Bayanchur Khan of the Uyghur Khaganate 回鹘♢英武可汗

At once warlord, builder, and undisputed master of the steppes, Bayanchur Khan (reign 747- 759) vigorously expanded the domains of the Uyghur Khaganate. During his reign he erected many cities and monuments that entrenched Uyghur hold over the steppes. He also helped to rescue the Tang dynasty from collapse during the An Lushan Rebellion by sending his cavalry to retake Chang An and Louyang.

The Uyghurs were the ascendant power in the 7th-8th century. Originally a small tribal confederacy hailing from the steppes of modern Mongolia, the Uyghurs cleverly kept an eye out on the most dominant forces in the region and pledged their services to them. Through cunning politicking, the Uyghurs slowly expanded their power by serving the great powers and then serving their rivals until their needs were met.

The earliest Turkic people possessed Asiatic features, including the Uyghurs. As a people they initially favored Buddhism before taking an interest in Manicheanism.

For many years they switched their allegiances between the Göktürk Khaganate, the Tibetan Empire, and the Tang dynasty. Very early on, the Uyghurs cultivated secret alliances with the Tang while they served the Göktürks and intervened actively in Chinese affairs. For their aid (like most steppe cultures) the Uyghurs received substantial payments of silk and other valuables from the Chinese. In 745 the Uyghurs killed the last Khagan of the Göktürks and pledged their alliance to the Tang. The Uyghur Khaganate was proclaimed.

BAYANCHUR KAGAN AND THE GOLDEN AGE

Bayanchur Khan (reign 747- 759) also know as as Khagan El etmish bilge belonged to the ruling Yaghmalar tribe of the north, under his wise leadership, the Khaganate reached a golden age. He helped his father in vanquishing the Gokturk Khaganate and then- after succeeding his father, expanded the power of the Uyghur Khaganate with Tang aid.

OVERLORD OF THE STEPPES

Bayanchur's own stele inscriptions- the Tariot inscriptions mentioned that during the interregnum following the death of his father, Bayanchur fought against the tribes supporting his elder brother Tay Bilge Tutuk. After subduing most of them repeatedly, Bayanchur then proceeded to become the undisputed ruler of the steppes by subjugating most of the former vassals of the Göktürks. Many tribes swiftly pledged vassalage to the ascendant Uyghur Khaganate.

In 751, Bayanchur established the new capital called Ordu-Baliq, which was based on the Chinese model of city planning. The Khan would establish many trade posts along the Selenga River to facilitate trade in the region. He also established a series of 14 walled forts in his many campaigns to firmly secure his state. One of those forts which later expanded into a dazzling walled palace in the middle of a lake island was the summer palace of Por-Bazhyn. It too was modeled after a Chinese template of an ideal King's City gridded system.

The walled palace- city of Por-Bazhyn used at various times by Bayanchur Khan 

as his summer palace during his campaigns was constructed on a lake island. 

Like his capital at Ordu-Baliq, it too was modeled after a Chinese 

template of an ideal King's City gridded system.

THE AN LUSHAN REBELLION AND POWER BROKER

When the devastating An Lushan Rebellion erupted in Tang China, on October 756 Bayanchur Khan rescued Tang Dynasty from collapse during the An Lushan Rebellion with 4,000 of his selected cavalry.  In 757 the joint Tang- Uyghur forces would liberate the Tang capital of Chang An from rebel control.

The Uyghur assistance came at a critical time but it also came with a heavy cost for the Tang, in 757. After the battle at Luoyang, the second capital of the Tang empire the Uyghurs looted the city for three days and stopped only after large quantities of silk were extracted (see below).

These would be short and immediate ramifications, for the long term effects the Tang would present the Uyghur with large sum of gifts, but in reality- it was more akin to tributes for having saved the dynasty.

BOUNTY, KINSHIP, AND STRENGTH

For their aid, the Tang sent an exorbitant sum of 20,000 rolls of silk and bestowed the Uyghur princes with honorary titles. It was agreed that the Uyghurs would provide a total of 500 war horses fixed at the price of 40 rolls of the aforementioned tribute of silk for every horse provided to the Tang. A precedence was established that the Uyghurs would provide military aid, but at the cost of enormous amout of silk and gold. Some times, Uyghur allies would show up and not leave until they were stockpiled with such bribes. Foreign Uyghurs subjects were given the honorary "guest" status while they stayed in Tang China. This period coincided with the greatest extent of Uyghur power and Chang An would see thousands of Uyghur ex-patriots within it for many decades after.

Bayanchur Kagan would also strengthened the already close ties with the Tang through marriage with the ascended Emperor Suzong of Tang, who took a Uyghur princess in marriage while Bayanchur himself was given a Chinese princess, Ninguo, as his bride.

Above: An Uyghur Princess. Left: A mural of an Uyghur Khagan, dated around 8th century, Right: Uyghur Princesses from Bezeklik Caves, with the description written in old Uyghur Script: "The joyful princesses." The Princesses and the Old Uyghur script belonged to the 9th century Uyghurs of Karakhoja (Qocho) 

Bayanchur Khan would spent the rest of his reign consolidating his hegemony over the steppes. He erectect many steles that preserved the history of the Uyghur ancestors and also recorded fragments of Gokturk history. He died soon after ending his successful expedition against hostile tribes in the Sayan Mountains in the summer of 759 CE, during a feast devoted to this victory. His son Tengri Bögü would succeed him and bring in new relations with the Tang.

IDENTITY, TENGRI BOGU

A Manichean scroll from Central Asia

Tang power was substantially weakened by the massive An Lushan Rebellion, where tens of millions perished. In the aftermath of the cataclysm, the neighboring Tibetan Empire would take advantage of Tang weakness and repeatedly launch multiple invasions in an attempt to bisect the Tang state in half. In 763, a force of 200,000 Tibetans invaded the Tang.

The Tang quickly discovered that various Uyghur princes were as ready to ally with the enemies of the Tang if the mood and opportunities struck them. Many Uyghur princes and chieftains would serve the powerful Tibetan Emperor Trisong Detsen in his invasions into China. In fact, due to in increased Sogdian and their Manichean religious influences (Tengri Bögü had favored Manicheanism and made it the state religion of the Khaganate) Tengri Bögü himself even planned and attempted to invade the Tang to take advantage of Tang weakness. However, Bögü's uncle openly condemned the plan and went as far as killing Bögü and the many Sogdian courtiers to revert the direction that was set.

TIBETAN ASCENDENCY, TANG- UYGHUR ALLIANCE, 

UYGHUR WESTERN EXPANSION

The resurgent Tibetan Empire would drastically shape the political landscape of late 8th century East Asia. The hostility the Empire showed toward the Uyghurs in repeated wars on its western flank would drive them to a closer relationship with the Tang. The Tang would doggedly fight for its western domains until finally loosing them. Hexi waypoint garrisons such as Liangzhou (764), Ganzhou, Suzhou (766), Guazhou (776), Yizhou (781) and Shazhou (787) would be repeatedly occupied by the Tibetans. The isolated Chinese troops left in the Tarim Basin continued to hold these garrisons until 790 as attested by the pilgrim monk Wukong. In the year 790 the garrisons along with the the whole of the western territories of the Tang fell into Tibetan hands.

Geographical nightmares- The Gansu Corridor and the modern region of Qinghai served as strategic weak points for the Tang dynasty. All the goods and reinforcements needed to pass this thin neck before they were able to be delivered to Tang's western regions. The Tibetans have long realized this and staged many decisive attacks in hopes to overwhelm the Tang and sever the state in half. 

As the Tang finally lost control of its western territories the Uyghurs slowly

expanded westward in their prolonged struggles against the Tibetan

Empire. In due time they would have gained a foothold in the 

Tarim Basin after they expelled the Tibetans

Through it all, the powerful Tibetan Empire prevailed and dominated, defeating both the Tang and the Uyghurs in a numbers of great battles and expanded as far as the Tarim Basin and the areas of modern Manipur and Yunnan Province. It's control of Silk Road access was such that it forced the Abbasid Caliphate at its height under Harun al-Rashid to seek an alliance with China against the Tibetans. 

THE NEW DESTINY OF THE UYGHURS

Interestingly, the weakening of the Tang, the already deeply entangled tripartite wars between the Uyghur Khaganate, Tang, and the Tibetan Empire would also spell out the new destiny for the Uyghur people. As the Tang receded, the Uyghurs looked westward and attempted to wrestle the western regions from Tibetan hold and- with tacit Tang support, claim it as their own. In their long struggle, they would take Karakhoja (Qocho)- which would become their foothold in the Tarim Basin. 

When the Kyrgyz- another Turkic people swiftly destroyed the Uyghur Khaganate in 840, the traumatic defeat and collapse of the Khaganate triggered a massive exodus of Uyghurs from Mongolia into Turfan, Kumul, and Gansu where they founded the Kingdom of Qocho and Gansu Uyghur Kingdom. 

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