History · Stone Eternal

Turkic inscriptions — an oath carved in stone.

In the early eighth century, three granite monuments were raised on the steppe between the Orkhon and Selenga rivers. The descendants of the first dynasty to bear the name Türk inscribed their history, their idea of state, and their address to the nation. They lay unread for twelve hundred years; deciphered in 1893; they speak still.

3 monuments · Koshö-Tsaidam, Mongolia

— I —

Tonyukuk Inscription

Date: c. 720-725 CE
Location: Bain Tsokto, Mongolia · east of the Orkhon basin
For: Erected by Bilge Tonyukuk himself — the first known autobiography in Turkic history.

The autobiography of Bilge Tonyukuk, vizier to three khagans — Elteris, Qapaghan and Bilge. Inscribed in sixty-two lines on two stones. Tells in the first person the Türks' liberation from Chinese subjugation and the founding of the Second Khaganate.

— West face · line 1 —

Original (transliterated)
Bilge Tonyukuk ben özüm Tabgaç ilinge kılındım. Türk bodun Tabgaçka körür erti.

Modern Turkish
Bilge Tonyukuk ben kendim Çin ülkesinde yetiştim. Türk milleti Çin'e bağımlıydı.

English
I, Bilge Tonyukuk, was raised in the land of the Tabgach. The Turkic people were subject to the Tabgach.

— II —

Kül Tigin Inscription

Date: 732 CE
Location: Koshö-Tsaidam Valley, Mongolia · banks of the Orkhon River
For: Erected by Bilge Khagan for his heroic brother Kül Tigin, who fell in 731.

The most lyrical of the inscriptions. Bilge Khagan recounts his brother Kül Tigin's valour, the battles he won, and his early death — a lament inscribed in stone. Here rises the direct call to the Turkic nation.

— South face · lines 22-23 —

Original (transliterated)
Türk Oğuz begleri, bodun, eşiding! Üze Tengri basmasar, asra yir telinmeser, Türk bodun, ilingin törüngin kem artatı udaçı erti?

Modern Turkish
Türk, Oğuz beyleri, halkı, işitin! Üstte gök çökmedikçe, altta yer delinmedikçe, ey Türk milleti, senin ilini, töreni kim bozabilirdi?

English
O Turkic and Oghuz beys, O nation, hearken! Unless the sky above collapses, unless the earth below cleaves open, O Turkic nation, who could destroy your state and your law?

— III —

Bilge Khagan Inscription

Date: 735 CE
Location: Koshö-Tsaidam Valley, Mongolia · one kilometre from Kül Tigin's stone
For: For Bilge Khagan of the Second Türk Khaganate himself, erected by his son after Bilge's poisoning in 734.

Here lies the cosmological opening of the inscriptions: the creation of sky, earth and humankind; the enthronement of Bumin and Istemi Khagan; the chain bound back to the first Türk dynasty. Philosophy, state and lament — gathered on a single stone.

— East face · lines 1-2 —

Original (transliterated)
Üze kök Tengri, asra yağız Yer kılındukda, ekin ara kişi oğlu kılınmış. Kişi oğlında üze eçüm apam Bumın Kağan, İstemi Kağan olurmış.

Modern Turkish
Yukarıda mavi gök, aşağıda yağız yer yaratıldığında, ikisinin arasında insanoğlu yaratılmış. İnsanoğlunun üzerinde atalarım Bumin Kağan, İstemi Kağan oturmuş.

English
When the blue sky above and the dark earth below were created, between them were created the sons of men. Above them sat my forefathers Bumin Khagan and Istemi Khagan.
— East face · line 23 —

Original (transliterated)
Türk bodun aç ertim. Aç bodunug tok kıltım. Yalın bodunug tonlug kıltım.

Modern Turkish
Türk milleti aç idi. Aç milleti tok kıldım. Çıplak milleti giyimli kıldım.

English
The Turkic nation was hungry. I made the hungry nation full. I made the naked nation clothed.

— The Stones —

Granite, still standing.

After twelve centuries, the stones still stand in the Koshö-Tsaidam Valley. The physical weight of the inscriptions.

Tonyukuk Inscription, Bayn Tsokto, Mongolia — 8th century, in situ. — CC BY-SA 4.0, CeeGee via Wikimedia Commons —

Kül Tigin monument, Khöshöö Tsaidam, Orkhon Valley, Mongolia. — Public domain, Betta27 via Wikimedia Commons —

Marble head of Kül Tigin, 8th century — National Museum of Mongolia. — CC BY-SA 4.0, Vyacheslav Kirillin via Wikimedia Commons —

Bilge Khagan monument, Khöshöö Tsaidam, Orkhon Valley, Mongolia. — Public domain, Betta27 via Wikimedia Commons —

Nikolai Yadrintsev (1842–1894) — Russian ethnographer who located the inscriptions in 1889. — Public domain, K. O. Brozh via Wikimedia Commons —

Vilhelm Thomsen (1842–1927) — Danish linguist who deciphered Old Turkic in 1893. — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons —

— Old Turkic glossary —

The words of the stone.

Key concepts that recur across the passages; each carrying a state, a cosmology, an oath.

Tengri Sky · God

The blue sky above; also the One God. "Üze kök Tengri" — the blue sky above.
— Bilge Kağan · Doğu —
Yağız Yer Brown earth

The dark earth below; the second sanctity, paired with sky.
— Bilge Kağan · Doğu —
Kişi-oğlu Son of man, human

The being created between sky and earth; in the cosmology of the inscriptions, the link between the two.
— Bilge Kağan · Doğu —
Bodun Nation · people

"Türk bodun" — the Turkic nation. The direct addressee of the inscriptions.
— Kül Tigin · Güney —
İl State · realm

Independent political order. "İlin törüsin" — the law of the state.
Töre Customary law

The traditional law inherited from ancestors; the second pillar accompanying the state.
Kağan Khagan · sovereign

The highest title of the Turkic state tradition; sultan, padishah and emperor all descend from it.
Bilge Wise

Not just knowledge but the wisdom to render measured judgement. "Bilge Khagan", "Bilge Tonyukuk".
Kut Divine grace · charisma

The mandate to rule granted by Tengri. Sovereignty begins with kut and ends when kut is withdrawn.
Ötüken Ötüken (sacred homeland)

The sacred mountain-and-forest region; the seat of the Turkic khagans. "Ötüken yir" — the Ötüken land.
Eçü-apa Forefathers · ancestors

Direct forebears — "my father, my grandfather". Bilge Khagan invokes Bumin and Istemi by this word.
— Bilge Kağan · Doğu —
Beg / Bey Lord · chief

Tribal lord, member of the high estate. "Türk Oğuz begleri" — the Turkic Oghuz lords.
— Kül Tigin · Güney —
Tabgaç China · Tabgach

The Old Turkic name for China. "Tabgaç ilinge" — in the land of China.
— Tonyukuk · Batı —
Üze Above · upper

A directional; bound to sky. "Üze tengri basmasar" — unless the sky above collapses.
Asra Below · under

The opposite of üze; bound to earth. "Asra yir telinmeser" — unless the earth below cleaves open.

— Old Turkic runic alphabet —

Thirty-eight marks.

A right-to-left script with vowel-harmony-aware consonants. Orkhon variant, drawn from Wikipedia.

𐰀 a/e vowel

𐰁 ä vowel

𐰃 ï/ı vowel

𐰄 i vowel

𐰅 e vowel

𐰆 o/u vowel

𐰇 ö/ü vowel

𐰉 b¹ back

𐰑 d¹ back

𐰍 g¹/γ back

𐰞 l¹ back

𐰣 n¹ back

𐰺 r¹ back

𐰽 s¹ back

𐱃 t¹ back

𐰖 y¹ back

𐰴 q back

𐰸 oq/uq back

𐰋 b² front

𐰓 d² front

𐰏 g² front

𐰠 l² front

𐰤 n² front

𐰼 r² front

𐰾 s² front

𐱅 t² front

𐰘 y² front

𐰚 k² front

𐰜 ök/ük front

𐰲 č cons.

𐰢 m cons.

𐰯 p cons.

𐱁 š cons.

𐰔 z cons.

𐰭 ŋ/ñ cons.

𐰱 ič/či cons.

𐰶 ıq/qı cons.

𐰨 -nč cons.

𐰪 -nj/ny cons.

𐰡 -lt cons.

𐰦 -nt/-nd cons.

𐰿 aš cons.

𐱇 ot/ut cons.

𐱈 baš cons.

¹ = used with back vowels (a, ı, o, u) · ² = used with front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) · script reads right to left.

— Decipherment —

The inscriptions were rediscovered in 1889 by the Russian ethnographer Nikolai Yadrintsev. Four years later, in 1893, the Danish linguist Vilhelm Thomsen deciphered the Old Turkic runic alphabet. The first word read at the moment of decipherment: "Türk."

Twelve centuries of silence broken by a single word.