Kul Tigin

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Kul Tigin (Kül (Köl, Gül, Göl) Tigin (Tegin)[Prince Kul] Khan Bengü İnançu Apa Tarkan) 闕特勒 (685 - 731 or 732 CE]]) was a famous general of the Eastern Turkic Kaghanate. He was the second son of Ilteriš Šad and the younger brother of Bilge Kaghan (Mojilian 默棘连).

During the reign of Mochuo Kaghan (默啜可汗) Kul Tigin and his older brother earned reputations for their military prowess. They defeated the Kirghiz, the Turgiš, and Karluks, extending the Kaghan's territory all the way to the Iron Gates (modern day Derbent in Dagestan). They also subjugated all nine of the Toquz Oghuz tribes.

Upon the death of Mochuo Kaghan, Mochuo's son ascended to the throne, but Prince Kul refused to recognize the succession. He raised an army, attacked, and killed Mochuo's son and his trusted followers. He raised his brother Mojilian, who took the title Bilge (The Wise) to be Kaghan, and took the title of Šad, an equivalent of commander-in-chief of the army for himself.

In 731 Prince Kul fell ill and died. A stele in memory of Kul Tigin which included inscriptions in both the Orkhon script and Chinese was erected to his memory. Prince Kul is also mentioned on another monument, that erected to the memory of his older brother Bilge Kaghan.

[edit] References

Talat Tekin, A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic. Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, vol. 69 (Bloomington/The Hague: Mouton, 1968)

新疆维吾尔自治区民族事务委員会、新疆民族辞典， 乌鲁木齐：新疆人民出版社，1995 [Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous District Minority People's Committee, Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Xinjiang Minority Peoples, Urumqi: Xinjiang People's Publishing Company, 1955]