The Chinese text of the medieval "Orda Balik Inscription"

Abstract

The Orkhon River basin in Central Mongolia is known as the "golden cradle" of Turkic statehood and was the center of the ancient Turks’ material and spiritual culture. This is confirmed by the Orda-Balyk Inscription, written during the era of the Old Uyghur Empire in Old Turkic, Chinese, and Sogdian. The monument currently has several names: The most common is the Karabalgasun Inscription, followed by the Monument to Togyz Uyghur Bilge Khagan (in whose honor the monument was erected), and Orda-Balyk Inscription (the name refers to its location). Chinese sources refer to the monument is referred to as the "Monument to Ai-Tengirde Kutbolmysh Alyp Bilge Khagan" (九姓回鶻愛登裏羅汩沒蜜施合毗伽可汗聖文神武碑). The first information about the monument was received in the 13th century from the Persian traveler Ata-Malik Juvayni, who traveled to the capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum. Then, in the late 19th century, further information about the trilingual monument was obtained through the expeditions of N. Yadrintsev, A. Geikel, and V. Radlov. Subsequently, G. Schlegel, examined the materials from these expeditions, studied the Chinese text and published a translation. Having reviewed previous studies and relying on the Chinese sources Ju Tangshu and Xin Tangshu, the author analyzes the monument's Chinese text, examines its fragments, divided into several parts, provides an interpretation and identifies the monument's dedicatory address, and also reveals the activities of the khagans and the history of the Uyghur state, as captured in the monument's text. Dating back to the 8th century, the Orda-Balyk Inscription, was erected during the era of the spread of Manichaeism among the ancient Turks. The text recounts how the Turkic Bogu Khagan, who had come to help suppress a military rebellion in the Tang Dynasty's interior domains, met two Manichaean missionaries in Luoyang and converted to Manichaeism under their influence. The ruler also ordered for the further spread of Manichaeism among the Orkhon Turks. According to the author, this became the cause of religious conflicts within the state and ultimately leading to the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate. In the article, the author proposes referring to the Uyghur Khaganate as either the United Turkic Khaganate or the Third Turkic Khaganate. This argument is based on the fact that the polity was founded in 745 by the same ancient Turks and demonstrated political, cultural, and ethnic continuity with the Second Turkic Khaganate. In 840, the Uyghur Khaganate disintegrated under the pressure of internal and external factors. The Oghuz and Turks migrated in three directions. Most of them crossed the Altai and Tarbagatai mountains and reached Semirechye, where they intermingled with the local population and participated in the formation of the Karakhanid state.