Middle-East Huns: Ak-Huns
While a big part of the Huns passed to the west, crossing the river Volga, the Ak-Huns, a group of them went down to the south and arrived in Iran, where they strengthened up in the middle of the V. century and became a big state. However, this point of the Hun's history isn't explained very well. The situation got even more mixed up with the different registrated names of the tribe/s in various documents, who had expanded their sovereignty from the shores of the Caspian Sea to North India, Afghanistan, and to Central Asia. The clearness of the relationship of this tribe with the Huns can be seen in the documents of Song-yun, the Chinese traveller, in the year of 520. The ruler of the Ak-Hun's, who had been in fights with the Sasani in the first half of the 5th century, was called "hakan" (Khane). In the time of Yazdgird II. (438-457), Kunhas (different readings: Kuhanaz, Huşnavaz, Ahşunvar, Aksungur, Kün-han, etc.), who had been the great ruler of the Ak-Hun's in the years when they increased pressure over Iran, protected Firuz and helped him to ascend the throne of the Sassanids in 459 by interacting to the Iranies internal affairs; afterwards he expanded his sovereignty to Afghanistan, turned towards North India and destroyed the state of Gupta (approx. 470).
The two biggest tribes of Ak-Huns were the tribes of Uar and Hun. Mostly these tribes would establish domination in the government.
Uran-Huns had increased their pressure over Iran and they concluded an agreement with Sasani State in the year of 358. This state of peace lasted for a long time for nearly three generations. However, when Behram Gor ascended the throne as the sovereign of Sasani State, Ak-Huns attacked again and they started to wear out the Sasani State again (in and after the year of 427). Then, Kunhas (Kün Han) ascended the throne as the leader of the Ak-Huns and Yazgird II ascended the throne of Sasani State (Iran).Kunhas started to interfere in the internal affairs of Iran and to force this state to adopt his demands. He enthroned Firuz, the crown prince od Sasani State that was under his protection as the sovereign of Iran.
Firuz who ascended the throne of Sasani State would pay taxes to the Ak-Hun State and abandon the regions of Tirmiz and Vasgirt over Ceyhun River to the Ak-Huns.Furthermore, he promised to consent to the marriage of his beautiful daughter with the Turkish ruler.When Kunhas demanded the from Firuz to send his daughter that he agreed to give in marriage, Firuz resorted to intrigues. He sent a beautiful concubine to Kunhas as if she had been his daugher. However, the concubine explained the secret since she had perceived that the truth would be found out as soon as possible. Upon this event, Kunhas killed the most famous commanders of Firuz that were supposedly sent to help him.
Sasani ruler Firuz organised a military expedition in order to take revenge of his commanders that were killed and to get rid of the Ak-Hun pressures totally. Kunhas had also taken the necessary precautions. He busted the Sasani army in a mountainous region with a narrow passage. He applied the Turan tactic and he retreated with his mary in front of the Sasani forces that advanced without taking any precautions. Sasani army that supposed this action as a flight ran into the passage with a great speed.
However, the troops of Kunhas that had waylaid the back of the passage returned and they also waylaid the entrance. Sasani army was surrounded from every direction and it was busted. Firuz applied for the state of peace stating that he would accept any conditions of heavy tax. Kunhas replied him saying, "Come and kneel down on your knees at a place where your soldiers will see you and beg pardon from me. Only under these conditions, I will break the blockade!" This was an unacceptable condition. However, Firuz accepted it. He knelt down on the knees of Kumhas and begged pardon. The soldiers of both sides watched this scene with drawing a lesson.
Therefore, the armies retreated without any fight. Firuz had lost his honour; however, he had saved his army. He burnt with the passion for revenge. Therefore, he waged war before long. But this time, he would not enter into narrow passages, and he would not do the same mistake again. However, Kunhas would not apply the same tactic.
He would direct the war in the plain fields. He had made some investigations in the plain lands where he could draw the Sasani army. He made deep trenches to be digged in the determined places at full speed. Then, he covered these trenches in a proper manner so as they would not be seen. He had left some zigzag paths between them and his soldiers knew well these paths.
When the enemy attacked, Kunhas showed little resistance. Then, he retreated with his soldiers from the zigzag paths that they knew. Firuz who saw this event moved forward his army and they got stuck within the trenches that were digged. There were a lot of sacrifices among Sasani soldiers that died in this war. Firuz could not save his life, either. When Sasani people accepted the heavy conditions that were stipulated by Kunhas, a peace agreement was concluded. The state of peace lasted for a specific period between the two countries.
The Rebellion of Mazdek
The Sasani's, who were defeated at the shores of river Oxus in 483 by the Ak-Huns and were imposed to pay yearly taxes, had brought their country into a revolution due to a religious-social disaster they experienced at this time. This had been the rebellion of Mazdek. Mazdek, who had been inspired from the doctrine of Zoroaster, using the knowledge of the duality of the contrariness (the struggle between light-darkness, goodness-badness), started to spread out his ideas, including the factor of the social uneasiness with the claim for improvement of the tired community, that fell into an economical crisis in those days. According to this belief, the two elements destroying the human happiness are: if wealth and woman would be accepted as the common property of everybody, badness would disappeare from the world. As a consequence of this typical communist propaganda, Mazdek and his disciples against the possessors of wealth and the family institution incited people to rebellion.
Noble and religious men were killed. The women were raped, the houses and the mansions were plundered and destroyed. Shah Kavad (488-531), who acted heedlessly with believing to Mazdek that the state would gain health, was imprisoned, too; but he found a possibility to escape and sheltered himself to his neighbours, the Ak-Huns. The khan of Ak-Huns, who had followed the happenings in Iran up close, had sent Kavad on top of the 30 thousand men Huns cavalry unity to Iran (499) to annihilate the Mazdek's movement, since the khan didn't find Mazdek's ideas useful for the benefit of the humanity. Accordingly, the Shah suppressed the rebellion and with the help of the inhabitants, who realized the disaster by the events that progressed, Mazdek and his disciples were executed. Since bringing purity and peace to the country took a long time, the normal order in the justice, truth and property rights in the Sasani Empire moreover had been realized in the time of Kavad's son Anurşivan (531-579), who was known with the title "just".
According to Chinese sources, the Ak-Huns who took Karaşar, Kuça, Aksu, Kaşgar and surroundings in inner Asia under their sovereignty, had captured in the years 484 North India. This operation was administrated by the commander named Toramana who was known as "Tegin" and whose residence was in Kabul (Cain).
The Collapse of the State of Ak-Huns
As Anuşirvan became a strong statesman in Iran, the Ak-Huns or also known as Eftalits, became weaker. After the foundation of the Gok-Turk khanate in Central Asia in 522 and when Istemi Yabgu began his activities in the region of Transoxiana, the State of Ak-Huns-Eftaliths stuck between two big emperorships. Even their political and kinship relation to the Juan Juans who were the merciless enemies of the Gok-Turks, didn't help too much. As a consequence of the common movements of Anuşirvan and Istemi, the Ak-Huns government collapsed and the country was shared between the Gok-Turks and Iranians (564). Thus, the Huns political sovereignty that developed in three different branches became history.
The Hun political domination that developed in three branches became a thing of the past. However, various groups of Turkish lineage that were members of Huns established new and powerful states and empires under the name of Tabgaç, Gok Turk, Turgiş, Karluk, Uighur, Oguz, Bulgar, Sabar, Khazar, Kuman, Pecenek, etc. and they survived in the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. These groups that were the parts of Turkish nation had also played leading roles in the foundation and development of Russian, Hungarian, Slav-Bulgarian, Romanian, and Georgian States. They have provided the service of main source for Islamic-Turkish organisations that followed them in respect of military, legal and social characteristics.
The State of Tabgac
The Race and Language of the Tabgacs
The strong political constitution, that had been founded in North China towards the end of the 4th century, had been called "Tabgaç", whereof the Chinese had called it T'o-ba. The word Tabgaç (Taugast), which is frequently mentioned in the Orhun inscriptions and thanks to the Gok-Turks in Byzantian sources, also came to the meaning "China". Because, in the first years of the Gok-Turks, this clan, that had been knewn as being "big" by the Turks, had been ruling in China. Actually being Turkish and having the meaning "great, respected, venerable", the expression Tabgaç, had been used as a title by some kings of Karakhans (Tafgaç, Tamgaç).
The Tabgaçs who are, according to Mahmut from Kaşgar a squadron of the Turks, are mentioned to be a part of the Asian Huns according to Chinese yearbooks. Also in the official history (Wei-shu) of the family, Mete Khan was shown as the former king of T'oba (Tabgaç). Besides, most of the Tabgaçs' customs, habits and traditions, like the legend of wolf, cave, mountain, forest cults, the legend of migration, etc. were related to the Turks. In addition to this issue, there are proves showing that their language was also Turkish, such as: Bitegçin (Bitikçi, secretary, foreign minister), kapugçin (kapıcı, doorkeeper), atlaçin (atlı, cavalry regiment), tabagaçin (yaya, infantery unity), kurakçin (koruyucu, defender group), yamçin (posta sürücüsü, postman on horses), aşçın (aşçı, cook), törü (töre, law, custom), etc.
These words, registered in the Chinese sources give information about the administration of the government and foundation of the army of Tabgaçs. However, it is understood that, in this Turkish State also a huge number of Mongols were living. According to researches, it is concluded that more than half of the Tabgaç-dependant tribes whose identities could have been determined, were Mongols. Nevertheless the Mongols as well as the Chinese doubtless only had been the folk.
The Political Development of the State of Tabgac
Beginning with Şa-mo khan, known as the founder of this dynasty and who had been called "Wei" by the Chinese, the Tabgaç struggled for 70 years to take the smaller local states in the region of Ta-t'ong under their domination. The development of Tabgaç to a big state was realized in the time of Kuei (385-409), capturing the fertile lands of the South Chinese Hsien-pi (409).
The state, of which the capital had been P'ing-Ç'eng (in the north Şan-si in the region of Tai) from one side reached the places nearby Peking and from the other side to the south of the bend of river Huang-ho. There was no a serious development in the north direction because of the strong political organized Juan Juans, the Mongolian originated inheritances of the H'yen-bi (Hsien-pi). The, sometimes very impetuous passing battles, between the two states lasted for 150 years.
Tai-Wu, The Great Ruler
After the king Sseu (409-423), the state of Tabgaç lived its brightest age in the epoch of the great ruler T'a-o (T'ai-wu) who possessed the capitals of China, Lo-yang and Cha'an-an (Si-nganfu) and expanded his sovereignty to the region of Yellow River and united the whole North of China under one administration. In 427, T'ai-wu who captured the Huns' kingdom of Hia, defeated the Juan Juans, and invaded today's Central Mongolia (436), annihilated the last kingdom of Huns (Pei-Liang) in Kansu in 439 and patronized the cities of Kuça and Karaşar in Central Asia (448). In this manner, the route of the famous Silk Road again was under the sovereignty of the Turks.
T'ai-wu thought that Chinese soldiers were "no different than the foals and heifers" and he had the title of "Börü" (wolf, Chinese Fo-li). T'ai-wu, who kept the center of the emperorship in the steppe region (north Şan-si), which had been most suitable for the Turkish way of laying, tried to prevent the spread out of the in China diffusing Buddhist religion among the Turkish population and even controlled the religious activities of the Buddhists on Chinese lands which were under his domination. He published a decree that forbade any religious propaganda in temples except for religious ceremonies (438) and ordered in 446 the persecution of those who didn't obey the order. The meaning and the value of the conduct of T'ai-wu, who had the aim of protecting the Turkish structure and character from the Buddhism's demolishing effects, is understood lately.
After T'ai-wu: The Period of Chinesiation and The Disappearing
In the time of the successors who could not be aware of the importance of the precautions, they even tried the way of Buddhism's protection. This condition that progressed with Emperor Siun (452-265), later on totally speed up and prepared the basis for the Chinesiation of the Tabgaç population. In 493, Emperor Hong (471-499) transferred the capital from the steppe region to Lo-yang, the old China's center and he prohibited Turkish traditions, habits and customs, Tabgaç's language and the use of Turkish expressions in the correspondences in the year of 495. The reactions against this, that had last for a quarter century had been suppressed.
The empress Hu (diea 528) who had the administration after Kiao (499-517) believed so much in Buddhism that she was in relation with "coreligionists" living in the foreign countries. Through the year of 520, Chinese Buddhist priest who visited Mihiragula, the king of Ak-Huns in India, was travelling by this empress' wishes. Naturally, the government of Tabgaç was losing its strength. The state divided into two with the name of North (in Tai) and West (in Cha'ang-an) and there had been struggles between two. After a few time all of their lands transferred to the Chinese kings (550-556).