View source for Bilge Qaghan

== Biography ==

=== Early years ===
Bilge Qaghan was born in 683, in the early years of the [[Second Turkic Khaganate]]. He campaigned alongside his father from early childhood. He was made Tardush Shad and given command over the western wing of the khaganate in 697 by [[Qapaghan Qaghan]]. He annihilated [[Wei Yuanzhong]]'s army in 701 with his brother. He also reconquered the [[Basmyl]] tribes in 703. He subdued [[Yenisei Kyrgyz]] forces in 709, after their disobedience he reconquered them and killed their qaghan in 710. He killed the [[Türgesh]] khagan [[Saqal (Turgesh Khagan)|Saqal]] at the [[Battle of Bolchu]].

In the later years of Qapaghan's reign, he fought four battles in the span of a starting in 714, resubduing tribes, He was nearly was killed in an ambush from [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]] forces in 716.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gök-Türkler|last=Ahmet.|first=Taşağil|date=1995|publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi|others=Atatürk Kültür, Dil, ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu (Turkey)|isbn=975161113X|location=Ankara|oclc=33892575}}</ref>

=== Reign ===
[[File:Turkic Gold Diadem, 6th-8th C. AD.jpg|thumb|Gold diadem of Bilge Khagan from the burial site at [[:Commons:Category:Khoshoo Tsaidam|Khoshoo Tsaidam]].]]
Qapaghan Qaghan was killed in 716 during his campaign against the [[Toquz Oghuz]] alliance with his severed head being sent to [[Chang'an]].<ref name="Tang194">''[[Old Book of Tang]]'', [[:zh:s:舊唐書/卷194上|Vol. 194-I]]</ref> Although his son [[Inel Qaghan]] succeeded him, Bilge's brother [[Kul Tigin]] and [[Tonyukuk]] carried out a [[coup d'état]] against Inel Qaghan. They killed him and made him Bilge qaghan.<ref name="Tang194" /> His name literally means "wise king".

He appointed Kul Tigin as the Left Wise Prince, which made him the second most powerful person in the khaghanate. He re-subdued the [[Uyghur Khaganate|Uyghurs]] in 716. He also appointed his father-in-law [[Tonyukuk]] as his master strategist.

New reforms and the stabilization of the regime, caused tribes that had fled the khaganate to come back. Tang chancellor [[Wang Jun (Tang chancellor)|Wang Jun]], believing that the Göktürks who surrendered would try to flee back to the khaganate, suggested that they be forcibly moved into the heart of the empire to prevent them from doing so. Before Wang's suggestion could be acted upon, however, there was an uprising by the Göktürks who surrendered, under the leadership of Xiedie Sitai (𨁂跌思泰) and Axilan (阿悉爛). [[Xue Ne]] and Wang tried to intercept them and dealt them defeats, but they were able to flee back to the khaghanate anyway. This defeat led to Xue Ne's retirement.

=== Later reign ===
[[File:Bilge_Khagan_monument_Mongolia.JPG|thumb|The Bilgä Qaghan monument with inscriptions, Mongolia|369x369px]]
In 720, Wang believed that the Pugu (僕固) and Xiedie tribes of the region were planning to defect to Turkic Khaganate and attack with Turkic troops. He thus held a feast and invited the chieftains, and, at the feast, massacred them. He then attacked the Pugu and Xiedie tribes in the area, nearly wiping them out. He then proposed a plan to attack Bilge Qaghan along with the [[Basmyl|Baximi]], [[Kumo Xi|Xi]], and [[Khitan people|Khitan]].<ref name="Tang194" /> [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]] also recruited [[Qapaghan Qaghan]]'s sons Bilgä Tigin and Mo Tigin, the [[Yenisei Kyrgyz]] Qaghan Kutluk Bilgä Qaghan and Huoba Guiren to fight the Göktürks. Tonyukuk cunningly launched a first attack on Baximi in the autumn of 721, completely crushing them. Meanwhile, Bilgä raided [[Gansu]], taking much of the livestock. Later that year the [[Khitan people|Khitans]], next year [[Kumo Xi|Xi]] were also crushed.

In 726, his father-in-law and chancellor Tonyukuk died.

In 727, he sent Buyruk Chor ({{zh|c=梅錄啜/梅录啜|p=Méilù Chuò}}) as an emissary to [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Xuanzong]] with 30 horses as a gift. He also warned him of [[Me Agtsom]]'s proposal of an anti-Tang alliance. This warning proved to be true when Tibetan general [[We Tadra Khonglo]] invaded Tang China in 727, sacked [[Guazhou County|Guazhou]] (瓜州, in modern [[Gansu]]), Changle (常樂, in south of modern Guazhou County), Changmenjun (長門軍, in north of modern [[Yumen City|Yumen]]) and Anxi (安西, modern [[Lintan County|Lintan]]).

On 27 February 731, [[Kul Tigin]] died, for which Qaghan mourned and ordered a great funeral ceremony.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kultegin's Memorial Complex |url=https://bitig.kz/?lang=e&mod=1&tid=1&oid=15&m=1 |access-date=2018-07-29 |website=bitig.kz}}</ref>

In 733, he defeated rebellious Khitan tribes.<ref name="irq.kaznpu.kz" />

=== Death ===
Just after sending an emissary to [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Xuanzong]] to gain a [[heqin]] alliance, he was poisoned by Buyruk Chor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Erkin Ekrem, "Sarı Uygurların Kökeni", ''Modern Türklük Araştırma Dergisi'', Vol. 4, No. 3, 2007, p. 175. |url=http://mtad.humanity.ankara.edu.tr/IV-3_Eylul2007/240_47_MTAD4-3_EEkrem.pdf}}</ref> He did not die immediately and had time to punish the family of Buyruk Chor with death.<ref name="Tang194" /> He died on 25 November 734, his burial ceremony took place on 22 June 735.