Mugulü () was a legendary warrior and chieftain in the Mongolian Plateau during the period when it was under the rule of tribes and peoples originating from the fragmentation of the failed and crumbling Xianbei confederation. The term "

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

" is a likely derivation from his name.

Biography

Mugulü was likely born before AD 277, at the end of Tuoba Liwei's

reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Andorra), of a people (e.g., the Franks, the Zulus) or of a spiritual community (e.g., Catholicism, Tibetan Buddhism, N ...

.Weish
vol. 103
始神元之末，掠騎有得一奴 tr. "In the beginning of the end of the Shenyuan, a uobaraider cavalryman acquired a slave" Little is known about his childhood. His date and place of birth, and the names of his parents or those of his consorts, are not disclosed in

Book of Wei The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to 5 ...

. He served in the Xianbei army under the leadership of the

Tuoba The Tuoba (reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation: *''tʰak-bɛt''), also known as the Taugast or Tabgach ( otk, 𐱃𐰉𐰍𐰲 ''Tabγač''), was a Xianbei clan in Imperial China.Wei Shou. '' Book of Wei''. Vol. 1 During the Sixteen King ...

tribal chief, Tuoba Yilu (295–316) of Dai. Possibly a legendary figure, he was a Xianbei slave according to Chinese sources, though this anecdote has been rejected by modern scholars.

Youth

According to Chinese chronicles, Mugulü was an enslaved Xianbei of unknown origin who was captured and enslaved by a Tuoba raider cavalryman during the reign of chief Liwei (220-277) of the

, a Xianbei clan most likely of

Proto-Mongolic Proto-Mongolic is the hypothetical ancestor language of the modern Mongolic languages. It is very close to the Middle Mongol language, the language spoken at the time of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire. Most features of modern Mongolic languag ...

origin. The anecdote of his enslaved status has been rejected by modern scholars as "a typical insertion by the Chinese historians intended to show the low birth and barbarian nature of the northern nomads."

Mugulü's career and his escape through the Gobi

According to the

, after either having matured (being 30 or older) or because of his strength, Mugulü was emancipated and became a warrior in the Tuoba Xianbei cavalry, under the leadership of Tuoba Yilu of Dai (307–316). However, he tarried past the deadline and was sentenced to death by beheading. He vanished and hid in the

Gobi desert The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...

,依紇突隣部　諸本及北史卷九八蠕蠕傳「紇」作「純」。按本卷高車傳末即附有紇突隣部，卷二太祖紀登國五年五月及十二月、皇始二年二月見此部，都作「紇突隣」，「純」乃形近而訛，今改正。 but then gathered a hundred or more other escapees. They sought refuge under a neighboring tribe of

Tiele people The Tiele (, Mongolian ''*Tegreg'' " eople of theCarts"), also transliterated as Dili (), Chile (), Zhile (), Tele (), also named Gaoche or Gaoju (, "High Carts"), were a tribal confederation of Turkic ethnic origins living to the north of Chin ...

called ''Hetulin'' (紇突隣). It is not known when Mugulü died; sources say 316 AD.

Family and succession

When Mugulü died, his son

Yujiulü Cheluhui Yujiulü Cheluhui () was ruler and tribal chief of the Rourans, succeeded Mùgǔlǘ (Mugului) and was the son of the same, his year of birth is unknown. He was a rough man and his government was marked by nomadism and peace. Government Mig ...

acquired his own tribal horde and either Cheluhui was or his tribe called themselves

Rouran The Rouran Khaganate, also Juan-Juan Khaganate (), was a tribal confederation and later state founded by a people of Proto-Mongolic Donghu origin.*Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (2000)"Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organizati ...

. Cheluhui's government was marked by Xianbei Tuobas. His descendants and successors were:Grousset (1970), pp. 61, 585, n. 91. #

, son #Yujiulü Tunugui, grandson #Yujiulü Bati, great-grandson #Yujiulü Disuyuan, great-great-grandson

Personal name

According to the Chinese chronicles, the Xianbei (Sianbi) master called the captive Mugulü, a Xianbei word glossed as "bald-headed" (首禿) possibly owing to his appearances, his hairline starting at his eyebrow's level, and because he did not remember his name and surname. This was reconstructed as Mongolic ''Muqur'' (Mukhur) or ''Muquli'' (Mukhuli) presumably "round, smooth" by Japanese researcher

Shiratori Kurakichi Shiratori Kurakichi (白鳥庫吉, March 1, 1865 – March 30, 1942) was a Japanese historian and Sinologist who was one of the pioneers of the field of "Oriental History". Biography Shiratori graduated from Tokyo Imperial University and joined ...

. Alexander Vovin instead proposes that ''Mùgúlǘ'' (木骨閭), in reconstructed

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 ...

*''muwk-kwot-ljo'', transcribed Tuoba Xianbei *''moqo-lo'' ~ ''muqo-lo'' 'bald head', which is analysable as 'one ho/hich has cut off/fallen off air and cognate with Mongolic lexical items like mn, Мухар ( Written Mongolian ''moɣutur ~ moqutur'' 'blunt, hornless, bald tail' (cf. Chinese gloss as 禿尾 'bald tail'), ''moqu-ɣar'',

Middle Mongol Middle Mongol or Middle Mongolian, was a Mongolic koiné language spoken in the Mongol Empire. Originating from Genghis Khan's home region of Northeastern Mongolia, it diversified into several Mongolic languages after the collapse of the empire ...

'hornless', ''moqo-dag'' 'blunt'; all of those are from

*''muqu'' 'to be cut off, break off, fall off', which in turn would produce the semantic variation 'blunt ~ hornless ~ hairless ~ bald').

Clan name

According to the Book of Wei, the dynasty founded by Mugulü's descendants was called ''Yujiulü'', which sound superficially like ''Mugulü'', and thus the

Yujiulü clan The Yujiulü clan (; reconstructed Middle Chinese: ''ʔjuk kjǝu ljwo'') was the ruling clan of the Rouran Khaganate, which ruled over Northern China, the Mongolian Steppe and Southern Siberia. Origin According to Book of Wei and History of the ...

(郁久閭氏, reconstructed

: ''ʔjuk kjǝu ljwo'') emerged. Róna-Tas suggested that Yujiulü rendered *''ugur(i)'' > ''Uğur'', a secondary form of Oğur.;

Peter B. Golden Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is an American historian who is Professor Emeritus of History, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He has written many books and articles on Turkic peoples, Turkic and Central Asian Studies, ...

additionally proposed connection with Turkic ''uğurluğ'' "feasible, opportune", later "auspicious fortunate" or ''oğrï'' "thief", an etymology more suited to the dynasty's founder's activities; additionally Yujiulü may be comparable to Middle Mongolian ''uğuli'' "owl" (>

Khalkha The Khalkha (Mongolian script, Mongolian: mn, Халх, Halh, , zh, 喀爾喀) have been the largest subgroup of Mongols, Mongol people in modern Mongolia since the 15th century. The Khalkha, together with Chahars, Ordos Mongols, Ordos and Tum ...

ууль ''uul), as personal names based on bird names are common in Mongolic.Golden, Peter B. "Some Notes on the Avars and Rouran", in ''The Steppe Lands and the World beyond Them''. Ed. Curta, Maleon. Iași (2013). p. 55.

Biography

Youth

Mugulü's career and his escape through the Gobi

Family and succession

Personal name

Clan name

See also

Succession

References

Notes

Citations

Further reading