The epitaph of Pugu Yitu is an inscription found inside the tomb of Pugu Yitu (; 635-678). It dates to 678 and was found in 2009 by a joint Russian-Mongolian team in Zaamar sum,

Tov Province Tov may refer to: *Tales of Vesperia, a video game which is the tenth mothership title in the '' Tales'' series. *Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit *The Hebrew word meaning "good" :*Mazel tov "Mazel tov" or "mazal tov" (Hebrew/Yiddish: , H ...

, 160 km west of

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

about 2.5 km north-east from the banks of the

Tuul River , , "to wade through" , nickname = Queen Tuul , image = Tuul River Mongolia.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Tuul flowing through the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park , map = Toula (rivi ...

and close to the 10th-century Khitan town of Khermen Denzh on the banks of the Tuul River. The inscription is currently displayed at the Zanabazar Fine Arts Museum in Ulaanbaatar. The tomb of Pugu Yitu, also called the Shoroon Dov Kurgan, showed signs of attempted looting in ancient times. The nearby tomb of Shoroon Bumbagar was never looted and therefore was found to hold far more artifacts including an intact door, many statues and wall paintings of people, dragons and temples, although there was no inscription. The tomb of Pugu Yitu is unusual in that it has an inscription. Apart from the cover inscription of Pugu Yitu measuring 75 cm x 75 cm with 4 lines of 3 characters each, the main inscription has 28 lines with 31 characters each. The language of the inscription is

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

and relates the biography of Pugu Yitu the Dudu (都督) or Commander-in-Chief of the Jinweizhou (金微州) protectorate under the Tang dynasty's

Jimi system The Jimi system () or Jimifuzhou () was an autonomous administrative and political organization system used in China between the 7th century and 10th century. It should not to be confused with the tributary system. The term "Jimi" was first seen ...

. A photo of the inscription can be found on the ''Mongol Toli'' website.

History

Pugu Yitu is not mentioned in the Tang histories, although his grandfather Gelan Bayan is. The Pugu clan was part of the

Xueyantuo The Xueyantuo were an ancient Tiele people, Tiele tribe and khaganate in Northeast Asia who were at one point vassals of the Göktürks, later aligning with the Tang dynasty against the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, Eastern Göktürks. Names Xue ...

, a Turkic people who filled the power vacuum in northern Mongolia after the

Eastern Turkic Khaganate The Eastern Turkic Khaganate () was a Turkic khaganate formed as a result of the internecine wars in the beginning of the 7th century (AD 581–603) after the First Turkic Khaganate (founded in the 6th century in the Mongolian Plateau by ...

was defeated by the Tang Dynasty in May 630. In 647 the Pugu clan accepted the suzerainty of the Tang dynasty under the Jimi (loose rein) system and received the title Dudu (Commander-in-Chief). The first Dudu was Pugu Yitu's grandfather Gelan Bayan (歌滥拔延), followed by Pugu Yitu's father Sifu (思匍) who governed till 657. Judging from the epitaph Pugu Yitu was 44 years old when he died in 678. This means he was 22 or 23 years old when he succeeded his father Sifu in the post of Dudu in 657. The inscription was laid flat on the ground in front of the brick-faced main chamber where a number of painted statuettes were found. The main chamber was accessed by three arched passageways. Byzantine-style gold coins were also found. According to the inscription, in the second year of Linde (665) he participated with the Tang Emperor Gaozong in a ceremony on

Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the '' Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being t ...

in Shandong Province. The inscription also says he carried out military campaigns against the Mohe in Eastern Manchuria as well as

Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire (, ; ) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of imperial expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. The empire further expanded under the 38 ...

(吐蕃). It is notable that General Tonyukuk's

Bain Tsokto inscriptions The Tonyukuk inscriptions (), also called the Bain Tsokto inscriptions are Turkic inscriptions of the 8th century located in modern-day Mongolia. They are the oldest written attestations of the Turkic language family, predating the Orkhon insc ...

, dated 716, are found eastward in the valley of the same Tuul River in Nalaikh District of Ulaanbaatar. In it he states how Tang influence was still strong in his childhood and how it took him many struggles, including campaigns as far afield as

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

Province, Tibet and Central Asia to overthrow Tang influence and restore the Turkic Khaganate.

Inscription

The cover inscription has the following text: :大唐金/微都督/仆固府/君墓志 (Memorial inscription of the Gentlemanly Lord of Pugu Prefecture of Jinweizhou of the Great Tang) The main inscription has the following text:

Artifacts from the tomb

The epitaph was found within the tomb of Pugu Yitu, also called the Shoroon Dov Kurgan. Many artifacts, especially terracotta statuettes, were found in the tomb. File:Shoroon Dov artifacts, Heavenly King (Tian Wang).jpg, Shoroon Dov artifacts, Heavenly King (Tian Wang). Zanabazar Fine Arts Museum in

, Mongolia. File:Shoroon Dov artifacts, female and male attendants, Central Asian (possibly Sogdian) figurines (Zanabazar Museum).jpg, Shoroon Dov artifacts, female and male attendants, Central Asian (possibly Sogdian) figurines. Zanabazar Fine Arts Museum in

, Mongolia. File:Zanabazar Museum Tomb soldiers.jpg, Statuettes of horsemen from the tomb.{{cite journal , last1=Yılmaz , first1=Anıl , title=On the Burial Mounds of Ulaan Khermiin Shoroon Bumbagar (Maykhan Uul) and Shoroon Dov , date=2020 , url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1456177

References

Archaeology of Mongolia Tang dynasty people Xueyantuo 2009 archaeological discoveries