)
''Heaven blessed, Sovereign, Brave, Glorious Wise Qaghan'', birth_name=Yàoluógé Yídijiàn (藥羅葛移地健), religion=

Tengriism Tengrism (also known as Tengriism, Tengerism, or Tengrianism) is an ethnic and old state Turko- Mongolic religion originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on folk shamanism, animism and generally centered around the titular sky god Tengri. ...

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...

(after 763), posthumous name=Kün Tengrida Qut Bolmish El Tutmish Alp Külüg Bilge Qaghan ( otk, 𐰚𐰇𐰤∶𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃𐰓𐰀∶𐰸𐰆𐱃∶𐰉𐰆𐰞𐰢𐱁∶𐰠∶𐱃𐰆𐱃𐰢𐱁∶𐰞𐰯∶𐰚𐰇𐰠𐰏∶𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰀∶𐰴𐰍𐰣, label=none)
''Blessed by Sun God, Sovereign, Brave, Glorious Wise Qaghan'' Bögü Qaghan () or Tengri Qaghan (, died 780) was the third khagan of Uyghurs. He was the younger son of Bayanchur Khagan. His personal name was Yaoluoge Yidijian (藥羅葛移地健) and was titled Ulu Bilge Töles Shad () during his father's reign. His subsequent regnal names upon inheriting the throne were Tarkhan Bögü Qaghan, Alp Külüg Bögü Qaghan, and finally Tengrida Qut Bolmish El Tutmish Alp Külüg Bilge Qaghan ( otk, 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃𐰓𐰀∶𐰸𐰆𐱃∶𐰉𐰆𐰞𐰢𐱁∶𐰃𐰠∶𐱃𐰆𐱃𐰢𐱁∶𐰞𐰯∶𐰚𐰇𐰠𐰏∶𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰀∶𐰴𐰍𐰣, lit=Heaven blessed, Sovereign, Brave, Glorious Wise Qaghan, label=Old Turkic). He was posthumously renamed as Kün Tengrida Qut Bolmish El Tutmish Alp Külüg Bilge Qaghan by

Baoyi Qaghan Baoyi Qaghan or Alp Bilge Qaghan was the eighth ruler of Uyghurs. His personal name is not known, therefore he is often referred as his Tang dynasty invested title Baoyi () which was invested on 22 June 808. Reign He was known as a zealous Manic ...

, stressing his adoption of the Manichean religion. Other titles granted to him were Yingyi Qaghan (英義可汗) - a

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

invested title and Zahag-i Mani (Emanation of Mani) - a Manichaean title. He is known for being the most powerful monarch of the

Uyghur Khaganate The Uyghur Khaganate (also Uyghur Empire or Uighur Khaganate, self defined as Toquz-Oghuz country; otk, 𐱃𐰆𐰴𐰕:𐰆𐰍𐰕:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, Toquz Oγuz budun, Tang-era names, with modern Hanyu Pinyin: or ) was a Turkic empire that e ...

, converting to

in 763, and founding the

Por-Bazhyn Por-Bazhyn (Por-Bajin, Por-Bazhyng, russian: Пор-Бажын, Tuvan: Пор-Бажың) is a ruined structure on a lake island high in the mountains of southern Tuva (Russian Federation). The name derives . Excavations suggest that it was bui ...

Palace.

Reign

He was viceroy of eastern part of the khaganate during his father Bayanchur's reign. Bögü succeeded him in 759. He was approached by

Shi Chaoyi Shi Chaoyi (史朝義) (died before 17 February 763Volume 222 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' recorded that Shi's head reached Chang'an on the ''jiachen'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Guangde'' era of Tang Daizong's reign. This date corres ...

, who offered him to march on Tang together. This proposal alarmed the khagan who rode 100,000 Uyghur soldiers to the Tang border, believing the dynasty had fallen. However, Emperor Daizong sent an embassy in 762, reminding his friendship with the late brother of the qaghan, asking for an alliance. Li Kuo - supreme commander of Tang forces met with qaghan on 12 November 762 in his camp near

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

and agreed to attack the remaining rebel forces. However, a number of his staff members had been arrested and killed over a dispute in the meeting protocol between the young prince and the khan. This started a hatred in Li Kuo against Uyghurs for the rest of his life. In any case, Shi Chaoyi was crushed by the combined forces of Bögü and his father-in-law

Pugu Huai'en Pugu Huai'en () (died September 27, 765), formally the Prince of Da'ning (大寧王), was a general of the Chinese Tang dynasty of Tiele ancestry. He was instrumental in the final suppression of the Anshi Rebellion, but rebelled against Emperor Da ...

near

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

and fled. Bögü returned to the steppe on 8 April 763 via

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

. This successful war greatly improved Uyghur influence, all Uyghur officials together received a total tax income of 20,000 households, there were even reports about Uyghur soldiers arbitrarily capturing civilians in

Changan Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

markets to sell them as slaves in the middle of the day. Even they were arrested, Daizong set them free. Bögü allowed a contingent of Uyghurs to join forces with Tang China against the invading

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

forces in 765-768. Some of these commanders included his younger brother and ministers Motu Baga Tarkan, Tun Baga Tarkhan, Kutlug Bilge, Jiela Boyla Tarkhan, Prince Ulu Tarkhan, and Haiying Kül Tarkhan. The remaining Uyghur generals An Ke (安恪) and Shi Diting (石帝庭) gathered groups of bandits and pillaged the region. Despite the treaty, the Uyghurs kept raiding Chinese territories. They invaded

on 22 February 778, injuring and killing almost 10,000 Tang soldiers.

Religious policy

Bögü met 4 Manichaean priests, including one certain Ruixi (睿息) in Luoyang who was interested in their religion. He took them to

Ordu-Baliq Ordu-Baliqalso spelled ''Ordu Balykh, Ordu Balik, Ordu-Balïq, Ordu Balig, Ordu Baligh'' (meaning "city of the court", "city of the army"; mn, Хар Балгас, ), also known as Mubalik and Karabalghasun, was the capital of the first Uyghur ...

and converted to

and declared it a state religion in 763. Using his influence, he posed as the protector of the Manicheans and asked Daizong to re-open Manichaean temples in the empire in 768. The emperor did not sympathize with the Manichaeans, but was forced to give permission in 771. His Manichean followers urged him to invade Tang China, following Daizong's death in 779. This prompted a coup-de-etat inside court led by Chief Minister Tun Baga Tarkhan, who was a zealous Tengriist and did not want any new war with the Tang. Bögü was murdered along with 2,000-3,000 of his supporters and relatives in 780.

Family

Bögü khagan was married to Pugu Huaien's daughter Quangin Khatun (光亲可敦). She died in 768. Emperor Daizong created another daughter of

as Princess Conghui (崇徽公主) on 2 June 769 and sent her as continuing the ''

heqin ''Heqin'', also known as marriage alliance, refers to the historical practice of Chinese monarchs marrying princesses—usually members of minor branches of the ruling family—to rulers of neighboring states. It was often adopted as an appeaseme ...

'' treaty. She was given 20,000 pieces of silk as dowry.

Legacy

According to Larry Clark, as the first ruler in history to adopt Manichaeism as personal and state religion, Bögü Qaghan was strongly revered by later Manichaean traditions.

References

{{Manichaeism footer 780 deaths 8th-century monarchs in Asia Manichaeans Yaglakar clan Turkic rulers Tengrist monarchs