Duolu (

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles () is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' of ...

: To-lu; c. 603-651 as a minimum) was a tribal confederation in the

Western Turkic Khaganate The Western Turkic Khaganate () or Onoq Khaganate ( otk, 𐰆𐰣:𐰸:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, On oq budun, Ten arrow people) was a Turkic khaganate in Eurasia, formed as a result of the wars in the beginning of the 7th century (593–603 CE) after t ...

(c. 581-659). The Turgesh Khaganate (699-766) may have been founded by Duolu remnants. There existed several Chinese transcriptions 咄陸 (

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 ...

*''tuɑt̚-lɨuk̚'' >

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

''Duōlù''), 咄六 (MC. *''tuɑt̚-lɨuk̚'' > Mand. ''Duōliù''), 都陸 (MC. *''tuo-lɨuk̚'' > Mand. ''Dōulù''), 都六 (MC. ''tuo-lɨuk̚'' > Mand. ''Duōliù''). The

Old Turkic Old Turkic (also East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic language, Old Uyghur) is the earliest attested form of the Turkic languages, found in Göktürks, Göktürk and Uyghur Khaganate inscriptions dating from about the eighth to the 13th century. It ...

name behind those has been reconstructed, variously and with uncertainty, as *''Tör-ok'', *''Turuk'', *''Tuğluq'', ''Tölük'', ''Türük'', and most recently ''Tuğluğ'' (𐱃𐰆𐰍𐰞𐰍) "have flags, have standards".Kenzheahmet. p. 302-304 There is confusion, or possibly connection, with the earlier

Onogurs The Onoğurs or Oğurs (Ὀνόγουροι, Οὔρωγοι, Οὔγωροι; Onογurs, Ογurs; "ten tribes", "tribes"), were Turkic nomadic equestrians who flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between 5th and 7th cen ...

which also means 'ten tribes'. Additionally, Duolu's relation to the

Dulo clan The Dulo clan was a ruling dynasty of the Bulgars. The origins of the Bulgars and Dulo clan are not known precisely, and there are many theories about their origin. It is generally considered that they – or at least the elite caste – were i ...

of the

Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...

is possible, but not proven. Initially, Western Turks might have organized themselves into eight tribes, consistent with statements by Syriac and Greek authors:

John of Ephesus John of Ephesus (or of Asia) ( Greek: Ίωάννης ό Έφέσιος, c. 507 – c. 588) was a leader of the early Syriac Orthodox Church in the sixth century and one of the earliest and the most important historians to write in Syriac. John of ...

mentioned eight rulers of the Turks besides

Istämi Istämi (or Dizabul or Ishtemi Sir Yabghu Khagan; ) was the ruler of the western part of the Göktürks, which became the Western Turkic Khaganate and dominated the Sogdians. He was the yabgu (vassal) of his brother Bumin Qaghan in 552 AD. He wa ...

; and

Menander Protector Menander Protector (Menander the Guardsman, Menander the Byzantian; el, Μένανδρος Προτήκτωρ or Προτέκτωρ), Byzantine historian, was born in Constantinople in the middle of the 6th century AD. The little that is known of ...

mentioned that at Istämi's death, the Western Turkic realm was divided into eight parts. Later on, two Nushibi tribes, Axijie and Geshu, reformed themselves, each sub-divided into two sub-tribes, bringing the total number to ten. Therefore, Western Turks were also called the ''Onoq'' or 'ten arrows', that is 'ten tribes', five led the Duolu chors (''chuo'' 啜) and five by the Nushibi (''sijin'' 俟斤). They lived between Lake Balkash and the

Tian 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‘ ...

Mountains. Their western neighbor was the

Nushibi Nushibi (Nu-shibi, ; Middle Chinese: *''nuoXɕiɪt̚piɪt̚'') was a Chinese collective name for five tribes of the right (western) wingYu. Zuev, ''"The Strongest tribe - Izgil"''//Historical And Cultural Relations Between Iran And Dasht-i Kipc ...

confederation which extended west to the

Syr Darya The Syr Darya (, ),, , ; rus, Сырдарья́, Syrdarjja, p=sɨrdɐˈrʲja; fa, سيردريا, Sirdaryâ; tg, Сирдарё, Sirdaryo; tr, Seyhun, Siri Derya; ar, سيحون, Seyḥūn; uz, Sirdaryo, script-Latn/. historically known ...

and southward. The boundary between the two was around the

Ili River The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...

and the

Chu River The Chu (Shu or Chüy) ( kk, Шу, Shu, شۋ; ky, Чүй, Chüy, چۉي; dng, Чў, Chwu (from , ''Chǔ''); russian: Чу, Chu) is a river in Northern Kyrgyzstan and Southern Kazakhstan. Of its total length of ,Sogdia Sogdia (Sogdian language, Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also ...

n merchants. The Duolu were probably more pastoral. Rivers running down from the Tianshan supported agriculture and towns and thus a natural caravan route. The Duolu presumably taxed these people. The West Turkic Khagans had a sort of capital at

Suyab Suyab ( fa, سوی آب; Middle Chinese: /suʌiH jiᴇp̚/), also known as ''Ordukent'' (modern-day ''Ak-Beshim''), was an ancient Silk Road city located some 50 km east from Bishkek, and 8 km west southwest from Tokmok, in the Chu ri ...

near the Duolu-Nushibi boundary. From at least the time of

Heshana Khagan Heshana Qaghan or Heshana Khagan (Chinese: 曷娑那可汗, (Pinyin): hésuōnà kěhàn, ( Wade-Giles): ho-so-na k'o-han, Middle Chinese ( Guangyun) or 曷薩那可汗/曷萨那可汗, hésànà kěhàn, ho-sa-na k'o-han; at one point known as C ...

(603) new Khagans were usually supported by either the Duolu or Nushibi faction. In 638 there was a separation of the two factions along the Ili River. Chinese sources (

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

Tongdian The ''Tongdian'' () is a Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text. It covers a panoply of topics from high antiquity through the year 756, whereas a quarter of the book focuses on the Tang Dynasty. The book was written by Du You from 766 ...

) record of Duolu tribal names & titles:

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * Yuri Bregel, Historical Atlas of Central Asia, 2003, maps 7 and 8, with text. * *

Vol. 199
*

Vol. 194B
* Golden, Peter B., �
Oq and Oğur ~ Oğuz
��, ''Turkic Languages'', 16/2 (2012). pp. 155–199 * * * * Klyashtorny S.G. (1986). "Genealogiya i khronologiya zapadno-tyurkskikh i tyurgeshskikh kaganov VI–VIII vekov." In ''Iz istorii dorevolyutsionnogo Kirgizstana''. Frunze: Ilim, pp. 164–170. * Vladimir Tishin (2018)
"Kimäk and Chù-mù-kūn (处木昆): Notes on an Identification"
* Yury Zuev. ''Horse Tamgas from Vassal Princedoms (Translation of Chinese composition "Tanghuiyao" of 8-10th centuries)'', Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences, Alma-Ata, 1960, pp. 93–139 (In Russian) * Yury Zuev, ''Early Türks: Sketches of history and ideology'', Almaty, Daik-Press, 2002 (in Russian) * Yury Zuev. ''The strongest tribe'', p. 32-61, Almaty, 2004 (in Russian) {{Turkic peoples Western Turkic Khaganate Turkic peoples of Asia History of Kazakhstan History of Xinjiang

See also

Notes

References

Sources