Tiele people

Tiele (Itil)

Total population
(300,000－approx. 2-3 million (Rough conversion based upon the ratio 1:5 [soldier or yurt/people] provided by Jia Yi and imitation of Li Chengqian from the number of yurt [落户 luohu] and portion of soldier [兵 bing]))
Regions with significant populations
northern Chinese provinces, Altay Mountains, Xinjiang (Dzungaria) and Pontic-Caspian steppe (by 6th century)
Languages
Turkic languages
Religion
Tengriism, Buddhism, Manichaeism and Islam (post-10th century)
Related ethnic groups
Dingling, Xiongnu, and later Turkic peoples

The Tiele (Chinese: 鐵勒; pinyin: Tiĕlè), also named Chile (Chinese: 敕勒), Gaoche (Chinese: 高車), or Tele (Chinese: 特勒), were a confederation of nine Turkic peoples living to the north of China and in Central Asia, emerging after the disintegration of the Xiongnu confederacy. Chinese sources associate them with the earlier Dingling people. The Tiele were a collection of tribes of different Turkic ethnic origins, largely descended from the Chile, presupposing a Tiele-Tingling identity back to the 3rd century BCE. Tiele are related to modern Teleuts people.

Chile and Gaoche

The name "Chile" and "Gaoche" first appear in Chinese records during the campaigns of Former Yan and Dai in 357 and 363 respectively. However, the protagonists were also addressed as "Dingling" in the records of the Southern Dynasties. The name gao (high) che (cart) was a nickname given by the Chinese.

By the time of the Rouran domination, the Gaoche comprised six tribes and twelve clans.

The Gaoche migrate in search of grass and water. They dress in skins and eat meat. Their cattle and sheep are just like those of the Rouran, but the wheel of their carts are high and have very many spokes.

— Weishu, 103

The progenitors of Huihe were Xiongnu because of their custom of riding the high-wheeled carts. They were also called Gaoche during the Yuan Wei [Northern Wei 386－534] times, or Chile, which is an alternate name to Tiele.

— Xin Tangshu, 232

One group known as the Eastern Gaoche (东部高车) probably dwelled from the Onon River to Lake Baikal (巳尼陂). However, their relationship with the rest of the Gaoche and its tribal components is unclear.

In 391 the Rouran chief, Heduohan (曷多汗) was killed by the Tuoba Northern Wei. Heduohan's brother Shelun raided several tribal dependencies of the Tuoba in retaliation, but reportedly suffered a serious defeat in 399, and was forced to flee westward. Here Shelun defeated the Hulu (斛律) tribe and subjugated them. With the aid of a Hulu named Chiluohou (叱洛侯), Shelun conquered most of the Gaoche tribes and proclaimed himself Kaghan of the Rouran on March 11, 402. Many Gaoche, such as Chiluohou, were promoted to establish better control.

During the reign of Shelun and his successor Datan, the Rouran pushed as far as the Issyk Kul, where they defeated the Wusun and drove them to the south. In the east they raided the Northern Wei before they were defeated on June 16, 429. Afterwards, as many as 1.5 million Gaoche were said to be captured and settled to areas adjacent to the capital Pingcheng in the south.

After this settlement they were called the Western Chile (西部敕勒), including a section of the Ordos Desert south of the Yellow River known as the Hexi Chile [河西敕勒]), the Eastern Chile (东部敕勒), between Wuzhou (武周) and the capital suburbs), and the Northern Chile (北部敕勒), to the north and around the borders.

The greater part of the latter two possibly fled back to the steppe and were not heard of after 524 and 445 respectively. The Western Chile (mainly the Hulu and Tiele related to Fufuluo's Qifuli (泣伏利) clan) rebelled between 524－526, moved further south and were eventually assimilated.

With the loss of numerous subjects and vital resources, the Rouran went into a temporary decline. However, in 460 they launched new campaigns in the west, destroying the remnant of Northern Liang. During a campaign against Khotan in 470, the king wrote in his supplicatory letter to the Toba Emperor that all of the statelets in the west had submitted to the Rouran. In 472, Yucheng attacked Northern Wei across the western border. By the time of his death in 485, Yucheng had restored the Kaghanate to a status even more powerful than the times of Datan.

During these wars, a southwestern Gaoche tribal group known as the Fufuluo united twelve clans and rebelled, but were defeated by the Rouran. They escaped and established a state northwest of Gaochang in 487. From then on, little is known about the rest of the Gaoche until the Göktürks.

Fufuluo

The Fufuluo (副伏罗) were a Gaoche tribe of twelve clans, dwelling close to the Gaochang kingdom (likely by the Tuin River of the Govi-Altai range. Early on a Fufuluo clan known as the Yizhan (which had lived there since the mid 2nd century) allied with the Touba. In 481, the Fufuluo began to interfere with the Gaochang and deposed one of their kings. After the death of Yucheng, his belligerent son Dulun fought more wars against the Touba.

After a disagreement, A-Fuzhiluo betrayed him, and in 487, together with his younger cousin Qiongqi (穷奇), they managed their clans of over 100,000 yurts to escape from the pursuing armies, led by Dulun and his uncle Nagai by defeating them.

After they settled, he founded a statelet (also known as the A-Fuzhiluo kingdom) under the title of Ulu Beglik (候娄匐勒, based on an interpretation of Shiratori Kurakichi and Pulleyblank). Like the later Qibi and Xueyantuo in 605, the Fufuluo divided their rule between north and south at Dzungaria.

The Fufuluo allied with the Northern Wei in 490 and fought against the Rouran until 541 when they were dispersed by them.

Shortly after the death of Dulun in 492, several important cities on the eastern route were taken by Fufuluo, separating the Rouran from the west. With the elimination of Rouran influence, the Hephthalites, kindred steppe nomads, for the first time extended their domain as far as Karashahr, where Qiongqi was killed and his son Mietu (弥俄突) was taken hostage.

After 507, the Hephthalites uninterruptedly sent eighteen embassies with gifts (朝献/朝贡) to the Chinese courts (twelve to Northern Wei, three to Liang Dynasty, two to Western Wei and one to Northern Zhou), as opposed to only one in 456. Like Peroz I and his son Kavadh I earlier in the west, the Hephthalites helped Mietu. He returned to his realm and Biliyan (跋利延), the successor of A-Fuzhiluo, was overthrown by his tribesmen, while shortly paying tribute to the Touba. In 508, Futu attacked the Fufuluo and gained a victory, but was killed by Mietu on his course back. Later in 516, Chounu, son of Futu, defeated Mietu, and in reprisal had him towed to death by a horse. The Fufuluo went for several years into exile under the refuge of the Hephthalites. In 520, Chounu was repulsed by his younger brother Yifu (伊匐) who restored the realm. After his defeat, Chounu returned to the east, where he was killed in a coup in which the ruling clan of Yujiulu (郁久闾) was split into two factions. In 521, the Fufuluo penetrated into the Rouran territory, but were finally repulsed by 524. Thereafter, the Fufuluo suffered a series of defeats from Anagui before being annihilated in 541. During the final decade, they helped the Eastern Wei to fight the Western Wei in a civil war. After defeat, the nobility surrendered to them.

Rulers of Gaoche

Family names and given name	Durations of reigns
Family name and given name
阿伏至羅 Āfúzhìluó	487-503
跋利延 Bálìyán	503-505
彌俄突 Mí'étú	505-516
伊匐 Yīfú	516-524
越居 Yuèjū	524-536
比造 Bǐzào	536-540
去賓 Qùbīn	540-541

Tiele

Emergence of the Tiele

The term Tiele appeared in Chinese literature from the 6th Century to 8th Century, and most scholars agree that Tiele is simply different Chinese characters used to describe the same Turkic word as Chile, although some scholars disagree on what the specific original Turkic word may be.

In 546 the remainder of the Fufuluo, now called Tiele, rebelled and were defeated by Bumin Khan at Dzungaria. Around 250,000 of them were then incorporated into his army. In 552, Bumin Khan sent his army and defeated Anagui just north of the Chinese border. Two years before his death, he eliminated the remnants of the Rouran to the north and subjugated the Tiele.

According to Suishu, the Tiele consisted of over 40 tribes divided into seven locations:

The forebears of the Tiele belonged to those Xiongnu descendants, having the largest divisions of tribes. They occupied the valleys, and were scattered across the vast region west of the Western Sea [Black Sea],

1. At the area north of the Duluo River (Tuul River), are the Pugu, Tongluo, Weihe (Orkhon Uyghur), Bayegu, Fuluo (Fufuluo), which were all called Sijin (Irkin). Other tribes such as Mengchen, Turuhe, Sijie (Esegel, aka Izgil, ), Hun (Hunyu), Hu, Xue (Huxue) and so forth, also dwelled in this area. They have a 20,000 strong invincible army.
2. In the regions west of Yiwu (Kumul), to the north of Karashahr, and close to the White Mountains (Tian Shan), come the abodes of the Qibi, Boluozhi, Yidie, Supo, Nahe, Wuhuan (Wuhu), Hegu (Kyrgyz), Yedie, Yunihuan (Yunihu) and so forth. They have a 20,000 strong invincible army.
3. Passing over the Gold Mountains (Altay Mountains) to the south west, are the Xueyantuo (Syr-Tardush), Dieleer, Shipan (Yueban), Daqi and so forth. They have an over 10,000 strong army.
4. Leaving these, we come to the regions north of Kang (Samarkand), close to the river A-De (Volga). Here dwell the Hedie (A-Die), Hejie, Bohu, Bigan, Juhai, Hebixi, Hecuo, Suba, Yemo, Keda and so forth. They have a 30,000 strong army.
5. At the west, to the east and west of the De Yi Sea (Caspian Sea), are the Sulu, Hesan (Hazar), Suoye, Miecu, Longhu (Sahu) and so forth. They have an over 8,000 strong army.
6. When we reach to the east of Fulin (the Byzantine Empire), are the Enqu, A-Lan (Alans), Beiru, Jiuli, Fuwahun and so forth. They have a near 20,000 strong army.
7. Lastly, in the regions south of the Northern Sea (Lake Baikal), dwell the Dubo (Tuva) and some other tribes.

The names of these tribes differ, but all of them can be classified as Tiele. The Tiele do not have a master, but are subjected to the both Eastern and Western Tujue (Göktürks) respectively. They don't have a permanent residence, and move with the changes of grass and water. Their main characteristics are, firstly, they possessed great ferocity, and yet showed tolerance; secondly, they were good riders and archers; and thirdly, they showed greed without restraint, for they often made their living by looting. The tribes toward the west were more cultivated, for they bred cattle and sheep, but fewer horses. Since the Tujue had established a state, they were recruited as the auxiliary of empire and conquered both east and westward, annexing all of the northern regional lands...

The customs of the Tiele and Tujue are not much different. However a man of the Tiele lives in his wife's home after marriage and will not return to his own home with his wife until the birth of a child. In addition, the Tiele also bury their dead under the ground.

— Suishu, 84

The Tiele were a large tribal group, however it is unlikely they would have been under a unified leadership. References of the tribes in the remote areas west of the Pamir Mountains were sparse and mentioned only in passing, some tribes like the Alans were probably erroneously added. By the end of the 6th century nothing more was known about them. Those tribes in the eastern areas (north of China and near Lake Baikal), such as the Guligan (骨利干), Duolange (多览葛) Xijie (奚结) and Baixi (白霫) were being rewarded afterward, though a few like the Fuluo (覆罗), Mengchen (蒙陈) and Turuhe (吐如纥) disappeared.

Like the Göktürks, the Tiele were probably one of many nomadic Turkic peoples on the steppe. As some scholars noted the name "Tiele" and "Tujue" are semantically more or less alike. Their name was first interpreted as "Tölis" by Chavannes and Thomsen, but this was pointed out as inaccurate in 1937 by Cen Zhongmian, as Tölis applied to the Turkic title of official (突利失 Tulishi) in the east that also came to be attached to the qaghan. This view was later supported by Onogawa Hidemi in 1940, who also speculated on a Tiele origin for the Ashina clan.

The Tiele were ruled by the Göktürks during the mid 6th century and early 7th century. Many of their tribal chiefs were expelled and some were killed during this period. They allied themselves in a rebellion against the Göktürks during the turmoil between 599 and 603. This might have already started as early as in 582, when rumor was spread about a revolt in the north when a raiding campaign led Ishbara away from the capital. Among the rivals of Ishbara in the west was Tardu, son of Istämi. He allied with Apa Khan, a qaghan at the northern Dzungaria and Khovd River, and declared himself independent.

In 587 Baga Khan, heir of Ishbara, captured Apa with the help of the Chinese but died the next year on a campaign in the west. Later on, Dulan took over his reign and in 599 he, together with Tardu, launched a civil war against his son Qimin, who sided with the Chinese. However, he was unsuccessful and was assassinated during his battles with the Chinese. His partner Tardu took over and launched a revolt against the Qaghanate. In 603 he was revolted against by the Tiele tribes, provoked by the Chinese, and fled to the Tuyuhun. Earlier, when Apa was captured, Nili took over from him, but he died after the defeat of Tardu in the east. His son Heshana Khan succeeded him in the Western Qaghanate, leviying heavy taxes on the Tiele. To prevent a revolt he gathered several hundreds of chiefs and murdered them. In 605 an alliance among the Tiele under the Qibi (契苾) and Xueyantuo (薛延陀) tribes was formed to overthrow him. They captured most of the Dzungaria and defeated his occupying army, taking several important cities, including Kumul, Karashahr and Gaochang, pushing Heshana Khan further west to the lower Ili River by 607.

After victory, the Qibi chief Geleng (哥楞) was proclaimed as the qaghan by the tribes and the Xueyantuo chief Yiedie Khan as subordinate qaghan. At the same year Geleng allied with the Chinese to defeat the Tuyuhun to resolve a conflict at Dunhuang.

In 611, Shekui, a qaghan from Tashkent and grandson of Tardu, attacked Chuluo and forced him to escape to China. The return of Shekui marked the end of the rebellion, although exactly when the rebels were put down is uncertain. One Chinese account indicated that the Gaochang kingdom still remained under their vassal until the year 612. They were most likely subdued after this year as Shekui restored order in the Western Qaghanate.

Failure to put down these uprisings led to a fatal division within the Gökturks ruling Ashina clan. Under the leadership of Zhenzhu Khan in 628, grandson of Yishibo, the Xueyantuo made their crossing over the Altai, and quickly founded a confederation with the rest of the Tiele at the east.

The Xueyantuo founded a short-lived Qaghanate over the steppe under Zhenzhu Khan, his son Duomi Khan and nephew Yitewushi Khan, the last of which eventually surrendered to the Chinese.

Chinese subjugation

Shortly after 646, the Uyghur and the rest of the twelve Tiele chiefs (and subsequently the far-away Guligan and Dubo) arrived at the Chinese court. They were bestowed either with the title of commander-in-chief (都督 dudu) or prefect (刺史 cishi) under the loose control (羁縻 jimi) of the northern protectorate or "pacificed north" (安北府), whose seat and name changed at certain times.

The Uyghur were prominent among the Tiele tribes next to the Xueyantuo. Their name first appeared in 390 as Yuanhe (袁纥). Under the leadership of Pusa (菩萨), son of chief Tejian (特健), the Uyghur co-cooperated with the Xueyantuo to make a stand against the Eastern Qaghanate. Soon after his death, his successor Tumidu (吐迷度) formed a new alliance with the Chinese and turned against his former ally. Thereafter, Tumidu was granted a Chinese title like the rest of the Tiele chiefs, and carried the title of qaghan among the other tribes, who now annually donated furs to the Chinese to fulfill their tax obligations.

In 648, Tumidu was murdered by his nephew Wuhe (乌纥) and another tribesman named Juluobo (俱罗勃). Both were son-in-laws of the Chebi Khan, the ruler of the Eastern Qaghanate at the northern Altai, who now held hegemony over the surrounding tribes, including the Qarluq. This alerted the Chinese, and Wuhe was assassinated by a ruse upon receiving his uncle's position from the Chinese deputy in the north. Later Juluobo was detained by the Chinese. On November 17, Porun (婆闰) was granted his fathers title.

Since their submission, the Tiele (mainly the Uyghur) had participated in several campaigns under Chinese leadership. Under the command of Ashina Sheer (阿史那社尔), Yuan Lichen (元礼臣), Gao Kan (高侃), Liang Jianfang (梁建方), Cheng Zhijie (程知节), Su Ding Fang and Xiao Siya (萧嗣业) this resulted in the capture of Chebi Khan in 650 and the end of the Western Qaghanate in 657, except for a last campaign at Goguryeo which probably killed Porun.

During those campaigns, visits would be paid to restrain the tribes. In 658 such a visit was repelled, and a revolt broke out in 660 starting with the Sijie (思结), Bayegu (拔野古), Pugu (仆骨) and Tongluo (同罗). The reason for this revolt is unclear, perhaps due to the Chinese repression of the surrounding tribes during the campaigns. Two years later the revolts were suppressed by the Chinese at the upper Selenge River around Khangai. The battle was short, and a massacre was said to be committed by the two leading commanders. According to one exaggerated account from Tang Huiyao around 900,000 surrendered tribesmen were slaughtered, though it is certain that a large number of them were captured. After the event, a message was sent to the north to appease the restless Tiele.

In 669 similar unsuccessful revolts had been made by the Xueyantuo, but the details of these are vague. The last revolt was mentioned in 686, led by the Pugu and Tongluo to join with the Ashina clan, who had formed the Second Turkic Eastern Qaghanate under Ilteris Sad in 682. They were immediately suppressed by an army dispatched from Juyan. A number of them were moved to that region along with the seat of the protectorate under the jurisdiction of Ganzhou. Earlier during the rebellion contacts between the northern protectorate and the Chinese capital were cut off, and the only way to pass was through the area of Suzhou.

Rise of the Uyghur Khaganate

Main article: Uyghur Khaganate

After the disintegration of the Eastern Qaghanate in 630, many Göktürk nobles were resettled either at the Chinese border or in the capital. Some went on to participate in frontier campaigns for the Chinese.

In 679 a major rebellion was led by three Göktürk nobles. Among them, Ashina Nishufu (阿史那泥熟匐), a direct descendant of Illig, was chosen as their qaghan. They were quickly subdued by the Chinese and their leader was betrayed and killed by his own troops. The rest of the Göktürks managed to escape and allied themselves with Ashina Funian (阿史那伏念) for a new rebellion. Funian declared himself qaghan in 681, but his revolt did not succeed and more than fifty participants were executed on November 16 at the Chinese capital. The remaining rebellious Göktürks formed the Second Turkic Eastern Qaghanate under Ilteris Sad and his 5,000 supporters. They were mostly active in the southern region bordering China at mount Čoγay (总材山). Over the decade they held countless raids across the Chinese border.

Exactly when or how the Tiele came under their subjection is unclear. However, during this period, a number of pro-Chinese Tiele groups who had earlier cooperated with the Chinese against them, such as Uyghur, Qibi, Sijie and Hun (浑), escaped into the Hexi corridor and eventually resettled to Liangzhou.

According to the Tonyukuk and Kültigin Orkhon script, the Göktürks made five out of forty-seven attacks on the Tiele who were led by Ilteris. Among them, four seem to have been mere raids while the last attack could be seen as their re-subjection on the northern steppe. The estimated date for the Tiele submission to the Göktürks would be around 687, probably without much resistance.

The establishment of a second Göktürk capital at the foot of the sacred mountain Ötüken (都斤山) brought unrest to the Tiele tribes. After the Uyghur chief was killed, they were recruited for their annual raiding campaigns over the Chinese border after 694. These raids were halted in 708, as the Chinese constructed fortifications along the Ordos. Raids continued elsewhere as Qapagan turned his attention to the west and the Turgesh and Qarluq tribes between 708 and 715. By this time, some of the Tiele had escaped into China and were settled in Lingzhou and elsewhere, while others like the Bayegu had revolted in 707. These revolts continued until 716 and Qapagan, on his way back from suppressing revolts by the Uyghur, Tongluo, Baixi, Bayegu and Pugu, was ambushed and killed by a Bayegu tribesman named Xiezhilue (颉质略) on July 22. In conclusion, not all tribes were involved in the revolts. Two of the northernmost tribal allies, the Guligan and Dubo (都播) did not participate in any of the revolts.

Soon, Bilge Khan took over the reign and together with Tonyukuk, began to appease the subjected Tiele. Tonyukuk was born in China and was considered a wise statesman in both Turkic and Chinese accounts. Meanwhile, a friendly relationship was built with the Chinese. Till the end of the Second Eastern Qaghanate only one raid in 720 was made on the Chinese border. Bilge Khan started to call for a return of the former members of the Tiele tribes who had settled in China. He had risen in status among the tribal chiefs, especially the Uyghur within the Qaghanate.

During this period, many Tiele had betrayed the local Chinese authorities and fled to the north, in particular the five communities around Liang, Ling, Xia, Feng, and Bingzhou, while minor insurgencies had occurred throughout the process. Among the returning Tiele tribes was the Uyghur, specifically the Yaoluoge, who had escaped into China until 727. The Yaoluoge consisted one of nine clans of Uyghur, and had dominated probably for six generations since the fall of Xueyantuo.

After Bilge Khan was poisoned, there were factional struggles within the ruling clan. Within a few years, an alliance was established between the Basmyl (拔悉蜜), Uyghur and Qarluq. They overthrew the Göktürks and killed the qaghan. Most of the heirs were killed subsequently. At the same time the Basmyl chief, who was approved as qaghan, was overthrown by the allies.

In 745 the exiled qaghan of the Göktürks was killed by an Uyghur chief named Qutlugh Boyla, son of Hushu (护输). He founded the new Uyghur Qaghanate under the title of Qutlugh Bilge Köl Qaghan. The name "Tiele", and the "nine allies (of Tiele)" (九姓) or Toquz Oguz (based on the interpretation of scholar Cen Zhongmian in the late 1950s) is not mentioned afterwards, and was probably replaced by the name Huihu (Uyghur) in historic records. From then on the Uyghur consisted of seven former Tiele tribes and two new tribes, while eight former Tiele tribal names had now disappeared.

References

Primary sources

• Sima Guang (1985). A Translation (in Vernacular Chinese) and Annotation of Zizhi Tongjian by Bo Yang (Vol.27). Taipei: Yuan-Liou Publishing Company Ltd. ISBN 957-32-0847-4.
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• Sima Guang (1987). A Translation (in Vernacular Chinese) and Annotation of Zizhi Tongjian by Bo Yang (Vol.41). Taipei: Yuan-Liou Publishing Company Ltd. ISBN 957-32-0864-4.
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• Sima Guang (1989). A Translation (in Vernacular Chinese) and Annotation of Zizhi Tongjian by Bo Yang (Vol.50). Taipei: Yuan-Liou Publishing Company Ltd. ISBN 957-32-0810-5.

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