Alp Qutluq Külüg Bilge Qaghan — seventh khagan 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 ...

and the first one from the

Ädiz clan , other_names= zh, c=阿跌, p=Ādiē, region=, founder=, dissolution=848, other_families=Yaglakar clan The Ädiz clan was the second imperial clan of the Uyghur Khaganate. Tribe The Ädiz clan was originally a member of the Tiele Confedera ...

. His Tang invested title was Huaixin Qaghan ().

Life

He was born in the

, was orphaned early in childhood and adopted by the

Yaglakar clan , other_names= zh, c=藥羅葛 , p=Yàoluógé , region= , image = Yaglakar clan tamga.png , image_caption = Tamga of Yaglakar , founder=Bezgek Yaglakar Khan (Mythical) , dissolution=795 , other_families=Ädiz clan The Yaglakar clan was the fir ...

. He quickly rose in the ranks thanks to his strategic thinking and rhetorical skill. He was appointed Grand Chancellor (''İl Ögesi'' in

Old Uyghur Old Uyghur () was a Turkic language which was spoken in Qocho from the 9th–14th centuries and in Gansu. History The Old Uyghur language evolved from Old Turkic after the Uyghur Khaganate broke up and remnants of it migrated to Turfan, Qomu ...

) with the title Inanchu Bilge around 782. He was the who met Chinese embassy bringing Tun Baga Tarkhan's uncle's body back. He was also present as the head of delegation to

Chang'an 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 ...

in marriage ceremony for qaghan and Princess Xian'an (咸安公主) in 788. He commanded the Uyghur army against

Tibetans The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live ...

who were aided by Karluk Yabgu State ruler Alp Burguchan who united

Chigils The Chigil (Chihil, and also (D)Jigil, Cihil, Chiyal) were a Turkic tribe known from the 7th century CE as living around Issyk Kul lake area. They were considered to be descended from the tribe Chuyue, who were of mixed Yueban- Western Turkic or ...

Bulaqs The Bulaqs were a Turkic tribe known mainly from Arabic sources, originating from the Lop Nor region. They were a core part of the Karluk confederacy located in the Altai Mountains. Many of them migrated to the Southern Ural, into the neighbourho ...

and

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 ...

, near Beshbaliq in 790. As the result Yang Xigu (楊襲古) Commander of

Beiting Protectorate The Beiting Protectorate-General, initially the Beiting Protectorate, was a Chinese protectorate established by the Tang dynasty in 702 to control the Beiting region north of Gaochang in contemporary Xinjiang. Wu Zetian set up the Beiting ...

committed suicide. Although Chinese sources states that it was Inanchu who killed him in November 791. He was appointed as regent of

Qutluq Bilge Qaghan )''Blessed Wise Qaghan'', birth_name=Yàoluógé Āchuài (藥羅葛阿啜), religion=Tengriism, posthumous name= Qutluq Bilge Qaghan (died 795 CE) was the sixth khagan of the Uyghur Khaganate and the last one from the Yaglakar clan. His Tang inves ...

since he was a minor in 790.

Reign

After Qutluq Bilge's untimely death he succeeded to the qaghanate upon election of nobles. He didn't change his surname to original one but kept Yaglakar name, nevertheless he exiled all of remaining princes from cadet branches to

. One of his first deeds was to adopt

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 ...

as the state religion again in 803, after a visit to Manichean temple in

Qocho Qocho (), also known as Idiqut, ("holy wealth"; "glory"; "lord of fortune") was a Uyghur kingdom created in 843, with strong Chinese Buddhist and Tocharian influences. It was founded by Uyghur refugees fleeing the destruction of the Uyghur Kh ...

. According to

Colin Mackerras Colin Patrick Mackerras (; born 26 August 1939 Sydney, Australia) is an Australian sinologist, Emeritus Professor at Griffith University, and specialist in Chinese culture. He has published on Chinese drama, national minorities of China, Aus ...

and Takao Moriyasu, he did not have any relations with China until 805 and this led Chinese historians to believe that khagan died in 805. This was further proven by surprise at Chinese court when they witnessed Manicheans among the embassy in 806. Qaghan requested the Manichean temples to be reopened in China. His reign saw territorial expansion of the khaganate, subjugation of

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 ...

, defeat of Karluk Yabgu State and

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 ...

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hydr ...

, conquest of Beshbaliq in 790,

Karashar Karasahr or Karashar ( ug, قاراشەھەر, Qarasheher, 6=Қарашәһәр), which was originally known, in the Tocharian languages as ''Ārśi'' (or Arshi) and Agni or the Chinese derivative Yanqi ( zh, s=焉耆, p=Yānqí, w=Yen-ch'i), is an ...

and

Kucha Kucha, or Kuche (also: ''Kuçar'', ''Kuchar''; ug, كۇچار, Кучар; zh, t= 龜茲, p=Qiūcí, zh, t=庫車, p=Kùchē; sa, कूचीन, translit=Kūcīna), was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road ...

in 798. New western border was the river Syr-Darya. He also possibly aided

Rafi ibn al-Layth Rāfiʿ ibn al Layth ibn Naṣr ibn Sayyār () was a Khurasani Arab noble who led a large-scale rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate in 806–809. He was the grandson of the last Umayyad governor of Khurasan, Nasr ibn Sayyar. His father Layth ...

against

Abbasids The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

.{{Cite journal, last=Bosworth, first=C. E., date=2012-04-24, title=Rāfiʿ b. al-Layt̲h̲ b. Naṣr b. Sayyār, url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/*-SIM_6184, journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, language=en, doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_sim_6184

Death

He died sometime after March 808 and was followed 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 ...

References

8th-century births 808 deaths Ädiz clan 8th-century monarchs in Asia 9th-century monarchs in Asia 8th-century Turkic people 9th-century Turkic people Founding monarchs