. he came from the Mukri people. He and his son Soga were representatives of the «yellow» clans [1, p.299].
Soge was captured by the Eastern Turkic Khan Mojo and executed in 711. Chebi Shejo Sulu, who came from a «separate Turgesh family», seized power [1, p.297]. Chebi fell victim to the conspiracy of the «yellow» (738), led by Prince Dumochi and again mohe dagan [1, p.300], i.e. Mukri tarkhan [approx. 11], whose personal name has not been preserved. Having dealt with Kagan Sulu, Dumoji tried to continue defending the cause of the «blacks.» He installed the son of the murdered Khan, Tuhoxian, as khan and attacked Mohe dagan. The latter, relying on an alliance with China, defeated his opponents, seized power and restored the dominance of the «yellow» clans.
However, in 742, the «black» clans seized power again, installing El-etmish Bilge Kutlug as khan, who was replaced by Tengri Ulug Munmish. In 756, the yellow clans gathered their forces, and internecine warfare broke out again, as a result of which the Turks weakened so much that in 766 they were forced to submit partly to the Karluks and partly to the Uighurs [1, vol. I, p.300].
From the analysis of these events, it follows that the «yellow» clans were the old-timers, the Mukrians, and the «black» were the aliens, the Abars, and that all known facts support the assumption expressed as a hypothesis.
The Turgesh were a numerous people. At the time of the climax, Khan Soga had 300,000 soldiers [1, p.297]. This probably overestimated figure, in addition to the Turgesh proper, includes the auxiliary troops of neighboring tribes that submitted to the Turgesh after the collapse of the Western Turkic Khaganate and the suppression of the Ashina dynasty.
This is evident from the fact that his father, Uchile, the founder of the dynasty, had only 140,000 soldiers [1, p.296], and that was due to the fact that «he knew how to calm his subordinates, which gained their respect and trust, and the nomads obeyed him» [1, p.296].
The «black» clans were not numerous. N.Ya. Bichurin notes that Sulu Khan had a total of 200 thousand souls, not warriors [1, p.297], i.e. they made up about 1/3 of the Turgesh people.
Applying the usual coefficient for calculating the ratio of troops to people for barbarian powers, where every adult male is a warrior [approx. 12], it is possible to determine the number of Turgesh with some accuracy. It ranges from 500 thousand to 700 thousand. At that time, this was a lot, especially considering that in 745 the population of China reached only 58 million and that this period was the peak of the Tang Dynasty [7, vol. I, p.338]. But if the formation of a powerful Turgesh people is satisfactorily explained by the unification of the Mukri and Abars, then how can its rapid decline and complete disappearance be explained?
Let us turn again to the consideration of the political situation of the eighth century.
It was a tumultuous time. Four powerful states fought with each other for supremacy over the steppe and the oases of Western and Eastern Turkestan.
The Tang Empire swung from the east to the Tien Shan, and the Turgesh could not ignore it. The Orkhon Turks, who defeated the «yellow» Turgesh in 711, were even more dangerous [1, vol. I, p.297]. The khan of the «black» Sulu clans found an ally in the Tibetan Empire and with its help plundered Chinese possessions in East Turkestan [1, vol. I, p.298]. But a new powerful enemy has emerged in the West – the Arabs.
Having seized power, the yellow clans again focused on China, but this time on the condition of recognizing their dominance and sovereignty to the detriment of the last representatives of the Turkut dynasty of Angina. The Chinese government has agreed to these demands. However, due to the fact that the black Turks seized power again in 742, this alliance did not prove to be lasting [1, vol. II, p.300]. This was crucial for the subsequent alignment of forces, since in the Battle of Talas in 751, when the Chinese came face to face with the Arabs, the Karluks sided with the latter, and Gao Hsien-chi was completely defeated by Ziyad ibn Salih.
A lot has changed since that battle. The Chinese abandoned their claims to Central Asia, and the An Lushan uprising finally undermined the forces of the Tang Empire. The Uighur Khanate strengthened in the north, paralyzing Tibetan influence north of the Tien Shan, and the Muslims and their allies, the Karluks, took over the west. It is no wonder that in such conditions the Turgesh Khanate, torn apart by internecine warfare, could not survive. Futile attempts to contact China continued until 758, but no help came from anywhere. In 766 The Karluks, who had already subjugated ten clans (Dulu and Nushibi), conquered part of the Turgesh, and the rest of the Turgesh succumbed to the Uighurs. And we don’t see the name «turgesh» anymore in the history of Central Asia.
The Turgesh inherited the tradition of the Western Ashin khans, and all their cultural ties stretched to China. The Eastern Turkic Khans, enemies of China, were at the same time enemies of the Turgesh; the Sogdian Dehkans, ancient allies of China, enjoyed the full support of the Turgesh in the struggle against the Arabs. It is no coincidence that the Persians call the Turkic (including Turgesh) horsemen «Chinese Turks» [note 13], thus emphasizing the latter’s belonging to the Far Eastern culture.
But the decisive blow to the Turks was caused by a change in the economy, closely related to the events we have described.
The caravan trade declined as the Arabs defeated the Sogdian merchants in the west, and the An Lushan uprising in the east led to the complete impoverishment of China. As a result, the mediating role of the Turgesh Khaganate was reduced to zero. Deprived of an economic base and cultural ties, torn apart by internecine warfare, he could not and did not survive. His people disappeared with him. And although this phenomenon is specific to the ethnogenesis of Central Asia, it does not constitute a general rule at all. In other circumstances, the people experience, and often for a long time, their political independence (for example, the Greeks under Roman rule, the Caucasian peoples under the rule of the Sassanian Shahinshahs and the Egyptians under the yoke of the Arabs).
In the same epochs, the processes of creation and destruction in Central Asia were much more intense, and the people, losing their independence, lost the incentive to exist.
The Turgesh, who submitted to the Karluks, became the Karluks, who submitted to the Uighurs, the Uighurs. The ethnographic map changed almost simultaneously with the political one, and we have the right to stop further searches, since there is nothing left to look for.
We have traced the processes of the emergence, development and disappearance of the Turgesh people.