Elgey Khagan (Mular: Örge Khagan), later known as Baridun, or Bagidun, also known posthumously as Tengrikut or Tangrikut, was a Türgeshi religious and political leader who founded the Mular Tengri religion. He was also the final ruler of a united Türgesh, before two of his sons divided up the nation after his death.
Background[]
The Türgeshi people were a group originally living south of lake Balkhash, however in 766 they had been expelled from their home by the Karluks who invaded from the south. Now known as Western Türgesh, this group slowly grew to be one of the most powerful clans in Central Asia, under the rule of Barigun's ancestors, the Melghanids. This had brought them into conflict with the equally powerful Bashkirans, who fought with the Türgeshi people over the Ural River basin.
Prior to Baridun's birth, central Asia was a mix of religions, with the Melghanids being an early Tengri variant, but a lot of their subjects being Manichean, Nestorian, Sunni, and even Orthodox Christian. There were also many different pagan religions who worshipped various animist gods, and mixes of these religions with the monotheistic ones.
Early Life[]
Örge Melghanid was born in Syganak in about the year 834, with his birth date said to be in the month of Jana Ghotem Zili (late February to early March). Some historians instead date his birth year to be 832 or 833. His father, Alïp Khagan, was fighting against the Bashkirans and didn't meet his son until Elgey was supposedly 11 years old. His mother was Maryam Abbasid, daughter of Caliph Al-Mansur II, making Elgey a Mirza.
Maryam had tried to teach Elgey and his younger siblings about Islam, trying to convert them to her religion, but when Alïp Khagan came back to Syganak in 845 he immediately stopped this. However, for Elgey it was too late. Though he never converted to Islam himself he became very religiously reformed in secret, buying as many books as he could from his court members who were often from very far away and held many religious beliefs. He learned about Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Confucianism, and of course Tengrism. Elgey was said to have read the Bible, Quran, and Torah, but he wasn't convinced by any of the books.
This religious uncertainty being a part of Elgey's life led to conflict between him and his father, with Alïp Khagan calling Elgey a "false believer" of Old Tengrism. While Elgey was growing up it was tradition for boys his age to travel with their fathers on military campaigns, to gain experience as a leader, but Alïp Khagan didn't let him lead any armies, and the two would frequently bicker to the point where one day Alïp and his army left their camp early in the morning, leaving Elgey behind without a horse, forcing him to walk about 50 miles back to Jahaki by himself.
Elgey wasn't able to lead any armies, but he was able to learn about military tactics on his own. His tutor, a Chinese immigrant named Mo Lu who had fled the Tang Dynasty let Elgey borrow his copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War without Alïp Khagan's knowledge. Elgey apparently loved the book so much that Mo Lu let him keep it.
Becoming Khagan[]
In 856, Elgey married his first wife, Qaraqaz. She would later prove to be an important advisor to him during his reign.
Though Elgey's father, Alïp Khagan, had helped better the Türgeshi nation in both size and wealth, he was becoming increasingly unpopular with his subjects and family for enacting selfish policies that only helped him and made his subjects weaker. This included seizing his vassal clans' lands for himself and building a huge palace that only he was allowed to walk in. Elgey was a vocal opponent to his father's policies, and in 861 he finally confronted Alïp Khagan on how badly he was running the country. The two got into a physical fight, and Elgey was sent to jail by Alïp Khagan. However, his supporters broke him out and he demanded for a duel with his father over the crown. Alïp Khagan accepted.
According to legend, Elgey used a morning star while Alïp used an axe. Alïp Khagan, who was almost 60 years old at this point, was a much inferior duelist to his son, and while he had slightly injured Elgey he was always on the defensive. After some time, Elgey threw his morning star at his father, and the weapon tore into his stomach, making him fall down. Elgey then finished him off with a blow to the head. Soon after, Elgey was proclaimed the new Khagan by his subjects.
After becoming Khagan, Elgey reformed his clan's entire military to a system that Genghis Khan would use several centuries later, with groups of 1,000 riders subdivided into 100 riders, and finally into 10 riders, with one major leader of each clan. This organization of his cavalry proved that their movements would be twice as fast as they were before, and they could coordinate better in both battles and sieges.
Around this time the ruler of Khiva, Abbas, submitted to Elgey Khagan due to fears of the Caliphate to the south invading his land. His son, Vahid, would later conquer Bukhara in 869 under Elgey Khagan's name.
Central Asia, c. 861
The first military conflict that Elgey Khagan was involved in was against a man known only as "Khagan Yeke" who tried to poison Elgey Khagan during a feast. Elgey Khagan responded by taking over his entire clan and removing him from power.
Etekin's War[]
In early 862, according to legend a concubine by the name of Etekin was sent to Elgey Khagan from Itakh, Khagan of the Khazars. Itakh supposedly didn't give consent to this, and when Elgey Khagan declined to give her back he marched his army across the Volga and into Elgey Khagan's territory. The two had already been rivals, competing over the lands in the southern Ural Mountains, and this was just what was needed for a full-on invasion to happen. In the spring of 862, Elgey Khagan responded to this invasion by pushing them back across the river, and into Saray, the Khazar capital. Itakh Khagan promptly responded by moving his capital to Chotritza, in modern-day Ukraine.
After winning a string of battles, Elgey Khagan won the decisive battle of Burtasy, a devestating blow for Itakh. From this point on Elgey Khagan was on the offensive. An attempted offensive from Itakh was made to counter the invasion but it was defeated by Elgey Khagan's cavalry, possibly with some Chinese mercenaries. Sometime in 863, Kaygalah Khan, a major leader under Itakh, was captured on the steppe.
A major army of about 10,000 was led across all of Itakh's country by Inel Khan, who was quite ambitious compared to his fellow vassals of Elgey Khagan. One part of his army, led by Elgey Khagan, chased the remnants of Itakh's army all the way to Abkhazia in 865. Itakh was finally cornered in Chotritza by Inel Khan's army and was forced to surrender in 866.
Though Inel Khan had surrendered, his ally (and possibly tributary) Kamaj Khan of the Alans was still unwilling to give up. However, it only took one group of Elgey Khagan's army to take over the country by the end of 866, because the army had previously been crippled in a battle. Thus, all of Alania and Khazaria belonged to Elgey Khagan, and he now was the ruler from Crimea to Lake Balkhash.
Inel Khan's Rebellion[]
Less than 2 months after the war was over, Inel Khan demanded that Elgey Khagan hand the control of the entire Khaganate to him, since he saw himself as a better ruler. Elgey Khagan said no to this, but Inel Khan was ready for this reply, he had already moved his army far to the east of the Khaganate, near Syganak, while Elgey Khagan's army had remained west, close to the Black Sea, to deal with revolts in Alania.
In early 867, before Elgey Khagan's army had even gotten there, Inel Khan sacked Syganak, killing many of its inhabitants. Elgey Khagan, enraged with this news, led his army to the point that the food supply had to be cut so that they could move faster, just so he could fight Inel Khan. The resulting battle happened on March 28 and was a massive success for Elgey Khagan. After freeing Syganak, he led his army into Otrar, Inel Khan's capital, and sacked it. After this he travelled north and fought the remnants of Inel Khan's army at the Battle of Betpaqdala, winning once again. After this Inel Khan surrendered, and was stripped of all his titles and banished, with him likely travelling to China afterwards. However, some modern historians say there is sufficient evidence to prove that Inel was actually excecuted by Elgey Khagan.
Further Campaigns in Asia[]
In late 867, Elgey Khagan demanded that Buyruq Khagan, his neighbor directly to the east and ruler of the Karluks, submit to him. Buyruq Khagan declined and Elgey Khagan began a two-pronged attack- a southern army crossing through Fergana and a northern army, headed by his brother Ozmush, going directly east across the plains into Zhetysu. By the end of the month the southern army had captured Khujand and was travelling northeast, capturing Khojand by January 868. Meanwhile, the northern army was doing just as well, capturing the border fortress of Barskhan a couple weeks later. Sometime in the late winter of 868, the battle of Balasgun occured, when the two armies, now unified, fought a force led by Buyruq Khagan himself. Buyruq was aware of Ozmush's army, but was caught off guard by Elgey Khagan's, and he and his army fled north. Buyruq offered to surrender and hand over Fergana to Elgey Khagan, but when Elgey Khagan demanded more land Buyruq declined and the war continued. Eventually, after seizing all of Zhetysu, the two sides declared a truce, and Buyruq eventually fell out of history as we know it.
In 870, Elgey Khagan completed his conquest of Fergana by taking the lands owned by the Tocharian ruler known as Nandipale, who ruled from Kasake. Shortly after, in the fall, a rebellion broke out led by a man named Babak, who wanted to restore the Transoxianan Kingdom. The rebellion started in Urgench, and seemed to end there by the end of the year at the Battle of Kunya Urgench. Babak was excecuted shortly after.
Soon after the rebellion was shut down, in 871, this same army invaded the vulnerable city of Samarkand, which fell within two months.
Revelation (Eyan)[]
After conquering Samarkand, a tired Elgey Khagan returned to Jahaki. He had wanted to be remembered as a great Khagan but was beginning to doubt what his true purpose was. On a hot summer day he locked himself in the top of his tower and prayed for 9 days and nights without sleeping. According to Mular tradition, Tengri himself came down on the ninth night at the break of dawn and told him that his true purpose was not to simply conquer for the sake of power, but to spread the rightful religion of Tengri. After accepting Tengri's command Elgey Khagan finally came out of his room to his concerned wife Qaraqaz and told her that his true name was Baridun (roughly meaning "father's prophet" in Türgeshi) and he now knew his true purpose, and was no longer lost.
Baridun and the most powerful priests in his nation are thought to have established the Mular Tengri religion on August 2nd, 841. This date is the beginning of the Tengri Calendar. From this point on, the leader of Baridun's state was now called "Tengrikut" (meaning "Tengri's son") instead of "Khagan", and he was crowned as such on this day. Byzantine explorer and writer Matthaios Stamides was there on the day of the coronation.
"The gigantic Khan, looking as if he had been possessed, turned to the diviner and bellowed out a phrase in his native tongue; the diviner preached before saying the same phrase, with the solemn audience around the two men repeating the phrase after him. That night, a massive feast was held with food and drinks of all kind, and a contagious sense of celebration."
The Mular Tengri religion spread like wildfire, and quickly converted most of Baridun's empire. King Organ II of Bulgaria, a cousin-in-law of Baridun, also converted within the first year of the religion. Bizel, the King of Derbent, refused to convert, and so Baridun took over his lands.
Conquest of Russia[]
In 872, Kiev was sacked by Baridun, as the local leader refused to convert to Mular Tengri. The surrounding area was taken over by the summer of that year.
On October 28, 873, Baridun launched an invasion of Cherginov. King Yeremey was unprepared. After a month-long siege, the capital city was taken over. The King, having escaped on horseback, apparently fell off his horse in an accident soon after the city was taken, with his infant daughter being the only heir. By the end of 874, the entire country, leaderless, had fallen to Baridun's army of horse-archers.
The Duchy of Mordva fell to Baridun in June of 875. The Duchy of Murom similarly fell that September. As Baridun continued to advance north, he let the local leaders continue to rule as long as they converted to Mular Tengri, and Baridun wouldn't loot their lands in return. The leader of Murom, Tarjan II, was the first to rule in this way.
In the spring of 878, Baridun declared war on the King of Novgorod, the largest Russian Kingdom at the time. The timing couldn't be better- the country had been facing a rebellion at the time and was on the brink of civil war. Baridun and his army made a dash for the nation's capital, and the Novgorodian King was killed by a stray arrow in battle, and his court fled to Estonia. Novgorod was now Baridun's. Chief Igor of Pskov, a convert, was given the lands in return for his loyalty.
879 saw the conquest of a loose confederation of tribes in Ruthenia, and this campaign proved to be costly, with at least three thousand horsemen being killed by the native Russians, due to their unfamiliarity with the forests that they were travelling through. Despite this, Baridun never lost a battle during this campaign and the confederation had fallen by 880.
In late 880, the King of Ruthenia, in fear, gave up his Non-Polish lands to Baridun without conflict.
Later Reign[]
It's believed that after 880 or so Baridun focused less on martial duties and began focusing more on converting his people to his religion. This started with putting many Mular Tengri noblemen, both of Türgeshi and Russian descent, in power in Russia to convert the mostly Slavic Pagan people who were there. Many of these leaders wanted to send inquisitions to forcefully convert their citizens, but Baridun instead sponsored open dialogue, where he himself would talk to the masses. Contemporary reports say that at least a third of the Russian population had converted within the next five years. By his death, Samarkand had also been largely converted to Tengri.
Baridun now ruled an empire stretching from Tibet to Estonia, and communication between different parts of this Empire was hard sometimes. Knowing this, Baridun gave more power to local Khans to rule under his name, but he let them know that if they acted up then there would be consequences. One such Khan who did this, Udur Khan, who was in Baridun's inner circle, began spreading slander about his leader, and when caught was executed.
In 882, an old Tengri revolt rose up along the Black Sea's eastern coast. The leader's name was Baghatur. The revolt quickly was quelled though and Baghatur was executed.
In 887, the Great Temple of Jahaki was completed. Around this time the Lords of the Sky, a religious military order, was founded. Through the rest of his reign, Baridun would donate substantial amounts of money to this order.
Death and Burial[]
Baridun died on January 11, 893. There's a wide variety of explanations on how he died, ranging from dying after a short illness to getting killed by Uyghurs in Battle (though this is less likely, since it's thought that Baridun died west of the Ural mountains). Some contemporary western sources referenced a minor plague that was going through the region.
Baridun was given a sky burial on "the highest mountain". It's unknown what mountain is being referred to, some believe that it's Mount Ilmentau. As a sign of respect, his sons built a golden shrine within the Grand Temple of Jahaki.
Succession[]
Sagun, Baridun's oldest son, was expected to inherit the entire Khaganate. However, Sagun didn't want to rule and instead wanted to fight for the Lords of the Sky, and joined them in Pest. It soon became clear that Curebir, Jegin, and Agut, the three next oldest sons of Baridun, both wanted to succeed their father. Baridun, trying to solve the situation, decided to give his sons three different parts of his empire. Jegin would be given all lands east of the Ural Mountains, Curebir would be given the lands from the Ural Mountains to the Carpathians, and Agut would be given Russia. However, the already autonomous Russian tribes rejected the final part of this plan, and after Agut was nearly killed by a Russian member of Baridun's court, Agut was convinced to not rule after his father's death.
The division of Baridun's Empire (red outline)
When Baridun eventually died, the Russian tribes broke off from the Empire, but besides this the plan went mostly smoothly. Jegin's land included both Syganak and Jahaki, most of the Turgeshi Population, and was eventually called Grey Turgesh. Shortly after Baridun's death, Fergana broke from Jegin's land.
Curebir, though he ruled a smaller population, is now considered to have been a stronger leader than his brother. He also was given most of Baridun's army and money, to counter the less valuable land he was given. He was also able to keep about a third of Russia under his control during his reign. Curebir was also considered to be the head of the Tengri religion after his father's death, as his brother seemed less interested in religion than he was in political strength.
Appearance and Personality[]
Baridun was a colossal man, said to have been "two horses high". As a child he was said to have been slightly above average in terms of height, typical for a Turgeshi boy, but he simply never stopped growing. This leads historians to conclude that he suffered from acromegaly, or more likely, gigantism. Through his lifetime breeders in his country created the special Turgeshi horse breed, a breed that's noticeably larger than normal horses. This was done so a horse that could carry Baridun would be found. Also because of his ridiculous height, he never lost a duel and was able to lift a horse with his bare hands.
Baridun, being the son of a Bedouin, unexpectedly had very pale skin, even for local steppe people. He grew out some kind of facial hair that was "black as the night sky". He had piercing black eyes, the same that his father reportedly had, and never cut his hair. Similarly to his predecessors, Baridun was left-handed.
Growing up, Baridun had quarreled with his father and brothers to the point that he began to question whether he truly had a purpose in life. This led to him developing an inferiority complex, feelings that he had for his entire life. His conquests, and prayer leading to his revelation, had all been a result of this. He learned how to read Chinese, Arabic, and Latin, just so he could amass a collection of books on History. Arabic sources who had visited Jahaki stated that "Baridun's greatest enemy was ultimately himself".
Family[]
Baridun had 10 named wives, possibly several more, and many concubines. This led to him reportedly having dozens of children, though only 12 are named.
- Sagun, joined the Lords of the Sky and ultimately became a Shaman in Pannonia
- Çeçek, married an Indian King
- Aydhar Khagan, Khagan of Gold Turgesh and 2nd Tengrikut
- Katun, married a Byzantine lord
- Yachi Khagan, Khagan of Grey Turgesh
- Tograk, married an Indian or Persian prince
- Tadin
- Agut
- Burtam
- Teken, married King Artavazd II of Armenia
- Komsog Khagan, Khagan of Grey Turgesh
- Bazer Khan, leader in Galicia who's descendents ruled for several generations
| Türgeshi Khagans |
|---|
| Telpar Khagan • Suluk Khagan • Elscin Khagan • Aruq Khagan •
Alïp Khagan • Elgey Khagan |
| Grey Türgeshi Khagans |
| Yachi Khagan • Komsog Khagan •
Cikesi Khagan • Togemil Khagan • Kavalbuz Khagan • Celgin Khagan• Gezekuli Khagan |
| Gold Türgeshi Khagans |
| Aydhar Khagan • Almaz Khagan • Ölukatil Khagan • Bayin Khagan |
| Mular Monarchs |
| Kagor I • Baris I |