Bugut inscription
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The Bugut inscription (Mongolian: Бугут, romanized: Bugut) is a multi-lingual inscription first discovered in Ikh-Tamir sum of Arkhangai Province, Mongolia. The inscription is dated to 584 CE and was dedicated to Taspar Khagan (reigned 572–581) the fourth Khagan of the Turkic Khaganate.
The inscription is in the form of a monumental stele 198 cm high that sits on a turtle base 47 cm high. The front, right and left side of the stele has a Sogdian inscription written with Sogdian alphabet. The back side has a possibly Rouran inscription written with Brahmi script.[1]
The original location of the inscription, shows evidence of a walled complex. The wall embankment is 59mx30m with an inner moat 4.5m wide and 2m deep. In the center of the walled complex was a temple whose wooden pillars and roof tiles were still visible on the ground. Only a few brick fragments were found. The inscription itself was found within the walls on a square platform 7.5mx7.5m made of layered stones.[2]
In 1956, Mongolian archeologist Ts. Dorzhsuren discovered a robbed burial complex of the First Turkic Khaganate era on the west bank of the Bayantsagaan river, a tributary of the Northern Tamir river. He decided the site to be not worth excavating, but a stele and a stone tortoise were moved to the Archangaj regional museum, were they reside to this day. Initial suggestion by B. Rinchen was that the inscription was in Uyghur but in 1969-1970 Soviet scholars, who participated in a major expedition, identified the language and script of the larger and better conserved inscription as Sogdian. They initially suggested that the other one was in Aramaic script,[3] but by 1972 later corrected themselves to Sanskrit written in vertical Brahmi.[4][5]
In the 1970s Turkish researchers joined the Soviets and Mongolians in studying the Sogdian inscription, and in the 1990s Turkish and Japanese archeologists organized several expeditions to the original site.[5] In the 2000s, German epigraphist specializing on Brahmi scripts Dieter Maue got interested in the topic and attempted a new reading. Together with A. Vovin, they were able to identify the language as an early stage of Mongolian in 2014, and in the same year they joined a large international team to carry out a field expedition, results of which were reported in 2017.[6][7]
Historical context
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The stele was erected in 584 CE with a latest date of 587 CE. It is dedicated to Taspar Khagan who is also called Tatpar Khagan. By this time the Turkic Khaganate stretched from Manchuria to the Black Sea. It controlled the Silk Road while its imperial seat of power was in central Mongolia. The Turkic Khaganate replaced their previous overlords the Rouran Khaganate (also called Ruanruan) in 552 with the help of the Western Wei. The Gokturks proceeded to defeat the Hepthalites with the help of the Sasanian Empire of Persia in 560 CE. The defeat of the Rouran and Hephthalites and their pursuit by the Turks precipitated the migration of the Avars into Eastern Europe. Charlemagne would ultimately accept their surrender in 798 at Aachen and send one native chief, baptised Abraham, back to Avaria with the ancient title of khagan. The Turks allied with the Byzantine Empire against the Sasanians. Byzantine envoy Zemarchus visited Istemi Khagan in the Altai Mountains (Golden Mountains) in 569. The Sogdian language of the inscriptions reflects the prominence of Sogdians on the Silk Road. Sogdians were East Iranians from Sogdia, one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire. The Mongolic Rouran inscription reflects the influence of the previous Rouran Khaganate. The title Khagan was first used by the Rourans who were an offshoot of the Xianbei similar to the Tuoba, Khitan, Tuyuhun and Shiwei (Mongols). Some Rouran nobility were Buddhists. The wolf at the top of the stele reflects the Turks' belief in their origin from a wolf like the Mongols. The vertical orientation of the inscriptions and the turtle base reflects cultural influence from China. The Inscription of Hüis Tolgoi is another inscription found in Mongolia, dated to 604 to 620 CE, with a Brahmi Mongolic text.
