PACIFIC WORLD - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

184Pacific WorldThe empire was split into two countries by internal disputes in 583; theEast Tujue were based in the Mongolian Plateau, and the West Tujue inCentral Asia. During this period the Tujue, or Turks, created a Tujue script(a rune type script) based on Aramaic. They erected inscriptions praisingthe deeds of their emperors (khan) on the banks of the Orkhon River. Thisscript is the earliest writing system used by inner Asian nomads, and theinscriptions are a valuable academic resource both historically and linguistically.In the same period, a sixth century Chinese record states that theNorthern Qi sent a Tujue translation of the Niepan jing (Mahåparinirvå√as¥tra)to the Tujue upon their request. This is the first known instance thatthe Turks encountered Buddhism. Although there is strong academicinterest in the Tujue translation of the Mahåparinirvå√a-s¥tra, the text hasnot been discovered. Some scholars doubt the account in the Chinesehistorical record and suggest it might have been a Sogdian translationrather than a Tujue translation. West Tujue was destroyed by the Tangarmy in 652. Remaining forces, however, later spread west of Pamir andgreatly influenced the emergence of West Turkistan.There was also under the control of the East Tujue a tribe called Tiele.The name of this tribe is also a phonetic transliteration of Turk (türk).Under the Tiele, there was a smaller Turkic tribe called the Uigur. In theeighth century, the Uigur gradually accumulated power and destroyed theEast Tujue in 744. In Chinese historical records, the name of the tribe isrecorded as Huigu, a phonetic transliteration of Uigur. From this time theUigur played a central role in the region. The Uigurs made the city of QaraBalghsasun (Ordu Balïq) in the Mongolian Plateau their capital andsubjugated other Turkic tribes. They established the Empire of EastUigur Khagan and controlled the Mongolian steppes for the next onehundred years.At about this time, the revolt of Anshi (755–763) occurred in TangChina. The Tang emperor Xuanzong (712–756) was unable to quell therevolt of his own forces and requested the Uigurs to provide militaryassistance. While fighting in various places in China, the Uigur peoplewere introduced to advanced Chinese culture, especially in the large citieslike Changan. They also interacted with Sogdian merchants from Iran andgathered various international information.As a result, the Uigur people experienced a settled lifestyle and learnedto transcribe their own language in the Sogdian script. They adopted theIranian religion of Manichaeism as their state religion. In a very shortperiod they were able to create an advanced culture, which might otherwisehave taken a very long time if they had maintained their nomadiclifestyle. When the revolt ended, the Uigur forces returned to the Mongoliansteppes, bringing Sogdians back with them as staff officers. They builtthe fortified city Ordu Balïq in the Mongolian steppes.