Ishbara Khagan (

Old Turkic Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating from the Second Turkic Kh ...

: 𐰃𐱁𐰉𐰺𐰀𐰴𐰍𐰣, Ïšbara qaγan, , personal name Ashina Helu - ) (ruled 651–658) was the last

khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

of the Western Turkic Khaganate.

Name

The khagan's underlying Turkic name, transcribed with Chinese characters 賀魯, became a debate among scholars. Gumilyov proposed ''Hallïğ'', meaning "Elevated". Von Gabain proposed name ''Kullïğ'' (slave owner). Gömeç argued for ''Uluğ'' meaning "Great". Meanwhile, Kapusuzoğlu proposed ''Kutluğ'' (Blessed) as his underlying Turkic name. Zuev (1960) linked the Khagan personal name ''Helu'' (< MC *''ɣa-lou'') with the tribal name ''Khallukh'' attested by Persian and Arab writers, and asserted that by the 7th century Helu's tribe was dynastic; later, however, Zuev (2002) proposed that Chinese ''Helu'' reflects Turkic *''aru ~ arïğ'' "pure, light".

Early years

His parentage is uncertain. According to Gumilov his father was Böri Shad, however Chavannes attributes him to be a son of Irbis Seguy. He was awarded with the title

shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

by Dulu khagan in 633 and appointed to govern certain tribes including Chuye, Qarluq, Nushibi. In 646 he rose against Irbis Seguy only to be defeated by him. He fled to China in 25 April 648 and had served the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

as a general stationed in Mohe (莫賀) city in

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

. However he soon started to plan to assert independence using Taizong's death in 649. Qiao Baoming (橋寶明) personal staff of Gaozong tried to avert it by ordering him to deliver his son Ashina Xiyun (阿史那咥運) to serve in palace guard. Xiyun served for a while before returning to Helu again and encouraging him to attack Irbis Dulu khagan.

Reign

After a while he set up his horde near modern Shuanghe, began to receive submissions. According to Tongjian firstly Duolu tribe chiefs who were titled as ''čor'', namely Chomuqun chief Kuli (處木昆(屈)律啜), Ulugh Oq chief Kul (胡祿居闕啜), Chapshata chief Ton (摄舍提暾啜), Turgesh- Halach chief (突騎施賀邏施啜), Shungish chief Chuban (鼠尼施處半啜) submitted. Ulugh Oq chief was also a son-in-law to Helu. Nushibi tribal chiefs who were titled ''irkin'' also submitted - Esegel chief Kül (阿悉結闕俟斤), Geshu chief Kül (哥舒闕俟斤), Basaigan chief Tong Ishbara (拔塞幹暾沙鉢俟斤), Esegel chief Nishu (阿悉結泥孰俟斤), Geshu chief Chuban (哥舒處半俟斤). Ashina Xiyun was appointed crown prince with the title Bagatur Yabgu. After formally reasserting independence from Tang, he commanded raids to Jin Ling (金嶺城, near modern Shanshan,

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

) and Pulei (蒲類縣). Angered Gaozong stripped him of Chinese titles and ordered Qibi Heli and Liang Jianfang (梁建方) to secure border areas. Conflicts also began in southern border when Zhenzhu yabgu (son of Yukuk Shad) started major incursions to Western Tujue territory. Later Zhenzhu contacted Tang to receive soldiers and requested to be created a qaghan in 655. Yuan Lichen (元礼臣) was ordered by Gaozong to visit Zhenzhu in 8 November 656 to create him khagan, but he was stopped by Helu's soldiers near Suyab, causing Zhenzhu to lose much prestige. In 657

Emperor Gaozong of Tang Emperor Gaozong of Tang (21 July 628 – 27 December 683), personal name Li Zhi, was the third Emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty, ruling from 649 to 683; after January 665, he handed power over the empire to his second wife ...

started the Conquest of the Western Turks. General Su Dingfang was appointed to be leading commander during whole operation. Chumukun tribe was first to lose whose chief Lantulu (懶獨祿) submitted. Tang army defeated Ishbara at the Battle of Irtysh River. However he fled to Chach with his son Ashina Xiyun and a noble retainer Xuyan. However he was soon handed over to Xiao Siya (萧嗣业) by Chach ruler Yixian Tarkhan.

Later years

After being captured he reportedly told Xiao Siya:'' Zhizhi Tongjian'' 6310, 6311: "…阿史那賀魯既被擒，謂蕭嗣業曰：「我本亡虜，為先帝所存，先帝遇我厚而我負之，今日之敗，天所怒也。吾聞中國刑人必於市，願刑我於昭陵之前以謝先帝。」上聞而憐之。賀魯至京師，甲午，獻於昭陵。敕免其死，分其種落為六都督府，其所役屬諸國皆置州府，西盡波斯，並隸安西都護府。賀魯尋死，葬於頡利墓側。" Emperor Gaozong spared him after 15 days and he lived out his days at the Tang capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

. He was buried near Illig Qaghan's memorial.

References

Sources