Yabaku
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Yabaku is a fairly enigmatic tribe out of ten prominent Türkic tribes enumerated by Mahmut Kashgari (11th century) in the list describing the location of the Türkic polities from the borders of the
Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
to the borders of China in the following sequence: # Bäčänäk; # Qifčāk; # Oğuz; # Yemēk; # Bašğirt; # Basmil; # Qāi; # Yabāqu; # Tatār; # Qirqiz. Yabāqu can be related etymologically to Turkic ''yapağu'', "originally denoting 'matted hair or wool' and then an animal characterized by this, e.g. a 'colt.' Zoonyms or hipponyms are known in Turkic ethnonymy, some of probable totemic origin." Kashgari noted that "Among the nomadic peoples are the '' Čömül'' - they have a gibberish (''raṭāna'' َطَانَة‎ of their own, but also know Turkic; also ''Qāy'', ''Yabāqu'', ''Tatār'' and ''Basmil'' - each of these groups has its own language, but they also know Turkic well". According to
Golden Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...
, Turkic ''Yabâqu''/''Yapağu'' was probably translated from, or a Turkic rendition of, an ethnonym of a bilingual people "with a complex ethno-linguistic heritage". Additionally, Kashgari named ''Yapâqu suw'' as a river flowing over
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 ...
from mountains in
Ferghana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...
; and the Hudud al-Alam also mentioned a *''Yabağu'' river near Özkend. These facts pointed to Yabakus' presence in Ferghana since at least the 10th century, if not earlier. Kashagari mentioned another river in the Yabaqu steppes - namely, the Yamar river, which
Vasily Bartold Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold (russian: Васи́лий Влади́мирович Барто́льд.; 1869–1930), who published in the West under his German baptism name, Wilhelm Barthold, was a Russian orientalist who specialized in the his ...
identified with the Emil. According to Kashgari, Yabaku chief Böke Budrach led a pagan coalition from Western Siberia or further east across the
Irtysh river The Irtysh ( otk, 𐰼𐱅𐰾:𐰇𐰏𐰕𐰏, Ertis ügüzüg, mn, Эрчис мөрөн, ''Erchis mörön'', "erchleh", "twirl"; russian: Иртыш; kk, Ертіс, Ertis, ; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: ''É'ěrqísī hé'', Xiao'erj ...
to wars against
Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
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 ...
(comprising modern Western and Eastern
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 ...
); Karakhanid heroic epics also mentioned these invasions, which Karakhanids thwarted successfully. According to Al-Utbi and
Ali ibn al-Athir Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Din (Arabic), Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī ( ar, علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري) lived 1160–1233) was an Arab people, ...
, the coalition's invasions began around the 1010s (or later in the 1030s) from the direction of ''Ṣîn'', i.e. Northern China. However, Budrach's coalition, which outnumbered the Karakhanid army, was still defeated by Toghan Khan (r. 998 - 1017/1018), who died shortly after his victory. Kashgari cited a witness, who related that Ghazi Arslan Tegin defeated the Yabaku-led coalition and captured Budrach. Golden proposes that the authority of the Yabaqu, as the coalition's leading tribe, extended also to their allies the Basmils and the Qays. Noting that Kashgari glossed Budrach's epithet ''Böke'' as "large dragon (ṯu'bān 'aẓim)" - which might also mean "great snake", Golden further identifies Budrach's coalition, as "People of the Chieftain named Snake/Dragon", with the "Snake People" who had driven out the "Pale Ones" (''xartêš''), causing the "Pale Ones" to dislodge 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 ...
, who in turn expelled the
Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა ...
, in the account given by
Matthew of Edessa Matthew of Edessa (, Matevos Uṛhayetsi; late 11th century – 1144) was an Armenian historian in the 12th century from the city of Edessa (, ''Uṛha''). Matthew was the superior abbot of Karmir Vank' (Red Convent), near the town of Kaysun, ...
. Golden contends that: if "Snake People" in Matthew's account were to be identified with the Qays in a parallel account by al-Marwazi), then that's because the Qays participated in the coalition led by chief Budrach, nicknamed ''Böke'' - Snake/Dragon - "a kind of honorific associated with outstanding warriors"; not because ''Qay'' itself meant "snake" in Mongolic.Golden (2006), p. 22-24


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History of Kyrgyzstan The history of the Kyrgyz people and the land now called Kyrgyzstan goes back more than 3,000 years. Although geographically isolated by its mountainous location, it had an important role as part of the historical Silk Road trade route. Turk ...
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History of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, the largest country fully within the Eurasian Steppe, has been a historical crossroads and home to numerous different peoples, states and empires throughout history. Throughout history, peoples on the territory of modern Kazakhsta ...
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History of China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yabaku Ethnic groups in Kyrgyzstan Turkic peoples of Asia Extinct Turkic peoples