The Chigil (Chihil, and also (D)Jigil, Cihil, Chiyal) were a Turkic tribe known from the 7th century CE as living around

Issyk Kul Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake in th ...

lake area. They were considered to be descended from the tribe Chuyue, who were of mixed

Yueban Yueban () (Middle Chinese: */jiuᴇt̚-pˠan/ < Late Han Chinese: */jyat-pɑn/), colloquially: "Weak

Western Turkic origins.

Etymology

Sinologist Yu. A. Zuev notes that the Chinese transcription of Chigil, 處月 ''Chǔyuè'' (

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

( ZS): /t͡ɕʰɨʌˣ-ŋʉɐt̚/) may be

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...

d as "abode of the Moon od; whereas 處密 ''Chǔmì'' (/t͡ɕʰɨʌˣ-mˠiɪt̚/)) as "abode of the Sun od, for Chinese 密 transcribed

Middle Iranian The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian languages are groupe ...

theonym '' Mihr'', the all-seeing

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

deity of covenent, oath, and light, vaguely associated with the Sun. However, citing Gabain's 1931 and 1934 researches, Zuev cautions that neither Turkic-Buddhist texts, nor the Turkic-Manichaean literature and other sources containing information about Turkic Manichaeism, give a genealogical meaning in reference to the invocation of the Sun and Moon (Turk. ''kün ay''). Confusingly, Zuev also compares ''Chigil'' to Persian ''čihil'' "forty". Kamoliddin (2006) proposed that the ethnotoponym ''Chigil'' contains the

morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology. In English, morphemes are ...

''-il'' ( Turkic ''land, country''). On the other hand, Alyılmaz (2017) etymologized ''Čigil'' as from plural and generalization suffix ''-GIl'' affixed onto tribal name ''Çik'' (OTrk. 𐰲𐰃𐰚:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣 ''Çik bodun''), a people mentioned in

Tang Huiyao The ''Tang Huiyao'' () is an institutional history of Tang dynasty compiled by Wang Pu and presented it to Emperor Taizu of Song in 961. The book contains 100 volumes and 514 sections, it has an abundant content for the period before 846, and scar ...

as 赤 ( MC: *''t͡ɕʰiᴇk̚'') and, in

Bilge Qaghan Bilge Qaghan ( otk, 𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰀:𐰴𐰍𐰣, Bilgä Qaγan; ; 683 – 25 November 734) was the fourth Qaghan of the Second Turkic Khaganate. His accomplishments were described in the Orkhon inscriptions. Names As was the custom, his ...

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

, as allies of the

Yenisei Kyrgyz The Yenisei Kyrgyz ( otk, 𐰶𐰃𐰺𐰴𐰕:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, Qyrqyz bodun), were an ancient Turkic peoples, Turkic people who dwelled along the upper Yenisei River in the southern portion of the Minusinsk Depression from the 3rd century B ...

and enemies of Latter Göktürks. Both the Chiks and the Shatuo are mentioned together, apparently as two distinct groups, in the same Tanghuiyao chapter, However, Atwood (2010), in light of researches by Tenishev (1965) & Saguchi (1986), doubted the common scholarly identification of Chigils with Chuyue, from whom emerged the Shatuo as ''Chuyue'' is phonetically closer to ''Chunghyl'', the name of a "

bone A bone is a Stiffness, rigid Organ (biology), organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red blood cell, red and white blood cells, store minerals, provid ...

" among the

Yugurs The Yugurs, Yughurs, Yugu (; Western Yugur: ''Sarïg Yogïr''; Eastern Yugur: ''Šera Yogor''), traditionally known as Yellow Uyghurs, are a Turko- Mongolic ethnic group and one of China's 56 officially recognized ethnic groups, consisting ...

in modern

Gansu province Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibeta ...

. As for *''Čömül'' ( Ar. ''Jumul'' جمل), H. W. Bailey derived it from

Iranic The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate ...

*''čamṛta'' < ''čam-'' "to stride out like a warrior", thus "warrior striders"

History

Hamilton (1962) and Zuev (2002) saw the first reference to the Chigil as 職乙 (''Zhiyi''), whose Middle Chinese pronunciation was reconstructed by Zuev as ''tšįək-iət'', as a Tiele tribe mentioned in

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...

, compiled by

Wei Zheng Wei Zheng (580–643), courtesy name Xuancheng, posthumously known as Duke Wenzhen of Zheng, was a Chinese politician and historian. He served as a chancellor of the Tang dynasty for about 13 years during the reign of Emperor Taizong. He was a ...

. However, the original manuscript contains no punctuation, so different scholars read and reconstruct the ethonyms differently: for example, 薄落職乙咥 may also be read as ''Boluozhi'' and ''Yidie'' According to medieval writers, the city of Chigil was at "a distance of a human voice" from

Taraz Taraz ( kz, Тараз, تاراز, translit=Taraz ; known to Europeans as Talas) is a city and the administrative center of Jambyl Region in Kazakhstan, located on the Talas (river), Talas (Taraz) River in the south of the country near the borde ...

. An 11th-century story by

Mahmud Kashgari Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammed al-Kashgari, ''Maḥmūd ibnu 'l-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Kāšġarī'', , tr, Kaşgarlı Mahmûd, ug, مەھمۇد قەشقىرى, ''Mehmud Qeshqiri'' / Мәһмуд Қәшқири uz, Mahmud Qashg'ariy / М ...

proposed a folk etymology of Chigil, which he dated back to the time of the Zu-l-Karnein ("the "Bihorn", i.e.

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

) 4th century BCE: Kashghari says that the

Oghuz Turks The Oghuz or Ghuzz Turks (Middle Turkic languages, Middle Turkic: ٱغُز, ''Oγuz'', ota, اوغوز, Oġuz) were a western Turkic people that spoke the Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages, Turkic language family. In th ...

used to call "Chigil" all the Turks between the Oxus and Northern China. If the Chuyue in Chinese sources were indeed Chigils, then the

Shatuo The Shatuo, or the Shatuo Turks (; also transcribed as Sha-t'o, Sanskrit SartZuev Yu.A., ''"Horse Tamgas from Vassal Princedoms (Translation of Chinese composition "Tanghuyao" of 8-10th centuries)"'', Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences, Alma-Ata, I ...

沙陀, a Chuyue splinter group, were also a splinter group from Chigils. A Shatuo noble, Keyong, was from the Shatuo Dragon tribe, bore the surname ''Zhuye'' 朱耶 ~ ''Zhuxie'' 朱邪, and later adopted the surname Li of the

Tang emperors This is a list of emperors of the Tang dynasty (618–690, 705–907) of China. List of emperors ''The Chinese naming conventions is "Tang" (唐)+ temple name (e.g. Tang Gaozu), except for Emperors Shang and Ai, who are better known by thei ...

, first bestowed on Keyong's father Zhuxie Chixin. Keyong's son

Li Cunxu Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (), personal name Li Cunxu (), nickname Yazi (), stage name Li Tianxia (), was the ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty (r. 908–923) and later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty (r. 923� ...

would found of the

Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four e ...

dynasty (923–936) in Northern China, elevating the Shatuo to a regnal clan. Among the Shatuo, the dragon cult was predominant. The annals noted that Shatuo prayers "followed the old tradition of the northern custom" near Thunder-mountain, at the Dragon Gate. Paraphrasing a passage from

Sima Guang Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the monumental history book ''Zizhi Tongjian''. Sima was ...

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

, Zuev states that "Shatuo is originally (or, at root, 本 ''běn'') a Zhuxie tribe"; Zuev further asserts that Zhuxie reflects the Turkic ''jüz'' "hundred". The Chigil-Shatuo were

Manichaeans 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 prophet Mani (AD ...

, and "hundred" is not always a military team, but also a religious category ''yüz er'' "hundred monk men" as is stated, for example, on a number of the Manichaean

Yenisei The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat language, Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan language, Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas language, K ...

monuments of ancient Turkic writings. Thus ''yüz er'', as opposed to ''otuz oglan'' or ''otuz er'', is a category of dominating level. Chigils and

Yagma The Yagmas (), or Yaghmas, were a medieval tribe of Turkic people that came to the forefront of history after the disintegration of the Western Turkic Kaganate. They were one component of a confederation which consisted of Yagma, the Karluks, th ...

, and also the

Tuhsi The Tuhsis were a Middle Turkic, medieval Turkic-speaking tribe, who lived alongside the Chigil, Yagma, and other tribes, in Zhetysu and today southern Kazakhstan. Tuhsi were also considered remnants of the Türgesh people. Turkologist Yury Zuev n ...

, one of the

Türgesh The Türgesh or Türgish ( otk, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰏𐰾:𐰉𐰆𐰑, Türügeš budun, Türgesh people; ; Old Tibetan: ''Du-rgyas'') were a Turkic tribal confederation. Once belonging to the Duolu wing of the Western Turkic ''On Oq'' elites, Tür ...

tribes, the remains of the Orkhon Turks, united in the Karluk tribal union, and the history of these tribes, at least since the 9th century, is indivisible. The ''Hudud al-'Ālam'', compiled in 982–3 CE, describes the Chigils as members of the Karluk Yabghu state, occupying the Zhetysu territories including regions around Issyk Kul to the north and east of the Karluks. They are described as possessing great riches and that their king "is one of themselves." It is also reported that "Some of them worship the Sun and the stars." The Chigils were prominent in the

Kara-Khanid Khanate The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek ...

, where they formed the main body of the troops. The power in the Karakhanid state was divided between the nobility of two tribal groups, Chigils and Yagma, which in the 9th century formed the nucleus of the Karluk tribal union, besides Mouluo 謀落 / Moula 謀剌 (''

Bulaq Boulaq ( ar, بولاق, Būlāq from "guard, customs post"), is a district of Cairo, in Egypt. It neighbours Downtown Cairo, Azbakeya, and the River Nile. History The westward shift of the Nile, especially between 1050 and 1350, made land ava ...

''?), Tashili 踏實力 (''Tashlyk''?) and Suofu 娑匐 (''Sebeğ''?) or Chisi 熾俟. Golden (1992) hesitantly identifies the ''Chisi'' 熾俟 with ''Chuyue'' 處月. Meanwhile, Atwood (20101) identifies ''Chisi'' 熾俟 with ''Zhusi'' 朱斯, also mentioned in Xiu Tangshu; Atwood does not link ''Chisi'' 熾俟 ~ ''Zhusi'' 朱斯 to ''Chuyue'' 處月, but instead to ''Zhuxie'' 朱邪, the original tribal surname of the Shatuo ruling house. This Karluk-speaking Khaganate was divided into two parts, eastern and western, each headed by its own

Khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...

. The eastern Kagan was the senior Kagan, with his court in

Kashgar Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...

and

Balasagun Balasagun ( or ''Balasagyn''; ) was an ancient Sogdian city in modern-day Kyrgyzstan, located in the Chüy Valley between Bishkek and the Issyk-Kul lake. Located along the Silk Road, the ruins of the city were inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO Wor ...

(Buran fortress, near Tokmak in

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

). He was from the Chigil tribe and had the title Arslan Kara-Hakan. The western was the lesser Kagan, from the Yagma tribe, with the title Bogra Kara-Kagan and his court in

, and later in

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

. In the eleventh century the Chigils became independent. Kashgari writes that they consisted of three branches. After the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...

, the Turks in northern Turkestan and in the

Tien Shan The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...

region, among them the Chigils,

Karluks The Karluks (also Qarluqs, Qarluks, Karluqs, otk, 𐰴𐰺𐰞𐰸, Qarluq, Para-Mongol: Harluut, zh, s=葛逻禄, t=葛邏祿 ''Géluólù'' ; customary phonetic: ''Gelu, Khololo, Khorlo'', fa, خَلُّخ, ''Khallokh'', ar, قارلوق ...

, Argu and

, had to give up their territory to the eastern nomadic groups. They migrated to

Transoxania Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

and Kashgharia. There are presently four villages in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

called ''Chigil'', indicating that some Chigils migrated to Asia Minor after the Mongol invasion.

Religion

The Chigil were known for their religious dedication. The first depictions of the Chigils describe them as adherents of

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 ...

. Later sources describe the Chigils as

Nestorian Christians Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...

. The Zhetysu area, a former Chigil territory, is rich with Christian and pre-Christian archaeological remains, and the Talas area is especially saturated with religious monuments and historical reports. the

Gagauzes The Gagauz ( gag, Gagauzlar) are a Turkic people living mostly in southern Moldova (Gagauzia, Taraclia District, Basarabeasca District) and southwestern Ukraine (Budjak). Gagauz are mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians. The term Gagauz is also o ...

, a distinct

Pontic Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to: The Black Sea Places * The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores * Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores * The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from no ...

Turkic tribe known for their steadfast adherence to

Greek Orthodox Christianity The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...

, have a folk legend associating their descent from the Chigils. In Manichaeism, the lion, mighty and ruthless king of animals, is a central image. This demonstrates an imported ideology; the lion is not native to Central Asia, and so it originally did not have symbolic significance for the population there. The building found by the archaeologists, without traces of economic activities, served as a chapel of the inhabitants depicted in long robes: the Chigils, whose symbol was a lion (Turk. ''Arslan, Bars''). The connection between Talas, Manichaeism and the Lion is recorded in the Turco-Manichean "Sacred book of two fundamentals" (Iki jïltïz nom), fragments of which were found in 1907 at Kara-Khoja in the

Turpan Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015). Geonyms The original name of the cit ...

oasis by

Albert von Le Coq Albert von Le Coq (; 8 September 1860 Berlin, Prussia – 21 April 1930 Berlin, Germany) was a Prussian/German brewery owner and wine merchant, who at the age of 40 began to study archaeology.''Schatzjagd an der Seidenstraße.'' A film by Susanne ...

. The book was dedicated to the ruler (Beg) of the Chigil-Arslan tribes, named Il-Tirgüg, Ap-Burguchan, Alp-Tarhan enning, 1977, p. 552 It was completed in Argu-Talas city (Altun Argu Talas). A postscript in the manuscript noted an Arslan Mengü that used the book. Talas had four Manichean cloisters: in the Chigil-balyk, Kashu, Ordu-kent and Yigyan-kent. In the middle of the 7th century, Chigils, Chumuls and Karluks were united by the Western Turkic yabgu

Ashina Helu Ishbara Khagan (Old Turkic: 𐰃𐱁𐰉𐰺𐰀𐰴𐰍𐰣, Ïšbara qaγan, , personal name Ashina Helu - ) (ruled 651–658) was the last khagan of the Western Turkic Khaganate. Name The khagan's underlying Turkic name, transcribed with Ch ...

in his anti-

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

uprising. Zuev reconstructs Helu's Old Turkic name as *''Aru'', which, he contends, is identical with the Turkic-Manichean ''arïg'' (like ''arïg dïntar'' "pure priest").

Toponymic traces

Many settlements recorded in medieval sources have names derived from the ethnonym Chigil, such as Chigil-kant and Chigil-balyk in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

, and Chigil in the Zhetysu area: During the Middle Ages, a city, Yar, is mentioned as located on the southern bank of lake Issyk-kul. This city is the capital of the leader of the Djikil (i.e. Chigil) tribe. The city retained its name in the form ''Chal'' till present. The various forms of this toponym (Shiyan, Shal, Chal) come from the Turkic ethnonym Chiyal (i.e. Chigil).Sh. Kamoliddin, "Ancient Türkic Toponyms of the Middle Asia", Tashkent, Shark, 2006, p. 126

References

* Prof. Yu. A. Zuev, ''Early Turks: Essays of history and ideology'' * Chavannes, Édouard (1900), ''Documents sur les Tou-kiue (Turcs) occidentaux.'' Paris, Librairie d’Amérique et d’Orient. Reprint: Taipei. Cheng Wen Publishing Co. 1969. * Findley, Carter Vaughn, ''The Turks in World History''. Oxford University Press, (2005). ; 0-19-517726-6 (pbk.)

Etymology

History

Religion

Toponymic traces

References

Notes

References

See also